28 



The Florists^ Review 



Kebuuauv 1«, iitZti 



mistake in yoiir inotliod of handling 

 different individuals. 



(5) Without appearintj to do bo, culti- 

 vate that slirt'wdiioss of observation 

 which will permit you to estimate the 

 probable needs and buying capacity of 

 your customer. 



(C) Never show hurry, irritation, im- 

 patience, superiority of manner, or in- 

 tolerance of opinion toward a customer. 

 Don't argue. Demonstrate. 



(7) Close every sale so that the cus- 

 tomer feels that you have considered 

 his interest only in selling him what 

 you have, and make a deliberate point 

 of leaving a good taste in his mouth, so 

 that he will come again and send others 

 to you. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Club Names Nominees. 



A si)irited election by the Florists' 

 Club of Washington, D. C, is forecast 

 for the forthcoming meeting of that 

 organization in March as a result of the 

 nominations made February 6. There 

 will be a great deal of rivalry for the 

 presidency this year, as may be seen 

 from the slate from which the successful 

 candidate must be selected. 



The nominees are as follows: Presi- 

 dent, O. A. C. Oehniler, retail florist; 

 Adolidi E. Gude, A. Gude Sons Co., 

 growers and wholesalers; Harry Ley, 

 grower, and E. E. West, grower; vice- 

 president, Charles E. F. Gorsdorf, De- 

 partment of Agriculture; Henry Witt, 

 grower; secretary, Harry B. Lewis, of- 

 fice of public buildings and grounds; 

 treasurer, WilJijim F. Gude, of Gude 

 Bros. Co., retailers, and E. Lloyd Jen- 

 kins, grower; directors, Otto Bauer, man- 

 ager S. S. I'cniiock Co., and Theodore 

 Diedrich, grower. There are two va- 

 cancies only. 



At the conclusion of the short busi- 

 ness session an orchestra started a rag- 

 time dance program. While the florists 

 and growers were attending to the af- 

 fairs of the club, the ladies and invited 

 guests congregated in the office of Pres- 

 ident Ba-.;er, for the meeting and enter- 

 tainment was held at the store of the S. 

 S. Pennock Co. on H street, and all were 

 the guests of Mr. Bauer and the firm. 



During the evening an elaborate buf- 

 fet supper was served under the direc- 

 tion of Mrs. Bauer. The store was pret- 

 tily decorated with potted jilants and 

 huge bunches of fine pussy willow, and, 

 best of all, there wa,s the music and the 

 ladies. 



Secretary Lewis was Instructed to ex- 

 press in a letter to William F. (Jiidc the 

 regret of the club that iie was unable to 

 be present, and to cxiircss also the hope 

 that he would speedily recover from tlie 

 recent accident which has kept him con- 

 fined to his home for a number of weeks. 

 Tho letter will accompany a box of 

 flowers. 



To Repair Loss by Fire. 



Extensive repairs will have to be 

 made to the Botanic Garden greenhouses 

 in the near future, to cover the ravages 

 of a recent fire. P^stimates of the cost 

 of doing the work have been submitted 

 to Congress through tho President. Two 

 buildings were damaged by the tire, and 

 $1,300 is asked for their repair and re- 

 construction and for the construction of 

 an arched concrete roof over the boiler 

 from which the fire started, that there 

 may be no recurrence of the blaze. 



An appropriation of $600 is asked for 



an emergency boiler, to be used in the 

 event the main heating plant breaks 

 down. At present, it is pointed out, 

 there is no emergency equipment in tho 

 garden, and a breakdown of the heat- 

 ing plant might result in the loss of 

 thousands of dollars' worth of valuable 

 plants, some of which could not be re- 

 placed. 



Four hundred dollars is asked for the 

 construction of a cupola on the main 

 conservatory, which is in bad shape, a 

 heavy weather-vane, dislodged by a re- 

 cent storm, being suspended over it in 

 such a manner that it might fall at 

 any time and seriously damage the glass 



dome. Other work which is contem- 

 plated for the garden would cost $700, 

 the total appropriation asked for beings 

 $3,000. 



At tho same time, the President sub- 

 mitted to Congress an estimate from the 

 Department of Agriculture, asking $150,- 

 000 for the use of the bureau of plant 

 industry for emergency work in fighting 

 an outbreak of white pine blister rust 

 which has made its appearance in the 

 state of Washington. T. N. S. 



Macon, Ga. — John A. Porter has com- 

 pleted the first section of his new green- 

 houses. 



