18 



The Florists' Review 



May 15, 1913. 



up some fine new growth and I thought 

 that, if fertilized, they might be held 

 over for another year. A. B. M. 



As asparagus is grown entirely for the 

 foliage, some fertilizer should be used 

 to develop leaf growth. For this pur- 

 pose nitrate of soda or ammonium sul- 

 phate are perhaps the best commercial 

 forms to use. Sodium nitrate may be 

 used at the rate of two to three pounds 

 per hundred gallons of water, or am- 

 monium sulphate at the rate of three 

 to four pounds per hundred gallons. 

 Sodium nitrate is a little quicker in its 

 action than ammonium sulphate. Both 

 of the fertilizers mentioned are used 

 for the nitrogen that they contain. In 

 the use of commercial fertilizers, care 

 must be exercised not to use them too 

 strong. ^ The plants may be watered 



with one of the foregoing solutions 

 once or twice a week until tihe plants 

 are again in good growth, when the so- 

 lution should be used less frequently. 



H. B. Dorner. 



TY1»ICAL OEEENHOUSB. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 a typical florists' greenhouse. It is 

 the establishment of A. M. Stackliouse, 

 at Minerva, O. As so many florists do, 

 the owner grows a variety of plants in 

 one house, probably handling just 

 enough to satisfy his trade. In case 

 of a large order, it follows that he 

 would have to call upon some of the 

 larger . growers to help him out, but 

 the picture shows that he is a busy 

 grower and handles quite a variety to 

 accommodate his trade. < ' 



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THE TREND 



OF TRADE 



A YOUNG MAN'S VIEWS. 



The "Gfet Together" Theory. 



I have read with a great deal of in- 

 terest the articles under the heading, 

 ' ' The Trend of the Trade, ' ' which have 

 been published in The Review from time 

 to time. To my mind the. problem re- 

 volves around the "get together" the- 

 ory. There are three distinct factors of 

 our business in which we are highly in- 

 terested — the grower, the commission 

 man and the retailer. The problem 

 should be studied from all three angles, 

 so that we may gain a full idea and 

 correct impression of the conditions 

 which should be changed and undoubt- 

 edly will be changed in a few short 

 years. 



In every florists' meeting held since 

 the first of the year the atmosphere has 

 been charged with the tense thoughts 

 of the wide-awake florists. They realize 

 fully the various problems that con- 

 front the trade. They not only realize 

 but have expressed their views fully, 

 and in this way they have started other 

 florists' thoughts in the same direction. 

 And at the present day the florists over 

 the entire country are wide-awake, won- 

 dering and discussing how conditions 

 may be bettered. 



Now, for the sake of argument, let us 

 skim over the troubles of the grower, 

 commission man and retailer. 



Mistake of Staying Home. 



The average grower is a man who 

 stays at home most of the time. Bight 

 there is one of the biggest mistakes he 

 could possibly make. Why? Because 

 the man that stays at home is not in a 

 position to know where he can get the 

 best value for his stock. It is a big 

 benefit for a grower to go to the large 

 markets several times a year, and look 

 into the selling conditions. If he has 

 customers out of the city, let him make 

 it a practice to call on them not less 

 than twice a year; let them know he 

 is interested in them; inquire as to 

 how shipments arrive, if the stock he 



grows is as good as the other fellow's, 

 and if not, ask them where the dif- 

 ference lies. And in a great many 

 cases the customer may be able to pell 

 how to remedy the fault. Don't th^nk 

 for a minute that simply because a man 

 does not produce the stock his advic^ is 

 not reliable, for a wide-awake retailer 

 must be posted on all lines of the busi- 

 ness. 



One of the conditions existing be- 

 tween grower and , commission man is 

 detrimental to both, and is a constant 

 bone of contention. A grower who 

 consigns on commission has no way of 

 holding the consigiiee ' for the goods. 

 When he places his shipment on the 

 train, that shipment *^h<)uld be under 

 the responsibility of the commission 

 man. Legally, the shipment belong!^ to 

 the grower until sold or dumped; prac- 

 tically, it belongs to the commission 

 man. It is this condition that arouses 

 antipathy and mistrust of the grower 

 toward the commission man. 



Commission Man's Troubles. 



If the head of the commission house 

 is careless in handling stock which is 

 consigned, it is reasonable to suppose 

 that his employees will be careless also. 

 This means rough handling of flowers, 

 which soon spoils their beauty. I have 

 seen flowers in the retailer's icebox 

 that showed no resemblance to the flow- 

 ers the grower had produced. Who 

 loses? The grower, commission man, 

 retailer and, worst of all, the final pur- 

 chaser. M6st of the commission men 

 are anything but careless, but just the 

 same this condition should be changed 

 in some manner that would work no 

 hardships on either grower or commis- 

 sion man. 



The commission man is the most 

 abused man on earth. He gets the 

 kicks going and coming. If not the 

 grower, then the retailer. He certainly 

 holds an unenviable position. To my 

 mind his greatest cause of worry is 

 the rush season or holiday time. He 

 does not know until he sees the stock 

 just what he has to sell. He books 

 orders for certain amounts on certain 

 days, and at the last minute he finds 

 that the stock he has been depending 

 upon did not arrive. Of all provoking 

 things, that is the worst in the business. 

 His blood nearly turns to water when 

 at the last minute he has to turn down 

 an order, and in all probability lose a 

 good customer. 



This should not be. When a commis- 

 sion man does the best he can for a 

 grower during the slump season, it is 

 no more than right to expect the 

 grower to do the same when prices are 

 high and stock scarce. Another point 

 which would materially help the com- 

 mission man is this: A grower who is 

 making regular consignments should 

 keep him posted as to the condition of 

 his stock. If a big crop is expected, 

 notify him, tell him if it is good, bad or 

 indifferent, and the approximate time 

 it will last. This would aid both per- 

 sons concerned. The commission man 

 would know when a certain crop was 

 coming, what kind of stock and variety. 

 He would make plans to push this crop 

 as fast as it came in, and, if he is 

 energetic, get a good price for it, which 

 in turn would affect the grower's check. 



The commission man should be on in- 

 timate business terms with the retailers 

 with whom he deals. He should find 

 out from them what the public wants, 



VUw in One of the Houses of A. M. Stackhouse, Minerva, O. 



