16 



The Florists Review 



July 12, 1917. 



FLIMFLAMMING THE PUBLIC. 



But the PubUc Wakes Up. 



The daily newspapers, which hailed 

 the coal price fixing agreement pulled 

 off at Washington as a wonderful thing 

 for the people, one by one are coming 

 around to the view expressed by The 

 Beview in reporting the affair, that it 

 was not what it purported to be; that 

 it was in reality an affirmation of ex- 

 tortionate mine mouth prices and in no 

 sense a reduction. 



The Chicago Tribune, which was one 

 of the papers that gave the "reduc- 

 tion" the biggest send-off, now declares 

 that ' ' the coal mine owners of Illinois 

 and Indiana still have the soft coal sit- 

 uation by the tail." 



The Operators' Side. 



May 29 the Tribune printed an arti- 

 cle showing that June 1, 1916, the price 

 of Illinois soft coal screenings at the 

 mine mouth was from 80 cents to $1 a 

 ton. It also stated that May 29, 1917, 

 the price of the same coal under the 

 same conditions was $2.75 a ton. 



In an effort to make a fair statement 

 of the changed conditions which justi- 

 fied such an enormous increase in the 

 price of coal, George H. Gushing, editor 

 of the Black Diamond, organ of the coal 

 mine owners, was asked to say in what 

 particulars and to what extent the cost 

 of producing coal in the Illinois district 

 had increased. These figures are as fol- 

 lows: 

 Increaspd cost of labor, duo to increased 



wages $0.oO 



Increased cost of all mininj; materials 10 



Increased cost of securing and housing min- 

 ers -0^ 



Total increased cost per ton $0.65 



Accepting these figures at their face 

 value — and otlier experts say they are 

 much too liberal — the justified price for 

 soft coal at the pit mouth June 1, 1917, 

 was something like $1.55 a ton. 



The price then prevailing was $2.75 a 

 ton, which gives an additional profit 

 of $1.20 a ton over and above that 

 reaped by the miners in 1916. 



When asked to explain and to justify, 

 if possible, this addition of $1.20 a ton 

 on top of the allowance for increased 

 cost of production, Mr. Gushing hesitat- 

 ed and evaded. 



'Terhaps they did it because they 

 thought they could get the money," it 

 was suggested. 



"I guess that's about it," he replied. 



Much Coal Is Stored. 



The mine operators were hailed as 

 patriots for agreeing to a price of $2.75. 

 It mav be that the patriotism was 

 shown by their not raising the prices to 

 still higher figures. 



No llorist lias been able to find a 

 place wlicre he could buy coal at prices 

 reduced since July 1, but even before 

 the conference in Washington, consum- 

 ers of coal were being urged to lay in 

 • at once their supply of fuel for con- 

 sumption next winter. To a large ex- 

 tent they took that advice. 



Perhaps the largest distributor of coal 

 in Chicago reports that during June he 

 actuallv delivered in Chicago nearly 



three times as much coal to customers 

 as during the same month in 1916. The 

 same report is made by other large deal- 

 ers. It is estimated that, on the whole, 

 more than one-tenth of the total supply 

 needed for consumption next winter was 

 put in the bins in June. 



Public Stops Buying. 



When the famous conference of coal 

 mine owners was held in Washington it 

 was announced in the newspapers that 

 a drop of from $1 to $5 a ton would fol- 

 low by July 1. That was followed by 

 the vitriolic attack made on the work of 

 the conference by Secretary of the 

 Navy Daniels and Secretary of War 

 Baker. Promptly, also, came an official 

 circular of the Illinois mine owners, 

 quoting prices which show no reduction 

 whatever. 



The result has been that, to a large 

 extent, consumers have stopped buying 

 coal for storage. Dealers complain quite 

 generally that their delivery teams are 

 standing idle in the barns. It is also 

 true that large dealers are not storing 

 coal in their yards. There is an ex- 

 tremely small supply now on the ground 

 in Chicago.^ j^nd some of the largest 

 dealers are advising their customers not 

 to buy and store coal at present. They 

 are themselves waiting for the price at 

 the mine mouth to drop. 



