Makch 29, 1906. 



The Weekly Rorists' Review* 



/,/ 



J289 



■eheap and often injurious ingredients, 

 their price may appear high at first 

 glance, but calculating their units of 

 fioluble plant food they compare favor- 

 ^ly in price, especially with so-called 

 natural fertilizers. 



After all is said and done the balfl 

 fact remains that the only food that is 

 of any use to the plant roots is a soluble 

 fertilizer. 



RETAILERS AND NEW ROSES. 



[A paper by George Asmus, Chicago, read be- 

 fore the American Rose Society at Boston, 

 March 23, 1906.] 



The reader is enthusiastic on any sub- 

 ject in floriculture, whereby the exchang- 

 ing of ideas is possible; and with that 

 view firmly established at a very early 

 age became a member of our noble 

 Society of American Florists and Orna- 

 mental Horticulturists. I have become 

 affiliated with local florists* clubs, flower 

 shews and two of the great offspring 

 of the S. A. F., namely, the American 

 Eose and Carnation Societies. With that 

 feeling predominant I accepted the in- 

 vitation to read this paper before this 

 honorable body, to express the views I 

 have upon this subject. 



To handle my subject briefly and 

 clearly I have reduced the retailers' part 

 in the introduction of new roses into 

 what I shall term eight reasons, as fol- 

 lows : 



First — He should become acquainted 

 with as many new roses as possible. 



Second — He should acquaint himself 

 with the flowering habits of new roses. 



Third — He should display new varie- 

 ties prominently in show windows and 

 store. 



Fourth — He should arrange with com- 

 mission men or growers for regular sup- 

 ply of new varieties. 



Fifth — He should learn the parentage 

 or source of new varieties. 



Sixth — He should interest himself in 

 naming of new varieties. 



Seventh — He should devote part of 

 his time to horticultural societies and 

 local florists' clubs to relate experience 

 with new varieties. 



Eighth — He should be one of a set of 

 judges and his essays more frequent. 



Buyers of Educated Class. 



I will now endeavor to answer the 

 first of above reasons why the retailer 

 should become acquainted with new va- 

 rieties. The American flower buyers are 

 principally composed of the educated 

 classes who are desirous of knowledge; 

 more so when pertaining to anything 

 new. I will cite one incident that oc- 

 curred during my stay here at the recent 

 American Carnation Society's meeting, 

 one that struck me very forcibly. 



With several others, I was visiting one 

 of the prominent florists of this city, 

 when a lady entered, evidently a cus- 

 tomer, who had availed herself of the 

 opportunity to visit the beautiful dis- 

 play of carnations staged in this build- 

 ing by America's best growers. She 

 had with her a bloom of a new carna- 

 tion, and being deeply interested in it 

 wanted to know more about the flower, 

 but contrary to her expectations none of 

 the clerical force was able to give her 

 the desired information. Luckily one 

 of our party overheard the conversation 

 and delighted the lady with the knowl- 

 edge she had troubled herself to secure. 



This led me to inquire how many of 

 the sessions the three florists in that par- 

 ticular store had attended. I was sur- 



George Asmus. 



prised to hear that neither one had been 

 to the Horticultural hall at all; and was 

 more surprised when -asked by one of 

 the clerks (who professed fifteen years' 

 experience), "What kind of a show have 

 they got any way?" This to me, who 

 had traveled 1,000 miles, was a revela- 

 tion 1 Had he availed himself of the 

 opportunity to become better posted on 

 new varieties by attending the meeting 

 he would have been able to creditably 

 answer the lady's questions. 



Retailers Need Ambition. 



Surely our art is one to be proud of, 

 and this hall this evening ought to be 

 packed with local retailers filled with 

 ambition and pride in their calling. The 

 press of the whole country is evidently 

 awakening to the great desire of the 

 public on anything pertaining to horti- 

 culture; and we are on the eve of a 

 great and prosperous future. Therefore 

 it behooves the retailer as the great 

 medium, he who meets the buyer direct, 

 to acquaint himself with the new roses 

 and distribute that information truly 

 and accurately to his trade. 



* My second reason is : Why the retailer 

 should acquaint himself with the flower- 

 ing habits of new roses, because the 

 flowering habits regulate the supply and 

 the supply very often the price. He 

 would also know when to expect the 

 largest cut and thus be able to obtain 

 blossoms in quantity for all occasions, as, 

 for instance, a regular purchaser of a 

 certain variety intends to entertain, and 

 wants to know if she can obtain her 

 favorite roses for that date. The confi- 



dence of the person would be strength- 

 ened by immediate knowledge. 



Should Display New Varieties. 



Eegarding my third reason: Why the 

 retailer should display prominently new 

 varieties; this is very important and 

 bears more than ordinary interest to 

 his business. As 1 said before, the pub- 

 lic is constantly looking for something 

 new, and it is a fact also that people 

 who are undecided as to the nature of 

 the article they intend to purchase are 

 often attracted by a particularly fine 

 vase of new roses or anything new in 

 our line, thereby causing many sales 

 that would not otherwise have been 

 made. Therefore, if it is the good for- 

 tune of the retailer to have at his dis- 

 posal the crop of some grower who has 

 spent his time and skill and has blessed 

 floriculture with the fruits of his labor, 

 the retailer should do his part, and I 

 will venture to say that if he made a 

 proper display and made an effort to 

 secure the information for which he is 

 constantly besieged, he would begin to 

 understand why his business was so dull. 



I saw displayed by a prominent florist 

 in a very large window a vase of Cath- 

 erine Mermet, at that time being new, 

 and to the right and left not quite so 

 prominently, its two sports, Bride and 

 Bridesmaid. Making inquiries about re- 

 sults, I found that by being so adver- 

 tised, many sales were made, owing to 

 proper display. This goes to show that 

 very often we have cooped up in our 

 ice boxes novelties that should be con- 

 tinually before the public. 



