November 14, 1918. 



The Florists^ Review 



21 



A Rose Grower's Expenses for Fiscal Year ended June 30, 1918, in the Order of their Importance. 



Wages. 24.44c per sq. ft. of bench. 



Coal. 11.32c per sq. ft. 



Commission on Sales. 10.14c per sq. ft. 



Depreciation. 4.73c per sq. ft. 



Interest on Investment. 4.85c per sq. ft. 



General Eipenses. 8.88c per sq. ft. 



Fertilizers. 2.15c per sq. ft. 



Boxes, Paper and Express. 1.53c per sq. ft. 



Water, Power, etc. 1.40c per sq. ft. 



Plants and Seeds. 1.26c per sq. ft. 



Taxes (State). 1.13c per sq. ft. 



Insecticides. 79/lOOc per sq. ft. 



Insurance. 3/lOOc per sq. ft. 

 I 



men from each branch of the trade, 

 wholesalers, retailers and growers, who 

 would meet twice a week to discuss pre- 

 vailing conditions. Such meetings would 

 help in a great measure toward bringing 

 about closer cooperation. 



A Growers' Bulletin. 



Such a board, for instance, could is- 

 sue bulletins after each meeting, a 

 separate one to the retailers featuring 

 the items that represent the best value 

 at the time, owing to the quantity on 

 hand. The prospects of the cut for the 

 next few days, as gauged by the weather 

 conditions and by information furnished 

 by the growers, would also help them 

 with their plans. Eetailers would thus 

 be enabled, during times of overabun- 

 dance, to get bargains if quantity pur- 

 chases are made, and they should go out 

 and make a splurge, giving the public 

 part of the benefit of their large pur- 

 chases and thereby moving a large quan- 

 tity of stock, in much the same way as 

 does the dry goods man in his line. The 

 result would be new customers and a 

 handsome profit, besides eliminating the 

 competition of the department stores. 



In the Wholesaler's Hands. 



The growers' bulletin would contain 

 timely advice, such as: "Cut stock 

 tighter, due to the prevailing heat 

 wave"; "Market overfilled on roses; 

 pinch what stock you can to have it 

 come later"; "Quite a lot of stock ar- 

 riving infected with mildew; get after 

 thrips," etc. The recipient of this bul- 

 letin would stop to think whether any of 

 his stock had been neglected in any 

 way, and much could be accomplished in 

 this way toward raising the quality of 

 •flowers received on the market. Under 

 prevailing conditions the individual 

 wholesaler often hesitates to call a 

 grower's attention to his neglect, fear- 

 ing he may lose a consignor, even though 

 such advice would mean many dollars 

 in his pocket and still more to the 

 •grower, besides more general satisfac- 

 tion to the retailer. 



After all, the wholesaler, a.s the grow- 

 er 's selling agent and the source of 

 supply of the retailer, controls the situa- 

 tion, and it is my honest belief that he 

 can do more than any other at this time 

 to furnish immediate relief to the grow- 

 er, enabling him to continue his difficult 

 task in these times of stress. By so 

 doing the wholesaler would improve his 

 own welfare, as \Yell as that of the re- 

 tailer. 



My general idea of improving the 

 present system and affording immediate 

 relief for the grower might be termed 

 ' ' cutting off the rough edges of present 

 practices of the wholesaler," and would 

 include closer cooperation with him by 

 his retailer and the grower. It has been 

 my aim, not solely to criticize, but to 

 depict conditions as they exist, with a 

 view to effect improvements which will 

 insure the future prosperity of our busi- 

 ness and result in mutual benefits. I 

 would urge a discussion of these recom- 

 mendations and the adoption of those 

 that meet your approval. 



The Chart of Expenses. 



The prices received by the grower 

 should be based, of course, upon a care- 

 ful estimate of the cost of production. 

 To illustrate this phase of my subject, 

 I have prepared a chart which shows 

 the relative amounts of the various 

 items of expense in growing roses, under 

 our system of culture. 



The cost of production has been ar- 

 rived at by taking the total operating 

 expenses for the year, including proper 

 depreciation charges and six per cent 

 interest on the total investment, and 

 dividing this into the total number of 

 square feet of bench space. Thereafter 

 the cost per square foot is used as a 

 basis for all other determinations. 