Nii»>'l^lV8^t^l^JlvS^l«4Jl>SyiV!WlvS<J[X^^ 



MORE COST FIGURES 



ff;svirys?it^t^r/8<iri^ri^ri^r/8virirs\ir?stiirsvih^rirs^ 



COSTS ON SNAPDRAGONS. 



From Pennsylvania Grower. 



The publication, in Tho Review of 

 January 26, of a comparison of a rose 

 growers' costs and returns in tho years 

 1920 and 1921 has stirred many florists 

 to a closer consideration of their own 

 greenhouse costs. Some discussion of 

 the article has appeared in The Ee- 

 view's columns since, and a number of 

 inquiries as to data regarding green- 

 house costs on various crops have 

 reached the Editor. But data on this 

 subject are woefully lacking. Outside of 

 two or three statistical papers read by 

 growers before organizations and sev- 

 eral articles giving such figures in the 

 columns of The Eeview, greenhouse 

 costs are a matter of individual infor- 

 mation, and the number of individuals 

 who are so informed is astonishingly 

 small. 



Seeking to secure more light for the 

 trade in general, The Eeview has en- 

 deavored to obtain costs on other crops 

 as well as roses, and here presents those 

 submitted by a Pennsylvania grower on 

 :i house of snapdragons. Tho grower 

 jiroduces several other crops, but has 

 not such complete data on the others as 

 he has on snapdragons. Those who 

 UTOw this particular flower will be able 

 to check their figures — if they have such 

 —with those given here. Discussion of 

 them is invited and other similar tables 

 will be gladly received by the Editor. 



Preliminary Explanation. 



It might well be explained, by way of 

 preliminaries, that the house measured 

 18x].")0 feet; therefore, 2,700 square feet 

 of ground area was devoted to the crop. 

 The actual growing area was 2,175 

 square feet. The number of jdants in 

 this space was 2,984. The crop occupied 

 the house nine months, from September 

 to June. 



As remarks accompanying the table 

 in his records the grower appends the 

 following: "An exceptionally fine 

 <rop. Good Christmas and Easter yields. 

 Market rather oversupplied during April 

 ;ind May. No rust; very little insect 

 troubles. Soil changed during summer. 

 Plants grown in solid beds. Loss of 

 |il;ints negligible." 



The Table. 



.\nd here is the table which repre- 

 sents the growers' costs on the crop of 

 -iinjtdragons for nine months, the total 



costs being given in the first column of 

 figures in dollars and the cost per square 

 foot of ground area being expressed in 

 cents in the second column: 



Costs per 



sq. ft. 

 ;;roun(l area, 

 expressed 

 Crop's share of I'otuI .o^ts In cents 



Commission (see below). 



Labor and salary $ 733.26 27.2 



Fuel 209.00 7.8 



Fertilizers 17.80 0.7 



Boxes, packing, etc. 8.74 0.3 



Insecticides 7.06 0.3 



Seed 3.29 0.1 



Insurance 6.12 0.2 



Express and delivery 16.09 0.6 



Depreciation ". 105.00 3.9 



Stakes, wire, etc. . . . 3.50 0.1 



Eepairs and paint. . . 08.13 2.2 



Taxes 45.00 1.7 



Tools and sundries.. 5.97 0.2 



Lumber 12.00 0.4 



Miscellaneous 16.00 0.6 



Interest on invest- 

 ment 202.78 7.5 



Total $1,449.74 53.8 



Total receipts (less commis- 

 sion of 15 per cent) $1,702.37 



Total expenses 1,449.74 



Total net profit $ 252.63 



Net profit per sq. ft. ground 

 •''rea 0.093 



The observations of the grower which 

 accompany tho table enforce its mean- 

 ing as well as words can. He; says: 



"All figures are based on ground area 

 covered by glass, which is the only log- 

 ical unit, since it is uniform for all 

 growers at all times and seasons. Note 

 that this crop was exceptionally fine. 

 A lOyear average would probably be 

 at least twenty-five per cent below the 

 above net returns. Items such as fuel, 

 insurance and depreciation must be esti- 

 mated, as they cannot be accurately dis- 

 tributed where there is more than one 

 greenhouse. 



Is It Good Investment? 



"A house like this of snapdragons, 

 inc uding its share of land, buildings, 

 l)oiler, etc., represents an investment of 

 about $4,500. This sum, if invested in 

 good securities or a good business, 

 should bring at least $500. Yet our fig- 

 ure of $455.41 (net profit plus interest) 

 IS the result of an unusually good crop 

 at unusually high prices for flowers." 



What df) your figures show? 



