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Jvvt 28, 1021 



The Florists^ Review 



21 



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CALCULATING GROWERS' COSTS 



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N ORDER that we may be 

 able to make the accom- 

 panying table workable, 

 let us take as an example 

 a range that has ten 

 houses, each house 21 x 130 

 feet, and containing three 

 benches five feet wide and 

 125 feet long, or a total of 

 625 square feet. In the 

 entire plant would be 18,750 square 

 feet. For all the items listed, it would 

 cost to operate these houses 18,750 

 times $1.58 or a total of $29,625. Now, 

 if the operator were one of the type 

 that buys much young stock, this cost 

 would increase to a maximum of 50 

 cents per square foot additional, or 

 another $9,375, making a total of $39,- 

 000. If this plant produced less than 

 this amount gross, it would be advisable 

 for the operator to make some serious 

 investigations, since he would find with- 

 out this investigation that sooner or 

 later he would be going into bankruptcy 

 or working long hours with but little 

 return; except, perhaps, if he were prop- 

 agating all of the stock which he was 

 finishing. So to bring this home to every 

 pot plant grower, 

 quickly figure out how 

 many square feet of 

 bench space you have 

 — not glass area or 

 ground covered, but 

 actual square feet of 

 benches — and multiply 

 by $1.58 per square 

 foot per year and add 

 to it the cost of all the 

 stock you buy for 

 growing on. The total 

 will give you approxi- 

 m a t e 1 y what it has 

 cost you to operate 

 your greenhouse per 

 year. These figures 

 are not guessed at or 

 estimated, but are an 

 exact transcription of 

 a complete set of books 

 covering a period of 

 two years. However, 

 they are high because 

 the last two years' 

 operation has been ex- 

 ceptionally high and 

 for that reason a safe 

 estimate to adopt. 



A paper presented at the meeting. June 21, 

 at Columbus, O., of the Ohio district branch 

 of the National Flower Growers' Association by 

 Herman P. Knoble, head of the retail firm of 

 Knoble Bros. Co., and of the greenhouse firm of 

 the Frledley Co., both of Cleveland. From the 

 records of the latter company the table and esti- 

 mates given were compiled by Mr. Knoble. 



takes one bench of 625 square feet to 

 carry the stock plants from December 

 to May, or six months; six-twelfths of 

 $1.58, the cost per foot per year, is 

 79 cents per square foot, and 79 times 

 625 would be a total of $493.75, the cost 

 of the plants by the time they went 

 into the sand. Three months in sand on 

 300 square feet space would cost one- 

 fourth of a year's cost for space or 

 one-fourth of $1.58, which is 39 cents 

 in round figures, and 300 times 39 would 

 total $117. Now, 1,300 square feet will 

 hold these plants for one month; that 

 is, the space they will consume will not 

 occupy more, all told, than 1,300 square 

 feet for one month and 1,300 times one- 

 twelfth of $1.58 is $169. So far the 

 plants have cost us a total of $779.75 

 for 20,000 plants, which is $38.98 per 

 thousand. This represents the actual 

 cost. Twenty thousand plants can be 



Test on Mnms. 



Now let us try some 

 specific item and see 

 how it works out. Take 

 chrysanthemums. These 

 should all be planted 

 by July 1 and har- 

 vested by December 1, 

 so that for averages' 

 sake we can easily fig- 

 ure five months. Some 

 will be planted early 

 in June and can be 

 marketed in middle 

 October, but the aver- 

 age will work out cor- 

 rectly. 



Let the number be 

 20,000 plants. This 



Cost per Square Foot of Bench Space 

 per Year for Items Listed 



Figured on basis of 40,000 



Labor and superintendent 



Proprietor, or supervision salary, optional 

 Pots, all sizes, but average is taken . . . . 



