16 



The Florists' Review 



Febhuaby 19, 1914. 



going thence, to W. F. Lauch, at New 

 Galilee, Pa, In May, 1913, Pajonk went 

 back to Mr. Klein, a^ Fairhaven, but 

 in August he removed to Spartanburg, 

 S. &:f/wb9Te he worked a few weeks for 

 C. A-'Moss. Then he made his unfor- 

 tunata..excursion west, landing in Chi- 

 cago in September. He landed at 

 5433 North Seeley avenue, working for 

 Peter Schousboe and other florists in 

 the northwqpt part of tlMi city. 



Because of the vigilance of The Ke- 

 view, Pajonk 's operations were cut 

 short. He' abandoned La Grange after 

 only about three weeks, but the post- 

 oflBce inspectors have acquired a con- 

 siderable number of letters, which will 

 be held as evidence until after Pa- 

 jonk 's trial, when they will be returned 

 to the writers. Anyone who has sent 

 money to Pajonk, either as August Mil- 

 ler, La Grange, 111., Albert Frei, Pitts- 

 burgh, or Fred Klein, Colona, Pa., 

 should write to C. H. Clarahan, post- 

 office inspector, Chicago, 111., stating the 

 facts. 



One of the curious points established 

 is that Pajonk has fifteen bank ac- 

 counts, in eight small banks in Chi- 

 cago and in seven banks at Pittsburgh. 

 The combined balance is about $1,000. 



Alleged Matrimonial Swindle. 



The arrest of Pajonk got into the 

 newspapers all over the country be- 

 cause the inspectors uncovered what 

 they consider conclusive evidence that 

 in addition to his operations among 

 florists, he was working what they call 

 a matrimonial swindle. They found 

 papers to show that he was advertising 

 in German papers as Miss Anna Klein 

 and as Miss E. Schwartz, matrimonially 

 inclined. It is asserted that when he 

 got a nibble he sent a photograph of a 

 good-looking woman, representing it to 

 be that of the advertiser, asking that 



THE MEDAL OF MEBIT. 



The accompanying illustration was 

 prepared from a photograph of the gold 

 medal which was awarded to Peter 

 Fisher, of Ellis, Mass., for originating 

 Carnation Beacon. The conditions un- 

 der which the medal is awarded, by 

 the American Carnation Society, are 

 as follows: "Whenever a seedling va- 

 riety shall manifest superiority, Qpm- 

 mercially, and maintain such superior- 

 ity for three or more years, the direct- 

 ors may recoiamend that the originator 

 be given a special gold medal, to be 

 called the Medal of Merit. ' ' This medal 

 is considered the highest honor that 

 could be paid an originator and is sup- 

 posed to be awarded only in excep- 

 tional cases, ^bis is the first medal 

 awarded under this provision, although 

 it was adopted at the convention in 

 Washington, D, C, in 1908. 



GETTING THE PRICE. 



The True Test of Salesmanship. 



The real test of salesmanship is the 

 ability to get the price. If you have 

 confidence in the concern you work for 

 and in the goods you sell, there is no 

 "reason why you should not stand pat 

 on the price. I have known salesmen, 

 says Harold A. HolmeSj in the Caxton 

 Magazine, who could make an admir- 

 able presentation; they could show their 

 goods to the best possible advantage 

 and hold the attention of the prospec- 

 tive customer up to the point where he 

 asked for the price, and right here 

 they always fell down. They name the 

 price in a faltering way, as if they were 

 ashamed of it, and with their nerve 

 rapidly oozing away, suggest that the 

 price is low. Sometimes, to make mat- 

 ters even worse, the salesman will sug- 



The Medal of Merit Awarded to Peter Fisher, Carnation Originator. 



carfare be sent so that she might come 

 on to be married. A quantity of photo- 

 graphs, letters and other material was 

 confiscated, so ihat apparently The Re- 

 view has aided in the protection of the 

 lovesick as well as being the means of 

 checking the operations of one of the 

 few florists in whom cupidity has over- 

 come the sense of responsibility. 



