The Florists^ Review 



NOTBUBKR 14, 1918. 



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EXPENSE AS RELATED TO PRICE 



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AS A member of a committee ap- 

 pointed by the president of our club 

 "to make recommendations for better- 

 ing conditions in the trade," I wish to 

 say that 'I have made a careful study of 

 this subject and my observations and ex- 

 perience lead me to submit for your kind 

 consideration, first, an analysis of the 

 situation, and then recommendations for 

 improvements. 



At the present time, under existing 

 conditions, all branches of the trade are 

 suffering and are not getting the re- 

 turns they should from their business. 

 The hardest hit of all is the grower, the 

 backbone of the business, who has by 

 far the greatest investment, the biggest 

 fixed expense in depreciation and other- 

 wise, and an extrenxely hazardous busi- 

 ness. He is at present facing a serious 

 situation and wondering whether it will 

 be possible for him to surviye. How- 

 ever, upon his welfare depends the 

 further existence of the wholesaler and 

 retailer. 



Reports show that many greenhouse 

 establishments are now operating at a 

 loss, and of these a considerable num- 

 ber, finding it impossible to produce at 

 a loss indefinitely, will close down all 

 or part of their houses, to keep from 

 losing more. This reduction in the sup- 

 ply, with the present decrease in the 

 output on account of the glass already 

 abandoned, may cut.'a large figure in 

 the future of our business, and it di- 

 rectly affects the wholesaler and re- 

 tailer. 



The Problem of Prices. 



To prevent further curtailment of pro- 

 duction, it is necessary to get better 

 average prices for the grower than those 

 prevailing in past seasons. To this end 

 the cooperation and assistance of all 

 branches of the trade are needed. Bet- 

 ter average prices will keep the grow- 

 ers above watqr, increase the commis- 

 sion and lessen the handling expense of 

 the wholesaler, and insure the retailer 

 a steady flow of stock. ~ 



It has been suggested that the only 

 solution of the grower's problem is the 

 establishment of a powerful growers' 

 organization to handle the selling and 

 establish a chain of stores for the direct 

 disposal of flowers to the public at profit- 

 able prices. This, however, may be un- 

 necessary, as there is no reason why the 

 established wholesale houses should not 

 handle the stock at prices that will en- 

 able the grower to make ends meet. 



To accomplish this, it is necessary, 

 in the first place, for the wholesaler to 

 know what profitable prices for flowers 

 are, and secondly, to get them. Many 

 wholesalers have no producing experi- 

 ence and that of others is antiquated. 

 Therefore it is necessary for the grower 

 to supply him with an accurate record 

 of the present-day cost of production per 

 flower, from which he can determine 

 the price he should get for the different 

 varieties and grades from time to time 

 to bring the season's average up to 

 where it should be. 



SUMMARY 



Permit me to sammariie my views 

 In the followtnc brief recommenda- 

 tions: 



1 — Growers, study the costs of pro- 

 duction and brine them to the knowl- 

 edge of the wholesalers. 



2 — Wbolesalers. don't be bashful 

 about asklns a price. Kemember that 

 your season's returns per flower must 

 average above the costs to enable the 

 grower to live, and that the prices 

 received during the months of 

 heaviest production decide the aver- 

 age more than do the seemingly high 

 prices usually prevalent when cuts 

 are low. 



3 — Wholesalers, establish a mini- 

 mum price of $1 per hundred on roses, 

 50 cents per hundred on carnations, 

 and similarly on other staple articles. 



4: — ^Wholesalers, always bear in 

 mind, even though you may_lose a 

 sale by asking a price from a cus- 

 tomer who wants to buy for a song, 

 that by maintaining uniform prices 

 you may enable some other man to 

 make a profitable sale, resulting in 

 mutual t>eneflts. 



5— Growers, consign your stock to 

 the house through which it reaches 

 the retf^ler most directly. 



6— Wholesalers, charge one another 

 full market price. Yon owe it to the 

 growers. 



7 — Growers, cooperate with and as- 

 sist your wholesalers by a uniform 

 system of grading and bunching, 

 adopting sucli standard sizes as 12- 

 inch, 15-incb. IS-inch, 24-inch, 30- 

 inch, ,S6-incb and 48-inch for roses. 



8 — Wholesalers, remember that each 

 inch of stem costs money to produce, 

 and utilize the full length whenever 

 possible. 



9 — The election of a representative 

 advisory board of nine members, 

 three to 1>e chosen from each branch 

 of the trade, to meet twice weekly in 

 the trade's interest. 



