II 



The Florists^ Review 



Kebuuauy 3, 1921 



i^reenliouse guilders 



To Build or Not To Build 

 That's the Question 





KciiH'iiiIxT as if it was only yesterday, the first tlay 1 landed In Paris, 

 and in order to set a ('(mipieliensive and delinitely defined conception of the 

 (uilslandiMK points of the city, 1 cliinl)ed up on toi> of (lie i\i'c de Tiiuinplie. 

 and loolxed c)\ei' tlie city in a l)ird's-eye fashion. 



AltliouKlT I was privileged to s|)end Imt a weeli in tliat endlessly inler- 

 estiiiK cil.\. as a result of tliat clinil), I never forgot the general location of 

 its jioints o|' inipoi'tanc-e. 



I'"re<iuenlly. tlir<Mmlioul the \ear. 1 linil in.\ self feeling ottice-liound. iiuite 

 as plants j;et pot-liound. 



Wiien that leelin« conies over nie, 1 iar ni.vself aKiiinst the ed«e of in>' 

 work liench, tlie desl<, ami pacl< my little old Mrip, and hie foi' some dis- 

 tant point witii tile idea of getting a l)ird's-eye view of tlie business. Like 

 seeing I'aiis, the liest vyiiy to see your l)usiness is to get far enough away 

 I'loni. or above it, so ,\ou can see it as a whole. 



IJelieve it Was Kusseil Saye who said, "If .Vou want to see your own 

 l)Usiness clearly, take a look at somebody else's." 



With that in miiul, lecently went ^Vest. 



There is a bit of lure in tlie broad reaches of the West; likewise, a 

 stimulant in the itioneeriny blood of those rustlers, that has a tendency to 

 make a tnan see things strai.tjhter. 



The first man 1 saw was .1. W, |)a\is. of Terre 

 Haute, the Cucumber KiiiK^, 



\\'hen I asked him whether he believed that at 

 the jiresent lu-ice of ulass and building mateiiiils. 

 the florists were warranted in extending their 

 ran.nes, his rei>ly was: "Well, 1 have .just bou.i;lit 

 out my brother's interest in the old Thompson ran^e 

 at Joliet. 



".lust as soon as I mt things cleared up a bit, am 

 KoiiiR to Ki\e that la.\(iut some .ioll.x uood ni'owiiiK 

 pain.s. 



"Kurtlier!iior<>, I'm ii.i;ht now looking towards the 

 lOasI, thinking some very earnest thoughts, about 

 building one of our cucumber plants there. In fact 

 have had this in niitul foi several years. 



"As far as the jiresent prices <»f materials are con- 

 cerned, my thought in the matter Is, that, even 

 if they are high, a paying market is unuuestionablj 

 there for greenhouse lu-oducts. either vegetables or 

 llowers. 



"Those sharf) figurim;. far-seeing men in the flo- 

 rist business, who bought and built when glass 

 and materials were ,ut their highest peak, ieai)e(l a 

 protit whii'h indicates the soundness of their foie- 

 sight. 



"lOvery time I hear a man li(dleiing about in- 

 creased costs, anil sa.v ing nothing .-iIkmiI thi' methods 

 he is pursuing for decreasing^ bis overhead and pro- 

 portionately multiplying' his profits, I say to my- 

 self, "There is a man who onl.v liguiis on one side 

 of the business. Ib^'s so close' lo it, he iiin't see it.' 



"You know, one of the basic prini'iples of every 

 man's success is to keep enlarging his plant, so he 

 will have an ever increasing volume of business that 

 will ever be decreasing his overhea<l." 



To which let m« add that at Terre Haute, Mr. 

 l>avis has ten houses. Every house added has de- 

 creased the overhead to a surprising degree, and 

 a<lded to his profits, to a very gratifying extent. 



Admittedly building costs are higher now, than 

 they were before the war, but one thing sure, they'll 

 never be that low again. Therefore, let's face tliat 

 fact and sto]) sighifig for "those good old days." 



.\il.iust our fioint of view accordin.gly, just as we 

 do now, that gasoline now costs us approximately 

 thirt.v cents a gallon instead of twelve or lifteen, 

 although haven't noticed that any of us are di'iving 

 our cars any less. 



.\s a matter of fact, moic (tf us have cars than 

 hail them then. 



Hut getting back to that overhead iiroblem; sup- 

 pose a man has. say three houses and builds tw<i 

 more. The reduction in his overhead comes pretty 

 close to taking care of the increased building costs, 

 when spread over a jieriod of five years or so. 



What I can't see is why the growers persist in see- 

 ing so plainly the fact that their liouses are going 

 to lost more, and then seeing so poorly the fact that 

 the gloss i)roilu<'tion of the jilants will decrease 

 tliiii- running; expenditure. 



.\ovv von are ready to talk business; sav where 

 lUiil We'll be there. 





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E^S 



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fM 



|of4> & Bonihaml^. 



Builders of Greenhouses and Conservatories 



IRVINGTON 



New York 



NEW YORK 

 42nd St. BIdg. 



BOSTON. 1 1 

 Little Bids 



Elastern Factory 

 Irvington. N Y. 



CLEVELAND 

 2063 E. 4th St. 

 Western Factory 

 Des Plainea. 111. 



PHILADELPHIA 



Land Title Bldg. 



CHICAGO 

 Continental Bank BIdg. 



TORONTO 

 Royal Bank Bldg. 



Canadian Factory 

 St. Catharines, Ont 



mii 



