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1248 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



March 14, 1907. 



THE JEWEL CASKET. 



One of the novelties is the jewel 

 casket shown in the accompanying illus- 

 tration. It looks as though it were made 

 of heavy iron and as if it were very old. 

 A few of the best stores in New York, 

 Chicago and other cities have had it as 

 an exclusive specialty and have found it 

 sold well with such flowers as violets, 

 the sizes being just right for this pur- 

 l)ose. Now the Geller Florists' Supply 

 Co., which states that it is sole importer, 

 is sending the jewel box broadcast in the 

 trade. 



PLANTS BY MAIL. 



[A paper bj- P. J. Lynch, of West Grove, Pa., 

 read before the Florists' Club of Philadelphia 

 March 5, 1907.] 



While the subject assigned me only 

 treats of roses by mail, I shall neverthe- 

 less take the liberty of extending the 

 scope to the mail-order plant trade in 

 general. At first glance it might seem 

 that this subject is too prosaic to admit 

 of much that is new and interesting, es- 

 pecially to those not engaged in the mail 

 order business. There is, however, much 

 in common between the mail trade man 

 and the numerous other branches of the 

 florists' trade. 



The Pioneer. 



From the most humble beginning the 

 mail order trade, beset as it has been 

 with so many vicissitudes, has made mar- 

 velous strides. Few of us realize the 

 great work that is being done in this 

 branch of our trade, a work that has 

 brought untold advantages to everyone 

 engaged in the florists' business. I can 

 do no better than to repeat the opinion 

 expressed upon a previous occasion, that 

 your mail order man is the pioneer and 

 pathfinder of the craft, and he has car- 

 ried the gospel of loving flowers, es- 

 pecially roses, and how to get them and 

 grow them, to the most remote parts of 

 the country, and, in a measure, has been 

 the educator of the masses, those who 



He has had much to combat: First 

 of all, the skeptical public in early times 

 refused to believe that it was possible 

 to send rose plants, or plants of any 

 kind, safely by mail, particularly to dis- 

 tant points. Then, too, in the beginning 

 it would seem that the postal laws were 

 framed with special reference to the mail 

 order business, to prevent it from spread- 

 ing to any material extent. Thirty-five 

 years ago the rate of postage was the 

 same as that of letter postage. No plant 

 was allowed to bear a label, nor was the 

 name of the firm sending the package 

 allowed to appear on the outside. It 

 would be hard to imagine a condition 

 of affairs more discouraging than this, 

 but the germ of the mail order business 

 was firmly rooted, and the early pioneers 

 kept after the postoffice department un- 

 til these obnoxious conditions were modi- 

 fied and placed upon their present basis. 

 The efficiency of the mail service has 

 been improved, and now we are allowed 

 to send seeds, roots and plants of all 

 kinds under the rate of the third-class 

 postage, 1 cent for each two ounces or 

 fractional part thereof. 



Postal Reforms Needed. 



While the postal authorities have done 

 much to encourage the mail order busi- 

 ness, there is yet ample room for fur- 

 ther reform; in fact, with the annual de- 

 ficiency in the revenues of the postoffice 

 department it would seem that there is a 

 great opportunity to place the depart- 

 ment upon a business-like basis. Not 

 until there is concerted action in the mail 

 order trade will we secure such conces- 

 sions as we should have, and could un- 

 doubtedly get by unity of movement in 

 this direction. 



While I will not cite the rates of the 

 express companies as a criterion of all 

 that is equitable and fair, yet in some 

 respects they are far superior to our 

 postal rates. For example, the express 

 company will carry 100 pounds from 

 Philadelphia to Pittsburg for 40 cents, 



The Jewel Case for Violets. 



are not in close touch with the large cen- 

 ters of population where the rose, grown 

 for cut flowers, can make its own appeal. 

 He has been a factor in beautifying the 

 waste places of our land, and the great 

 work in which he is engaged has but 

 commenced. 



while the postofiice department would 

 charge $8 for 100 pounds of mail mat- 

 ter. The express companies conduct their 

 business upon a profitable basis, and 

 even the railroad companies provide 

 splendid accommodations for the public 

 in the passenger traffic at a much less 



rate than they charge the government to 

 carry the mails. 



It seems to me that mail matter, par- 

 ticularly in bulk, should be carried with 

 reference to the distance covered, just 

 the same as passenger traffic or express 

 rates. It might be urged that this would 

 bring about a great deal of unnecessary 

 confusion, but were the country divided 

 into sections or by meridians, and have- 

 a rate of postage to each section, it 

 would not bring about any more con- 

 fusion than is incident to the selling of 

 railroad tickets or making express rates 

 to various parts of the country. T he- 

 question is one, however, so broad in its 

 aspect that I shall not treat it further 

 at this time, but it is a subject that 

 might be carefully considered by the na- 

 tional society. And, too, the matter of 

 a parcels post system, similar ; to that 

 in vogue in Great Britain, should be- 

 sought after as a measure that would 

 revolutionize the mail order business to 

 a very great extent. 



Abuses in tlie Trade. 



I do not want to be classed among 

 pessimists, but in these days of reform 

 there is an opportunity to apply some 

 of it to the mail order trade. Sending 

 roses and plants of all kinds by mail 

 and guaranteeing their safe delivery to 

 any postoffice or express office in the 

 United States is the fundamental princi- 

 ple which has made the sending of plant* 

 by mail no longer a risk from the pur- 

 chaser 's viewpoint. 



Year after year large sums of money 

 are spent in advertising and the send- 

 ing out of catalogues, and the skeptical 

 public has been won and has confidence 

 in the mail order man; but in the en- 

 deavor to still further increase our busi- 

 ness there has crept in here and there 

 abuses which should be eliminated. 

 Through the trade papers there has been 

 considerable discussion as to the advis- 

 ability of giving premiums with every 

 order. The practice is a pernicious one,, 

 to my mind, and there is really no ex- 

 cuse for it. We oppose the free distri- 

 bution of seeds, but in our own business 

 we do not oppose the free distribution of 

 plants. There should be a flat price, a 

 price that leaves a legitimate margin of 

 profit; then the buyer*^ knows just ex- 

 actly what he is getting and what he has 

 to pay for. 



There are other abuses which could be 

 easily modified which would add much 

 to the moral tone of the mail order 

 trade, such as misleading guarantees, 

 which seem to grow more radical year 

 by year, and the sending out of plants 

 that are not true to name, which to my 

 mind is one of the most damaging prac- 

 tices which besets our trade. 



I am not an advocate of trusts and 

 so-called community of interests, but 

 there should be a common interest among 

 those engaged in the mail trade to bring 

 them in closer touch with each other and 

 modify many of the abuses which have 

 crept in. 



The mail order trade is one of inter- 

 minable detail, and a visit to an estab- 

 lishment at this time of year would 

 prove a revelation to the novice. A cor- 

 respondent, whose airy persiflage is al- 

 ways heard above the roar and din of 

 the battle, recently paid a visit to a 

 mail order establishment, where he was 

 shown upwards of a million small rose 

 plants, being sent to nearly every state 

 in the Union, and to foreign countries, 

 such as China and ^apan, where, not- 

 withstanding the trip of four to five 



