The spring and summer are the busy seasons for the nurseryman and florist, for the thoughts of the city folk fly in the direction of the open air. The garden being the first haven of refuge, the garden “outfitter,” if I may be permitted to coin a term, benefits financially.

The neighborhood theater is best suited to your purpose, as the majority of the patrons are located in residential sections. You approach them in the right mood, for one of the charms of the motion picture, as you are doubtless aware, is the natural backgrounds. Although a fair sprinkling of the stories are set in the city, there are a goodly number located in rural communities, consequently spectators see lovely gardens, farms, ranches, to say nothing of the handiwork of nature represented by the prairies and forests. All this makes the city dweller feel as though he would like to get away from his artificial surroundings, so he unconsciously thinks about converting his back and front lots into gardens and have his window-sills filled with plants.

He may have just gotten to that wavering point where it needs an incentive to stir him to action, for he is apt to forget his cherished hopes when plunged in business on the following day.

It is customary, at some motion-picture theaters, to present premiums on a certain night each week. Each patron on entering is given a numbered ticket, and at an appointed hour about four numbers are drawn, the lucky ones being presented with a useful article. The exhibitor, in most instances, has neglected to enlist local co-operation and has purchased his premiums at wholesale price from headquarters. It may be because it is hardly profitable to local traders, since only four out of a possible thousand would feel kindly disposed toward them.

A friend of mine who recently returned from a tour down South informs me that he discovered a plan in his travels which has overcome this apparent difficulty. It appears that each lady paying for admission to the Columbus Theater at Mount Allen on a certain Wednesday night was presented with a ticket good for either a fifty-cent rosebush or else a plum or peach tree at the local nurseryman’s.

Each woman duly presented herself at the nursery and was permitted to select her own plant. This afforded the florist an opportunity to introduce many others of his line, and there were very few who did not spend from $1 to $10 with him.

The only criticism I have to offer is that the proposition might have been extended to the men, as there were undoubtedly married men in the audience, unaccompanied by their wives, as well as single ones who would care to take up gardening as a hobby.

The nurseryman in this case charged the exhibitor the absolute rock-bottom price for each plant, relying upon the extra permanent business secured to compensate for the sacrifice made.