16 



The Florists' Review 



Decemuku 21, 1910. 



ri ii^^ii^iMi^y^Mi^M^^jiMitiJi^iiy^iMiu^iMi^^ 





TUE GLASS SITUATION 



TODAY AND IN THE FUTUEE. 



All Markets High. 



Tlio {grower \vh() is jntstpouing liis 

 1917 l)uiklin<; program -with tlio expec- 

 tation that lie can buy elieaper later in 

 the season might as well make up his 

 mind that nothing of the kind can occur. 



The i)rices of most of the things that 

 go into the building of a greenhouse 

 have advanced, but the market for the 

 tank grade of ( yi)ress is only slightly 

 higher than it was a year ago. Any 

 change in the cy])ress market is sure to 

 be an advance; there is no (diance that 

 the market will fall. «teel, pipe, paint, 

 putty and other items are materially 

 higher tlian 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 sjiriiig before any of them will 

 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' l)ef ore 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 191G the steel mills and muni- 

 tions factories in Ohio, Pennsylvania 

 and West Virginia have been working 

 night and day and have been consuming 

 so 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 AVest Virginia that 

 arc 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 tliat 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 tlie greenhouse sizes cut a premium 

 is demanded. 



W^itliin 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 imjiortant percentage of 

 the output of small size glass. 



Neither factories nor jobbers have 

 their customary stocks on hand at this 

 time of 3-ear. As an instance, one large 

 jobber opened his mail one day last week 

 and found in it orders for more than 

 700 boxes of greenliouse glass. In his 

 warehouse there were not twenty-five 



boxes that could be used to fill the 

 orders. The filling of orders, therefor , 

 is a matter of getting shipments fro 

 factories and delays are interminable. 



The Present Prices. 



A large number of growers look ba^ 

 to the time when the jjrice of 16x ■ 

 double strength A glass at Chica;- 

 was about $3.05. Rightly or wrong] , 

 a habit has grown up of considering tb ; 

 a normal price. Today the ])rices 

 carload lots at Chicago, delivery : 

 some indefinite date in the future, a 

 about as follows: 



Size Grade TerCOfi 



KlxlH A ?4.()4 



l(!xl8 B .•{.SK 



lGx24 A 5.0C 



lGx24 15 4.1:J 



This is an advance of about fifty ]■ 

 cent. It is not so great an advance 

 the advance in steel, nor is it so gr> 

 an advance as that in the white ])aj' 

 used for printing The Review, whi 

 has practically doubled in price witlr . 

 the year. 



If the War Ends. 



Of course the war in Europe is blann i 

 for the glass situation. But if the w: - 

 should end this week it will be mai 

 months before conditions in the gl.i 

 trade are alfected. It will take monti 

 to fill the orders now on file. Mai 

 months will be required to accumula' 

 normal stocks, and Belgium will n 

 again be manufacturing glass to supp 

 her own needs and the needs of a lar, 

 part of the rest of the world for mat 

 many months after peace is declared. 



Jobbers in window glass do not Hk 

 liigh prices any more than their cu- 

 tomers do; they prefer moderate prio ~, 

 as tending toward a large volume '■'. 

 sales. But in the jobbing trade hope ■•; 

 lower prices has been abandoned for :i 1 

 of 1917. 



Hay Fever Time. 



The pcojilo want a nashnal flower. 

 And as to press we sneeying plod 



We nln't pot any preference — 

 But we hoiK! it won't be Roldenrod! 



—Florida Times-Union, 



To Keep In Touch. 



The desi|gTier 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 waa 

 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 n in the morning, turned to 

 him and saiil: 



"It's grand! And I've just decid 1 



not to employ a gardener. I know ji ' 



what I want. Banked up right agaii t 



the porch there I want a real thi : 



border — now, what is that name? Y i 



know; those bright red flowers that lo : 



so dressy — yes; now, I have it - 

 saliva! " 



The architect was staggered for a n • 



mcnt, but soon recovered and came b;i ^ 

 enthusiasticallv. 



"The very thing! " he agreed. "A \ 

 right in front a nice row of spitunias 

 — .Saturday Evening Post. 



Advertising for Kisses? 



She was a sentimental young p '. 



and had devoted much time and ten r 



thought to the home decorations. I r 



surprise may bo imagined when ; ''■ 



came downstairs one morning o ^ 



found the decorations moved arovi i 



and all the mistletoe hanging in * <' 

 windows. 



"Say, sister," explained her li< 6 



brother, "you have had that mistle 6 



hanging up for nearly a week and "^ ^ 



have not had a single customer, i ^ 



