20 



The Florists^ Review 



May 10, 1017. 



GROWERS! HOW ABOUT IT? I 



RETURNS FROM ROSES. 



As Viewed by an Eastern Grower. 



Tlir i|iic>ti(iii MdW ii|itMi for (liscussioii 

 ill the iiiliiniiis (if Tilt' l{ovJ('\v. Avitli 

 I'ft'i'iriici' t(i tilt' iniTfiisi' or ilffliiH' til' 

 it'\fiiiic lidiri itisi' ]iii)iluft idii ill till' tirst 

 tlirif iiKUitlis t)t' 1!»17 :is <-i)iii|iait'(i with 

 llic (•ll^^t■^|M)ll<iill;i• ]ii'ri(Ml tit' l!H(), is 

 %\iirtliy (if the iiitciisf fi>iisitlt'i'atit)ii oi" 

 (■\fiy iiiiiii ill lilt' luisiiicss ■\vhti is tle- 

 \()tiii;,'' s|iai-t' miller i^lass tn tlir i-ultiva- 

 1 idii 111' rtiscs. 



Till' r('|i(irt 11(1111 P.assctt iV AVasliburii 

 ill 'I'lic Ht'vit'w <>r Apiil iL', ]>aii^e 14, 

 sliiiwiii^- the ])t'rf('iit ;iL;f of ^ arietal ])rico 

 i|(( line for Maifli, with foiumeut as to 

 the ]iidli;ilile t-Mii-^e thereof, lias a most 

 jileasiiiL;' riny of caiidor to one who ex- 

 jH'rieiice(| a liUe hajiiu'iiiiiy. aiul Avould 

 ]irtive. 1 1' ai-ciiratc ]iroiluftit>ii and rt>ve- 

 iiiie stiilistics could lie eoiiipiled from 

 the rei-ords of every rtise and earnatiou 

 yrowiii^ estalilishmeiit in the coiiiitry, 

 to 1m^ tlii^ iiile rather than the exception. 

 Business was apjiallinjfly poor durinLT 

 the mtinth of March, statements to the 

 contrary not wit hstaiidiiiL;'. 



A superalmndance of bulbous stock, 

 as Basket t »ic Washbuin state, had a tre- 

 mendous effect in diiiiinishinjf the tle- 

 mand for roses and cariiat itins .and the 

 reastni is oli\ioiis — 



V'i'V wliM v.. Mild piii-ili.-isc iiivi's iif (■.■niiMtionx 

 WIh'Ii ;i till >pnt M i1i(M1>:iihI iImITs «iiu1iI liuyV 



Larger Output, bnt Lower Prices. 



Yr\ it is a deplorable state of affairs 

 when clienji niid easily ^I'own liowers 

 are sidd below actii;il cost and thus ini- 

 ]>ede the disposal td' slot 1\ the culture tif 

 which icijiiires brains, ability and hiyh 

 exfiense. 



Ouv cxperiiMice, at the T.akeview Rose 

 C;ardeiis. .laniesttiwn, .\. Y., durino the 

 month id' Marcli, is similar to that of 

 Basset t t.V Washburn in st> far as price 

 ilt'tdine is concerned, and similar to that 

 (if the ^Velldl;llld tic Keimel Co.. as re 

 ])orted ill 'i"he i^eview of April 2(5, iii 

 increased ]irodiict ion. Our j^rross sales 

 for March were twenty live iier cent 

 greater than for the same month in 

 I'JIG, Imt the twenty-tive ])er cent in- 

 crease was tlie result of pre-lOaster plant 

 sales. The revenue received from the 

 sale of roses and cMrnations w^as about 

 the same as that of last year, and this, 

 consitlerin-- the increased i>roduction, 

 showetl :i ]irice deiline of about equal 

 ]irojiortion to that icpoited by liassett tk: 

 Washlnirn. 



Our o]K'iatiii.u expenses duriii<i the 

 j.eriod ill i|iiestion were .•i]>proxiinately 

 twenty ]!('! cent ^renter than in the cor- 

 resjioiidiny- ]ierit)d of the ]irecedin<r year. 

 Hence we eidu) the tjuestiou used as a 

 cajititni for the subject by The Review— 

 "(Irowers! How about it?"— with a 

 feeling: ]>rinci])ally noteworthy for its 

 latdv of optimism. 



llt>w about it .' Will present economic 

 conditions liave a tendency to minimize 

 the demand for tlowers? Will the in- 

 criMsed cost of labor, coal and imjiortaut 

 accesstirics permit oj. crating without 

 siislainin)! a loss? Will an increase in 



selling ]irice, jirovidiug it is possible to 

 secure it, offset the increased operating 

 costs.' Who can answer? 



Effects of the War. 



B. C. Forbes, in an article in the cur- 

 rent issue of Ileaist's Maga/.ine, en- 

 titled "What Wt.uld War Do to Amer- 

 ica?'" cites tlie following cycle of pos- 

 sible developments: 



First — A sliock felt almost MciUcly in st^curity 

 markets and linanciiil circles. 



Sccimd — Disoi'iraniziitioii of industry tliroinili 

 tilt" callinf; of workers to arms, tlie cancellation 

 of ni.'iiiy contracts and par.ilysis in the orderiiifj 

 of niinieroiis classes of niercliandise. 



Third — A rise in prices of all siipi^lies needed 

 liy armies, such as foodstuffs, clothing and 

 in unit ion -fabrication necessities. 



