1902. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



305 



Preparing Soil and Planting Carnations. 



market in recent years with such in- 

 flated credentials and which have proved 

 such miserable failures that it is quite a 

 pleasure to find one which does bear out 

 its reputation. EiBES. 



BUSINESS METHODS FOR BUSY 

 FLORISTS. 



IX. 



Sundry Expenses. 



Every business man keeps his goods 

 and buildings insured against loss by 

 fire. In this business great damage can 

 be done in a few minutes by fire. Fire 

 insurance is therefore all the more im- 

 perative. A great many good companies 

 will not insure greenhouse property at 

 all, others will take good risks, while 

 still others will take all risks. The rate 

 of premium depends a great deal upon 

 the proximity of the buildings to fire 

 protection in the larger cities. But the 

 main things considered by underwriters 

 in placing insurance are the general repu- 

 tation of the insured and the condition 

 of the premises at the time of placing 

 the insurance. 



A great many growers always have a 

 pile of rubbish, old boxes, barrels, kin- 

 dling wood, etc., dumped into a heterogen- 

 eous mass near the houses, which in dry 

 weather would easily be ignited by a 

 spark which w'ould work a vast amount 

 of damage in a few moments. Insurance 

 under such conditions is considered (and 

 rightly, too) very risky and if placed 

 at all would be at a high rate of prem- 

 ium. If your place is kept neat and tidy, 

 and rubbish is not allowed to accumulate, 

 your chances of having a fire are reduced 

 to the minimum and your premium for 

 insurance will be correspondingly less. 



It is almost impossible to insure grow- 

 ing plants against loss by fire, although 

 I have known of such insurance being 

 wiitten. The Florists' Mutual Fire In- 

 surance Co., which was attempted a few 

 years ago, was a most laudable business 

 proposition, but through indifference on 

 the part of the trade (not of the pro- 

 moters) it died an untimely death. 



Insurance against loss by hail is al- 

 most as important as fire insurance, as 



no amount of precaution will prevent loss 

 by hail, and while you may not be 

 touched in ten years, some day a black 

 and angry cloud may arise in ten min- 

 utes and wipe out two or three years' 

 profits in the "twinkling of an eye." 

 The Florists' Mutual Hail Association 

 has been so' well organized, losses have 

 been so promptly met, and under careful 

 management it has become so prosperous 

 that no florist should hesitate for a mo- 

 ment in joining it and protecting himself 

 against loss from this element. 



The expense of insurance should be 

 carefully kept from year to year. If at 

 the end of twenty years you have not 

 met with a loss you have the satisfaction 

 of knowing that you have been pro- 

 tected all the time. If you have met 

 with a loss the cost of your insurance 

 will most likely have been returned to 

 you several times over. Keep an ac- 

 curate record of your insurance and do 

 not let it expire without being renewed. 

 How often we hear of fires occurring 

 the day or week after insurance had 

 ceased. 



Another fi:red expense_ in the business" 

 is the item of water. This is one of the 

 great essentials in the business, and 

 while in nature it is "as free as air," 

 the cost of putting it where we want it 

 is considerable. In the larger cities it 

 is often cheaper to buy city water and 

 have it placed on your premises under 

 pressure than to sink a well ami pump it 

 with the wind. In my city the annual 

 cost is about $2.25 for each thousand 

 square feet of glass. (This includes 

 water for boilers.) 



As much depends upon location, each 

 florist will have to be his own judge of 

 what system of watering to employ. If 

 possible secure enough pressure for at 

 least one hose watering at the same time 

 for each 10,000 square feet of glass. 

 Make inquiries from your friends in the 

 trade as to the relative cost of water 

 and by comparing with your own solve 

 the problem of which system is the cheap- 

 est. While the expemse ea<!h year is not 

 great, the aggregate for a series of ten 

 or twenty years amounts to hundreds and 

 thousands of dollars. 



Lighting is another item which should 

 not be overlooked. In the dark winter 



months, when night begins at 4 or 4:30, 

 there is great necessity for good light in 

 many of the houses, so that the men may 

 not lose valuable time doing little or 

 nothing. A few dollars' expense for 

 lighting may save many dollars in labor. 

 In the majority of places kerosene lamps 

 and lanterns are used. While such light 

 is better than none at all, it is too ex- 

 pensive for the benefits derived, especial- 

 ly in the larger places. Gas, unless you 

 are in the ' ' Natural Gas Belt, ' ' is also 

 too expensive. Electricity, unless de- 

 veloped on the premises, is the most ex- 

 pensive of any light. 



In large places, those with 50,000 

 square feet or more of glass, the cost of 

 running a dynamo for lighting purposes 

 will amount to little or nothing outside 

 of the lubricating oil. The exhaust steam 

 in most plants will do the work nicely. 

 The cost of a dynamo varies from .$100 

 to $.500. The wiring and lamps from $25 

 to $100. The wear and tear on the ma- 

 chinery is 10 to 20 per cent each year, 

 and new lamps will cost from $5 to $10 

 annually. The interest on your invest- 

 ment at 6 per cent should be added and 

 you have the cost of your light from $25 

 to $150 per year. This is a fair esti- 

 mate. The figures are not extravagant, 

 the cost is not great and I honestly be- 

 lieve in most places will save several 

 hundred dollars in labor besides being 

 very convenient. Of course, the smaller 

 places will have to devise other means of 

 lighting. Acetylene is rapidly coming to 

 the front as a cheap light and is worthy 

 of consideration. Whatever your light 

 is, let it so shine that your employes can 

 work ten hours a day unhindered by 

 ilarkness, and your profits will be in- 

 creased in proportion to the extra ex- 

 pense incurred. 



The expense of fertilizers and soil for 

 your benches is worthy of serious con- 

 sideration. They are both essential to 

 the development of our products and a 

 few dollars judiciously expended may 

 yield hundreds in return. Each and 

 every grower should be the best judge as 

 to the best soil for his requirements. On 

 this subject I am no expert and will offer 

 no suggestions, but will leave that to 

 specialists. If soil or sods from your 

 own land are not available or desirable, 

 do not hesitate in incurring extra ex- 

 pense to obtain them from some place 

 where they are. 



I know a grower who with but little 

 experience grows fancy roses. It is not 

 the result of chance or skill, but of soil. 

 This he obtained from a nearby ungraded 

 street for several years. When the street 

 was graded and the soil from that source 

 was no longer available, he purchased a 

 tract of land alongside the street, for 

 the sake of the soil, for, said he, "I must 

 have that soil if I am to grow roses. ' ' The 

 land cost him $600 or $700, but I think it 

 was money wisely invested. He knew a 

 good thing and kept it. 



On another pla<:e I know an Al all 

 round grower of many years' experience 

 who but recently engaged in business for 

 himself. His first year's business was a 

 dismal failure, because the soil wasn't 

 right and he didn't know what elements 

 were needed to make it right. This year 

 he is hauling sods from three miles away, 

 from a field where he knows it is all right 

 by experience and where he not only has 

 to pay for soil but also for hauling. At 

 an expense of $200 to $300 he will realize 



