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Septbmbeii 10, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



5 



Iris Hispanica Mont Blanc. 



Division of Responsibility. 



Before passing this item of capacity I 

 might say that I have found it of great 

 benefit to divide the responsibilities of 

 work in the greenhouses, and we have a 

 general foreman, under whom are assist- 

 ant foremen, one for each department — 

 one for engineering work, one for steam 

 fitting, two for roses, one for carnations, 

 one for chrysanthemums, one for vfilley 

 and orchids, and so on in the different de- 

 partments. These men are in immediate 

 contact with the other members of the de- 

 partments, who are advised by them. 

 When the management, or the foreman, 

 or one of the assistant foremen; desires 

 to offer any suggestions — and such are al- 

 ways courted — or to make any changes in 

 plans, a cabinet meeting is held by the 

 manager, with the foreman and his as- 

 sistant foreman in consultation, and at 

 intervals meetings are held for the dis- 

 cussion of things that pertain to the es- 

 tate, in this way not only showing confi- 

 dence in these men but bringing about re- 

 sults that are often beneficial. These men 

 are specially considered and remunerated 

 at the end of the year, and in instances 

 where suggestions have been made by 

 growers not holding a special position, 

 where the estate manifestly benefited by 

 the thought, immediate recognition was 

 given, and a knowledge of these facts is 

 bound to give valuable help to the man- 

 agement. 



Advertising. 



As to advertising, no rule can be laid 

 down for any one business. We have 

 never done much advertising, because 

 most of the time the demand for our 

 goods has been greater than the supply, 

 but where we have had stock to offer in 

 unlimited quantities we believe it has 

 paid us to advertise in the trade journals, 

 and I refer, of course, specially to our 

 own Canadian journal, which is improving 

 so much in every respect and ought to be 

 ])atronized. There can be no question 

 about the advantage of advertising if 

 you have stock that ought to be sold and 

 there is any uncertainty as to the de- 

 mand. Advertisements should be honest, 

 fresh and to the point, not leaving them 

 in week after week without any change, 

 and in some cases longer than the season 

 of the goods spoken of. For instance, I 

 have seen, in our Canadian trade .iournal. 

 carnation cuttings advertised when all 



carnation cuttings had been sold, and the 

 season too late for sale even if any ex- 

 isted. Furthermore, I believe in plain 

 facts being stated and not so-called funny 

 or smart phrases, which to my mind do 

 not appeal to the up-to-date man of busi- 

 ness. For instance, I have just received 

 an advertisement with an imitation fish- 

 ing line and hook, headed ' ' Do You Hook 

 On?" I was not the kind of sucker to 

 be caught by that kind of bait, and at 

 once threw the advertisement into the 

 waste-basket without further reading. 



Regulation of Prices. 



As to prices, this is a tender but vital 

 part of our inward workings. I do not 

 believe in combines, and have never had 

 part in one, but I believe there should be 

 an intelligent arriving, as near as possi- 

 ble, at the cost of an article, and then the 

 selling at a fair price. I may be frank 

 enough to say that it has been our policy 

 to intimate to some other large growers 

 what we consider is a fai^ price, and to 

 invite their following suit, but we have 

 never endeavored to ascertain what prices 

 they charge, or found fault with their 

 following or rejecting what- we consider 

 to be fair and proper. I have, however, 

 an utter contempt for growers who will 



ask for price lists, intimating their inten- 

 tion to follow suit, and use the prices for 

 cutting on. When a price is fixed as a 

 proper one, and lists sent oat, that price 

 ought to be adhered to strictly. It is our 

 policy never to deviate, and one customer 

 is served to the same advantage as the 

 other. I believe that the building up of 

 some large business concerns is largely be- 

 cause of three things: First, careful buy- 

 ing, in our case careful growing; second, 

 one price; third, cash sale. 



Prompt Collections. 



Now as to the last item, cash. If a 

 man treats his men well, grows good 

 stock, grades properly, packs carefully, is 

 prompt in his delivery, and hands over 

 in good condition to the express com- 

 pany for his customer the order that he 

 has been intrusted with, he is entitled to 

 charge a fair price and to get the money. 

 Undue credit is a curse to business. For- 

 tunately, by degrees it is becoming less- 

 ened in every respect, and I believe that 

 the success of large firms, like the T. 

 Eaton Co. an'd Bobert Simpson Co., is due 

 largely to the strictly cash basis, which 

 is the only proper way of transacting 

 business. WTiat right has the grower to 

 pay for his stock, pay his employees for 

 growing, pay for his coal, and be out 

 thousands of dollars each month, with an 

 uncertainty as to whether or not he is 

 going to get it back? 



When, at his request, I first looked 

 into the affairs of the late Harry Dale, 

 I found that he neither knew how much 

 he owed nor how much was due him. Al- 

 though the business then was not more 

 than one-tenth what it is now, there was 

 then on his books, past due for any 

 period from one month to two years, 

 about $8,000, or about six months' busi- 

 ness, a great deal of which, of course, 

 was never got in. On suggesting to Mr. 

 Dale the advisability of refusing credit 

 in some instances altogether, and of cur- 

 tailing credit to even our best customers 

 to a limited time, he objected most stren- 

 uously, and said that customers would not 

 buy stock when they were looked to for 

 prompt payment. Tliis necessitated pur- 

 chasing all his supplies on credit, with 

 all sorts of liabilities floating around. 

 Knowing that this sort of thing was 

 bound to end in one way only, he called 

 in help, as I have stated in a former part 

 of this paper, but still did not care to 

 Imvo his customers drawn on at limited 



Iris Hispanica Louise. 



