• ^v 



926 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Fkbboaby 14, 1907. 



booklet presented to the departing in- 

 quirer serves as a further reminder of 

 the object in view at the time they en- 

 tered your store, and it also supplies 

 additional information at a time when 

 the recipient is in a receptive mood for 

 acquiring knowledge pertaining to flow- 

 ers. 



My experience has been that about 

 ninety per cent of all customers make 

 inquiries or seek information about 

 plants, cut flowers or some novelty car- 

 ried by the florist. Each person entering 

 your store is good, on the average, for 

 three questions. If you have from twen- 

 ty-five to 100 customers daily and each 

 asks three questions, it is easily com- 

 puted how many replies you will have 

 made. 



Time is money to the florist. Any- 

 thing that expedites waiting on custom- 

 ers or assists in answering their questions 

 helps him make money. It gives inquir- 

 ing prospective customers desirable and 

 useful information which they have been 

 seeking. 



The little folder, ' ' Care of Cut Flow- 



productive in securing new business, as 

 well as stimulating business from old 

 customers. 



The flower purchasing public has not 

 been supplied with specific information 

 by the retail florist to the extent that 

 they have a right to expect. They 

 haven't the time or disposition to read 

 lengthy dissertations on the technical 

 phases of the question. The folder seems 

 to supply just what the public wants. 

 It contains about 1,200 words. It is con- 

 cise and practical and only takes about 

 two minutes to read. 



The title page is an arrangement of 

 ferns in neat design, the whole being 

 printed in green ink upon a light shade 

 of green paper of good quality. 



As an advertising proposition it has 

 justified my greatest expectations. It 

 is exceptionally profitable and brings im- 

 mediate returns. Horace K. Hughes. 



A CANADIAN DESIGN. 



The accompanying illustration is repro- 

 duced from a photograph made at the es- 



Shield on Easel made by T. A. Ivey, Brantfordt OnU 



ers, Palms and Ferns," was written and 

 published in an endeavor to instruct, an- 

 swer questions daily asked of a florist, 

 and assist in aiding customers to decide 

 the kind of flowers they wish to use for 

 certain occasions. 



I have found the little folders very 



tablishment of Thomas A. Ivey, at Brant- 

 ford, Ont. It represents a large design 

 made recently by Mr. Ivey for the fu- 

 neral of the late Colonel Cameron, of the 

 Dufferin Kifles. The honorary colonel 

 of the regiment was the late Lord Duf- 

 ferin, who was formerly governor gen- 



eral of Oanada. The motto of his fam- 

 ily is "Per vias rectas, " meaning 

 through right paths. This was lettered 

 on the design in immortelles. The shield 

 was made solid with white carnations, 

 the spray being of Sunset roses, valley 

 and adiantum, and was the particularly 

 effective part of the design. The shield 

 was attached to an easel, which does 

 not show in the picture. It stood five 

 feet high. 



Mr. Ivey has ptiblished a neat booklet 

 of his designs, which he sends out to 

 prospective buyers and hands to visitors. 

 It is especially good for securing mail 

 orders. 



A DECORATOR'S AID. /' 



The plant stand shown in the accom- 

 panying illustrations is not a new inven- 

 tion. It has been used by the George 

 Wittbold Co., Chicago, for fifteen years, 

 but it never has been offered to the 

 trade, although every now and then some 

 florist sees the stands in use and wants 

 a few of them to use in his own deco- 

 rative work. The illustrations show the 

 front and the back view of a group of 

 plants arranged with the aid of the 

 stand, which really is a combination 

 plant stand and vase. The picture shows 

 the shape and character of the stand 

 without making necessary any further 

 description than that it is made of gal- 

 vanized iron, light and strong. The 

 two funnel-like sections are made to slip 

 apart, so that the stands may be tele- 

 scoped to occupy less space. When 

 telescoped a dozen stands occupy no 

 more space than do€S one in the position 

 for use. As shown, a considerable group 

 of plants may be arranged on one stand. 

 Blocks made for tilting the pots of the 

 plants at the base of the stand are made 

 of iron in various sizes, to hold differ- 

 ent sizes of pots securely. "With the aid 

 of this outfit any size of plant may be 

 used and any plant in the group may be 

 tipped to any angle desired. 



MR. VILCOX VISITS TEXAS. 



J. F. Wilcox, the well-known grower 

 of Council Bluffs, Iowa, has just re- 

 turned from a three weeks' tour through 

 Texas, and as his knowledge of land 

 values, climate, chemical qualities of the 

 soil, moisture, rainfall, etc., is that of 

 an expert on subjects of that sort, bis 

 opinion of Texas, or at least those por- 

 tions of it he visited, are of more than 

 ordinary interest and value. 



"I spent some time at San Antonio," 

 said Mr. Wilcox, "made two visits at 

 Cotulla, went west as far as Eagle Pass 

 and eastward as far as Corpus Christi 

 on the gulf coast. Texas is a state of a 

 great variety of soils, soils that are of 

 variable value and adapted to a great 

 range of vegetation. This fact is devel- 

 oping more and more every day as the 

 state is becoming more thickly settled 

 and a scientific knowledge is being ob- 

 tained of its agricultural possibilities. It 

 must be remembered that a great por- 

 tion of southwestern Texas has lain dor- 

 mant, only awaiting the touch of skilled 

 husbandry to develop it. 



"Cotton is, of course, to Texas what 

 corn is to Iowa, but there are other 

 crops that will net the farmer much 

 larger returns, provided he is successful 

 in marketing his product. The success- 

 ful cultivation of watermelons and Ber- 

 muda onions is assured. Watermelons 

 can be grown at little expense and with- 

 out irrigation, and if the grower is suc- 

 cessful in getting his crop on the market 



