16 



The Florists' Review 



Dbcbmbbb 21, 1916. 



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THE GLASS SITUATION 



TODAY AND EN" THE FUTUBE. 



All Markets High. 



The grower who is postponing his 

 1917 building program with the expec- 

 tation that he can buy cheaper later in 

 the season might as well make up his 

 mind that nothing of the kind can occur. 



The prices of most of the things that 

 go into the building of a greenhouse 

 have advanced, but the market for the 

 tank grade of cypress is only slightly 

 higher than it was a year ago. Any 

 change in the cypress market is sure to 

 be an advance; there is no chance that 

 the market will fall. Steel, pipe, paint, 

 ■p^Sty and other items are materially 

 higher than they were a year ago, 

 but manufacturers are far behind their 

 orders and, even if no more business 

 should be offered, it will be well- 

 towards spring before any of them wiU 

 have filled all the orders now on hand; 

 indeed, steel mills are said to have 

 booked orders that will keep them busy 

 practically all of 1917 and at prices 

 that make it absolutely impossible that 

 the output be resold at anything less 

 than prevailing rates. 



Window glass, which constitutes one 

 of the principal items of expense in 

 building a greenhouse, is higher today 

 than it has been in many years. There 

 is difference of opinion as to whether 

 or not the market will advance between 

 now and spring. Some persons well 

 informed in the glass trade say that 

 the tendency will be continuously up- 

 ward, while others believe prices will 

 remain stationary until some new de- 

 velopments occur. But everyone in- 

 formed on the situation agrees that it 

 will be many months and probably more 

 than a year before there is a decline in 

 prices. 



Fuel Supply Closes Factories. 



One of the principal troubles the glass 

 manufacturers are encountering this 

 season is with the supply of natural gas, 

 which is an important item in the glass 

 trade. It takes about 2,000 cubic feet 

 of natural gas for each box of fifty 

 square feet of glass manufactured. "Win- 

 dow glass factories close down in the 

 summer, but their demands for gas are 

 so enormous that it is customary to store 

 gas during the inactive months to ac- 

 cumlate the requirements of the winter 

 season. This has been more than ever 

 necessary during the recent years of 

 declining gas supplies. But during the 

 summer of 1916 the steel mills and muni- 

 tions factories in Ohio, Pennsylvania 

 and West Virginia have been working 

 night and day and have been consuming 

 go much gas that there were no oppor- 

 tunities for the glass factories to ac- 

 cumlate their usual quantities. As a 

 result, the glass factories in Ohio, Penn- 

 sylvania and West Virginia this winter 

 find themselves short of fuel. It is re- 

 ported that December 14 twelve window 

 glass factories in those three states 

 closed indefinitely. Some of them may 

 start up soon, but others are likely to 

 remain closed at least until next sea- 



son. All these factories cut more or less 

 glass of greenhouse size. 



Persons well informed in the glass 

 trade say that the factories in Ohio, 

 Pennsylvania and West Virginia that 

 are having trouble over the fuel supply 

 represent seventy per cent of the entire 

 output of the window glass in the 

 United States. 



Labor and Stock on Hand. 



Another trouble that the glass manu- 

 facturers have is with the demands of 

 labor. In the glass trade the cutters 

 are paid more money for cutting large 

 sizes than for cutting small sizes. Con- 

 sequently, with labor in an independent 

 attitude the demand is for specifications 

 calling for the cutting of large sizes; to 

 get the greenhouse sizes cut a premium 

 is demanded. 



Within quite recent times a new de- 

 mand has sprung up to compete with 

 the greenhouse trade for small sizes. 

 Modern factory buildings are being 

 erected with steel window frames glazed 

 with glass that falls within the same 

 bracket as the greenhouse sizes. So 

 large has this demand become that it 

 consumes an important percentage of 

 the output of small size glass. 



Neither factories nor jobbers have 

 their customary stocks on hand at this 

 time of year. As an instance, one large 

 jobber opened his mail one day last week 

 and found in it orders for more than 

 700 boxes of greenhouse glass. In his 

 warehouse there were not twenty-five 



boxes that could be us^d to fill these 

 orders. The filling of oi'ders, therefore, 

 is a matter of getting shipments from 

 factories and delays are interminable. 



The Present Prices. 



A large number of growers look back 

 to the time when the price of 16x13 

 double' strength A glass at Chicago 

 was about $3.05. Eightly or wrongly, 

 a habit has grown up of considering this 

 a normal price. Today the prices iu 

 carload lots at Chicago, delivery at 

 some indefinite date in the future^ are 

 about as follows: 



size Grade Per 50 ft. 



16x18 A $4.64 



16x18 B 3.88 



16x24 A 6.06 



16x24 B 4.13 



This is an advance of about fifty per 

 cent. It is not so great an advance as 

 the advance in steel, nor is it so great 

 an advance as that in the white paper 

 used for printing The Eeview, wnich 

 has practically doubled in price within 

 the year. 



If the War Ends. 



Of course the war in Europe is blamed 

 for the glass situation. But if the war 

 should end this week it will be many- 

 months before conditions in the glass 

 trade are affected. It will take months 

 to fill the orders now on file. Many 

 months will be required to accumulate 

 normal stocks, and Belgium will not 

 again be maniif acturing glass to supply 

 her own needs and the needs of a large 

 part of the rest of the world for many, 

 many months after peace is declared. 



Jobbers in window glass do not like 

 high prices any more than their cus- 

 tomers do; they prefer moderate prices, 

 as tending toward a large volume of 

 sales. But in the jobbing trade hope of 

 lower prices has been abandoned for all 

 of 1917. 



Hay Fever Time. 



The people want a nashnal flower, 

 And a« to press we siieerliiK plod 



We nln't got any preference — 

 Bat we hope it won't be goldenrodl 



— ^Florida Timed-Union. 



To Keep In Tonch. 



The desi)pDer had waited a long, 

 long time for the buyer to come back 

 from market with the violets for the 

 evening's corsages, only to find he was 

 short of valley. 



"Now, brother," he said to the 

 buyer, "just run back to the market 

 and get me 100 good valley." 



"Yes, sir," said the buyer. 



"And," continued the artist, "while 

 you're away you might send me a 

 souvenir post card every now and 

 then." 



Old Joke in New Garb. 



A well known architect up Westches- 

 ter way was standing before one of his 

 newly completed creations. Its mis- 

 tress, plentifully sprinkled with dia- 

 monds at 11 in the morning, turned to 

 him and said: 



"It's grand! And I've just decided 

 not to employ a gardener. I know just 

 what I want. Banked up right against 

 the porch there I want a real thick 

 border — now, what is that namef You 

 know; those bright red flowers that lock 

 80 dressy — yes; now, I have it — 

 saliva 1" 



The architect was staggered for a rr.o- 

 ment, but soon recovered and came ba k 

 enthusiastically. 



"The very thingl " he agreed. " At d 

 right in front a nice row of spitunias! " 

 —Saturday Evening Post. 



AdvertiBing for Kisses? 



She was a sentimental young gi I, 

 and had devoted much time and tenc'^r 

 thought to the home decorations. I'^f 

 surprise may be imagined when e le 

 came downstairs one morning a i 

 found the decorations moved arou i 

 and all the mistletoe hanging in t lO 

 windows. 



"Say, sister," explained her lit Ic 

 brother, "you have had that mistletoe 

 hanging up for nearly a week and y "i 

 have not had a single customer. Y^" 



