4)6 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



December 27, 1906. 



difficult to recommend any, every seeds- 

 man having a favorite strain. Broadly 

 then, I would say grow a small propor- 

 tion of the early market varieties. The 

 Boston Market is a good one. For a suc- 

 ceeding variety grow the Peony Perfec- 

 tion and for a late crop be sure to grow 

 Semple's Branching, or Vick's, which 

 is similar. I must also advise you to 

 try some of the Comet variety, which is 

 distinct and by specialists has been 

 brought to great perfection. 



The writer remembers when in this 

 country we thought we could not get 

 aster seed unless it was imported in 

 packets from Germany or the south of 

 France. That was a fallacy, for our 

 summer climate is as good as theirs for 

 saving seed and all you have to do is to 

 select the finest flowers from plants of 



the best habit and let them go to seed. 

 Select your fine flowers and tie a United 

 States flag on them and you will soon 

 have aster seed of your own saving. 



You will not need any other fertilizer 

 besides stable manure for several years 

 and lucky you are if you can get plenty 

 of that. I would advise you to plow 

 your ground in the fall and when it is 

 in a condition to be friable in the spring, 

 harrow or cultivate it. As it is too late 

 for that now, be content with plowing 

 some fine day next April. Do not make 

 your aster fields beyond reach of the 

 hose, for asters suffer terribly in a dry 

 time, which often occurs in August. 



By no means put more than twenty- 

 five in a bunch, each bunch wrapped in 

 tissue paper, and there will be no danger 

 of their heating. W. S. 



FLORISTS AND 

 EXPRESS RATES 



••TITrTTTCTTTCl I I ITTTTTTTrrirrTTTTTTTTTTTT TTTT 



Complaint is Frequent. 



There is much complaint against trans- 

 portation companies just now and we 

 often hear it asserted that express rjites 

 are constantly being raised. They may 

 have been raised on cut flowers, in cer- 

 tain cases, but on plants they have actu- 

 ally been decreasing. The express rates 

 on plants, bulbs and seeds are of two 

 classes. One is known as section D, the 

 other as ' ' general special, ' ' We should 

 make money for ourselves by studying 

 them. 



To Compete With Mail. 



Section D matter must be sent prepaid, 

 the rate being the same as third-class 

 mail matter, except that the minimum 

 charge is 10 cents for each company car- 

 rying. These rates also apply to Can- 

 ada, whereas the mail rate is double, 

 viz., 1 cent an ounce. These rates can 

 be applied to all shipments, no matter 

 what the weight, but 2 cents is deducted 

 from each package when the weight is 

 fifty ounces or more, and no charge for 

 a package weighing less than fifty ounces 

 to be more than the charge for fifty 

 ounces. For example, on three pounds 

 two ounces, or fifty ounces, the charge is 

 23 cents. Four pounds ten ounces can be 

 sent to any place in either the United 

 States or Canada where any of the ex- 

 press companies belonging to the traffic 

 committee are represented for 35 cents, 

 and 35 cents is the minimum charge on 

 general specials. Shipments above four 

 pounds ten ounces will be sent under the 

 general special class unless the special 

 rate is more than $8 per hundred, when 

 section D rate will again be used. 



The express company will always give 

 you the benefit of the lowest rate. But 

 I will state here that it is well to check 

 up the receipted bill, which should show 

 the weight of the shipments, and if low- 

 est rate has not been applied it may eas- 

 ily be detected. These overcharges are 

 not done intentionally, but are due to a 



A synopsis of a paper by Leman Bradford, 

 serretary of the Springfield Floral Co., read at 

 the November meeting of the Springfield Flo- 

 rists' Club. 



Previous to embarking In the greenhouse busi- 

 ness Mr. Bradford served for a number of years 

 as agent for the Wells-Fargo Express Co. at 

 Springfield, O. 



lack of knowledge of the rate on the part 

 of the bill clerk. I have found by expe- 

 rience that this was one of the hardest 

 problems to get into a new bill clerk's 

 head. 



General Special. 



The general special rate is defined in 

 the express tariffs as a certain per cent 

 or rate less than the regular merchandise 

 rate, at pound rates, no charge less than 

 35 cents for each company carrying. For 



The small Gladiolus advertisement 

 we had in the 



not only brought inquiries from all 



parts of this country but from Europe 



as weU. The REVIEW is the paper 



to advertise in. It seems to go 



everywhere. 



S. HUTH 



Cuyahoga Falls, O. 

 Dec. 22, 1906. 



a number of years twenty per cent off 

 has been this rate, but within the last 

 year a better rate has been given to the 

 following states: Connecticut, Delaware, 

 District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, 

 Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, 

 Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New 

 Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, 

 Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas^ 

 Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wis- 

 consin, and South Dakota points east of 

 the Missouri river. This scale begins at 

 the 90-cent merchandise rate, going to 



the $8 merchandise rate, which will cover 

 the rate from Springfield to any point in 

 the states named. 



If the merchandise rate ia $1 per hun- 

 dred pounds the general special rate is 

 80 cents, or just twenty per cent dis- 

 count. When merchandise rates are 

 higher the general special plant rate is 

 as follows: 



The special rate to all other states is 

 twenty per cent less than the merchan- 

 dise rates except when goods are shipped " 

 in baskets, when regular merchandise 

 rates apply, but they are taken at pound 

 rates. Pound rates means, the charge 

 per pound is in cents what the charge 

 per one hundred is in dollars. For ex- 

 ample: If the merchandise rate to a 

 point in Texas is $6 the special is $4, or 

 4 cents a pound. Then the charge on a 

 twenty-pound package would be 80 cents, 

 but if shipped in baskets it would be 6 

 cents a pound, making a charge of $1.20, 

 yet the charges on a package of merchan- 

 dise not eligible to the general special 

 would be $1.65. So it will be seen that 

 the florists are treated much better than 

 the other shippers, except publishers, 

 fruit and produce dealers, and shippers 

 of beer and whisky. I could never un- 

 derstand why the express companies low- 

 ered the florists to a level with these 

 four shippers, or put them on a par 

 with the florists. 



Rates to California. 



Another thing that is not generally 

 known is that California has 350 points 

 with a special rate of $7 and $7.50. a 

 large majority being $7. This is a bet- 

 ter rate than is given by Uncle Sam. 

 The balance of the points in the state 

 cannot be more than $8, which is the 

 same rate offered by mail, with enough 

 left on each package of fifty ounces or 

 more to pay the expense of sending a 

 postal notice of shipment. 



Overcharges. 



As I stated before, section D must be 

 prepaid, but general specials may be 

 sent collect, so that the customer gets 

 the advantage of this rate also; but the 

 trouble is that in many cases the agent 

 at destination, through ignorance, over- 

 charges the consignee. If a bill is made 

 with either less or more charges than 

 should be, it is the duty of the agent at 

 destination to make correction on the 

 bill, collecting the correct amount. 



Very few overcharges are made at the 

 larger points, but at the small towns the 

 railroad agent acts for the express com- 

 pany, and in most cases on a commis- 

 sion. These are the ones who do not 

 keep posted on the rates. True, they 

 have the tariffs, but as a rule they do 

 not study them as they should, and, un- 

 less a great deal of matter under gen- 

 eral specials is shipped from their office, 

 they know very little of the special rates. 

 We will take for example a ease using 

 the same rate as I have shown: One 

 of these agents receives a package 

 weighing twenty jlounds, billed at 80 

 cents. This app.ears to him to be a 

 small charge, especially if he is a 

 commission agent. He refers to his 

 tariff, finds the merchandise rates per 

 one hundred pounds to be $6 and his 