Fuel, coal being used 



Fertilizers and insecticides 



Repairs and replacements 



Depreciation 



Insurance 



Bent, or interest on investment 



Bonus to employees, if any 



Water 



uare feet bench space 



General culture expense — wire, twine, etc 



Delivery expense, including drivers ' salaries 



Bam account, two horses used entirely for greenhouse 



Office expense, one bookkeeper, stationery and postage 



Telephone and telegraph 



Traveling, directors' fees, audits, dues, light 



Sales — This item has been taken care of in Superintendent and 



Supervision salaries 



Advertising 



Discounts allowed 



Uncollectable accounts 



Interest on borrowed money 



planted in 11,250 square feet of bench 

 space. They will occupy this space, as 

 stated before, for a period of five 

 months. Then five-twelfths of cost per 

 year, or $1.58, would give the cost per 

 square foot, which is 65 cents in round 

 figures, and 11,250 times 65 cents is 

 $7,312.50, plus cost of plants, $779.75, 

 makes a total of $8,092.25. This would 

 mean that you must get at least 40 

 cents per plant out of mums to make 

 them pay. This is figured high for the 

 reason that the heat would only be ap- 

 plied practically one month and the 

 pots would be omitted altogether. This 

 would reduce the unit cost from $1.58 

 to $1.32, but only on the last five 

 months' operation; with one month's 

 fuel added in, it would be like this: 



Five-twelfths of $1.32, or 55 cents, 

 times 11,250 equals total of $6,187.50; 

 plus cost of plants, $779.75, makes total 

 of $6,967.25, or approximately 35 cents 

 per plant. Chrysanthemums are a pretty 

 hard proposition to grow and make 

 money. It is only because they can be 

 grown as a crop when otherwise the 

 space would be empty that they can be 

 profitably handled. 



Let us now take 20,- 

 000 cyclamen. To start 

 with, the seed cost usu- 

 ally $12 per thousand; 

 total, $240. The space 

 they take up before 

 being ready for the 

 sold bench is approxi- 

 mately 150 square feet 

 for four months, or 53 

 cents times 150; total, 

 $79.50. One bench 

 four feet wide and 120 

 feet long will hold the 

 seed planted in bench 

 instead of pots from 

 December to April 1, 

 or four months, and 

 four months would be 

 one-third of $1.58, the 

 cost per year, or 53 

 cents, times 480, num- 

 ber of square feet in 

 bench, or $254.40. 



.$0 



654 

 .129 

 .145 

 .13 

 .017 

 .024 

 .054 

 .024 

 .074 

 .016 

 .006 

 .02 

 .136 

 .017 

 .058 

 .007 

 .015 



.025 

 .005 

 .006 

 .018 



Total of above items '. $1.58 



Estimated annual income gross should be $2.50 



Original cost of merchandise purchased, whether seeds or plants, 



must be added to above items and should not be to exceed 50 cents 



per square foot. And much less would be possible. 



This cost sheet is based on growing the following plants and 

 flowers: 



20,000 Chrysanthemums. 

 20,000 Boston Ferns. 

 100,000 Paper White Narcissi. 

 250,000 Holland Bulbs. 



5,000 single plants of Polnsettias. 



,'iO cases Easter Lilies. 

 1, '1,000 Cyclamens. 

 20,000 Geraniums. 

 5.000 Vlncas. 

 6,000 Ivies. 



2,000 Calla Lilies. 



3,000 Baby Rambler Roses. 



2,000 Climbing and Hybrid Per- 

 petual Roses. 

 12,000 Hydrangeas. 



6,000 Primroses. 

 Also assorted varieties of Spring 

 Stock, Christmas Stock, flats of Ta- 

 ble Ferns, St. Valentine's Day Stock, 

 Easter and Mothers' Day specials. 



Cyclamens' Cost. 



As we plant them, 

 they are put into 

 benches instead of pots 

 from April 1 to July 1, 

 which takes up 3,750 

 square feet three 

 months. Take one- 

 fourth of $1.58, which 

 is 39 cents, times 3,750, 

 and vou have a total of 

 $1,462.50. 



From this point on 

 the amount of space 

 they take up varies, 

 but it can be figured 

 on a total amount of 

 space used and reduced 

 to one month, which I 

 will do. July, nine 

 benches; August, ten 

 benches; September, 

 eleven benches; Octo- 

 ber, eleven benches; 

 November, ten benches; 



