34 



The Florists^ Review 



Januaby 26. 1922 





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Davis Gardenst the Establishment of the J. W. Davis Co.» Terre 



found its existence a real help in ef- 

 fecting collections. Many customers 

 who had been slow in paying have set- 

 tled their bills when told of this list 

 and the fact that their names would be 

 entered on it in case no settlement was 

 reached by a certain date. There is a 

 certain type of buyer who cannot be ac- 

 cused of having a conscience, but who 

 values the Dun or Bradstreet rating too 

 highly to fail in meeting his bills. 



"We expect that every three months 

 will prove often enough to revise this 

 list and subsequent listings will carry a 

 special section showing those previously 

 listed wlio have settled up their ac- 

 counts. All the retail florists now favor 

 this excliange of credit information and 

 the second report will carry every retail- 

 er 's list of bad accounts." 



A check among the retailers them- 

 selves shows that this plan is working 



out satisfactorily. "I was saved money 

 the first day this list was received," 

 says one Second avenue store manager. 

 ' ' Several days previously I had sold a 

 floral piece to a new customer, who had 

 agreed to pay within a couple of days. 

 His name on this list started me after 

 my money at once and this prompt ac- 

 tion undoubtedly saved me from writing 

 off a loss on this one deal." 



A number of cases are reported among 

 store owners where attempts were made 

 during the Christmas rush by people on 

 this list to open new charge accounts. 

 ' ' They were careful to select extra 

 clerks for this," says another store 

 manager. ' ' The extra clerk is naturally 

 pleased at the idea of having secured a 

 new charge customer and, but for this 

 list, we should have added several poor 

 accounts to our own troubles." 



H. M. 



PLANTS OUST CUCUMBERS. 



Changes at Terre Haute. 



Some of the keen minds of the flo- 

 rists' trade have anticipated that the 

 demand for flowering and foliage 

 plants, which has risen so rapidly in 

 late years, would attract individuals 

 outside of the trade. A partial fulfill- 

 ment of this anticipation is seen in the 

 entrance of the J. W. Davis Co., at 

 Terre Haute, Ind., into the plant grow- 

 ing business. It is only partial, how- 

 ever, since Mr. Davis has for thirty 

 years been engaged in a closely allied 

 business, that of growing vegetables un- 

 der glass. 



Thirty years ago, J. W. Davis was en- 

 gaged in business with his brother at 

 Morrison, 111., in growing cucumbers in 

 a small greenhouse. Not satisfied that 

 their ways were the best ways, Mr. 

 Davis visited the establishments of veg- 

 etable forcers in neighboring towns. He 

 has related that it took some persuasion 

 on his part to convince his brother that 

 this was a profitable way to spend his 

 time, since they both worked the long 

 hours that were customary in green- 

 houses three decades ago. Ideas that 

 Mr. Davis brought home with him, how- 

 ever, soon proved to be well worth the 

 time and money they cost, and before 

 long Mr. Davis was going still farther 

 afield on his visits of inspection and 

 investigation. 



Spreading Out. 



The range at Morrison did not pro- 

 vide large enough scope for the activi- 

 ties of Mr. Davis. One after another, 

 he established greenhouses at various 

 towns in Illinois and later in other 

 states, until today the enterprises es- 

 tablished by him number ten, in four 

 different states. Most of them are in 

 Illinois, cucumber ranges being operat- 

 ed at Morrison, Ottawa, Aurora, Strea- 

 tor, Kankakee and Joliet. At Glendale, 

 Cal., is another range devoted to cucum- 

 bers. At Davenport, la., are two estab- 

 lishments; the J. \V. Davis Co., com- 

 prising 270,000 square feet of glass, is 

 engaged in forcing vegetables, while the 

 Davis Floral Co., which opcrate| 125,- 

 000 square feet of glass, grows Ycrns. 

 The ])iggcst range of all is at Terre 

 Haute, Ind.; it contains 000,000 feet of 

 glass, most of which is devoted to vege- 

 tables, and about one-fifth to a general 

 line of flowering and foliage plants. 



The ten establishment'^ contain alto- 

 gether 2,700,000 feet of glass. In most 

 of them J. W. Davis has disposed of his 

 interests to one or another of his 

 younger brothers, who are R. R. Davis, 

 W. B. Davis and F. L. Davis. Mr. Davis 

 himself is only interested at present in 

 the ranges at Joliet, 111.; Davenport, 

 la., and Terre Haute, Ind. His home is 

 at Davenport, though he spends the 

 winters in Florida. Although he is but 



52 years of age, he has compressed a 

 vast amount of activity into the thirty 

 years since he began to grow vegetables 

 at Morrison, 111. 



Beginning at Terre Haute. 



The range at Terre Haute, the largest 

 by far of all the Davis establish- 

 ments, was located in that city by care- 

 ful design. That town was selected by 

 Mr. Davis as combining two important 

 advantages, in shipping facilities and 

 access to coal. The main line of the 

 Pennsylvania and New York Central 

 railroads connect it with the big east- 

 ern markets, while these roads and the 

 C. & E. I. connect it with the chief 

 cities in the west as well. The Illinois 

 Central system connects it with all 

 parts of the south, where extensive ship- 

 ments of plants are made. The green- 

 house is within rifle shot of several coal 

 fields, an important fact, since the 

 twelve Westinghouse high-pressure 

 steam boilers, equipped with automatic 

 Roney stokers, burn 11,000 tons of 

 coal a year. Just now it costs only 

 $2.30 a ton. No. 4 screenings are used. 



It was in 1914 that Mr. Davis became 

 interested in the facilities at Terre 

 Haute. In that year fifty-eight acres 

 were purchased by a corporation headed 

 by Mr. Davis and Charles Grilk, of 

 Davenport, la. A switch was built from 

 the C. & E. I. railroad. In that year 

 two houses, each 80x600 feet, were com- 

 pleted by the Lord & Burnham Co. In 

 1916 three more houses of the same di- 

 mensions were added, and in 1917 five 

 houses were completed, doubling the 

 size of the range. 



From Vegetables to Plants. 



Until three years ago, only vegetables 

 were grDwn at Terre Haute, cucumbers, 

 tomatoes and mushrooms being the chief 

 products. The demand for flowering 

 and foliage plants led to some experi- 

 ments with them. About a year ago, 

 C. G. Anderson, a plantsman of long ex- 

 perience, became manager of the plant 

 department. A large area of glass was 

 placed at his disposal, with promise of 

 additions as the business warranted it. 

 Mr. Anderson's success has led to the 

 decision of Mr. Davis and his general 

 manager at Terre Haute, Keith Owen, 

 to go into plants on a larger scale. At 

 the beginning of this year, additional 

 space was turned over to Mr. Anderson, 

 who has charge both of production and 

 the sales of plants. 



The total area devoted to plants now 

 is one-fifth of the entire range, or 120,- 

 000 square feet of glass, a good-sized 

 greenhouse establishment in itself. 

 Ferns of the Boston variety and its 



