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The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Januaht 27, 1910. 



P. S. Randolph, Vice-President Pittsburg Florists' Club. 



the secretary. In cases of this kind the 

 individual himself is largely to blame, 

 but we should, during the few days we 

 are together, be a more universal brother- 

 hood and have at least a "howdy" for 

 each and every visitor. I would suggest 

 a permanent committee of introduction 

 and information, to whom strangers can 

 apply for assistance in getting ac- 

 quainted. 



Improvement of Business Methods. 



Can we make our meetings more inter- 

 esting and more profitable to ourselves 

 and our, flower than they now arel We 

 have told and retold the story of produc- 

 tion, the proper houses, etc.; there are, 

 of course, new difficulties and advanced 

 methods to discuss along these Unes each 

 year, but it seems to your president that 

 we could and should devote at least one 

 session to the improvement of our busi- 

 ness methods. That they have improved 

 no one can deny, but the improvement to- 

 day over that of our meeting here seven- 

 teen years ago is little more than what 

 has been forced upon us by the general 

 upward trend of all business. Other in- 

 dustries do not wait to have improve- 

 ment forced upon them; they are con- 

 tinually searching for it, grasping and 

 utilizing it. 



We should know how much money each 

 square foot of ground surface in our 

 houses should bring us to meet our ex- 

 penses, labor, heating, operation, wear 

 and tear on the place. 



We should have a small but conspicu- 

 ous tag attached to each bunch of flow- 

 ers we send into market and let this tag 

 follow them into the retail shop, so that 

 in the course of time buyers would learn 

 to ask for it and demand it as a guaran- 

 tee of quality. This tag could be marked 



no introduction to respond. That silver- 

 tongued gentleman voiced the apprecia- 

 tion of the society for so interesting an 

 address of welcome and said that visit- 

 ing florists always feel at home in Pitts- 

 burg, where floriculture has many valued 

 patrons. Mr.- Craig made a great hit by 

 presenting Mr. Brashear with a great 

 armful of carnations which lay upon the 

 table, for the invalid wife of whose love 

 of flowers Mr. Brashear had spoken. 



President Albert M. Herr took the 

 chair at the conclusion of Mr. Craig's re- 

 sponse and read his formal address, as 

 follows : 



President's Address. 



Your president extends greeting and a 

 welcome to our sessions; we hope to have 

 them interesting enough to have you at 

 each one of them. 



This society was organized in Phila- 

 delphia and the first regular meeting was 

 held in New York, but it always seemed 

 to me that it took the second annual 

 meeting, in this city, to get us thor- 

 oughly acquainted with each other, and 

 Pittsburg will always be a bright spot 

 in the memory of those of us who were 

 fortunate enough to attend that meeting. 

 Those of us who are here today will no 

 doubt long remember the nineteenth an- 

 nual meeting and our Pittsburg wel- 

 come. 



Getting acquainted is one of the chief 

 benefits to be derived from these gather- 

 ings. I know of several instances where 

 men have attended our meetings for the 

 first time and gone home having met but 

 two or three members. In one instance, 

 on the train going home, a new member 

 told me that the only person who spoke 

 to him during the whole convention was 



H. P. JosIin,;Secretary Pittsburg Florists' Club. 



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