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GROWERS FACE 



i?^ BIG PROBLEMS 



Upon his reelection to the leadership of the first growers' organization, 

 from which have sprung, in its initial year of existence, some important 

 benefits to the trade, one of the most progressive greenhouse operators of the 

 Great Central Market puts forward possible solutions for pressing problems. 



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HE development of the cut 



flower industry has been 



astonishing. It just grew, 



without any stimulant re- 



1^ ^ lating to growing, without 



l^^iP utilizing government aid 



l'"^^ with its experiment sta- 



W^9^ tions or commercial adver- 



-^■^ ' tising agencies to sell our 



products. In former days 

 growers constructed their greenhouses 

 without regard to the location as 

 best adapted, most economical or most 

 efficient for production and marketing. 

 But as growers began to expand, many 

 realized their mistakes and their handi- 

 caps; yet they continued to "climb up 

 the ladder," by sheer hard effort. 



But now we are 

 in an age of special- 

 ization, of intensive 

 production, large 

 capital investments, 

 c n s 1 i dation of 

 competitors, quick 

 transportation and 

 service. The retail 

 florists of old, par- 

 ticularly in the large 

 cities, are abandon- 

 ing growing to de- 

 vote their time to 

 retailing. As green- 

 liouse production has 

 improved, so has the 

 retail dealer — both 

 vocations requiring 

 the art of speciali- 

 zation. 



Distributors. 



Between them 

 ."irises the distrib- 

 uting agency, just 

 a mutual coopera- 

 'ion between pro- 

 <lucer and retailer. 

 The wholesale com- 

 mission merchant 

 I'acilitates the dis- 

 tribution of our con- 

 signments much the 

 -ame today as when 

 'irst begun. Indi- 

 'idual wholesalers 

 'ach in his own way 

 perfected methods 



f handling cut 



'owers, but little 



■as done in a con- 



'Ttcd way towards 



mproving the han- 



ling and selling, 



■ooause of lack of 



oiiperation, lack of 

 amwork — showing 



a need of organization in the trade. 

 Every wholesale market is a "union 

 depot," to which the wholesale grow- 

 ers entrust their products for distribu- 

 tion, to provide a selection of stock for 

 the retailers to meet their requirements. 

 It is the meeting place of the varying 

 conditions that constitute a market, 

 either short, normal or overabundant in 

 the supply of cut flowers. 



The Commission House Law. 



Men of character and of marked hon- 

 esty dominated many of these first 

 wholesale distributing houses, but at 

 Chicago grew into such a vast market, 

 loopholes opened for the unscrupulous 

 to get in. The present system of whole- 



Joseph Kohout. 



(Re-el«'ctc(l President of Commorclal Flower Growers of Chlrairo.) 



sale commission methods is negligible- 

 in cost to the consignor, compared to the 

 old way of shipment from the small 

 grower to the market direct. The vol- 

 ume of money entrusted to the hands of 

 the wholesale commission merchant 

 brought on the development of the Illi- 

 nois commission law as the best means 

 to protect the lone consignor. This 

 raises the question of the accounting of 

 the commission merchant to the con- 

 signor, a subject in itself of great im- 

 portance. The grower doing business on 

 consignment does not know anything 

 about how his products are sold. Happy- 

 go-lucky characteristics of some grower- 

 consignors is a thing of the past. The 

 commission house law will see to that. 



To carry out the 

 full intent of the 

 commission law, 

 would it not be ad- 

 visable for the orig- 

 inal consignors to 

 make an official' 

 audit of their re- 

 s p e c t i ve consign- 

 ment accounts at 

 the close of each 

 calendar and fiscal 

 year, January 1 and 

 July 1, rather than 

 to do business solely 

 on the honesty of 

 the commission mer- 

 chant? 



Fair to All. 



Considering the 

 large number of 

 consignors to every 

 market, such a semi- 

 annual audit would 

 be fair to both con- 

 signee and consign- 

 or and destroy every 

 vestige of suspicion 

 reflecting upon the 

 commission business. 



I would suggest a 

 test as to the pos- 

 sibility of creating, 

 in our market and 

 other flower mar- 

 kets where this idea 

 may be feasible, a 

 department of an- 

 alysis and statistics 

 to govern the condi- 

 tions of each mar- 

 ket, a system to be 

 placed under foreign 

 management with a 

 man in charge who, 

 by experience in the- 

 wholesale cut flower 



