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KEEPING COUNT OF 

 THE CARNATION CUT 



It is hoped that this article, written hy a carnation grower, will he 

 serviceable in several ways, furnishing timely suggestions, stimulating dis- 

 cussion on the subject, and possibly inducing some other growers to keep 

 more systematic records of their crops than heretofore, if such data are 

 seen to be fully worth the effort. 



HAT are the average 

 profits of the carnation 

 grower? This question 

 has been asked many 

 times by persons who are 

 thinking of specializing in 

 carnations, and has usu- 

 ally been answered by a 

 good or bad guess, too fre- 

 quently bad, giving an 

 exaggerated idea of the returns. I 

 thought it would be interesting, there- 

 fore, to give accurate figures with 

 reference to a range of glass in which 

 carnations are produced as an exclusive 

 crop, for the dollars and cents that are 

 in them. Accordingly I have compiled, 

 from the daily records, a table which 

 shows at a glance the number of blooms 

 produced per plant, the amount of 

 bench space occupied and the money re- 

 ceived from the sale of the flowers dur- 

 ing the whole growing season under 

 glass. 



(Juttings as Well as Cut Flowers. 



It shquld be understood that these 

 same plants produced, besides the 

 blooms, about 50,000 rooted cuttings, 

 which were planted in the field, and 

 which added to the revenue about $500 

 for plants sold, besides giving a good 

 supply to refill the benches for the fol- 

 lowing year. It should be noted, also. 



that in compiling the table, all flowers 

 were counted, both firsts and seconds. 

 In studying the table, it will be 

 noticed that the figures for the entire 

 twelve months of the year are supplied. 

 However, the nine months which form 

 the regular carnation season, the most 

 profitable part of the carnation man's 

 year, are treated separately in the totals 

 and averages in the last four lines of 

 the table. Thus special emphasis is 

 placed on the fact that June, July and 

 August are the "off" months, the 

 months of poor prices. The fact is al- 

 ready well known, \iMt columns of 

 figures have a way of their own of 

 making a fact stand out prominently. 



Returns Per Plant. 



The carnation crops under considera- 

 tion were grown in a range of modern 

 iron-frame greenhouses, situated in 

 Massachusetts, and the flowers were 

 sold in the Boston market, at whole- 

 sale only. A study of the figures will 

 show that the average returns were 

 33% cents per plant or 66 cents per 

 square foot of bench space. In this 

 connection it is important to bear in 

 mind that the year of 1914-15 was not 

 quite up to the standard, as business 

 was poor, especially during the early 

 part of the season. I find that the total 

 of the previous year's sales was about 



twelve per cent higher. The carnations 

 grown were of first-class commercial 

 quality and compared favorably in 

 price with the best that were brought 

 to the market. 



The chief purpose of this article, of 

 course, is to present a clear, precise 

 statement of the gross wholesale re- 

 turns from the writer's range of glass, , 

 without giving any particular considera- 

 tion to the expense side of the account. 

 It might be well, however, just to men- 

 tion the fact that the total cost of con- 

 ducting the range -is about $5,000 to 

 $6,000 per year. Providing the pro- 

 prietor also devotes his time to the 

 business, it would require about four 

 men, and $300 or $400 for extra help, 

 to run the place, allowing nine hours 

 for a day's work. 



The Best Sellers. 



As to what varieties sell best, it is 

 advisable for the grower to inquire 

 about this at the market where he in- 

 tends to offer his flowers. In Boston 

 the light pinks and the whites meet 

 with the best demand. Among the 

 light pinks. Pink Delight ranks first 

 and is easily the best selling carnation 

 in the Boston market, especially during 

 the winter months and until Memorial 

 day. Enchantress Supreme runs a close 

 second until near Memorial day, and 



A BOSTON GROWER'S COMPARISON OF RETURNS FROM DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF CARNATIO NS. 



Number of plants 

 Sq.ft. bench room 



Cut in 1914-15 



September 



October 



November 



December 



January 



February 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July-August 



Total cut to June 1 

 Total for season.. 

 Av.p. pl'nt to June 1 

 Av.p pl'ntforseas'n 



Gorgeous 



924 



462 



487 



720 



790 



450 



540 



1010 



1275 



1150 



1895 



1435 



1750 



8317 

 11502 



9 

 121^ 



Benora 



2076 

 1036 



912 

 3430 

 2970 

 3060 

 4175 

 3130 

 2570 

 2090 

 1710 

 5550 

 14300 



24047 

 43897 



11^ 

 21 



Rosette 



978 

 489 



7 

 3(55 

 1295 

 1235 

 2080 

 1475 

 1350 

 1530 

 1625 

 2875 

 4100 



Matchl'ss 



1980 

 996 



769 

 1750 

 2740 

 2895 

 4025 

 4040 

 2890 

 2420 

 2635 

 4;i50 

 7650 



Pink 

 Delight 



8016 

 4148 



504 

 8505 

 10740 

 12485 

 11265 

 12110 

 11340 

 9745 

 11570 

 15955 

 18550 



88264 

 122769 

 11 

 15^4 



Beacon 



1858 

 928 



492 

 2225 

 1275 

 29(55 

 2515 

 2825 

 2785 

 5460 

 4260 

 6086 

 1825 



24792 

 32702 



17% 



All 

 Varieties' 



27772 

 14206 



9951 

 34350 

 3(i270 

 43200 

 48455 

 41240 

 38560 

 43720 

 46625 

 80705 

 105725 



341371 

 527801 



Sold for, 

 Wholes'le 



129.88 



584.05 



804.83 



1133.70 



1130.75 



924.70 



872.25 



1024.25 



1362.51 



610.55 



815 12 



$9392.59 



