l\-_ ^^5V_r,, • ■■■■\ 



Apbil 7, 1910. 



The Wcddy Florists^ Review* 



^•^■'^^■^ 



I THE RETAIL 



l^^^^^^ FLORIST 



VIOLETS AND VALLEY. 



One would have to seek far to find a 

 more attractive wreath than the one il- 

 lustrated herewith. This was the work of 

 Leopold Koropp, Chicago, violets being 

 used for the lower part of the wreath 

 and valley for the upper part. The vio- 

 lets were stemmed rather long, so that 

 the wreath was given much width and a 

 well-filled appearance. The valley was 

 also stemmed long and the spikes of bells 

 set well above the valley foliage. Such 

 a wreatlLcan be made at low cost in the 

 spring, but even in midwinter, when vio- 

 lets command real money, it looks as 

 though so well made a wreath were worth 

 all it cost. 



RETAIL DELIVERY. 



They say in Pittsbu/g^ Ihat it takes 

 something fast to keep up wit^^ the cut 

 flower business these c&iys, and ti^at may 

 be one of the reasons why Mrs. E. A. 

 Williams is having another specially de- 

 signed automobile built to handle her re- 

 tail deliveries. 



The illustration on page 7 shows 

 the delivery facilities Mrs. Williams has 

 employed this season — one automobile and 

 four horse outfits, including two double 

 teams. The automobile used this season 

 has given such satisfactory results that 

 a second one will shortly be ready, and it 

 may put the horses out of business. Mrs. 

 Williams says that she has not found the 

 automobile especially economical, but that 

 it has proved decidedly efficient. While 

 it costs considerably more to operate than 

 a team' costs, one automobile will do the 

 wor^ of two or three teams; it covers 

 the ground so much faster that in con- 

 sidering the cost of automobile delivery 

 the i-etail florist should compare it with 

 the "cost of two or three teams, not one. 



FLOVER STORE CONDITIONS. 



Can you give any advice or hints on 

 how to care for plants in the store? Af- 

 ter they come from the greenhouse they 

 are apt to go to pieces in a few days. 

 Is there any special way of fixing the 

 window to keep the plants longer? Our 

 window faces northeast and has a lino- 

 leum flooring. A. & L. 



If plants will keep only ' ' a few days ' ' 

 in your store it must be that something 

 is wrong, but it may not be in the store. 

 It may be that the plants are not in 

 proper condition when they come in from 

 the greenhouses. No information is given 

 as to the class of plants handled, but if 

 such as Boston ferns, etc., is meant it is 

 possible these come in too soft or unes- 

 / tablished in the pots. You cannot ex- 

 pect plants in a dark store to thrive as 

 they would in a light greenhouse, but 

 if they are well grown and properly har- 

 dened off they should remain in good 

 condition until sold. If they don't, what 

 satisfaction can your customers expect? 



If the plants themselves are not at 

 fault, there must be something radically 



wrong in the store. Do you light with 

 gas? Electricity is the only proper iUu- 

 minant for a flower store. Even if the 

 gas does not leak, and nearly all gas 

 pipes do, the flame vitiates the atmos- 

 phere. Pure air is a necessity for the 

 florist, for his cut flowers and for his 

 plants; none of them will long retain 

 their vitality without it. How about the 

 ventilation? Is the store kept too hot 

 or too dry? Of course, the plants them- 

 selves have the proper care? These are 



RETAILERS' ADVERTISING 



Retail florists never before did so much 

 advertising in their local newspapers as 

 they did at Easter, and a good many of 

 them have been able to put two and two 

 together, figuring out that the splendid 

 Easter trade resulted in no small part 

 from the publicity flowers received in 

 the week preceding March 27. 



It is an interesting fact that the ar- 

 ticles everyone needs are the articles most 

 extensively advertised. Does the adver- 

 tising follow the need? Well, hardly! 

 General advertising awakens the public 

 to its desire for the article advertised. 

 The more advertising of flowers the daily 

 papers carry, the more the need for flo- 

 rists. The canners' association last year 

 made an experiment in advertising 

 canned goods in the general magazines; 

 no attempt to advertise any one man's 

 article; just general publicity for canned 

 vegetables. The results were so satisfac- 

 tory that a much larger fund is being 

 raised for similar publicity next autumn. 



Wreath of Violets and Valley. 



merely a few suggestions; if you, being 

 familiar with all the circumstances, can- 

 not tell why your plants do not stand up 

 well in your store, it is too much to ex- 

 pect that one knowing nothing of the 

 facts can point out the trouble. Your 

 window facing northeast should be an 

 excellent one for displaying plants and 

 cut flowers; it gets the sun for only a 

 short time in the morning. Linoleum is 

 commonly used for flooring in flower 

 store windows. H. 0. 



It is within the possibilities that the 

 flower business would get big returns on 

 its money if everyone would chip in a 

 few dollars to exploit the uses of flowers 

 in the high priced pages of the "more 

 than a million a minute ' ' magazines. 



But in the meantime the trade will have 

 to rely on individual effort. Now is the 

 time to begin, if you never have adver- 

 tised, and now is no time to stop adver- 

 tising if your business is flourishing. 



The largest user of newspaper space 



