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The Florists' Review 



December 7, 1916. 



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*>Tmerican Greenliou«/e Manufacturing Co., Chicago 



Price Crisis 



The present rapid advance in the prices of 

 materials is without a parallel. Do you realize 

 what this means to you? 



A great crisis always means an opportunity 

 to a really big man — whether in public life or 

 business. 



Here are some hard, cold facts for you to 

 check off: 



The principal items entering 

 into greenhouse construction are 

 structural steel, glass, pipe, wood- 

 work, lumber, paint, boilers, brass 

 valves, castings, steam fittings and 

 labor. A comparison of present 

 prices with the prices at this time 

 last year will surprise you; but 

 bear in mind that this difference 

 is hut the beginning. If you could 

 compare the prices of today with 

 the prices that will be in effect 

 next November, we believe you 

 would find the difference even 

 more startling. 



Steel. 

 Base price on steel today in Chi- 

 cago is $74.00 per ton. The aver- 

 age price on structural steel for 

 greenhouse work is today about 

 $90.00 per ton, including plates 

 and extras. Last fall you could 

 have bouglit fabricated material 

 for the price of raw material to- 

 day. And this is not the end ! 

 Probably by spring the average 

 cost of greenhouse sizes will be 

 $120.00 per ton. 



Glass. 



Glass is the highest it has been 

 for fifteen years, but with the 

 wages that are being paid in the 

 glass factories this winter and with 

 the increased cost of materials, the 

 price next spring will probably 

 outdo anything you have ever 

 known. If $4.50 now, would $6.00 

 surprise you next summer? 



Pipe. 



The present price of steel pipe is 

 about $7.00 to $10.00 per ton less 

 tlhan the cost of the raw steel. The 

 pipe manufacturers are using 

 stocks purchased on a much lower 

 market than the present and are 

 contracting every day for their 

 future supplies on the basis of the 

 present market. When material on 

 old contracts is gone, what do you 

 think pipe prices will be? There 

 Avas an advance November 1st, an- 

 other November 15th and again 

 December 1st. These advances, 

 running anywhere from 3 to 10 per 

 cent, come almost weekly. This 

 means the price next March will be 

 away above what it is today. 



Woodwork. 

 Of all greenhouse materials, the 

 price of woodwork has been the 

 most stationary, the present price 

 being about 10 per cent higher than 

 it was at the same time last year. 

 The Cypress lumber mills have 

 changed their grading rules and 

 are getting rid of stocks made up 

 on the old rules. The new rules 

 will make it necessary for green- 

 house manufacturers to pay more 

 for lumber when the new stocks 

 come in. The demand for Cypress 

 lumber has been growing apace 

 during the last six months and 

 mills are quoting higher figures. 

 Lumber will advance steadily be- 

 tween now and spring, but the ad- 

 vance may not be as great as on 

 some other items. There will be 

 a big advance in the grades used 

 for benches, etc. The ordinary 

 grade of barn Cypress has ad- 

 vanced about $4.00 per thousand. 



Paint. 



Paint materials are out of sight. 

 Linseed oil is selling over the $1.00 

 mark and lead and zinc are up into 

 two figures. It will be impossible 

 to sell pure greenhouse paint for 

 $2.00 per gallon and make a 

 profit. Paint at $1.50 per gallon 

 has been a good average price. We 

 look for paint to sell at $2.25 to 

 $2.50 before March. 



Cast Iron Boilers and Castings. 



Cast iron boilers and castings are 



bound to climb. Advices from big 



people assure us that pig iron is 



likely to reach $50.00 per ton. Last 



