August 25. 1917 



HORTICULTURE 



228a 



what lead up to it. On March 23, as 

 you all know, a cyclone passed over 

 is'ew Albany, Ind., taking a toll of fifty- 

 one lives and approximately $1,000,000 

 worth of property. Our place of about 

 250.000 sq. ft., while not directly in the 

 path of the storm, was badly wrecked 

 and as near as we can figure at this 

 time, the loss to our buildings amounts 

 to about $35,000, beside the loss in 

 stock and trade. Mr. Swift's place of 

 about 7.000 sq. ft. was totally destroyed, 

 and the greenhouses of Gueltig, Pont- 

 rich, Laden, and Aebersold, all small 

 places, were badly damaged. About the 

 same time, tornadoes were frequent in 

 other places, notably at New Castle, 

 Ind., and Mattoon. 111. 



I had tried on several occasions to 

 get windstorm insurance, but the rates 

 up to about a year ago were so high 

 (about $30.00 per $1,000) that it was out 

 of the question to c-arry this kind of in- 

 surance. Too late, I have learned that 

 for the past year, it has been possible 

 to get insurance for about $11.00 per 

 $1,000. But the protection is not satis- 

 factory. You have to carry a full in- 

 surance to get this rate. If only partial 

 insurance is carried the rate is 

 doubled. They will not pay for broken 

 glass uuless 20 per cent, of the frame 

 work is destroyed. The insurance only 

 covers the super-structure. Benches, 

 steam pipes, etc.. are not included. 



After that happened which we had 

 always dreaded, but hoped would not 

 happen, I felt I had to have protection 

 at any cost. While I still have courage 

 to rebuild and have faith in the future, 

 I question if a similar calamity should 

 overtake me ten years from now, 

 whether I should have courage to go 

 ahead, but might face want in my old 

 age. So I took out $50,000 worth of in- 

 surance, for which I paid $550.00 for 

 one year, although I felt this rate was 

 exorbitant and altogether out of pro- 

 portion to the losses from windstorm 

 to greenhouses. 



In the past, I have often thought of 

 the possibility of forming a mutual 

 company among greenhouse men 

 • against damage from windstorm. In 

 fact, I had proposed to the Hail Asso- 

 ciation that they widen their scope and 

 include wind. The directors of this as- 

 sociation, however, were never in 

 favor of this, claiming that there were 

 obstacles in the way, that seemed in- 

 surmountable. Time may prove that 

 they were right, but I had faith enough 

 in it to at least give it a trial. To get 

 information on which to base rates, 

 and get the sentiment in regard to such 

 an association, I sent postcards, with 

 reply card attached, to 500 of the larg- 

 est growers in all sections of the coun- 

 try, asking the following questions. 



"How much liavf you lost by windstorm 

 in tile past ten years? 



"In wliat year flid loss occur? 



"Wiiat is tlie size of your plant? 



"What construction? All steel, or pipe 

 or wood frame? 



"Would you join a mutual company for 

 insuring ajjainst wiml and hail if rates 

 could be made reasonable?" 



About 150 replies were received, with 

 more than two-thirds in favor of a 

 mutual company. The replies repre- 

 sented about 16':. million sq. ft. of 

 glass with a totai loss of $165,000 in- 

 ten years. Figuring the average value 

 of greenhouses at $500.00 per 1,000 sq. 

 ft. would make the losses 1/5 of 1 per 

 cent, per year. However, it is reason- 

 able to suppose that the 150 who re- 



C. E. Ckitchell, 

 Elected Director S. A. F. 



plied averaged more losses than the 

 350 who took no interest, and from this 

 standpoint, that the losses would aver- 

 age much less than 1/5 of 1 per cent. 



After getting this information for a 

 working basis, and receiving many 

 letters indorsing the movement, I 

 brought the matter before the State 

 Florists' Association, of Indiana, as I 

 realized that this was not a one man's 

 job and that I, being practically un- 

 known to the trade at large, could not 

 inspire the confidence that the Indiana 

 society could, it having, on many occa- 

 sions, entertained the national trade 

 societies. Furthermore, as the state of 

 Indiana has been the worst sufferer 

 from storms this year, many of her 

 florists having sustained heavy losses, 

 it seemed to me that more interest 

 would be taken there than any other 

 place. I was not disappointed. Money 



JoSEI'li .\1.\.NU.\, 



Elected Director S. A. F. 



was voted to carry on the preliminary 

 work and a committee of five, namely, 

 Herman Junge. A. F. J. Baur, Charles 

 Pahud. Lennes Elder and myself, were 

 appointed to draft a constitution and 

 by-laws, and to formulate a working 

 plan. 



The first question that presented it- 

 self to this committee was the scope of 

 the association. Whether it should 

 confine itself to windstorm insurance, 

 or should hail and snow be included. 

 .After careful consideration, it was 

 unanimously agreed that all three 

 should 1)0 included, for the reason that 

 in many cases, it would be hard to de- 

 termine what damage was done by 

 wind, hall and snow, respectively. 



We realized, that in some measure, 

 liy including hail, we would interfere 

 with the Florists' Hail Association, 

 that has been such a benefit to the 

 trade at large, and we decided to go 

 no further before proposing to them 

 that they include windstorm insurance. 

 The matter was presented at their 

 Board of Directors meeting, at Trenton, 

 N. J.. June 8th, but it was found that 

 their charter did not give them the 

 privilege to insure against any kind of 

 damage except from hail. 



[Mr. Rasmussen's report goes at 

 length into details which while very 

 interesting are too voluminous for the 

 space at our disposal this week. — Ed.] 

 The recommendation of the commit- 

 tee was complied with and the presi- 

 dent authorized to appoint the special 

 committee accordingly. 



The result of the balloting on Tues- 

 day evening on the proposed amend- 

 ment to the constitution was an- 

 nounced as 47 in favor and 94 in oppo- 

 sition and the proposition was de- 

 clared lost. 



Afternoon Session. 

 Wednesday afternon's session was 

 opened by W. F. Therkildson who 

 stated at length his views as chair- 

 man of the Committee on Publicity in 

 the Florists' Business. Mr. Therkild- 

 son showed samples of posters and 

 stickers to be used as helps to selling 

 ability and showed how countrywide 

 advertising had vitalized other lines of 

 business through its direct appeal to 

 the human interest, asserting that if 

 the public are deficient in their ap- 

 preciation of the florists' product it is 

 the florists own fault. Mr. Therkild- 

 son recommended the establishment of 

 a publicity fund of not less than $50,- 

 000 for national publicity. He was fol- 

 lowed by other speakers in approval, 

 among these being Mr. Eyles, an 

 agency expert; Mrs. Ella Grant Wil- 

 son, who told of the successful cam- 

 paign of community advertising inau- 

 gurated by the Cleveland florists last 

 spring; Max Schling, P. L. Atkins, 

 Wallace R. Pierson. .loseph Heacock, 

 .Tames McHutchison and others, with 

 the result that the meeting was 

 warmed up into one of the liveliest 

 and most sensational sessions the S. 

 A. F. has had in many a year. Sub- 

 scriptions towards a big publicity fund, 

 some of them to be continued annually 

 for five years and others to extend a 

 lifetime, running all the way from 

 twenty-five to several hundred dollars 

 each, poured in until there must have 

 been an aggregate of nearly ten thou- 

 sand dollars which was then augment- 

 ed by a vote recommending the addi- 

 tion of $5,000 from the treasury of the 



