DISPLAYING HOLIDAY STOCK 163 



filled counter or bench. Try to make things as attractive as you 

 can even for the late comer. 



Delivering Christmas Orders 



Always bear in mind that what you send out should reach its 

 destination in the best possible condition even though you may be 

 located in a section of the country where from a sunny, Spring-like 

 twenty-third of December the weather may change overnight to 

 a blizzard with the temperature around zero. The man who wraps 

 up a flowering plant or basket and he who delivers it to the customer 

 in the same shape in which he received it, are as valuable assistants 

 as any you can have around you. Whether your territory is big or 

 small, the orders to go out on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth 

 should all be properly packed and set in lots going the same direction. 

 The orders going farthest, particulary during cold weather, should 

 receive special wrapping and attention. If the delivery man can 

 have a good boy with him to get the orders ready and out of the 

 car quickly it saves a great deal of time and more than pays for 

 his services. 



AU the good you may have accomplished in growing on a good 

 stock, preparing in every possible way for the rush and doing a big, 

 profitable business, counts for nothing if your stock is not delivered 

 properly. No one can conduct a Christmas rush and not have any 

 complaints; but why not avoid them as far as this is possible? 



You must adopt a proper system of conducting things. Every 

 order, whether it is a cash sale or charged, should be booked with 

 full instructions as to delivery. Wax paper envelopes will keep 

 cards clean and dry and should be securely fastened. The larger 

 your business grows the more necessary is a proper system of taking 

 care of the filling of the orders, and each man has to work out for 

 himself the way that is best for his own requirements. 



Keeping a Record Afterward 



There is nothing you can do which will help you more to prepare 

 and arrange for the next Christmas than to devote a little time to 

 putting down approximately the business you did and the stock 

 and material used for the one just past. You can easily look up 

 just how many cases of HoUy you used, how many wreaths were 

 disposed of, how many pounds of Boxwood were bought, how many 

 Cyclamens, Poinsettias, Begonias and other plants were used and 

 how many Roses, Carnations, Violets, etc.; what you had too 

 much of, and what you were short on. Make a complete record of 

 every detail and place it where you can find it. Everything is fresh 

 in your mind now, but it won't be long; you have to think of pre- 

 paring for St. Valentine's Day, Easter and another Spring to come. 



