320 



H K T 1 C U L T U K E 



September 28, 1918 



HOW TO MAKE BOTH ENDS MEET 



A l'!i|)er Road Before tbe Lancaster County 

 Florlatfl' ABSociation by B. F. Barr. 

 Those who read Mr. Totty's call for 

 volunteers on the subject of produc- 

 tion-cost, as a means of educating the 

 grower as well as the retailer to the 

 prices he should have for his prod- 

 ucts in order to put his business on a 

 proper plane as a commercial enter- 

 prise will realize that unless we can 

 meet existing conditions without sac- 

 rificing the things that rightfully be- 

 long to us, and at the same time con- 

 tribute our share towards winning 

 the war, we surely cannot term our 

 business as essential. This is a mat- 

 ter of utmost importance and one 

 that must be worked out individually, 

 as every florist has different condi- 

 tions which enter into the cost of pro- 

 duction. Some of us, too, are prob- 

 ably more successful than others. 

 The principal problem, however, is 

 how to govern prices on our product 

 in order to make both ends meet. 



Every successful enterprise bases 

 its selling price on the cost of produc- 

 tion, distribution, sales, overhead or 

 any other division of expenses that 

 may accrue, and until we do this we 

 have no way of knowing whether we 

 are going forward or backward. True, 

 the market is glutted at times, usually 

 due to climatic conditions, and stocK 

 is sold below cost in order to move It, 

 but this is a great mistake. How 

 much better it would be to send this 

 surplus to our hospitals or canton- 

 ments than to flood the markets and 

 drive prices downwards. I have ref- 

 erence particularly to those who ship 

 flowers on commission. Whenever 

 the commission house has an over- 

 supply the price tumbles because they 

 are obliged to move the stock and get 

 what they can out of it for the benefit 

 of the shipper. 



You have all noticed how prices ad- 

 vance when stock is scarce. Why not 

 keep it scarce until prices rise to 

 where they belong? I feel quite sure 

 that if producers knew their costs, 

 their products would be selling at 

 very much higher prices than they 

 are today. It seems very foolish in- 

 deed to continue selling at former 

 prices in the face of the rising costs 

 encountered. In the long run one 

 does not sell much more stock at a 

 cheap price than at a profitable price. 

 People are accustomed today to high 

 cost and unless we can advance our 

 prices in comparison with the cost of 

 production we had better get In some 

 other line of business. 



We all know that the cost of labor 

 is double what it was last year and as 

 this item is 50 to 60 per cent of our 

 expense account against 28 to 30 per 



cent of last year, it is easy to figure 

 what we should have for our product 

 at the present time. From our own 

 expense accounts tabulated monthly 

 in comparison with last year's ac- 

 counts I am thoroughly convinced 

 that the cost of production is 30 to 40 

 per cent higher than last year. We 

 keep an accurate itemized monthly 

 record of all expenses and take them 

 into account in fixing our selling 

 prices, instead of attempting to meet 

 our competitors' prices and would 

 rather take a chance on losing a little 

 business than losing money in doing 

 it. In comparing nursery lists from 

 the different sections I find the big 

 houses have advanced their prices 25 

 per cent over those of one year ago 

 and in some cases even higher. 



Whether the florists' business is 50 

 or 100 per cent essential depends 

 largely on ourselves. If we cannot 

 make a reasonable margin on our 

 goods we certainly cannot contribute 

 to the winning of the war, which is 

 after all the most important business 

 of today. Watch your expense ac- 

 count and base your selling price on 

 the cost or on the same margin of 

 profit you had two years ago, which 

 was then as you all know entirely too 

 small. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



Seventeen of the "Old Guards" 

 spent the week-end with Mr. Westcott 

 at Waretown, Sept. 20 to 23. 



Lansdown will hold its annual Fall 

 Flower Show on the 5th of October, 

 Saturday, 4 to 10 p. m., at Twentieth 

 Century Auditorium. 



Prof. John A. Macfarlane, director 

 of the botanic garden at the Univers- 

 ity of Pennsylvania, says of the flow- 

 er mentioned in our issue three weeks 

 ago as Bidens laevis or the Brook 

 Sunflower, that it is known as Core- 

 opsis trichosperma, or Bidens trichos- 

 permum, or the golden bur weed. 

 About this season the entire area for 

 miles around Hog Island is golden 

 over with it, and it is a vei'y rich 

 honey yielding plant. It formerly 

 covered the whole of what is now 

 Hog Island Ship Building Yard and 

 still covers many acres north and 

 south of that site. 



ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



Serious damage was done to garden 

 crops by frost last Tuesday night. 

 Corn and potatoes apparently suffered 

 the most. Buckwheat growing on 

 low lands was seriously damaged. 



Most of the Rochester florists had 

 a very busy day on Saturday when 

 any amount of asters of all varieties 

 were sold, being the chief flower for 



For 



Bigger, Better 



Business 



Nothing that you can do will 

 compare with judicious advertis- 

 ing. 



Judicious Advertising 



is that which appeals to that class 

 of readers who have need for the 

 goods one has to offer and who 

 are able to pay for the same. Ad- 

 vertising addressed to anybody 

 else is largely ineffective and the 

 bigger the circulation paid for the 

 greater the waste. 



If you wish to reach the re- 

 sponsible and desirable people in 

 the Florist, Gardening, Seed and 

 Nursery industries, 



HORTICULTURE 



can serve you well. This it has 

 been doing for the past thirteen 

 years, for wise advertisers. 



Are you one of them? 



If not, now is a good time to 

 start something 



For 



Bigger, Better 



Business 



The Blessing of the Graves held at 



Holy Sepulcher cemetery on Sunday, 



September 22nd. 



An interesting trophy of the war 



was received by Horace J. Head from 

 his brother who is with Co. 4 Army 

 service corps, second division train 

 British expeditionary forces. The 

 souvenir was a miniature airplane 

 set on the nose of a German time 



bomb. All parts of the airplane are 

 made from pieces of death dealing ar- 

 ticles. 



