The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Jdkb 4, 1908. 



rating, a perusal of the advertisements 

 in the Review will help you out. 



Hints on Handling tiie Work. 



When the day of the wedding or party 

 arrives, get an early start on the job. 

 If it is a large one it may even be 

 necessary to do some of the rough work 

 on the previous day. The sooner you 

 get through and out of the house, the 

 better the people will like it. 



Of course, if the decorations are for 

 an evening affair I would not advise you 

 to put the flowers in place until late 

 in the afternoon. 



Be sure you have with you what few 

 tools you will need; also, some wire, 

 string, strong pins and, if you expect 

 to have to use it, a step ladder, so that 

 you will not have to trouble the people 

 in the house. 



A good plan is to keep on hand one 

 or more large sheets of strong cloth 

 to lay on the floor. Set your plants on 

 these until you are ready to arrange 

 them. Keep all your stuff as much as 

 possible in one place and try to finish 

 up one part of the house at a time, so 

 as not to have the whole house upset. 



If you are left to yourself, so much 

 the better, but should the lady of the 

 house or, as is more often the case, some 

 kind, well-meaning neighbor want to 

 boss the job, you will have to keep 

 smiling just the same, even if your ideas 

 about decorating differ. Good taste is 

 really a secondary consideration; the 

 main thing is to please your customer, 

 so that she will tell all her friends about 



your work. When working about the 

 bouse be pleasant with everyone with 

 whom you come in contact, but have 

 your employees always keep in mind that 

 they are not making a social call on the 

 servants. Hugo Scheoeteb. 



SUPPLYING LOCAL DEMAND. 



In our admiration for the accomplish- 

 ments of the trade specialists, we often 

 lose sight of the man who caters to the 

 local trade of a small town. He is de- 

 serving of more recognition than he usu- 

 ally gets, for a florist in such a situation 

 must be an all-round specialist. He can- 

 not concentrate his effort upon carna- 

 tions, roses, sweet peas, violets, greens, 

 or pot plants, but must do them all well 

 enough to compare favorably with those 

 produced by the specialists with whose 

 products he frequently has to compete. 



To those who are accustomed to the ap- 

 pearance of an acre of glass under one 

 roof, devoted to one flower, the illus- 

 tration on page 5 will be of interest. 

 It shows one of the houses of T. G. Yale, 

 at Wellington, O., and indicates the way 

 in which both ends are made to meet, 

 and lap over, by growing a little of 

 everything for his home trade. 



This picture was taken just before 

 Memorial day and Mr. Yale says that 

 business not only has been good this sea- 

 son but that for Memorial day it was 

 much better than it ever had been be- 

 fore. As early as May 27 he had taken 

 enough orders to have beaten last year's 

 record had no more business come to him 

 in the three busiest days of the month. 



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RETAILER AND 



WHOLESALER 



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CO-OPERATION. 



[A paper by Arthur A. Niessen, secretary and 

 treasurer of the Leo Nlessen Co., read before 

 the Florists' Club of Philadelphia, June 2, 

 1908.] 



The full title of this paper is "Co- 

 operation Between Wholesaler and Re- 

 tailer in Times of Overproduction." 

 Why "in Times of Overproduction" was 

 added to the title is more than I can 

 understand. If we cannot work hand in 

 hand when the market is about evenly 

 balanced between supply and demand, 

 we certainly cannot expect to do so when 

 the commission man is at the mercy of 

 the retailer. 



A Serious Problem. , 

 We always have had, and will have, 

 at certain times of the season a glut of 

 some sort. This does not only apply to 

 our trade, but to every other line as well. 

 In our line it is due to unavoidable over- 

 production; in other lines, probably due 

 to an overestimated demand. I would 

 like to ask the retailers present. Are you 

 doing anything, or are you making any 

 effort whatever to relieve the market of 

 its overproduction? Beyond finding fault 

 with the manner in which the commission 

 jnan is trying to meet this serious prob- 

 lem, the majority are doing nothing. 



