14 



The Florists' Revkw 



January 23, 1919. 



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R INDUSTRY IN 1918 



THE U. S. CENSUS EEPORT. 



Compiled for War Industries Board. 



The special census of the greenhouse 

 trade, taken by the United States Census 

 Bureau by direction of the President as 

 a war emergency measure in the interest 

 of the War Industries Board, revealed 

 8,412 commercial greenhouse establish- 

 ments, with glass covering 119,331,380 

 square feet of ground. The value of the 

 products in the year ending June, 1918, 

 was $46,188,534. ' 



While it is not to be supposed that 

 these figures, compiled as a special cen- 

 sus under war emergency conditions, 

 represent the whole industry with exact- 

 ness, it will give the public and the trade 

 itself a new conception of the extent of 

 the greenhouse business in the United 

 States. 



How Enumeration Was Made. 



Readers of The Review may recall 

 that in August, 1918, it was reported in 

 this paper that a special census had been 

 ordered and shortly thereafter blanks 

 were received by large numbers of green- 

 house owners. The questions were eight 

 in number: The name of the person, 

 firm or corporation conducting the estab- 

 lishment; location of offices and green- 

 houses; total square feet of ground cov- 

 ered by greenhouses; value of products; 

 fuel used; number of males 18 years of 



age and over continuously employed; 

 fertilizers used; insecticides and fungi- 

 cides used. 



Florists' clubs, business concerns and 

 prominent individuals in the trade also 

 were asked to assist the Bureau of the 

 Census by supplying lists of names in 

 the hope of supplementing the list al- 

 ready in possession of the government 

 and making the enumeration fairly com- 

 plete. Such names as were reveaMd 

 through this source also received the 

 questionnaire. 



How Figures Came Out. 



The trade was much perturbed by the 

 evidence afforded by this special census 

 of the industry that the continuation of 

 the war probably would mean additional 

 restrictions, other than those already 

 placed on the trade by the Fuel Adminis- 

 tration, but, happily, the armistice was 

 signed before such action became neces- 

 sary. 



When it was announced, in December, 

 that the War Industries Board would 

 proceed at once to wind up its affairs 

 The Review wrote to Samuel L. Rogers, 

 Director of the Census, as follows: 



Some months ago we had correspondence with 

 reference to a special census of commercial green- 

 liouses, which you were making at the request 

 of the War Industries Board. 



Now that the War Industries Board is winding 

 up Its affairs and will not have the contemplated 

 use for the figures, will It be possible for this 

 publication to procure them for the benefit of the 

 greenhouse trade ? 



CENSUS OF COMMERCIAL GREENHOUSES, SHOWING FUEL CONSUMED 



Year Ending June 30, 1918. or the Business Year Most Nearly .Conforming Thereto 



This publication has a circulation of more 

 ^an 10,000 copies to paid subscribers In the 

 greenhouse trade. We think you will find that it 

 pretty thoroughly covers the field as you found It. 



Director Rogers writes: "I have - 

 taken this matter up with Hon. Edwin 

 B. Parker, Priorities Commissioner, and 

 he assures me that the War Industries 

 Board has no objection to the publica- 

 tion of these figures," which thus are 

 made available for the trade. They rep- 

 resent the expenditure of a large amount 

 of time, money and effort and it is prob- 

 able that it would be impossible for any 

 other agency than the government to 

 obtain the information herein made pub- 

 lic by The Review. 



Note the Facts. 



In considering the figures certain 

 facts are to be borne in mind. In the 

 first place, this was a special census of 

 the greenhouse industry, not of the 

 florists' trade. The census bureau ob- 

 tained the reports from 8,412 commercial 

 greenhouse establishments. No enumer- 

 ation was made of retail flower stores, 

 wholesale flower stores, or any establish- 

 ment not used for growing purposes. 

 The enumerated number, 8,412, therefore 

 does not represent the number of estab- 

 lishments in the industry as the trade 

 knows it, because the important retail- 

 ing end is omitted. 



At the same time, the value of the 

 products, compiled as $46,188,534, does 

 not represent the real value of the turn- 

 over in the industry. It does not rep- 

 resent what the public pays. Nor does 

 it represent the wholesale value of the 

 products of the industry, because a ma- 

 jority, perhaps, of the greenhouse estab- 

 lishments are those which sell their prod- 

 ucts at retail. On the other hand, the 

 larger establishments, if less numerous 

 than those retailing their output, prac- 

 ticallv all sell their output at wholesale. 

 The total of $46,188,534 therefore is 

 neither the wholesale nor the retail 

 value of the greenhouse products of the 

 United States, but is a figure somewhere 

 between. 



The figures show the distribution of 

 the greenhouse industry by states and 

 many florists will be interested in figur- 

 ing the returns as shown by the reports. 

 There is some variation, but it should be 

 remembered that the area is square feet 

 of ground covered by glass, not bench 

 area. 



Nine Years Before. 



If one goes back to the census of 1910 

 for comparative figures, it is found that 

 at that time 10,614 establishments were 

 enumerated as doing business in 1909, 

 that the area covered by greenhouses 

 was 105,165,730 square feet and that the 

 value of products was $34,872,000. The 

 census of 1910 probably was much more 

 complete than the emergency census of 

 1918. The former one was made by 

 enumerators in the field, subsequently 

 followed up by a mail questionnaire, 

 whereas the emergency census was made 

 entirely by mail and with an imperfect 

 mailing list for the basis. It is probable 

 that the census of 1910 included a con- 

 siderable number of small establish- 