10— The Issuance of two semi- 

 weekly bulletins, one for the retailer 

 and the other for the grower. 



11 — Retailers to purchase, as far as 

 possible, the items on the long side 

 of the market in suflBcient quantity 

 to prevent stock from reaching tne 

 depariment stores, thereby reaping 

 the l>eneflt for themselves. 



A paper read by Otto H. Amliiip. Reoretarv of 

 tlK- AUiert F. Amling Co.. Maywood, 111., at a 

 meeting of the Cliifago Florists' Club, November 

 7. 1918. 



I am convinced that a thorough knowl- 

 edge of what it costs to produce each 

 flower today will open the eyes of many 

 men in the flower business, lead them 

 to realize more fully that each flower 

 has a value, and spur them on to get 

 better average prices. 



An Appeal to the Wbolesaler. 



Profitable prices can be gotten by 

 the wholesaler if asked. Many times it 

 requires nothing more. It should be 

 borne in mind that nature brings on 

 by far the largest quantity of stock 

 during the spring and summer months, 

 and that the prevailing price in these 

 months in a great measure decides the 

 season 's averjige, price. Even though 

 prices may 'teem high during some 

 months, when production is low, these 

 high prices are needed to make up for 

 the low averages prevailing at other 

 times. 



Uniform prices by all houses on equal 

 stock, and the establishment and main- 

 tenance of a minimum price on flowers, 

 such as $1 per hundred on roses, 50 

 cents per hundred on carnations and 

 similar figures on other staple articles, 

 would also result in materially improv- 

 ing weekly returns to the grower, as 

 frequently just as much stock can be 



sold at these figures as could be moved 

 if the prices were allowed to drop still 

 further, thereby demoralizing the mar- 

 ket. 



In Times of Oyersupply. 



It would be better, in time of abun- 

 dance, to donate to the hospitals of the 

 country the unsold surplus, if any, after 

 prices have reached these extremely 

 low levels, than to follow the practices 

 of some wholesalers, who offer stock for 

 sale at 50 cents per hundred when their 

 competitors are asking an established 

 ^ minimum of $1 per hundred. No greater 

 quantity of stock is sold at the lower 

 figures and the loss to the grower and 

 wholesaler is tremendous. It matters 

 little whether John Doe's stock is sold 

 or that of Jim Smith, whether one whole- 

 saler makes the sale or another. The 

 main thing is that someone makes a 

 profitable sale and not below the estab- 

 lished minimum. If this is kept in the 

 minds of all wholesalers, the wonderful 

 mutual results will be reflected on the 

 grower's statement. 



Another practice of the wholesaler 

 which has frequently come within my 

 own personal observation, and which 

 does not work out to the grower's best 

 interests, is the reconsignment of stock, 

 and the neglect at times of one whole- 

 saler to charge another the market price 

 for goods bought, although the stock 

 so purchased is often again billed out 

 at top market prices. In fact, some 

 wholesalers have few or no consignors, 

 and openly boast of being able to buy 

 stock from others at prices enabling them 

 to resell at wholesale at figures yielding 

 them as high as 100 per cent profit. 

 Growers can curb this practice and get 

 the full price at which stock is billed ta 

 the retailer, less the usual fifteen per 

 cent commission, by so distributing their 

 stock that no one house will be over- 

 loaded on certain stock and placing it 

 as nearly direct to the buyer as possible. 



Uniform Grading of Stock. 



A uniform system of grading such 

 stock as roses by all growers to a cer- 

 tain length of stem — say 12-inch and 

 under, 15-inch, 18-inch, 24-inch, SO-inch, 

 36-inch and 48-inch — tying them in bun- 

 dles of fifty each and allowing one extra 

 for breakage, would materially lessen 

 the expense of handling the stock by 

 the wholesaler, as stock frequently can 

 be sold in these original bundles, thereby 

 eliminating some of the breakage and 

 bruises incidental to regrading. Open 

 flowers, ready for immediate sale, should 

 be kept separate. Arranging stock in 

 bundles of a given length of stem would 

 reduce the practice, common among some 

 wholesalers' employees, of cutting stems 

 unnecessarily short just because they 

 think they ought to be so. Often have 

 I witnessed this, much to my disgust. 

 It costs money to grow every inch of 

 stem on a rose and the full length of 

 stem should be utilized whenever pos- 

 sible, and stems reduced in length no 

 more than necessary. 



A plan that has struck me as practical 

 is the establishment of an advisory 

 board consisting of three representative 