How to find a market for this over- 

 production is a problem worthy of a 

 genius. It has been our experience that. 



although we offer flowers to the retailer 

 at what would seem ridiculously low 

 prices, he will not buy any more than 

 he positively needs. The thought how he 

 could handle this stock, and in some way 

 increase his sales, never enters into the 

 minds of the majority of them. I am 

 quite sure, if the retailer were situated 

 the same as the commission man during 

 a glut, that if he had to take the stock 

 regardless of having an immediate outlet 

 for it, he would find ways and means to 

 make it profitable for him to handle it. 

 Necessity is the mother of invention, and 

 it is wonderful what we can do when 

 we must. 



Feeling is Antagonistic 



It is very evident that to a certain 

 degree the conditions of the market dur- 

 ing a glut could be improved upon by 

 cooperation, but in that direction prog- 

 ress seems extremely slow. 



The feeling towards the commission 

 man by many of the retailers is decidedly 

 antagonistic. It is indeed surprising that 

 by many retailers the commission man is 

 considered a necessary evil, whose sole 

 reason for existence is to oppress the 

 retailer by extorting exorbitant prices 

 and imposing all sorts of hardships. 

 These retailers will without hesitation 

 make the statement that they will favor 

 the grower who peddles his stock. The 



commission man is called upon only dur- 

 ing a scarcity, to supply that which the 

 grower could not possibly supply. Com- 

 ing to the commission man under such 

 conditions, and being asked a fair price 

 for the goods wanted, he assails the com- 

 mission man for the seemingly unjust 

 treatment, and he is classed with the pi- 

 rates and daylight robbers. Just as soon 

 as we can overcome the feeling of the 

 retailer, as described above, towards the 

 commission man, we are one point closer 

 to cooperation. 



Faker Will Take a Chance. 



We cannot dispose of our surplus to 

 the 5 and 10-cent stores; there is only 

 one outlet left to us, and that is to put 

 the flowers on the street. The street 

 faker, by most retailers, is looked upon 

 as a demoralizer of the flower business. 

 The commission man is solely blamed for 

 his existence, but let me tell you that 

 with many of the growers who peddle 

 their own stock, their last stopping place 

 is the curb, and they will take anything 

 to relieve the load on their arms and 

 will sell their wares at a price so low 

 that the buyer is pledged to secrecy. 

 They are ashamed to have the price 

 known. 



Can you imagine what conditions 

 would be if the growers were depending 

 entirely on their own efforts to dispose 

 of their products? Some of the fakers 

 undoubtedly have what may be termed 

 "nerve." A faker will buy 5,000 carna- 

 tions that are almost asleep, take them 

 on the sunny side of Market street, in a 

 temperature of about 90 degrees, and 

 take what he calls a chance. How many 

 retailers, at the same price, would take 

 the same chances? 



I do not wish to be misunderstood, that 

 I am here to speak for the faker. There 

 is not a commission man who would not 

 gladly dispense with him, if there were 

 any possible way of doing so. With few 

 exceptions, they are not a desirable lot. 



Retailer Has First Chance. 



When you see the street fairly flooded 

 with flowers, you should always bear in 

 mind the fact that the commission man 

 has offered the stock to you first, that 

 he has exhausted all th§ known science of 

 salesmanship to induce you to buy it. 

 Many retailers will advance the argument 

 that if there were no flowers on the 

 street they could sell double the stock 

 they are using. That is the very thing 

 they should do, buy it and keep it off the 

 street. "Give us the same chances you 

 give the street faker," is another time- 

 worn saying. Let any of the retailers 

 try it, and the results will startle them. 

 Let them start out some morning and 

 ask the commission man, ' ' What will 

 you take for the shelf?" and if you 

 mean business the shelf is yours. t 



The tendency today is in just the op- 

 posite direction. Many of the retail 

 stores may justly be called sample stores. 

 They do not carry any stock; the com- 

 mission man is carrying it for them. 

 The demands are sometimes startling. 

 Ten minutes after the goods are ordered 

 they are supposed to be delivered. The 

 excellent service brought about by live 

 competition is sadly misused. In that 

 direction cooperation would do much to 

 overcome existing unpleasant conditions. 



The commission man has, after years 

 of persistent efforts, gained the confi- 

 dence of the growers. They are working 

 hand in hand; the grower will consult 

 the commission man about his crops for 

 a coming peason, he seeks his advice, and 



