GLADIOL 
Bee Gee 

Wing ae 7 lowers 
Our favorite flower, the 
gladiolus, is now the leading 
commercial flower. This is only 
natural because of the great im- 
provement we have developed 
in the glads in the past ten 
years. Of great assistance in 
bringing the gladiolus to the top 
in dollar volume has been the 
development of the southern 
winter growing of these flowers 
with the resultant year-around 
production and availability on 
the flower markets. 
1948 WAS A BETTER YEAR 
The summer season for the 
cut gladiolus growers proved to 
be much better than the pre- 
vious season. While prices prob- 
ably were a little lower for cut 
glads, the demand for them was 
vastly improved. | had reports 
from some growers saying that 
they could not keep their mar- 
kets supplied and this in spite of 
the fact that more and more 
people are growing glads for 
the commercial markets. 
PEOPLE WANT FLOWERS 
Almost everybody appreci- 
ates the beauty of flowers, but 
not everybody has been able to 
afford them for regular and 
constant use in their homes. As 
we continue to increase the pro- 
DAVID M. PUERNER 
duction of gladiolus, their mod- 
est prices will enable more and 
more people to enjoy their 
beauty. This will mean a con- 
stantly expanding market for 
our product and if we must sell 
them cheaper, then we can grow 
more and more to increase our 
dollar volume. The main thing is 
to make our product available 
to more people and educate 
everybody to love them. Then 
we will have no trouble in mak- 
ing our business pay. We are 
not alone in this in gladiolus 
production. The greenhouse 
growers are no different. It has 
already been necessary for them 
to maintain their dollar volume 
and profits by systematically in- 
creasing their production. Some 
of our best Milwaukee flower 

growers have only recently told 
me that they have maintained 
their profits by increasing their 
production per bench by as 
high as 15°, which has more 
than offset the reduced prices 
they received from the whole- 
sale markets. 
HOW TO INCREASE YOUR 
CUT FLOWER SALES 
There is only one sure way to 
increase sales, no matter what 
you are selling. That is through 
advertising. Cooperative flow- 
er advertising, in many cities 
known as “allied florists associa- 
tions,"’ was founded in Milwau- 
kee, and for thirty-one years we 
have carried ona large and con- 
sistent advertising program. The 
result has been to make Mil- 
waukee an outstanding flower 
city. For the past eleven years, 
while | have directed this work, 
we have shown an increase in 
flower sales, year by year. Even 
during the past two years, when 
every major city has shown a 
loss of business, we continued 
upward in our dollar volume. 
Surely our advertising program 
has been a profitable one. | 
mention this to show that it is 
possible for you to do a similar 
job, no matter where you are. 
If you are in a small city and 
grow gladiolus for your local 
