TRADE LOSES LOW 



SECOND-CLASS RATE 



By Express Classification No. 27, which went into effect January 10, 

 the privilege of florists and nurserymen to second-class vates, secured years 

 ago hy the S. A. P., is. now denied them. Transportation costs are thus in- 

 creased at least one-third and in some cases one-half. V 



NOTHER upward push to 

 florists' costs was given 

 last week, when tlie new 

 classification schedule of 

 the American Railway Ex- 

 press Co. went into effect, 

 January 10, canceling 

 the former second-class 

 rates enjoyed by florists 

 on all merchandise except 

 cut flowers. Plants and cuttings, all 

 kinds of greens, ferns and moss, trees 

 and shrubs and scions, all are hoisted 

 into the first class. Bulbs and seeds are 

 left in the second class, as are fertil- 

 izers also and, for some unfathomable 

 reason, cape jasmines. Cut flower 

 costs come in for a slight boost in the 

 shape of increased rates 

 on empty boxes, which now ^^^^^^^ 

 cost 20 cents each to re- 

 turn, except any that 

 weigh less than fifteen 

 pounds, which cost 15 

 cents each. 



In the new classification, 

 according to an explana- 

 tory memorandum to the 

 company's employees and 

 agents, "articles hereto- 

 fore rated as second-class 

 are omitted from Classifica- 

 tion No. 27 and, as they 

 are not articles of food and 

 drink, will take first-class 

 in the future." 



New Basis. 



The basis for revision of 

 the express rates seems to 

 have been that such ar- 

 ticles as were concerned 

 with nourishment, in the 

 t'lirni either of food or 

 drink, should be allowed 

 second-class rates, while 

 all others, with a few ex- 

 ceptions, some of which 

 ha\e been noted, are placed 

 in the first class. So it 

 h:ip]H'ns that flower plants 

 travel at the higher rate, 

 while vegetable and berry 

 plants still are considered second-class. 

 There is no such distinction made, ap- 

 jiarently, between fruit and ornamental 

 trees, since they are grouped under the 

 one ht\Tdlng, "trees and shrubs." at 

 first-clnss rates. Perhaps the American 

 Assdciatiiin of Xiirserymen will find this 

 a matter to take up with the interstate 

 commerce commission. 



The new classification is the result 

 of hearings before the interstate com- 

 merce commission- last autumn and the 

 changes in rates are made with the au- 

 thority and permission of that body. 



The changes are, as the express com- 

 pany advises its employees, the most 

 important that have been made in a 

 number of years. Certainly they are 

 as important to the trade as any that 

 have been made of late, for the increase 

 in the cost of transportation on the 

 items affected will be marked. 



Increase in Cost. 



The increase in the express bills is 

 more than it at first appears. The 

 second-class rate for any 'Express pack- 

 age is seventy-five per cent of the 

 first-class rate. The boost to 100 per 

 cent therefore means an increase in 

 freight cost to florists on the items af- 

 fected of one-third the former amount. 



GOING UP! 



New Express Classification changes these items 

 from second to first class, adding 33'.^ to 50 per 

 cent to their cost of transportation: v_^ 



Plants. 



Cuttings. 



Cut Ferns. 



Moss. 



Decorative Greens. 



Trees and Shrubs. 



Scions. 



If it cost $3 to ship a crate of plants or 

 box of greens before January 10, it now 

 costs $4; if it cost $6 before, it will 

 cost $8 henceforth. 



But it has already been found that 

 whereas second-class shipments are 

 billed at the weight of the contents, 

 first-class shipments are charged for 

 according to the weight of both con- 

 tents and container. Thus a case of 

 ferns or wild smilax, which formerly 

 cost the florist $2.50 in express charges 

 from the south to a northern city, now 

 would cost $3.75 if merely one-third the 



old amount were added; but it is found 

 that the charges run perhaps a dollar 

 more, when the weight of the box is 

 charged for also, and so the present ex- 

 pense of shipping such greens is nearly 

 double that before the new classifica- 

 tion was issued. The price of cut ferns 

 already has gone up 50 cents a thousand 

 in northern markets as a result of the 

 rate increase, and wild smilax now costs 

 $1.50 more per case. These are ex- 

 amples of the effect of the rate charge 

 which have already been noted. More 

 will follow as new shipments are re- 

 ceived by florists. 



More marked even than the cost 

 added to the items mentioned above 

 will be that added to plant shipments. 

 X'erily, packing will become 

 a more important matter 

 than it ever has been be- 

 fore, and customers will 

 demand of sellers niore 

 care than has sometimes 

 been exercised. The trade 

 will pay scores, if not hun- 

 dreds, of thousands of dol- 

 lars more for express for 

 ]>lant shipments in 1921 

 than was paid in 1920. 

 Every florist can estimate 

 at once that, aside from 

 cut flowers, his express 

 bills will total from forty 

 to fifty per cent more than 

 ^before this new classifica- 

 tion schedule came into 

 force. 



Heavy on Florists. 



The burden of the in- 

 crease in transportation 

 rates is heavy on florists 

 and nurserymen. Last Oc- 

 tober the interstate com- 

 merce commission author- 

 ized a flat increase in ex- 

 press rates of twenty-six 

 per cent, which has been 

 applied to intrastate ship- 

 ^^^^^^^ nionts in almost all states 

 as well and lately to 

 Canadian shipments also. 

 On top of this florists now must pay an 

 additional thirty-three and one-third 

 per cent at least and in most cases 

 forty or fifty per cent. The result is 

 that shipments of the items mentioned 

 as affected by the new classification 

 schedule now cost the florist eiglity to 

 ninety per cent more than they did a 

 year ago. 



Let us take a sTripment which cost 

 $1 a year ago. In October the charges 

 on it were increased to $1.26. Now 

 thirty-three and one-third per cent is 

 added by the change in classification. 



