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The Florists^ Review 



Jdne 1, 1916. 



NUMBER OF MEN EEQUIBED. 



How many men should be needed to 

 do th.e work in a range of greenhouses 

 containing 75,000 square feet of glass, 

 where the crops grown are 24,000 car- 

 nations, 10,000 chrysanthemums, 5,000 

 roses and a general stock of plants? 

 We have day and night firemen. There 

 are six houses, each 27x300, and they 

 are in good condition. I should like 

 to get some facts from the experiences 

 of other firms under similar conditions. 

 K. S.— Wis. 



It would be utterly impossible for 

 anyone who is unfamiliar with your 

 place and the conditions prevailiiig 

 thereon to give you an intelligent esti- 

 mate of the number of men required 

 to run it properly. The class and as- 

 sortment of stock grown and the 

 adaptability of the place to the stock 

 that is being grown would make all 

 the difference in the world between the 

 economical operation of one place and 

 that of another. A much better method 

 for getting at your problem would be 

 to estimate a fair day's work in any 

 given operation, and then see whether 

 or not each individual does a fair day's 

 work while being employed in that man- 

 ner. If each man comes up to the 

 standard in hia particular line, you will 

 have no reason to complain. 



For instance, a fair potter will take 

 up 2,500 to 3,000 rooted cuttings, pot 

 them into 2-inch pots and set them 

 away, in a day of ten hours. If he has 

 to screen and get in his potting soil, 

 do much cleaning on the cuttings be- 

 fore potting, or carry the potted plants 

 a long distance, the quantity will be 

 cut down proportionately. 



One man will be able to care for one 

 of your houses planted to roses or car- 

 nations for cut blooms, doing the water- 

 ing, the ventilating and the cutting of 

 blooms, and propagating enough stock 

 to replant the house each year. In 

 fact, he would do everything except re- 

 filling the house for replanting. If 

 the house were planted with chrysan- 

 themums there would be times when 

 extra help would be required. Few 

 places are run in this manner, how- 

 ever. A grower is given several houses 

 to look after. He will do the watering 

 and ventilating, and in addition to that 

 he will do whatever other work he finds 

 time to do, selecting for himself those 

 things which require a greater technical 

 knowledge than is possessed by the 

 average helper, of whom the required 

 number are supplied him, whenever 

 they are needed. 



If I had your place, I would employ 

 a rose grower, a carnation grower and 

 a plant grower. The plant grower 

 would take charge of the chrysanthe- 

 mums, because the houses in which the 

 chrysanthemums are grown are most 

 likely used to a large extent for the 

 potted plants. Give each of these 

 three men his department to look after. 

 Then I would employ a number of help- 

 ers, who would change around from 

 one department to another, according 

 to where extra help is needed. Still 

 another man should be in charge of the 

 packing, as this department requires 

 both knowledge and skill of its own 

 particular kind. Above all, one man 

 should be in supreme authority. On 

 this man, more than on anyone else, 

 will depend the economical operation 

 of the place. He will plan the work 

 and see that each department works in 

 harmony with the rest. He may be one 



of the three growers named above, or 

 he may be extra, and be free from the 

 vexing little details of a department, 

 thus having an opportunity to achieve 

 the best possible results. A. F. J. B. 



NEWABK, N. J. 



The Market. ^ 



Memorial day business was excef)- 

 tionally good with most of the local 

 florists. As usual, those located near 

 a cemetery or who for other reasons 

 have a large business in potted plants 

 did better than those whose trade is 

 principally in cut flowers, funeral and 

 wedding work. But all did a satisfac- 

 tory business. Tens of thousands pf 

 geraniums,, petunias, heliotropes, fuch- 

 sias, verbenas, ageratums and other 

 plants were sold. Large numbers of 

 foliage plants were sold. Hundreds 

 of graves r.which several weeks ago 

 were planted to pansies were replanted 

 with blooming and foliage plants. Each 

 passing year sees a larger number of 

 potted plants sold by the grocery stores 

 at such times as Easter and Memorial 

 day, and, while this makes business for 

 the growers, it cuts into the florists 

 who maintain stores. 



Iris has been jnuch more plentiful 

 during the last week than heretofore, 

 and gladioli, which made their appear- 

 ance a couple of weeks ago, are arriv- 

 ing in considerable quantity. Weather 

 conditions were such the early part of 

 last week that the development of car- 

 nations and other flowers was some- 

 what retarded. Still there was a con- 

 siderable sup'ply. Sweet peas were 

 plentiful and cheap. 



