16 



The Florists^ Review 



Febbuary 6, 1913. 



link in the chain that binds every man 

 dependent on flowers for a livelihood 

 with a common bond, and we must real- 

 ize that this chain is no stronger than 

 its weakest link. 



The National Society. 



That bond is the cause for which we 

 should work. To strengthen it should 

 be our mission; the assimilating of the 

 idea of common fellowship in the trade 

 will be the tie that binds. Some of that 

 spirit has been in the air this season 

 and that spirit, we may hope, will be 

 the yeast that will leaven the whole, but 

 the working is slow, though if success- 

 ful it will not be in vain. One of the 

 strong links in the chain is the S. A. F. 

 and this must be the foundation upon 

 which to build. 



Let us consider briefly what the so- 

 ciety means to the average florist. It 

 means a picnic and a vacation in the 

 summer, free lunches and a social time 

 with a lot of kindred spirits, and other 

 spirits, and a feeling when he gets 

 home that the florists are after all a 

 jolly bunch and a lot of pretty good 

 spenders. But this is not all. There is 

 creeping into that organization a feel- 

 ing that, as a national society, there is 

 a purpose to accomplish, and that pur- 

 pose is the elevation of the florist pro- 

 fession from the huckster standard to 

 the dignity of a business. The meetings 

 should be to better business conditions 

 and not to settle seedsmen's arguments 

 with the ruling that votes are power. 

 That feeling has brought about the Na- 

 tional Flower Shows to teach the peo- 

 ple of the world that we are alive to 

 some of the opportunities of horticul- 

 ture as a profession in America, to in- 

 still into our minds confidence in our- 

 selves as a whole as American business 

 men, and to teach us to respect our 

 calling in life by showing us public 

 opinion of horticultural achievements. 



I look forward to the day when we 

 shall be in reality not a society of flo- 



rists, but an organization of florists 

 with serious intent and business better- 

 ment the sole interest, and with such a 

 spirit we will have the cooperation not 

 of one florist out of ten, but of the 

 entire profession. There are, of course, 

 features in every exhibition that are 

 wholly trade features, but they all have 

 instructive value and are more instruct- 

 ive to the public than to the profession. 

 Any flower show properly advertised 

 educates the public to the flower indus- 

 try and anyone who fails to support 

 the next National Flower Show in the 

 Grand Central Palace will be doing him- 

 self and his profession an injustice and 

 deserves to lose his share of the bene- 

 fits which must result to the business 

 as a whole. It is up to the [New York] 

 newspapers to make or break this show 

 financially, but aside from the financial 

 end they will be doing a great injustice 

 to the people of the country as a whole 

 if they do not give an educational ex- 

 hibit of this character all the prom- 

 inence it deserves. It is one of the 

 many unexplainable things that news- 

 papers crave to give the American peo- 

 ple glowing accounts of insignificant 

 celebrations and scandal and fail to 

 give prominence to that which is not 

 only interesting to many but instructive 

 to all. 



The Bight Material. 



This brings us to the question: Are 

 we putting the material before them in 

 such shape that it can be used? We 

 certainly are not. What, then, is the 

 solution? At the last convention in 

 Chicago a motion was passed providing 

 for a publicity committee of the Society 

 of American Florists, and there is rea- 

 son to believe that at the call of Presi- 

 dent Farquhar there will be a meeting 

 in connection with the National Flower 

 Show and that a resolution will be 

 drawn up to present to the society in 

 convention at Minneapolis to have the 

 society appropriate annually for a term 



of years a sum large enough to insur© 

 a fitting start for this work. The bal- 

 ance of the necessary funds must come 

 from the florists' clubs and private in- 

 dividuals. No man can head a pub- 

 licity bureau who does not have hi» 

 entire time devoted to it and be suc- 

 cessful and accomplish the purpose. No 

 man can be obtained to fill this position 

 for a small salary. It takes money to 

 make it go. Would not the S. A. F., 

 with its $3 a year membership, be doing 

 the right thing to make it a business 

 organization if every florist in this 

 country could become a member on the 

 grounds that two-thirfls of his yearly 

 donation would be used to advance hi» 

 profession and benefit his business? I 

 believe so and that properly canvassed 

 they could be induced to join. Then a 

 publicity bureau could have a chance to 

 become a power and a few of the good 

 things it could do would be the dis- 

 semination to the papers of proper in- 

 formation relating to flowers and 

 plants; it could teach the public what 

 flowers are used for and how; bring^ 

 to public notice special flower days 

 and make them national; teach the flo- 

 rist how to properly conduct his local 

 advertising; show political parties that 

 a flower is an appropriate party em- 

 blem; bring pressure to bear on the 

 government to teach home beautify- 

 ing, to enhance value as well as to im- 

 prove the farm land; assist magazines 

 of national scope to obtain articles 

 that relate to flowers; aid in adver- 

 tising national flower shows; teach the 

 people that the parks are their prop- 

 erty and their gardens and instill in 

 them local pride in their parks and the 

 flowers; make our big days like Me- 

 morial day ''national in their scope and 

 teach some sections of the country that 

 flowers at Easter are a necessity, a» 

 they are in the east. Perhaps I am 

 painting this too rosy, but it is worth 

 the thought. 



House of Girnations at the Establuhment of Morgen & Seubold, Huntioeburg, Ind. 



