28 



The Florists^ Review 



OCTOBIB 14. 1020 



Per cent 



Bent and heat, delivery 1.2 



DeliTery expense 2.6 



Car expense 1.1 



Wages, chauffeurs, shippers and paclters... 1.7 

 Depreciation, delivery equipment 28 



Total delivery expense 6.88 



Administrative salaries 3.10 



Administrative rent 1.20 



Telephone and telegraph 67 



Depreciation on fixtures 72 



Insurance 50 



Light 37 



Postage •. 20 



Office supplies 26 



Bad debts 16 



General 1.90 



Interest paid 06 



Total administration expenses 9.14 



Total selling, delivery and administrative.. 34.62 



Net trading profits 8.08 



Financial income 30 



Net profits 8.38 



FIRM NO. 8. 



Per cent 



Officers' salaries 5 



Employees' salaries 9 



Rent 4% 



Advertising 2% 



Delivery cost 4% 



All others 6.2 



Baskets, ribbons, chiffons, cut flowers and 



plants 53 



Profit 15% 



We are unable to give you supplies separately 

 from plants and cut flowers, as we keep them 

 together. We are also imable to give you num- 

 ber of sales and average value of each package. 



FIRM NO. 9. 



Per cent 



Administrative salaries 8.8 



Employees' salaries 13.6 



Rent 1.8 



Advertising 9.44 



Delivery cost 5.40 



Baskets, ribbons, chiffons 6.08 



Cut flowers 25.55 



Plants 6.77 



All other items 15 79 



Profit 8.75 



Average value package $7.42 



Cost each delivery 25 



Since there is considerable variance 

 in the manner in which the items of ex- 

 pense have been tabulated, we have di- 

 vided the expenses under the following 

 general headings: 



Administrative Salaries, Employees' Salaries, 

 Rent, Advertising, Delivery Cost, Baskets, Rib- 

 bons and Chiffons, Cut Flowers, Plants. All other 

 Items, Net Profit. 



Analyzing these various divisions, we 

 find that firm No. 1 lists administrative 

 salaries and employees' together as 18 

 per cent; No. 2, administrative sal- 

 aries 4.4 per cent, employees' 34.8 per 

 cent, but since this concern does consid- 

 erable growing, some of the employees' 

 salaries should be properly classed as 

 culture expense and necessarily increase 

 the cost of the cut flowers and plants, 

 which item is considerably lower than 

 all other concerns in these two items, so 

 that it balances more or less. No. 3 lists 

 administrative salaries 5 per cent, em- 

 ployees' 13 per cent, being exactly the 

 same as No. 1. No. 4 lists administra- 

 tive and employees' salaries together as 

 19 per cent, 1 per cent higher than . 

 the other two items or firms, who have 

 listed them individually or collectively. 



No. 5 lists employees' and adminis- 

 trative salaries together, 11.21 per 

 cent; No. 6, administrative salaries 4.75 

 per cent, employees' 14.74 per cent; No. 

 7, administrative salaries 3.10 per cent, 

 employees' 14.09 per cent; No. 8, ad- 

 ministrative salaries 5 per cent, em- 

 ployees' 9 per cent; No. 9, administra- 

 tive salaries 8.8 per cent, employees' 

 13.06 per cent. 



This shows with the average, except- 

 ing the growers, that employees' sal- 

 aries run from 13 to 14% per cent, and 

 the administrative salaries from 3.3 to 

 8.8 per cent, where they are shown sepa- 

 rately. It is remarkably interesting to 

 see how nearly they correspond to each 



^*^«'- Bent. 



You will note that we have listed rent 



and advertising more or less together, 

 assuming that where the location is in 

 the downtown heavy traffic section, less 

 advertising is required than by th& con- 

 cern more removed from this scene of 

 activity, where the rent would be low 

 and the advertising high. 



No. 1 shows no listing of rent, and it 

 is undoubtedly listed with some other 

 item; advertising, 4 per cent. 



No. 2, rent, 3.1 per cent; advertising, 

 % per cent. 



No. 3, rent, 5 per cent; advertising, 

 3 per cent. 



No. 4, rent, 10 per cent; advertising, 

 5 per cent. 



No. 5, rent, 5.62 per cent; advertising, 



1.05 per cent. 



No. 6, rent, 4.68 per cent; advertising, 



2.43 per cent. 



No. 7, rent, 6.04 per cent; advertising, 



9.6 per cent. 



No. 8, rent, 4.05 per cent; advertising, 

 2.3% per cent. 



No. 9, rent, 1.08 per cent; advertising, 



9.44 per cent. 



Further analysis of this reveals that 

 in taking in rent and advertising com- 

 bined, the minimum percentage is 5.4 

 per cent and the maximum 15 per cent. 



Delivery Cost. 



This varies somewhat with the loca- 

 tion and the territory covered. No. 1, 



3 per cent; No. 2, 3.2 per cent; No.~" 3, 



4 per cent; No. 4 does not list; No. 5, 

 5.26 per cent; No. 6, 2.33 per cent; No. 

 7, 5.86 per cent; No. 8, 4.5 per cent; No. 

 9, 5.40 per cent. 



