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NOVEMBEB 16, 1911. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



31 



The Fiaest Cbrysanthemum Plant of the Season, Grown by John Canning. 



(The variety Is Lady Lydla, white, and the plant was aliown at the American Institute, New York.) 



COMPETITION. 



LomiJetition has well been said to 

 be the life of trade, but that certain 

 forms of competition mean the starva- 

 tion of the tradesmen is apparent to 

 all who study tendencies. Not only 

 underselling, but the disposition to fol- 

 low any successful lead come under 

 this head. The subject was excellently 

 handled in a letter recently published in 

 the Horticultural Advertiser (England), 

 from which the following: 



"That competition is as good for our 

 trade as for mankind generally will be, 

 perhaps, acknowledged, but we can al- 

 ways have too much of a good thing, 

 and that sort of 'beggar my neighbor' 

 competition can not even be classed as 

 healthy competition at all. 



' ' This is a wider world than many of 

 us believe it to be, bj^ I will cite a 

 far too common form of competition 

 that so injures our trade. *A' consid- 

 ers roses a good line and wisely spe- 

 cializes in them. 'B,' without training 

 his own brains to bear on the problems 

 of his trade, says 'A' is doing roses, 

 so I must follow suit, and to sell them 

 I must supply them cheaper than he 

 does. Now if 'B' were a wise man, 

 surely it would have been to his ad- 

 vantage to argue that as 'A' is doing 

 roses, I will specialize in something else. 



"The writer was recently in a town 

 on the south coast and called on two 

 worthy men of our trade, having estab- 

 lishments almost opposite to each other. 

 Contrary to the usual custom in our 

 trade, these men were firm friends, and 

 avoided as far as possible treading on 

 each other's heels. One goes in for 

 roses, so the other turns his attention 

 to the furnishing trade and the sale of 

 plants. Neither of them attempts to 

 cut the other out in his particular 

 branch of his trade. 



"We must turn to other countries to 

 see the excellent working of coopera- 

 tion. In America the better feeling that 

 exists there, finds expression in the way 

 they have of fixing prices, the idea 

 being that as *A' gets such a price 

 for his goods, 'B' must get the same. 



"There exists in Ghent, as in most 

 other continental horticultural centers. 



a strong Trade's Association, whose 

 members meet each Sunday to discuss 

 matters of interest to the trade; and 

 while no actual trade ring is formed, 

 prices are discussed in a friendly spirit, 

 which usually ends in the trade taking 

 advantage of every shortage to keep 

 prices up, instead of the policy of 

 'cut, <ut, ' which is usually going on in 

 this country. The small grower quite 

 understands that if he can not sell his 

 stock at a fair price, his bigger neigh- 

 bor will pay him ready money at a re- 



Youp 

 ThanKs- 

 giving 

 Table 



will not be 

 complete without 



Beautiful 



Flowers 



Chrysanthemums 



Grand Stock all colors $2.00 and $3.00 per dozen, 

 cheaper quality, $1.00 per dozen. 



Carnations 



fine quality, $1.00 per dozen. Our extra fancy, $1 25 

 per dozen. 



Roses 



Assorted Colors— }1. SO and $2.00 per dozen, 



Smilax 



25c per string of 6 feet. 

 ^ Cyclemen and Primrose plants in bloom, 35c each. 

 Chrysanthemum plints in pots 50c each. 



Come bring your friends and see the beautiful dis- 

 play of flowers Tues. andWed. afternoon and eve. 



Make vour own home , or somebody else's 

 home glad by ordering some of our flowers, or a 

 plant. We will deliver with your card. 



Bancroft's Greenhouse 



Bancroft's Suggestions For Thanksgiving. 



duced figure rather than let the outside 

 foreign buyer cut up the trade; and the 

 small grower realizes if he can not ob- 

 tain the proper price that it is better 

 to sell to his neighbor than to an out- 

 sider. 



"That uniformity in prices for stock 

 of the same grade exists in Holland is, 

 of course, also well known, and it is no 

 mere sentiment, but the knowing on 



which side his bread is buttered, which 

 causes the Dutchman to act as he 

 does. ' ' 



LOCAL BETAIL ADVEBTISINQ. 



"Here is a Thanksgiving advertise- 

 ment that pulled," write Joseph Ban- 

 croft & Son, of Cedar Falls, la., in send- 

 ing in the clipping of the advertise- 

 ment reproduced on this page. "It was 

 used in our home daily for a week be- 

 fore Thanksgiving in 1910 and the re- 

 turns were direct, prompt and easily 

 traceable. Not only was trade good, 

 but people either asked for the adver 

 tised article or spoke of having seen 

 the advertisement. ' ' 



The Bancroft display originally oc- 

 cupied four times as much space as the 

 reproduction occupies, but it cost only 

 a few dollars for several days' run — 

 the small city dailies never are exorbi- 

 tant in their charges, as florists slowly 

 are finding out. A great deal of the 

 success of the advertising depends upon 

 the skill with which the advertisement 

 is prepared, but it nearly always pays 

 if a seasonable suggestion is thrown 

 out and a price or two quoted. 



In the past too many florists have 

 used advertising copy that merely was 

 a business card, or at special flower 

 holidays their advertisements have been 

 written merely to get a larger share of 

 the trade that is going — just a scram- 

 ble on Smith's part to get the trade 

 away from Brown. That is not the best 

 idea, or the modern one. The best ad- 

 vertising is educational; it is designed 

 to show the uses of the article adver- 

 tised, to create a desire on the part of 

 those who have not been buyers; to 

 enlarge the field. That is the kind of 

 advertising which will be of greatest 

 value to the individual florist and to 

 the trade at large. 



' ' The Thanksgiving turkey will taste 

 much better if there are flowers on the 

 table. ' ' 



"If you are invited out for Thanks- 

 giving dinner, send your hostess the 

 flowers for her table." 



Try a few such suggestions next 

 week. 



