Jolt 8, 1915. 



The Florists^ Rcvie^v 



15 



frequently spray the under part of the 

 foliage where the red spider makes its 

 appearance, and always spray quickly. 



We give our plants strong wire sup- 

 port and, though they may wilt a lit- 

 tle during the day, as long as they are 

 erect and crisp each morning we do 

 not worry over losing them. The way 

 the soil is handled has a great deal to 

 do with what you get out of it. Ju- 

 dicious use of fertilizer and lime, with 

 constant forking to keep in good me- 

 chanical condition, and the "seeing 

 eye" that apprises instantly of lurking 

 danger. 



The Beaumont Floral Co., owned and 

 managed by women, represents faith- 

 ful toil and the achievement possible 

 to even unskilled women in the man- 

 inade world. 



POND LILIES IN MARYLAND. 



One of the show places at Tuxedo 

 Park, Md., is the water lily ponds of 

 Joseph W. Corridon. These are now at 

 their best and he is obtaining an ab- 

 normally heavy cut of extra fine stock. 

 The series of ponds are well laid out, 

 for each is slightly lower in turn than 

 the previous pond, the water emptying 

 from one to the other and finally over- 

 flowing into a branch. Mr. Corridon 

 does the greater part of the work him- 

 self. He is doing a large shipping busi- 

 ness this year, in addition to supplying 

 a number of the stores in Washington 

 and Baltimore. C. JL. L. 



BUSINESS MANAGEMENT. 



[A paper by R. C. Kerr, of Houston, read at 

 the convention of the Teras State Florists* Asso- 

 ciation at Fort Worth July 6, 1916.] 



I suppose there are no two features 

 of our business that are more neglected 

 than those pertaining to advertising and 

 bookkeeping. There is no line of busi- 

 ness that needs a thorough system of 

 bookkeeping and judicious advertising 

 more than the florists' business. 



How many florists in Texas today 

 know whether or not their greenhouse 

 is a paying propositioh? While visit- 

 ing over the state this year, I have 

 been amazed at the great amount of 

 wasted room in the greenhouses of 

 Texas. Are your greenhouses produc- 

 ing 50 cents per square foot each year? 

 If not, then they are a losing propo- 

 sition. All over and above this amount 

 is profit. As the average cost of la- 

 bor, stock and fuel, the above figure is 

 a fair estimate by an authority. 



Eliminate the Unprofitable. 



The reason this subject is so vitally 

 interesting to me is that about six 

 months ago we had an auditor install 

 a new set of books — and I want to tell 

 you we have had some eye-openers. I 

 am frank to say that our greenhouses 

 up to that time had never made us one 

 dollar. We are now culling out the 

 stock that is unprofitable and adding 

 more stock that has showed profit. 



This is not only so with our green- 

 houses, as we have had many leaks in 

 our store. The auditor opened a com- 

 plete set of books for the store, one 

 that shows what each department is do- 

 ing, funeral work, plants, decorating, 

 miscellaneous, etc. We have found the 

 average cost of each delivery, the per- 

 centage of the cost of advertising, and 

 other things of this nature that there 

 was no way of getting at before. It is 

 positively staggering, on investigation, 

 to find the great losses we have been 

 suffering, and to think that we did 



J. W. Corridon, of Tuxedo Park, Md., and a Few of his Lilies. 



business in such a reckless manner. 

 There is no other business that can 

 be conducted so badly as some of us 

 conduct the florists' business and have 

 it last a year's time. 



Protect Your Credit. 



Another matter I want to touch upon 

 is that of our credit. Many florists are 

 careless with their credit. Did you ever 

 figure what you can save in one year's 

 time by discounting your bills? If not, 

 do so and you will find it will run into 

 a nice sum. Then, too, you can face 

 the world with a smile and say you owe 

 no one. 



A prominent florist from central 

 Texas tells me he owes no one except 

 his banker. This florist is what I call 

 a good business man. The florists of 

 Texas today are in better condition 

 financially than those in some other 

 sections, so let us strive to clean the 

 sheets and pay all our obligations, 

 even though we have to go to our 

 banner to do it. Tell the world the flo- 

 rists of Texas owe no one; we have the 

 real cash; give us the goods. 



Advertising for Retailers. 



Now just a few words on advertis- 



ing. For the last three years this has 

 been my hobby, and we have increased 

 our business wonderfully bj- consistent 

 advertising. I want to say that ad- 

 vertising can make you, or it can 

 break you. It is something you will 

 have to study closely. In newspaper 

 advertising, ten per cent of the people 

 who read the paper buy flowers; ten 

 per cent of the flower buyers read your 

 ad, and ten per cent of those who see 

 your ad are ready to buy flowers. You 

 pay for 100 per cent of the circulation 

 and get results from one-tenth of one 

 per cent. This may be slightly over- 

 drawn, but it is a safe figure. My point 

 is this — your medium must reach the 

 flower-buying people. 



With the coming of the moving pic- 

 ture shows, there opened up another 

 good avenue for advertising. But this 

 must be only in the best theaters; and 

 the same rules that apply to the news- 

 papers apply to the moving picture 

 shows. Don't pay for dead circulation. 

 Your advertising campaign should be 

 laid out a year ahead and followed out 

 to the letter, in order to get results. 



Now, just a word about direct adver- 

 tising. Frankly, I believe more study 



One of the Lily Ponds of J. V. Corridon, Toxedo Park, Md. 



- 1 