Now that the greenhouses have been 

 cleared of Memorial day and bedding 

 stock, . the growers are beginning to 



plan more actively for fall. They are 

 repotting their chrysanthemum cuttings 

 and planting or transplanting their 

 other fall stock. 



Various Notes. 



A. Deisler & Son, 31 Holland street, 

 report business satisfactory. They have 

 had a large amount of funeral work 

 of late. 



Charles J. Connolly, 319 Bank street, 

 has made alterations in his store which 

 enable him to make a much more at- 

 tractive display. 



Davies & Davis, wholesale growers at 

 Central avenue and Grove street. East 

 Orange, report a fine Memorial day 

 business in bedding plants. They are 

 now making their last potting of chry- 

 santhemums. 



Because of the inclement weather the 

 early part of last week, Henry Hor- 

 necker, 77 Central avenue. East Orange, 

 was unable to get all his cemetery work 

 done by Memorial day, such was its 

 volume. 



F. A. Kuehn, 621 Central avenue, has 

 been busy with cemetery work and has 

 had a large sale of plants at his store 

 and greenhouses. 



Ernest Eadany, 596 Central avenue, 

 reports that the volume of Memorial 

 day and cemetery work he has had this 

 spring goes far ahead of that of previ- 

 ous years. 



Charles Witheridge, 532 Broad street, 

 complains of the high prices charged 

 for bedding plants this season, most 

 of the leading kinds costing as much 

 wholesale this year as they are often 

 sold at retail. 



Charles Trauth, 475 Orange street, is 

 much pleased with this spring's trade. 

 Funeral work has kept up well and 

 there has been a large sale of bedding 

 plants. E. B. M. 



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Aaron Shive, manager of the Flick 

 Floral Co. greenhouses. Fort Wayne, 

 notes an increasing demand for flower- 

 ing plants, which calls for more material 

 and labor. 



Mrs. E. Suder, of Toledo, O., is ex- 

 periencing the best season on record. 

 Each year sees better prices; choice 

 stock finds readier purchasers. Mrs. 

 Suder still takes an active interest in 

 the business, in which she is ably as- 

 sisted by her son. 



Schramm Bros., of Toledo, were com- 

 menting on the rush of business when 

 they were interrupted by a hail storm. 

 "Another setback," observed B. 

 Schramm, "but we will get there yet." 



G. F. Hartung, of Sandusky, O., is 

 one of the most successful market 

 gardeners in that locality. He reports 

 a better season for prices and is of the 

 opinion that growers are in good finan- 

 cial condition. 



The F. A. Friedley Co., of Cleve- 

 land, O., intends this to be the last 

 season for roses and carnations at this 

 location. They will transfer this 

 branch of the business to the new es- 

 tablishment at Newton Falls, O. "Our 

 cut for Mothers' day," said Frank 

 Friedley, "was 8,000 blooms from the 

 same number of plants of Carnation 

 Pink Delight. It is a good keeper. 



but we believe that in specializing in 

 fiowering plants and forcing stock, with 

 our convenient nearness to the city 

 stores, we shall do even better than in 

 the past." 



L. F. Darnell, formerly, of the J. M. 

 Gasser Co., Cleveland, is back in town 

 and is the subject of various rumors 

 in both store and greenhouse matters. 

 Certain it is that a well known and 

 popular man in the trade, as he is, 

 will not remain long inactive. 



A. Graham & Son, of Cleveland, find 

 some diversion in dodging missiles 

 thrown by joy riders on freight trains 

 which pass the end of the greenhouses. 

 Adam Graham II showed me a col- 

 lection of iron spikes and sprocket 

 wheels that made up an interesting 

 exhibit. The police authorities have 

 advised watching for the culprits and 

 firing blank cartridges, but Charles 

 Graham thinks it a poor return. As 

 soon as the rush of business is over, 

 an organized force will be formed to 

 cope with what, to say the least, is a 

 dangerous pastime and may become 

 serious and expensive. 



S. N. Pentecost, the Naumann Co. 

 and the Wilson Floral Co. are among 

 East Cleveland's most prosperous and 

 contented retail plant growers. W. M. 



