40 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Ju.XK 22, 1911. 



of the past, as they have added new 

 lines or side lines and the result ip 

 that the small specialty store has been 

 obliged to give up. Some of our large 

 seed stores have recently consolidated, 

 I suppose, to reduce the cost of run- 

 ning expenses and in that way enable 

 them to do more business at a smaller 

 percentage of expense — not a bad idea 

 at all. What has been done in dry 

 -goods can be done in our line. 



Suppose some of us should say that 

 we would handle only those seeds pay- 

 ing the largest profit and would not 

 bother with the seeds usually sold at 

 a small margin. How long would our 

 customers continue to trade with us? 

 Tn order to hold their entire trade we 

 must be able to supply all their wants, 

 even if the profits are small on some 

 articles. We have started many a 

 good customer by selling him agricul- 

 tural tools and fertilizer first and aft- 

 erwards getting h's entire trade in 

 seedSj poultry supplies, etc. 



Just what lines should bo added to 

 the seed business depends entirely upon 

 the demand and the local conditions. 

 The seed business in itself is divided 

 under several heads or departments. 

 We might classify them as seed grow- 

 ers, retail seed dealers, wholesale 

 seed dealers, wholesale and retail 

 dealers. Some of our largest deal- 

 ers do not handle bulbs, while others 

 make a specialty of that line. Some 

 of us go into nursery stock, and 

 on an extensive scale. Other depart- 

 ments which could be handled sepa- 

 rately are agricultural implements, fer- 

 tilizers, poultry supplies, horse goods 

 and bee-keepers' supplies. This last 

 line we have added ourselves this sea- 

 son and so far it has proven satisfac- 

 tory, but we cannot tell definitely until 

 the close of the season whether we 

 shall get stung or not. All of these 

 departments can be subdivided into 

 wholesale and retail, counter and mail 

 order trade. 



Poultry and Bee Supplies. 



Now why should seed dealers handle 

 these side I'nes? First, they naturally 

 go with the seed business. No person 

 can plant or care for his seed until he 

 has purchased some implement to pre- 

 pare the soil, and he naturally expects 

 to find the necessary tools where he 

 finds the seed. He must also have fer- 

 tilizers to make them grow, and if he 

 keeps poultry he expects to get his in- 

 cubator, breeder and poultry feeds at 

 the same store. This branch is in- 

 creasing fast and we find that the sale 

 of live chicks or day old chicks, in- 

 cubator hatched, has been a profitable 

 venture for us, for it helps trade on 

 chick feeds and other poultry supplies 

 and the more poultry kept the more 

 corn or grain necessary, and this means 

 more seed planted. 



The bee industry is also on the in- 

 crease, and we are going to have a 

 greater demand in the future for bee- 

 keepers' supplies. While there is a 

 lot of detail to this branch, we have 

 found that in a short time our man has 

 become so familiar with it that every- 

 thing goes along smoothly, and we 

 have added several hundred new cus- 

 tomers to our list, not only for bee 

 supplies but for other goods which 

 they saw while in the store looking 

 for bee goods. This I believe will be 

 a profitable department when once well 

 established. The margin of profit com- 

 pares favorably with other depart- 

 ments. 



SPIRAEA 



Agk for quotations on Spiraea. We have made a specialty of these for the 



last half century. / 



Gladstone, Queen Alexandra, Peach Blossom, Etc. 



Catalogue of Dutch Bulbs now ready. If you have not received one, write 

 today. Nothing but the highest quality. ,:. 



GT. van WAVEREN & KRUyFF 



IX>UIS BERGKR, Manacmr. 



American Branch House, 491 Bourse Building, PhiladelpMa, Pa. 



Home Offices and Nuraeries, Saasenhelm, Holland. 



Otber Branches: 



Moscovir, Russia; Lelpslc, Germany; Buenos Ayre«, Argentine nutublio. 



Mention The Review when vnii write 



Fertilizers and Machinery. 



Each department should stand its 

 proportion of the general runn'ng ex- 

 pense and by handling these different 

 lines the expense for each department 

 is reduced to the minimum. Eent and 

 other expenses go on just the same 

 after the seed rush is over, and if seed 

 dealers can handle other lines during 

 the dull season the expense for the seed 

 part is reduced just that much. 



Many a good lot of seed has been 

 condemned because it did not receive 

 the proper amount of fertilizer. The 

 proper use of commercial fertilizer has 

 helped the seed business wonderfully 

 and the sale of these goods is an im- 



portant department with some of our 

 New England seed dealers. While the 

 percentage of profit is not what it 

 should be, the volume of business 

 makes up for this loss, and when direct 

 shipments are made, as many of them 

 are, the cost of doing business is lim- 

 ited to office expense. Such goods can 

 be handled and stored where rents are 

 much cheaper than is necessary for 

 seed storage. 



Improved farm machinery has been 

 a great help to the seed trade, because 

 it enables the farmers to plant a 

 greater acreage and each acre means 

 more seed. It was a wise man who 

 said: "I will plant more corn, to feed 



CURRIE BROS. CO., 



Milwaukee's Leadingf Retail Florists. 



Trade Orders Solicited. 108 Wisconsin St. 



HIGH QUALITY SEEDS AND BULBS 



Special prices for early orders on French, Dutch, Japanese Bulbs, etc. 



Write for quotations. 

 Sphagnum Moss, dry, burlap-baled, $1.00 per bale; 6 bales, $5.00 



108 WISCONSIN STREKT, 

 and 312 BROADWAT, 



MILWAUKEE, WIS. 



