V 



10 



The Florists' Review 



January 2, 1913. 



fort to sell to a customer has pleased 

 her, \nd if she comes in again and you 

 can tell her what she had before and 

 suggest something different, the sale is 

 more easily made. 



Fifth, there must be willingness to 

 work, for the nature of our business 

 demands that our hours be uncertain, 

 that the day's work cannot always be- 

 gin at a certain hour and that you can- 

 not always stop at the same time. 



Sixth, one must be a true lover of 

 nature's beauties, to be able to work 

 among them with success, for without 

 that love one cannot give to the flowers 

 that delicate attention they require. 



Some Advantages. 



There are many other qualifications 

 required, but I trust the discussion will 

 bring them out. 



Now for a few of the advantages in 

 retail store work. 



First, the work is refining, as in none 

 of its branches is there anything 

 coarse, degrading or offensively sug- 

 gestive about it, but the flowers them- 

 selves are only suggestive of the great- 



our artistic taste and creative ability, 

 for at the numerous present-day func- 

 tions at which flowers are used, one 

 must be able to suggest and create the 

 artistic arrangements that are suitable. 



Fourth, the work never becomes 

 monotonous, because of the fact that 

 the supply and variety of flowers are 

 constaittly changing, as also is the 

 manner \of arrangement. This fact 

 proves the\ necessity of continuous 

 study and reading upon the part of the 

 successful female fldwer worker, so as 

 to keep up with the progress of our 

 business. 



There are also many other advan- 

 tages, but the discussion will disclose 

 them. 



Now for the disadvantages. 



Some Disadvantages. 



First, the uncertainty of the working 

 hours, for one can never be certain 

 what the day will bring forth, and as 

 they will not detain a funeral or let a 

 train wait until the florist can con- 

 veniently bring his materials, it is up 

 to the florist to get the work out on 



Miss Emma S. Baumer. 



ness of the Creator, who could give us 

 so many beautiful and interesting 

 specimens of plant life. 



Second, while the work of selling, in 

 this business as in any other, is bound 

 to bring you into contact with some 

 customers known to us as "V^W ye* 

 it brings us into contact with more 

 good, rifined, well educated and agree- 

 able people than otherwise. 



Third, our work brings forth all ot 



the time demanded, no matter what dis- 

 comforts, strains or unreasonable hours 

 it brings to the working force. 



Second, the fact that one cannot en- 

 joy a holiday, or even Sunday, in the 

 same manner as people in other lines 

 of business. We all know that the 

 larger and more sacred the day, the 

 harder we have to work in our business. 



Third, the wearing on one's nerves 

 from the fact that much of our work 



must be done under an extreme nervous 

 strain. This peculiarity of the work 

 makes it necessary for a florists' 

 woman not to have "nerves." As I 

 am not a boss but have always worked 

 under one, I cannot from experience 

 say so, but from observation I know 

 this is especially necessary in a lady 

 boss, for I am sure that the natural 

 worry incident to managing & business, 

 and this unnatural strain that it is so 

 often necessary to exert to get all or- 

 ders out properly and on time, are most • 

 destructive to the nerves. 



Fourth, the dampness that one is 

 always working in. 



Fifth, at certain times, the disagree- 

 ableness of handling the cut flowers. 

 By this I mean that when business is 

 slack and flowers begin to accumulate 

 for several days or until the stems 

 begin to decay, then the flowers, espe- 

 cially such flowers as chrysanthemums, 

 dahlias, bulbous stock and many of the 

 soft-wooded outdoor stock, become, in 

 plain language, "nasty" things to 

 handle. 



Sixth — and this is a really serious 

 disadvantage for a woman — she cannot 

 possibly keep pretty hands if she is 

 compelled to work with roses and their 

 thorns, which keep the hands all 

 pricked up, or with the many varieties 

 of flowers that discolor the skin of the 

 hands. 



There are many other disadvantages, 

 but as I have already talked longer 

 than a woman usually does, I will leave 

 it to the discussions to bring out the 

 others. 



THE CLEBK SHOULD KNOW— 



That he is never too old to learn. "^ 



That his employer's success is his 

 success. 



That his advancement depends en- 

 tirely upon his own individual efforts. 



That success is never attained with- 

 out hard work. 



That he will never get something for 

 nothing. 



That he need never be ashamed to 

 do for his employer what he would have 

 others do for him. 



That he is not paid merely for his 

 presence, but" for his work — and is 

 judged accordingly. 



That it is his efforts and not his in- 

 fluence which brings promotion. 



That persistency, consistency and in- 

 tegrity are the three virtues of success. 



That if he gives his best to his em- 

 ployer, the best possible comes back to 

 him in skill, training, shrewdness, acu- 

 men and power. 



That no customer wants to trade 

 with a clerk who does not know the 

 business. 



That the clerk who accomplishes 

 most is the one who makes the least 

 fuss about it. 



That politeness pays the biggest 

 dividends. 



That the individual who is too lazy 

 to do a thing will flnd plenty of excuses 

 for not doing it. 



That many a man loses his oppor- 

 tunity by slightiner his work. 



That a real salesman is one part talk 

 and nine parts judgment, and that he 

 uses the nine parts of judgment to tell 

 when to use the one part of talk. 



iDv,^*^®'^^*'^' la.— Frank Schebeck and 

 t-hil Mahoney have erected a green- 

 house, 30x150, in the Meadowdale addi- 

 tion, and will grow vegetables. 



