Decembek 27, 190G. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



4J7 



graduated card tells him the charges on 

 twenty pounds at this rate is $1.65. He 

 doesn't look to see that the special rate 

 is $4 and that the charge of 80 cents is 

 correct, but adds 85 cents to the bill, 

 collecting $1.65 from consignee. Is it 

 any wonder that people become discour- 

 aged and do not care to repeat the oper- 

 ation? How many people do you imag- 

 ine have quit sending away for their 

 plants just for this reason. You hear 

 of a few, but the majority simply drop 

 out. It is not the fault of the express 

 company, but the ignorance of some em- 

 ployee, and prepaying the shipments will 

 be a protection against this, to both 

 yourself and customer. 



Small Packages. 



I have found that to send small pack- 

 ages by express is satisfactory in many 

 ways. You have the means of tracing 

 your shipments and knowing the condi- 

 tion in which they were received. Few 

 complaints are received as to boxes being 

 broken or plants crushed, but in cases 

 where this occurs, claims can be made 

 for them, and replaces sent free where 

 goods have been damaged in transit. 



The express companies have met the 

 postal rates on plants, and have gone 

 them one better. If a parcels post is 

 adopted giving us a lower rate than the 

 third-class rate, no doubt the express 

 companies will meet that rate, but, if the 

 parcels post raises the rate on plants, 

 the express companies will without a 

 doubt raise their rates to the one 

 adopted by Uncle Sam. With com- 

 panies giving us as good rates as 

 are in existence, we should encourage 

 them by giving them more of our busi- 

 ness — business we are now sending by 

 mail, and for which we are paying more 

 than if sent by express. 



Use of Baskets. 



I am not in the employ of any express 

 company, nor am I fortunate enough to 

 own a block of stock in any of them, but 

 if you will take the pains to familiarize 

 yourselves with their rates, only to those 

 applying to your business, I am certain 

 you will not think them the demons they 

 are pictured. Either ignorance of the 

 rates or negligence on the part of the 

 shippers in packing is often the cause 

 for excessive charges collected on plant 

 shipments. My attention was lately 

 called to a case of a shipment, that, had 

 the packer been familiar with the rates, 

 would have saved the customer $1.05. 

 The shipment consisted of two packages 

 weighing twenty pounds each. One was 

 a box, the other a basket. These two 

 packages could not be sent under the 

 same rate, yet they were consigned to the 

 same person. The charge on the basket 

 was $2.45, on the box $1.40. Had it been 

 packed in one box weighing forty 

 pounds, or in two boxes weighing twenty 

 pounds each, the charges would have 

 been $2.80 instead of $3.85. Will the 

 customer unuerstand why the express 

 company charges $1.05 more for one 

 package weighing twenty pounds than 

 it did for the other? And, if the express 

 agent explains to him why this differ- 

 ence was made, will he not think the 

 shipper should know of these things, thus 

 saving his customer these excessive 

 charges? 



The higher charge on a basket is not 

 its only drawback as a packing case. I 

 have watched wagonmen load their 

 wagons and messengers placing their 

 freight in cars. If they have a small 

 hole to fill up, just too small for any 



Store of the Geller Florists' Supply G),, New York, 



package or box available, they find a 

 basket of plants the best thing to squeeze 

 together and force into that hole. It 

 fits perfectly and when it is taken out 

 and pressed back into shape it is im- 

 possible to tell where the damage oc- 

 curred, as the records show it to have 

 been delivered in apparently good condi- 

 tion. 



If you are going to prepay a shipment, 

 or are going to send it collect, and don 't 

 want your customer to go into the yir, 

 uo not pack in baskets. Of course, you 

 can send to many points in baskets as 

 cheaply as in boxes, but only in cases 

 where the maximum charge on the regu- 

 lar merchandise rate would be 35 cents. 



If you have more than one box for 

 the same consignee, pack so that each 

 shipment will weigh twenty pounds or 

 more, as the weight is aggregated, liut 

 if one box weighs less than twenty 

 pounds to be aggregated with other 

 packages, it is billed at twenty pounds. 

 If you must pack in two boxes and each 

 weighs less than twenty pounds, fasten 

 the two boxes together after they are 

 packed instead of sending as two pack- 

 ages. 



Playing Favorites. 



Do not play favorites in shipping. Di- 

 vide your common point and foreign 

 company business among all of the com- 

 panies and you will find that you receive 

 better service, and any grievance you 

 may have with any company will receive 

 better attention. If nothing is done to 

 correct some error, or if the company is 

 dilatory in settling claims, or tracing 

 shipments, then take this business from 

 it for a few days and see how quickly 

 they will try to adjust matters. If each 

 agent sees he is getting some business 

 each day that the other fellow could take, 

 he feels that you are favoring him ; con- 

 sequently he feels he should favor yon 

 whenever he has the opportunity to do so. 



Knowted(;e of Rates Necessary. 



Become better acquainted with the ex- 

 press plant rates; study them until you 

 understand all the points. Any of the 

 express agents will be glad to come to 

 your office and spend as much time as 

 you desire explaining them to you. If 

 you will do this I am positive you will 



have more satisfactory relations with the 

 express companies than heretofore. 



IXIAS. 



The cultivation of the ixias is of the 

 simplest, and in growing them for deco- 

 rations, or supplying cut flowers, it is an 

 excellent practice to use 5-inch or 6-inch 

 pots, and to put six or seven bulbs in 

 each. The pots should be provided with 

 eflScient drainage, and filled with a com- 

 post consisting of fibrous loam four parts 

 and leaf -mold and sand one part. Press 

 the compost firmly about the bulbs, and 

 when the potting is completed, plunge 

 the pots to their rim in a bed of ashes or 

 cocoanut nuer refuse made up in an un- 

 heated pit. With the compost in a 

 moderately moist state when the bulbs 

 are potted, no water will be required un- 

 less they have commenced to make new 

 growth, and then in very moderate quanti- 

 ties. Ventilate freely after the growth 

 has commenced, and remove the lights 

 except in wet weather or during frosts. 

 In the ordinary course the bulbs will have 

 made several inches of growth by Febru- 

 ary, when they should be removed to the 

 greenhouse or other cool, airy structure, 

 and be placed near the glass to ensure 

 their having the advantage of uninter- 

 rupted light. Care in watering is neces- 

 sary at all stages, for ixias suflfer mate- 

 rially when the supply of water is in 

 excess of their requirements. 



In outdoor culture select a sunny bor- 

 der where the growth will in spring be 

 sheltered from north and east winds. 

 Make up a bed four or five inches or so 

 above the general level with sandy loam, 

 and place the bulbs three inches apart. 

 Then cover them with a layer of coarse 

 sand, and upon this put a 3-inch layer 

 of soil. The bed should then be covered 

 with straw, bracken, or loose material, to 

 protect from frost, but the covering must 

 be removed in early spring or the growth 

 will become drawn. — Gardeners ' Maga- 

 zine. 



Zanesville, O.— a. R. Edwards held a 

 reception at his store one afternoon and 

 evening last week. He had on exhibi- 

 tion cut flowers, plants, moss wreaths, 

 goldfish, holly and an abundance of Nor- 

 way pine and Christmas trees. A hand- 

 some souvenir was given each guest. 