Kourth — Increased demand for labor and conse- 

 i]iient advance in wanes. 



Fiftli — Irresiilar recover.v in sociirit.v markets, 

 with more or less wild speculations in stocks 

 Ijeiietited by military reiiuirenients. 



Sixth — Uevival in general business and in 

 specnlatiou. 



Seventh — War-inflated prosperity, ovt^rtradini; 

 :ind overexpansion, inteiisilied by prospects of 

 peace. 



Kiuhtli — TiKhteninK of bank credits, inflnenced 

 bv >.'overnnu'nt borrowiiif; and considerations of 

 safety. 



Ninth — Excessive activity caused by rehabili- 

 tation activity. 



Tenth — A relapse, not immediate, but sure. 



If all those possible hajipenings ma- 

 terialize into actuality, our immediate 

 future, based on present conditions, does 

 not appear any too rosy. Conservation 

 of rt'stiurces, increased eftlcieiicy antl in- 

 creasing vigilance arc our only means of 

 salvation. 



Kfticiency has prospered mightily dur- 

 ing tlie last few years aiul reaction is 

 inevitable. The great natural law of 

 rhythm is aViout to execute its down- 

 ward course, and lucky is he who can 

 hold fast until the great reijnierging into 

 the jilane of prosperity takes place. 



Clias. X. Cotter. 



TULIPS FOR EASTER, 1918. 



I'lease state if the following Darwin 

 and ctittage tulips are gotid commercial 

 varieties, and give the best treatment 

 for them tt) have them bloom for Easter, 

 1!H8, or later: (llory, King Harold, Mrs. 

 Cleveland, ?S'ora Ware, Bouttm il'Or, 

 A'itellina, Mrs. ]\loon and I'arisiau White. 

 N. y. C— la. 



The cottage tulips, while sjdendiil out- 

 doors, are less valuable for iiuloor cul- 

 ture and are not so good for cutting as 

 the Darwins. Instead of growing the 

 Darwins you mention, I would suggest 

 Pride of llaarlem, the tinest of all Dar- 

 wins for forcing; AV'^illiam Copeland, 

 Ijaronne de la Ttmnaye antl Mme. 

 Krelage as :i most reliable tpiartette. 

 The first two are the best for forcing. 

 If they are wanted for cutting, grow 

 them in llats containing four or five 

 inches of stdl and treat in the regulation 

 way. If wanted in i)ans, use those eight 

 antl ten intdies in diameter. Bulbs 

 should be ])laced in the soil by the end 

 <if October. As Easter, 1918, comes in 

 late March, your bulbs should be housed 

 from live to six weeks before they are 

 wanted in tltiwer. Darwins grow much 

 taller than the early forcing tulips and 

 take somewhat longer to flower. They 

 can be given a temperature of 55 de- 

 grees for a time, retlucing this 5 to 10 

 tlegrces as they approach the flowering 

 jieriod. For flowering later than Easter, 

 keep the ]>lants later in the cellar. Dar- 

 wins may be held as late as Memorial 

 dav where a good, cold cellar is at dis- 

 posal. C. W. 



CAN YOU BEAT THESE? 



A reader in Denver wrote May 4: 

 "The discussions in the last few issues 

 of The Keview concerning prices have 

 interested me greatly. As I was lt)ok- 

 ing over a local pajier my eye found this 

 a])pentled ad. Can these cut-throat 

 ])rices be beaten?" The ad was as fol- 

 lows : 



CAUNATIONS, do/., 3(lc: roses, doz., 40e: ferns, 



lOe; fuchsias, l.'ic: snapdragons. l.")c; sweet 



peas, ;{,")e; other bargains. The Flower Mart, 

 1(510 Tremont st. 



ODEN l^TTEl^-/^-' CJEADEnB 



THE PRICE PROBLEM. 



Our firm would like to hear an expres- 

 sion from florists in various parts of the 

 country ujiou the subject of advancing 

 jirices. In view of the rapidly rising 

 prices of everything that enters into our 

 business, what are we to do to maintain 

 .1 fair and reasonalde margin of jirofit 

 for ourselves.' 



W^e are fully mindful of the views of 

 a consitlerable jitirtion of the trade, 

 that we deal in a luxury, antl that an 

 advance in our price might drive away 

 business. We believe too much stress 

 is laid tijion this danger. Is it not more 

 reasonable to believe, in view of the 

 advances in every other business, that 

 our customers fully expect a reasonable 

 increase in cost from us, and would ac- 

 cept it without comjilaint .' 



If we are making no more money now 

 than we should make, and we accept and 



absorb all these advancing costs our- 

 selves, clearly our jirofits are going to 

 be seriously impaired or entirely swept 

 away. 



Our firm lielieves that if the larger 

 tlcalers throughout the country lead in 

 a reasonable price revision, the other 

 florists, with a few exceptions, will fall 

 in line. Take a few articles, to illus- 

 trate: Who will deny that good, well- 

 grown geraniums in 4-iiich jiots are sold 

 too cheajily at the generally prevailing 

 jirice of $S ]icr liundred wholesale, and 

 ,tl.5() per dozen retail? The writer easily 

 recalls that his father used to get 25 

 cents each, or .$2.50 per dozen, for 4-inch 

 geraniums. Tt coultl be done even more 

 easily now, in the more prosperous con- 

 dition of the country. 



Tlie same projtortion may be fairly 

 applied to other bedding stock. In cut 

 llowcr stock, carnations at this season 

 ought to be maintained at a selling price 



