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March 31, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Group of Easter Plants in the Store of the E. Wienhoeber G).^ Chicago. 



ployed for the carrying of such ship- 

 mentB. Such carrier so selected by the 

 seller becomes the agent of the buyer just 

 as though designated by the buyer to 

 receive delivery of that particular ship- 

 ment. Of course, in case the sale is made 

 f. 0. b. the buyer's station or place of 

 l)usiness, the situation then is reversed; 

 the transportation company becomes the 

 jigent of the seller, and the seller is re- 

 sponsible for the acts of his agent. But 

 customarily merchandise is sold for de- 

 livery where it then is; a definite agree- 

 ment must be made to suppose any other 

 place of delivery, and in the absence of 

 such agreement a sale is held to mean 

 that the buyer's responsibility begins the 

 moment he or his agent accepts delivery. 



THE TREND IN TRADE. 



It is well known that in England those 

 engaged in the florist and nursery busi- 

 ness are having a rather bad time of it — 

 with few exceptions a mere living is all 

 that the trade is returning to those who 

 are engaged in it. The result is much 

 discussion of the causes. A writer in the 

 Horticultural Advertiser thinks it is cut 

 prices that has brought the trade to its 

 present condition and his views have 

 much of interest to American readers, 

 who may be able to recognize in their 

 own localities tendencies toward a simi- 

 lar situation. He says in part: 



"The man who stands out and 

 «tates frankly that horticulture as a busi- 

 ness is stationary, if indeed it is not 

 degenerating, will appear a fool in the 

 eyes of some, and well informed in the 

 eyes of others. If the average nursery- 

 man was asked concerning the present 

 position of his business, and he answered 



truthfully, he would say, ' Bad ; but I 

 hope for better times.' 'Hope'! We 

 as a trade live on hope. The market 

 grower has hoped against hope for the 

 last seven years, and is this the termina- 

 tion of it allf Anyone who is acquainted 

 with the present prices and prospects of 

 the cut flower market would naturally 

 think so. 



"Is the fault with us, or are we the 

 slaves of circumstances? Is it overpro- 

 duction, foreign competition, or our un- 

 businesslike methods! If the present de- 

 pression is wholly and solely caused by 

 the political situation, coupled with Lent, 

 and if the general stagnant condition 

 warrants such a slump, then we can at 

 least see a silver lining to our dark cloud. 

 But, on the other hand, if we can attrib- 

 ute prices to overproduction, things will 

 be worse before they are better. Foreign 

 competition must, of course, have a deep 

 and far-reaching effect. If any market 

 is flooded with a common, cheap article, it 

 must have some effect upon higher grade 

 products, which in a degree it can sub- 

 stitute; but when that market happens to 

 be a flower market, where there can be 

 no holding back of the stock in order 

 to assist the market, then of course all 

 grades are affected, not only cut flowers, 

 but pot plants. We all know how true 

 this is. 



' ' Half-dead flowers, which can only 

 last a few hours, being hawked on the 

 streets, do not assist us as a trade, or 

 relieve our markets to any extent, be- 

 cause there is always a surplus, and there 

 always will be. Rather would I say that 

 this cheap rubbish too often falls into 

 the hands of casual purchasers, who are 

 disappointed with their bargain, and hold 



all flowers and plants with suspicion. 

 "Does the evil and its remedy rest 

 with us — ourselves? If the average horti- 

 culturist who is running a business was 

 to ask himself the question, 'Do I run 

 my business upon modern business lines ? ' 

 how many could answer in the afiirma- 

 tive? Are we not too much like farmers, 

 and too little like business men? Cheap. 

 Cheap. Britain, the home of the cheap. 

 Cheap clothes, cheap flowers, cheap ev- 

 erytMng! The one aim in the life of the 

 average horticulturist seems to be to 

 work hard from sunrise to sunset. For 

 what? Why, to undercut his contempo- 

 raries in the same town, and to sell 

 cheaper than his neighbor! 



' ' That is, in the humble mind of the 

 writer, one of the greatest causes of the 

 present slump. For years our retail 

 nurserymen and florists have been edu- 

 cating the public through a short-sighted, 

 destructive practice of ruthless local 

 competition, until the public now takes 

 things as a matter of course; and we. as 

 a trade, because the wholesale grower is 

 proportionately affected, find ourselves in 

 a depressed state. 



"Almost every other walk in life has 

 produced its millionaires. The gardener 

 millionaire is yet to come. Some may 

 think this is as things should be, but 

 even the farmer in Britain prospers bet- 

 ter as a class than the horticulturist. 

 Are they becoming more businesslike? 



"Perhaps, if instead of trying to serve 

 the public cheap, we, for a change, tried 

 to sell dear, some of our smaller and less 

 fortunate brethren would have a better 

 chance in life's battle, and we as a class 

 would reap the harvest of our labors, amd 

 not present it free gratis to the public." 