The Review, does not undertake to 

 decide the merits of controversies be- 

 tween reputable florists who disagree 

 as to the quality or value of the stock 

 they buy and sell, but it is keenly alive 

 to see that all those who use its ad- 

 vertising columns conduct their busi- 

 ness with its subscribers in such a man- 

 ner as to be above suspicion. 



gest that his house does not authorize 

 him to cut the price. This suggestion 

 arouses a suspicion in the mind of the 

 prospective buyer that there is more 

 than one price. 



The buyer is always actuated by one 

 motive — to get the lowest price possi- 

 ble. The salesman who names his 

 price in a hesitating manner is always 

 on the defensive, because he has opened 

 up the way for the buyer to "beat 

 down. ' ' Any supernumerary can dis- 

 pose of goods if he permits the buyer 

 to dictate the terms, but it takes a real 

 salesman to defend his employer's right 

 to a legitimate profit. Your firm puts 

 a just valuation on its gpods — if you 

 submit to the buyer who ignores that 



valuation and presumes to say what 

 the goods shall sell for, you are cheap- 

 ening the goods and reflecting discredit 

 on your employer. 



Ther^alesman who permits him|p^f[ to 

 haggle over the price is lost. The buyer 

 recognizes him as a putty man that he 

 can pinch into any mold that he 

 chooses. When a buyer suggests that 

 he might buy some of your goods if 

 you would cut the (Drice, itJs just the 

 time for you to stfijIPf'at.- "^y showing 

 your independiftice^^tj f^^ the best 

 proof that your line ^has tha merits 

 you claim for it. By luting a man see 

 that you don't have' 16 meet his fig- 

 ure you convince him that plenty of 

 others are meeting yours. There never 

 was a bigger fallacy than the notion 

 that a salesman can't get along with- 

 out occa^onal concessions to touyoTs. 



ST. VALENTINE'S DAT. 



The postmasters testify to the de- 

 cadence of St. Valentine's observance, 

 but florists almost universally declare 

 that more flowers were used February 

 14 this year than ever before. Some of 

 the eastern cities suffered severely be- 

 cause of heavy storms February 14, busi- 

 ness falling short of expectations, but 

 over the rest of the country, there was 

 a big increase in St. Valentine's day 

 sales. In the news-letters in this week 's 

 Review it is generally reported that St. 

 Valentine's day now has become estab- 

 lished as one of the important special 

 flower days, to be reckoned with when 

 it comes around again. There was a 

 notable increase in the demand for 

 blooming plants, and baskets were used 

 much more largely than heretofore. In 

 many cities practically every cut flower 

 was sold. Everywhere red was the fa- 

 vorite color. Corsages heretofore have 

 been the popular St. Valentine's day 

 purchase, but this year, while corsages 

 sold well, they by no means monopo- 

 lized attention. 



St. Valentine's day was made by the 

 florists themselves, insofar as flower 

 sales go. A year or two ago it amounted 

 to little in a flower way. The Review 

 pointed out that the sentiment on which 

 St. Valentine's day is founded afforded 

 a splendid opportunity for working up 

 flower sales, and showed how it could 

 be done. The result was that thousands 

 of florists advertised in newspapers, by 

 mailing cards and by means of special 

 window decorations to remind the pub- 

 lic of the appropriateness of flowers for 

 use as valentines. The publicity this 

 year was far greater than that employed 

 last year and the sales of flowers were 

 correspondingly greater. 



DUTCH BULBS FOB EASTEB. 



I have my hyacinth, tulip and narcis- 

 sus bulbs buried outside. They are 

 covered with about eight inches of soil 

 and that is covered with manure. At 

 this time they have pushed above the 

 pots from one to two inches, and I am 

 afraid they are coming too fast for 

 Easter. How can I keep them back? 

 Should I remove the manure and put on 

 more soil, thus burying them deeper 1 

 The location is southern Pennsylvania. 



W. F. 



Leave your bulbs alone; they are all 

 right where they are. If they were not 

 started one or two inches by this time, 

 I am afraid they would make a sorry 

 showing for Easter. Remove them to 

 a coldframe about the middle of March. 



