October 14, 1020 



The Florists' Review 



31 



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PRICES ON PACIFIC COAST 



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IN the first place I must say that there 

 are two classes of flowers grown 

 on the Pacific coast, quality flow- 

 ers and quantity flowers. It would ap- 

 pear to me that this assemblage is in- 

 terested almost entirely in quality, and 

 following this line of thought I shall 

 strive to set my neighbor on this side 

 of the mountains right. So much is told 

 you by the visitor to our wonderful land 

 about *he prices of flowers that I must 

 make myself clear on this subject, or 

 you will be more up in the air than Mrs. 

 Ella Grant Wilson was when my brother 

 florist took her up 3,000 feet for an 

 aerial spin over Los Angeles and sur- 

 rounding territory on the occasion of 

 her visit t\ us last July. 



Quality pbwer prices on the Pacific 

 coast are practically the same in Seattle, 

 Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles 

 as they are in Chicago, Minneapolis, 

 Kansas City, St. Louis and Indianapolis. 

 Let me say first that I believe San Fran- 

 cisco governs the prices on the Pacific 

 coast, even as Chicago does in the mid- 

 dle west. There for many years have 

 held forth the largest growers, whole- 

 salers and retailers. "They also have a 

 more desirable climate for greenhousi' 

 flowers than any other point on the Pa- 

 cific coast; at least, that is my judg- 

 ment. I have been in the flower busi- 

 ness in Los Angeles for upwards of a 

 quarter of a century and such has al- 

 ways been my opinion, nor do I see rea- 

 son for change. 



Growing. 



The cost of everything is governed by 

 the expense of production, and getting 

 down to the foundation we find that 

 lands suitable for greenhouses close to 

 railroad facilities or paved boulevards 

 are worth at the lowest possible estimate 

 $1,500 an acre, and from that to $5,000 

 per acre. Water is worth about $2,000 

 an inch steady flow. Greenhouse ma- 

 terial costs the same as you pay, freight 

 added. Money costs seven per cent. 

 Fuel is crude oil almost exclusively. It 

 costs $2.30 per barrel of forty-two gal- 

 lons. 



Quoting Walter Armacost, one of our 

 largest growers, our fuel costs us the 

 equivalent of coal at $8.05 per ton. We 

 never fire less than ten months in the 

 year and some years twelve months, at 

 night. 



Rose section men get $30 per week; 

 section foremen, $35 to $40 per week. 

 Labor is not less than $4 per day. 



Some Figures. 



Cow manure costs $11 for a two-horse 

 load, and shipped in is $16.50 per ton, 

 f. 0. b., or $18 on the ground. Bone meal 

 $75 to $85 per ton, fish meal $90 to $100 

 per ton, dry blood $125 to $135, all ac- 

 cording to analysis. Valley costs us 

 eastern prices, plus express or freight. 

 This is true of hyacinths, tulips and all 

 bulbous stock, with the exception of 

 lilies from Japan and freesias, which are 

 produced on this coast. The grower 



Report by A. F. Borden, of Los Angeles, on 

 "Prices on the Pacific Coast," presented at the 

 Indianapolis convention of the F. T. D., October 

 12, 1920. 



largely deals direct with the retailer, 

 his delivery wagon calling every morn- 

 ing with the day's orders. Preference 

 is given to the retailer, I believe, when 

 stock is scarce. 



I find in looking over my bills this 

 morning that we bought quality flowers 

 as follows: 



Orchids, none to be had $1.00 each 



White KlUarney, 12-lnch 05 each 



Columbia, 6-lnch 03 each 



Russell, 8-lnch 06 each 



Hadley, 12-inch 08 each 



Columbia, 16-lnch 08 each 



Hadley, 18-lnch .12 each 



Premier, 24-Inch 15 each 



Russell, 24-inch 15 each 



Valley 10 each 



Thus it may be seen that Russell, 



Premier and Hadley will cost from 



twenty-five to fifty per cent more than 



Columbia, Ophelia, Killarney and others 



of that class. These prices will be firm 



for some time, gradually working up to 



100 to 150 per cent higher for Christmas. 



6-lnch cyclamen, today $1.00 



6-inch cyclamen, today 1.50 



4-inch primroses, today 25 



Wholesalers. 



I am not prepared to tell you about 

 the wholesalers' or commission dealers' 

 end of this business on the Pacific coast, 

 with one exception, and that is Los 

 Angeles, where I live. There are no rec- 

 ognized commission merchants in Los 



Angeles, but there are several whole- 

 salers whose business is largely with the 

 small retailers in the surrounding terri- 

 tory, as far as Fresno on the north, 

 El Paso on the east, San Diego on the 

 south. The boundless Pacific Ocean is 

 on the west, and it does not use flowers. 

 The wholesaler would go out of business 

 if he depended upon Los Angeles retail- 

 ers for his income. Nevertheless, he 

 occupies a most important position in 

 the trade and is highly respected by all, 

 for he is quite accommodating and in a 

 pinch helps out the local retailer when 

 called upon. He works upon an aver- 

 age of twenty per cent, and I fail to 

 find any wholessfler registered at the 

 poorhouse. 



Retailers. 



I find so many angles to this end of 

 the game that I fear I may find diffi- 

 culty in making myself clear. For in- 

 stance, there are approximately twelve 

 white retail florists' shops in Los An- 

 geles that do a business of from $25,000 

 to $100,000 annually in the business dis- 

 trict. There are many more scattered 

 through the residence and business dis- 

 tricts, many of which are simply stands 

 in small areaways, entrances to office 

 buildings and such, that do a business 

 [Continued on paRcllil.] 



A. F. Borden. 