Baskets, Ribbons, CUffons. 



No. 1, 8 per cent; No. 2, 1.05 per cent; 

 No. 3, 2 per cent; No. 4 does not list; 

 No. 5, 4.27 per cent; No. 6, 9.96 per 

 cent; No. 7, 1.02 per cent; No. 8 does 

 not list; No. 9, 6.08 per cent. 



Cut Flowers and Plants. 



No. 1, cut flowers, 28 per cent; plants, 

 13 per cent. 



No. 2, cut flowers, 14.6 per cent; 

 plants, 12 per cent. Their labor charge 

 being so much higher than the others, 

 reducing it to the maximum of other 

 concerns ' labor charges, it would add to 

 the cost of the cut flowers 20 per cent, 

 making this item 34.6 per cent, as 

 against 14.6 per cent. , 



No. 3, cut flowers, 34 per cent; plants, 



5 per cent. 



No. 4, cut flowers and plants listed 

 together, 50 per cent. 



Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 8 list cut flowers and 

 plants together — No. 5, 47.01 per cent; 

 No. 6, 47.40 per cent; No. 7, 47.09 per 

 cent; No. 8, 59.2 per cent. They list 

 baskets, ribbons and chiffons in this 

 item. 



No. 9, cut flowers, 25.55 per cent; 

 plants, 6.77 per cent. 



All others. 



No. 1, 8 per cent; No. 2, 16.8 per cent; 

 No. 3, 24 per cent; No. 4, 6 per cent; 

 No. 5, 15.20 per cent; No. 6, 6 per cent; 

 No. 7, 5.36 per cent; No. 8 does not list; 

 No. 9, 15.79 per cent. 



Net Profit. 



This seems to be the most interesting 

 topic: No. 1, 18 per cent; No. 2, 7.03 

 per cent; No. 3, 5 per cent; No. 4, 10 per 

 cent; No. 5, 10.27 per cent; No. 6, 8.10 

 per cent; No. 7, 8.38 per cent; No. 8, 

 15% per cent; No. 9, 8.75 per cent. 



Further analysis of this shows a mini- 

 mum of 5 per cent and a maximum of 



18 per cent, four running at about 8 per 

 cent and two at 10 per cent, one at 15 

 per cent. The difference in some of 

 the§e is undoubtedly due to the fact 

 that more or less of their stock is grown 

 and the percentage of profit is figured 

 only at one source. 



You will notice, where firms list the 

 cost of delivery, it is somewhere in the 

 neighborhood of 25 cents per j^ckage. 

 The value of each package delivered 

 averages from $5.50 to $10.20. 



With one exception, you will also 

 note that those paying the most for 

 rent and advertising combined, show 

 the largest percentage of profit. 



A few years ago, in making a report 

 of this character, your committee rec- 

 ommended the so-called "three for 

 one" proposition, which meant that the 

 cost of cut flowers and plants should not I 

 exceed, if possible, 33% per cent of the 

 total sales. The records show more va- 

 riance in this report, but assuming that 

 the F. T. D. business was deducted from 

 those concerns that list the cost of cut 

 flowers and plants as extremely high, it \ 

 would bring them down to the basis of 

 other concerns which show those items 

 low, and the items of all other firms 

 somewhat higher. 



Summing up this report, your com- 

 mittee would recommend that wherever 

 possible the cost of raw stock going 

 into work should not exceed 30 per cent 

 of the selling price. Merely selling as 

 (Cttt flowers, the cost should not exceed 

 33% per cent of the selling price; the 

 cost of plants not to exceed 35 per cent 

 of the selling price. In this way you 

 will arrive somewhere at the basis of 

 net profit justified. The principal item 

 to watch in the figuring of the cost of 

 a sale is the cost of raw stock, includ- 

 ing cut flowers, plants, greens and all 

 other items of expense. The rest of the 

 headings are more or less normal and 

 cannot be reduced. 



Your committee further recommends 

 that in some cases the administrative 

 salaries could be increased and .iustified. 

 If you will be careful in analyzing your 

 delivery costs you can add a saving on 

 the employees' salaries, thereby in- 

 creasing that item. 



In order to properly keep your busi- 

 ness before the public, you must be 

 careful in the conduct of it. Advertise 

 judiciously; do not stint yourself on 

 this appropriation. In addition, give 

 liberally to the national advertising 

 campaign, and we are satisfied that in 

 the increasing volume of business, four 

 principal partiefri^ the transaction will 

 be satisfied, namely, administration, 

 employees, the net profits and the cus- 

 tomer. 



S. A. Anderson, 

 George Asmus, 

 H. P. Knoble. 



CUTTING MILLET FOR FEED. 



What is the best time to cut millet, 

 when it is to be used for feed? Around 

 Chicago it is cut before it blooms, but 

 here in Missouri it is maintained that 

 it has to bloom before cutting. 



R. F. G.— Mo. 



When millet is to be fed green it 

 should be cut just before it flowers; 

 the cattle will clean it up much better 

 at that stage than when it is older. If, 

 however, it is to be made into hay — and 

 millet makes quite good hay — wait un- 

 til it is in flower. C. W. 



