148 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



June 7, 1908; 



But it is with the special sales that 

 the trade is most concerned. These salerf 

 are invariably at prices much below the 

 usual retail values. They are of much 

 assistance to overstocked wholesalers and 

 are at certain seasons largely used by the 

 department stores as a means of at- 

 tracting a class of people who are not 

 usually appealed to by the ordinary bar- 

 gain offerings in other lines. 



The success which almost invariably 

 attends these department store flower 

 sales causes them to be very popular 

 with the stores which are using them, 

 and many who nave not hitherto tried 

 flower sales are giving them a test now 

 that stock is cheap in large lots in 

 wholesale markets. 



The success which attends the efforts 

 of the department store manager when 

 he goes into the flower business causes 

 many retailers to feel much alarm. That 

 this is needless is shown by the expe- 

 rience at Kansas City, which ^'as one of 

 the first towns in which the department 

 store cut flower sales were tried, and 

 where they flourished greatly. There 



DECORATION DAY. 



Like Mother Hubbard's Cupboard. 



The following original lines by an 

 enthusiastic reader give a very accura.te 

 summary of the general state of affairs 

 at the time hientioned : 

 Ol'l florist Schuler. he went to the cooler, 



"Bout ten on Memorial day; 

 Sa.vs he, "Nix come here oue, not « ro8e In the 

 liouse, " 



And bl» customer hiked him away. 



Memorial day business has shown a 

 rapid annual increase for the past half 

 dozen,, ^ears, a^^aa^ now taken rank 

 with the most imporiafat days upon the 

 florists ' calendar, calling for more cut 

 flowers than any other day, not excepting 

 Easter, and affording an opportunity for 

 profit not possible when stock is less 

 plentiful and high in price. 



So often has it been reported that 

 sales * ' broke all records ' ' that it is a 

 discredited expression, but comparing last 

 week's Memorial day with any of its 

 predecessors, nothing else will do; it is 

 the story told in every wholesale market — 

 {"nd the wholesale markets always afford 



r 



Shower Bouquet of Lily of the VaUey. 



the leading retailers say that instead 

 of being an injury to the trade, the de- 

 partment store saJes serve as educators 

 of the public taste for flowers, and in 

 the end bring new trade to the regular 

 flower stores at season when stock is too 

 high for the department plan of mer- 

 chandising. 



a true index to what is doing with the 

 retailers. Cold weather following un- 

 seasonable warmth retarded production 

 over a large section of the country and 

 put a vim into the business which would 

 have been lacking had stock been more 

 abundant. The wholesale markets made 

 a very satisfactory clean-up and the re- 



tail trade everywhere shared in the gen- 

 eral good business. In store after store- 

 it was the case as with "Old florist 

 Schuler," customers went away without 

 stock because everything was sold. 



One of the notable features was the- 

 popularity of the peony. Possibly be- 

 cause of its brief season as much as' 

 because of the good qualities of the 

 flower, it has taken a strong hold on the- 

 public fancy and hundreds of thousands 

 of dozens were sold at prices which alll 

 peony growers must consider excellent^ 



LONG HdtJRS. 



. ;f»" 



It is not unusual to hear growers com- 

 plain of the long hours which are a fea- 

 ture of their calling, where watchful- 

 ness must be maintained throughout the 

 twenty-four hours, but the retailers have 

 equal cause for fault-finding on this 

 score. If eternal vigilance is the price 

 of liberty, it is also the means of re- 

 taining freedom from the many ills the 

 growers are heir to, and with the retail- 

 ers a constant readiness to respond to 

 the demands of hurry-up calls for any- 

 thing from a boutonniere to a funeral 

 bunch or a dinner decoration is the price 

 of success. It takes the form of being 

 on deck, open for business, early and 

 late. 



During the season the average retail 

 store is open fourteen or fifteen hours a 

 day and at least part of Sundays and 

 holidays. Added to this, a run of fu- 

 neral work will often necessitate work- 

 ing the better part of the night, a big 

 decoration will call for night work, and 

 at Christmas and Easter it is not un- 

 common for the full force to work all 

 night J3t|tting up orders for ejarly morn- 

 ing delivery. These things seem neces- 

 sary in a business where calls not met 

 at the moment are forever lost. 



But now that the season is nearing 

 an end it is time for relaxation. Noth- 

 ing can be lost by early closing during 

 summer and fresh energy will be stored 

 up for the strenuous season which comes 

 with returning autumn. 



COUNCIL OF HORTICULTURE. 



Press Bureau's Report. 



The tenth instalment of the experi- 

 mental press service conducted by the 

 National Council of Horticulture was dis- 

 tributed May 18 to the 2,500 of more 

 daily and weekly newspapers that had 

 received the previous instalments, either 

 by mail direct or through press bureaus. 



This completes the expenditure of $180^ 

 set aside for a test service to determine 

 the willingness of the newspapers of the 

 country, large and small, to print matter, 

 carefully prepared, calculated to stimulate 

 the public interest in horticulture in all 

 its branches, and to benefit financially 

 the florist, seed and nursery trades. 



The test has been successful. Letters 

 from more than a score of managing 

 editors of the best known newspapers 

 of the country prove that the willingness 

 of newspapers to print the articles -we 

 have distributed has amounted in manj 

 cases to eagerness. 



The Plan Persued. 



A list of the largest daily newspapers 

 in the country and of six large press 

 bureaus, engaged in syndicating matter 

 to both daily and weekly publications^ 

 was prepared the latter part of March,, 

 and the service was begun with a letter 



