NOVKMUBU 18, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



25 



?^j:iS4!lV8^l^l^l^S^l^^'t^t«^l«^liS^lWJl^^ 



^ SECRETARY OF SIX <^ 



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MBITF^D with an idea and 

 gifted witli genius for the 

 management of business 

 by modern methods, Paul 

 K. Weiss, of Maywdod, 111., 

 has become known far and 

 near as the trade's great- 

 est little secretary. Jok- 

 ingly referred to by his 

 friends as the "Syndi- 

 cate," he includes in his secretarial 

 duties record-keeping for four green- 

 house corporations, of which he also is 

 the directing head, a coal company and 

 a big wholesale cut flower house. 



No doubt other florists are familiar 

 with the law of diminishing return, 

 mostly, i)('rli:i])s, with tlie iiiaiiifi'statinii 

 rather tlian the theory; hut Mr. Weiss 

 is probably the only grower who has 

 thought out and apjilied a definite 

 method of defeating the operation of 

 this well known rule of economics. 



For the benefit of tho.se whose student 

 days are in the distant i)ast, here is the 

 law of diminishing return as stated liy 

 Webster: "The observed fact or law 

 that in any given stage of the arts an 

 increase of labor or capital applied be- 

 yond a certain point in the cultivation 

 of land causes a less than proportionate 

 increase in the produce raised from a 

 given area." Watching the operation 

 of this law in the greenhouse business, 

 Mr. Weiss came to the conclusion that 

 there comes a time at which it is more 

 profitable to start u 

 separate establish- 

 ment than to add to 

 the glass of one al- 

 ready in operation. 



Vital Decisions. 



Just where that 

 " certain i>oiiit ' ' is, 

 must always be more 

 or less a matter of 

 opinion and it is a])- 

 parent that Mr. 

 Weiss revises li i s 

 own ideas on the 

 subject, as he is at 

 present .-ulding an L. 

 & H. house 70x400 

 to the first range in 

 his string. Appar- 

 entlv he now con- 

 si d'ers L'00,000 to 

 l.'rjO,000 feet about 

 the right unit for 

 operation to t h e 

 best advantage. 



Tiic first range of 

 glass Mr. Weiss 

 built was only 10,- 

 0(10 feet. It was at 

 Maywood, where he 

 grew carnations and 

 s w e e t jieas from 

 Ktll to 191."?. In the 

 latter year he sold 

 this ]ihii'e and or- 

 ganized the Weiss- 

 Meyer Co., his asso- 

 ciates being his 

 father, F. 11. Weiss, 

 .'ind Henry Meyer. 

 As a start ."lOJOOO 

 feet of glass was 



PAUL E. WEISS 



SK( KKTAKY C)l 



\VEISS-MEYKR!Cl>., 



Ma.vwood, 111. 



PREMIEH HOSK tJ.VRDKXS. 

 Ma.vwood, 111. 



liATAVIA GHEENHOr.SK CO.. 

 Hatavia, III. 



KK'HMON'I) (iHEEXHor.SE CO., 

 Kieluiiond, Inil, 



E, C. AMLIXC CO.. 

 Cliica«o, III, 



FORT 11KA1U50RN CO.M. CO.. 

 Cliicai^ii. 111. 



erected at ^laywood, devoted entirely 

 to American Beauty. 



Discarding American Beauty. 



But the Beauty already was ])ast its 

 zenith and as more glass was added 

 hybrid teas were tried, witli such good 

 success that Beauty was drop]>ed in 

 1917 and the range, which will cover 

 150,000 square feet of gri)und when the 

 new house is up, i,s jdaiited exclusively 

 to Columbia and Premier. Mr. Weiss 

 is secretary of the corporation and 

 manager of its business. 



Mr. Weiss was one of the first to 

 recognize that the approaching end of 



t-aul H. Weiss. 



the war would be the signal to go 

 ahead with plans fur the development 

 of the business. Associating with him- 

 s<df some half dozen other well known 

 florists, he organized the $200,000 cor- 

 l>oration now known as the Premier 

 Hose Gardens, becoming secretary and 

 general manager. David Lundin is the 

 resident manager at the greenhouses, 

 which were erected on a 20-ac're tract 

 just north of Maywood, on the Soo Line 

 railroa<l. Four iron-frame ridge and- 

 furrow houses, .'^0x400. were erected in 

 the early j)art of 1919. In 1920 the 

 range was doubled by the er<>ction of 

 the two big detaciied steid-f ramers 

 shown in the loregrouiid of the illustra- 

 lioii on [lage L'ti. There .•ue only two 

 varieties of roses grown in this range. 

 They :ire Premier and Milady. 



By the time the Premier Rose Gardens 

 weie in oiieration it had become easier 

 to buy th.'in to build— cheaper and, of 

 course, much quicker. So when the ma- 

 jority interest in the Batavia Green 

 house Co.. at Batavia, 111., was offered, 

 .Mr. Weiss iind some of his associates 

 took it uji, Mr, Weiss again becoming 

 se<-retary .and general manager. Gott- 

 lieb .Schoti, also a stockludder, remained 

 ;is resident manager. The range, which 

 consisted of a dozen good-sized green- 

 houses in miscellanefius cro])s, was over- 

 hauled and put in first-class condition, 

 the crops being grailually worked over 

 to the newer \arieties of ros(>s. 



In t h e s e three 

 r;inges, all within 

 idurteeii t o thirty 

 mill's of < hicago, 

 there ;ire only three 

 \;irieties of r(»ses, 

 t '(diiinliia. Premier 

 ;i 11 d Milady, n o t 

 ■ounting some of the 

 newer sorts, like 

 Butterfly, jdanted 

 only in quant ity for 

 trial. 



Basis of Action. 



.Mr. Weiss is a 

 close student of the 

 market and a care- 

 f u 1 accountant. 

 There is nothing hit- 

 or miss about h i s 

 iiK'thod. He is a 

 willing listener as 

 well as a keen ob- 

 server, but it is on 

 fiiTures that he bases 

 li i s ai'tion. H e 

 knows what it costs 

 !o run his ]daces and 

 to ]iroduce flowers 

 of various grades 

 :ind N'arieties. He 

 limits his varieties 

 because he knows 

 those varieties pay 

 him best and he 

 grows good stock be- 

 cause he knows it is 

 the only kind on 

 which a substantial 

 business can bo built 

 :iiid m;iintained. 



.Xs a stinli'iit of 