The cost of operation per square foot 

 of bench space of an exclusive rose 

 growing establishment for the fiscal year 

 ending June 30, 1918, was 67.6 cents per 

 square foot, divided as follows: 



Per sq. ft. 

 bench space 



WaKCs 24.44 cents 



Coal 11.32 cents 



Commission on sales 10.14 cents 



Depreciation on plant and equipment.. 4.73 cents 



Interest on investment 4.35 cents 



General expenses 3.88 cents 



Fertilizers 2.15 cents 



Boxes, wrapping and expressage. . . . 1.58 cents 

 Water (power bills and otiier ex- 

 penses) 1.40 cents 



Plants and seeds 1.26 cents 



Taxes (state) 1.13 cents 



Insecticides 79 cents 



Insurance .03 cents 



One rose grower's total cost 67.60 cents 



Becent Increases in Costs. 



The cost of operation during the cur- 

 rent year will be much higher than the 

 average prevailing during the last year. 

 For instance, a lot of coal was bought in 

 the fore part of the year at lower figures 

 and with lower freight rates attached 

 than are obtainable now. Labor, also, 

 is considerably higher. The latter, as 

 indicated by the chart, comes first in 

 order of importance, with coal ranking 

 next. These two represent a grower's 

 heaviest expense items and any increases 



in these are reflected immediately on 

 his balance sheet. Of course, the ad- 

 vances of other items since last year 

 also add to the grower's difficulties. 



Considering all advances and the ex- 

 tremely hazardous nature of the busi- 

 ness, with little or no insurance, due 

 to the almost prohibitive rates, I feel 

 certain that the gross returns ])er 

 season, to meet present conditions and 

 provide a profit commensurate with the 

 chances taken, should be not less than 

 96.2 cents per square foot on roses and 

 similar crops requiring the same high 

 temperature, fertilizer, and amount of 

 time to handle. These figures would be 

 somewhat lower in the case of carnations 

 and other cool-growing crops. 



The Betums per Plant. 



The cost of operating per square foot 

 is the basic figure for all other deter- 

 minations. Some varieties of roses, such 

 as Russell and others, are sometimes set 

 closer, but the average i)lanting dis- 

 tance of most growers is 12x15 inches. 

 Each plant thus occupies one and one- 

 quarter square feet of bench space. The 

 gross returns per plant on roses should 

 be not less than $1.20 on varieties oc- 

 cupying one and one-quarter square feet, 

 and proportionately, according to dis- 

 tance set. 



The average wholesale price for the 

 year that must be obtained to reach this 

 figure depends on the quantity of flowers 

 a plant will produce on an average per 

 season. Compilation of the average 

 production of good, average flowers per 

 jdant from records of the last three 

 years shows as follows: 



Itussell 17.3 flowers 



Brilliant 32.4 flowers 



White Killarney 35.1 flowers 



Milady 25.4 flowers 



Ophelia 26.5 flowers 



Sunburst 26.4 flowers 



Taking $1.20, the lowest amount a 



plant should return in a season, and 



dividing it into the average yield of 



each variety for a number of years, 



gives us the average price that should 



prevail on each variety, namely: 



Necessary yearly average. 



Russell 6.26 cents each 



Brilliant 3.69 cents each 



White Killnrney 3.29 cents each 



Milady 4.67 cents each 



Ophelia 4.38 cents each 



Sunburst 4.52 cents each 



Necessary Variation in Prices. 



The selling price would necessarily 

 be considerably higher for select stock 

 and correspondingly lower for stock 

 grading lower. Also the prices during 

 the cold season, when the yield is limited 

 and the operating costs are heaviest, 

 should go above the year's average be- 

 cause of the exceedingly low prices dur- 

 ing the season of heaviest production. 



Although I have no late records on 

 carnations, from experience and from, 

 the best information obtainable I would 

 venture to say that the gross returns 

 on carnations should be not less than 

 81 cents per square foot of bench space. 

 Figuring a carnation plant as occupying 

 five-ninths of a square foot of bench 

 space, and taking a general average 

 yield on all varieties of eighteen flowers 

 per plant, would bring the season 's price 

 to 2\(i cents each. Selling prices of all 

 other flowers and plants can be de- 

 termined from the foregoing basis. 



