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Fbbbuary 3, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Front View of Fleischman's G)rsase Bouquet of Violets. 



however, then Mr. Dunstan is in serious 

 trouble. R. Gray. 



DEPARTMENT STORE SCHEME. 



Baltimore retail florists are feeling the 

 ■competition of a department store that 

 is pushing for business for its florists' 

 department at prices which can not pos- 

 sibly afford a profit, to itself or anyone 

 else. Few department stores are in a 

 position to sell flowers, quality for qual- 

 ity, any cheaper than the average florist 

 can, 80 that florists would not object to 

 the big stores' flower departments were 

 it not that in not a few instances they 

 are run without thought of profit, merely 

 to show how cheap their prices are, for 

 advertising. Where the flower depart- 

 ment is run solely for profit, as it is in 

 a few high-class department stores, the 

 florists welcome such competition, for 

 the department store is an educator of 

 tlie public. The Baltimore store referred 

 to, however, comes pretty near crape 

 chasing. All death notices in the local 

 P^'pers are followed up by mailing a 

 circular headed, "Plants and Flowers 

 "ithin the Reach of Everyone; if ad- 

 vjitised elsewhere, it's cheaper here." 

 T I'in there are prices on some staple ar- 

 11 !es, like "palms, 9c up," but the real 

 '^ at in the cocoanut is the list prices 

 "^^ 'er the head, "Leave your order for 

 * eral designs of artificial or natural 

 ^' flowers." These are some of the 

 P es: "Crosses, $1.50 up; gates ajar, 



$2.50 up; anchors, 75c up; wreaths, 39c 

 up; crescents, $1.50 up; pillows, $1.29 

 up; chairs, $2.29 up; sago palm bouquets, 

 $1.50 up; palls, $5 up." 



Think of a wreath at 39 cents! What 

 a credit to the florist it must be! And 

 a pall at $5! The Baltimore florists 

 wonder what people think when, after re- 

 ceiving this circular, they visit a flower 

 store and are asked from $5 up for a 

 wreath, or from $50 to $300 for a casket 

 cover. The Review ventures the opinion 

 that, with the majority of flower buyers 

 whose trade is worth having, whatever 

 the people think is disparaging to the 

 department store. Of course some of the 

 smaller stores may be hurt, but not the 

 leaders. Any person of sense knows that 

 a 39-cent wreath is not worth having, and 

 no one goes to a notoriously "bargain- 

 counter" store when wanting something 

 good. 



NOVEL ADVERTISING. 



E. R. Tauch, a retail florist of Mar- 

 quette, Mich., sends the Review the fol- 

 lowing new plan for advertising, which 

 he uses in addition to the daily papers: 



He has had printed 1,000 picture post- 

 cards for each month of the year (12,000 

 cards in all). Each thousand cards car- 

 ries a picture that is particularly appli- 

 cable to the month for which it is issued 

 and a sentence or two calling attention 

 to the name, address and telephone num- 



ber of Mr. Tauch 's store, which is printed 

 at the bottom of the card. 



These postcards are distributed in the 

 dormitories of the Normal school, and, 

 as they are quite attractive, the students 

 are glad to send them to their friends, 

 thus giving pretty complete distribution 

 to the advertisement at no cost for 

 stamps. 



The high schools might easily be used 

 in such cities as have no normal school. 



EARLY ASTERS. 



I intend to grow some asters in the 

 greenhouse and want to have the flowers 

 by June. When must I put in the seed? 

 What varieties are best adapted for cul- 

 ture under glass? What distance apart 

 should they be planted? How many flow- 

 ers should bo allowed to the plant to 

 produce first-class blooms? H. S. 



1 am afraid you cannot get any of the 

 asters to flower satisfactorily as early as 

 June. Sow seeds at once of such va- 

 rieties as Queen of the Market, one of 

 the most reliable; HohenzoUern and 

 Early Comet. I have found the first 

 named the most generally satisfactory. 

 Plant in the beds or benches ten inches 

 apart each way. For general retail trade 

 we would not disbud or reduce the num- 

 ber of flowers at all, except in the case 

 of Comet or American Branching. All 

 depends on how fancy a price you can 

 get. I have grown one flower to a 

 plant, as you would mums, and retailed 

 them at $1 per dozen, but this does not 

 pay as well as having a larger number 

 of smaller flowers. 



When disbudded to a single flower, 

 of course, plants can go as close as six 

 inches apart, but the undisbudded ones 

 will give you the most money. Treat as 

 you would chrysanthemums in regard to 

 soil, watering and general culture. 



C. W. 

 [In the Review for January 20, page 

 8, there was a note telling how a reader 

 planted in February and had asters in 

 bloom in May. — Ed.] 



SEED FLATS. 



The time is rapidly nearing when quan- 

 tities of seed flats will be needed. Do 

 not wait until the seedlings are ready to 

 prick oS and then wish you had remem- 

 bered to make a lot of flats while the 

 weather was inclement and work less 

 strenuous. Probably a large part of last 

 season's boxes will be all right if they 

 have been kept under cover. Some may 

 need a new end or side to make them as 

 good as ever. 



Get lumber to make as many boxes as 

 you think you will require. From three 

 to four inches is a suitable depth, with 

 twenty-four to thirty inches for length 

 and twelve inches as a suitable width. 

 Everything depends on the sort of shelf 

 there may be. In some cases they can 

 go wider, but it is unwise to make them 

 so long as to be needlessly heavy to han- 

 dle. Leave a half-inch space each side 

 of the middle bottom board, for drain- 

 age. This is better than making a tight 

 bottom and then having to bore drainage 

 holes. All flats should have ample drain- 

 age. The better they are drained, the 

 healthier will the plants be. 



Middletown, Conn. — George Batty, of 

 the Beebe greenhouses, has opened a 

 branch store on Main street. The new 

 store is conveniently located and will be 

 a great aid to Mr. Batty 's business. 