STOP MANURE WASTE. 



Farmers are urged by Assistant Sec- 

 retary Carl Vrooman, of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, to 

 make every effort to save the vast 

 amount of valuable manure now al- 



lowed to go to waste in this country. 

 Assistant Secretary Vrooman estimates 

 that one-half the manure produced in 

 the United States is not used as a 

 fertilizer, there being an annual loss 

 of material worth $1,200,000,000— one 

 and one-half times the value of the 

 country's 1916 wheat crop. 



"This is not a wild guess," he con- 

 tinues, "but a shrewd and conservative 

 estimate based on reliable statistics. It 

 has been found that each horse or mule 

 produces annually $27 worth of ma- 

 nure (as compared with commercial 

 fertilizers); each head of cattle $20 

 worth; each hog $8 worth. Calculating 

 from the 1910 census figures for number 

 of animals on farms, the total value of 

 manure produced is found to be about 

 $2,461,000,000. Recent investigations 

 by the Department of Agriculture indi- 

 cate that at least half of this great 

 wealth of fertilizing material is sheer 

 waste. In some good general farming 

 sections not more than fifteen per cent 

 of the manure produced is used. Even 

 in the most intensive dairy regions, 

 where cows are largely stall fed and 

 comparatively great care taken with 

 the manure, the loss seems to be ap- 

 proximately twenty-five per cent. 



"This great war has brought home 

 to us Americans, as it has never been 

 emphasized before, the fact that we are 

 the world's champion wasters. With- 

 out making any comparisons, and sub- 

 ject to correction if it can be shown 

 that the facts are otherwise, I dare aver 

 that our $1,000,000,000 manure waste is 

 the world's greatest single economic 

 leak — the prize waste of the champion 

 wastrels. With commercial fertilizers 

 scarce, and some of them almost unob- 

 tainable, it would seem well worth our 

 while, in this juncture, even without 

 any reference to war conditions, to do 

 everything within our power to stem 

 this tide of loss, especially in considera- 

 tion of the fact that stable manure is 

 the best form of fertilizer known." 



IRRIGATION AND BENCHING. 



Too Much Water Harmful. 



Early in the spring we promised to 

 have something to say about irrigating 

 the carnation field, having in mind the 

 need of artificial watering in case of a 

 repetition of last summer's absence of 

 rain. So far this season there has been 

 ample rainfall, at least in this section, 

 and there probably has been absolutely 

 no need for additional w^atering of the 

 carnation plants. Therefore, unless you 

 already possess a sprinkling outfit and 

 installed it after the planting was fin- 

 ished, to be used when necessary, you 

 will probably not have any. There are, 

 however, some of these systems in- 

 stalled, and to the owners of these we 

 want to direct a few timely remarks. 



There can be no denying the fact that 

 a sprinkling system will prove a great 



help in producing field-grown carnation 

 plants, if it is used intelligently. On the 

 other hand, it can prove just the oppo- 

 site, if a proper degree of judgment is 

 not exercised in using it. There is al- 

 ways present a great danger of overdo- 

 ing a good thing, and especially is it 

 true in this case. 



A plentiful supply of water usually will 

 result in a strong growth, and the nat- 

 ural tendency is to give the plants all 

 the water they want. This probably is 

 the correct thing to do during the 

 months of May and June, during which 

 time the plant is practically made. Be- 

 ginning with the first of July, however, 

 the grower must begin to work the plant 

 into proper condition for lifting rather 

 than to encourage its growth. That 

 can only be done by withholding the 

 water and cultivating the field, and 

 that is where judgment will come into 

 play. If the plants have had an abun- 

 dance of water, it will not do to allow 

 them to go to the other extreme too 

 quickly, or they will begin to fire and 



