20 



-J-^ 



The Florists^ Review 



Al'uil. 14, 1921 



Comparison of Expenses per Square Foot of Bench Space in 1918 and 1921 in Large Rose Growing Establishment. 



Wa^ps. 



Illlilllllillllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllll^ 



mil 



Coal. 



Commission on sales. 



Illllllllllillllllllllll 



ISIack llni' represents cost in lOlH. 



Total leiisrth (if line repn-seiilM eost in IICJI. 



Sliailed |K)itli>ii i'.'P'<'SentH iiiereiisi' iif 1".)21 over I'.tlH. 



Intei-est on investment. 



Depreciation. 

 Plants and seeds. 



General expen ses. 



■^■■■■llllllll (ilccrease) 



Insecticides. 



■ rj;i -J- 



Fertilize rs. 



HHIH I' (decrease) 



Wate r, power. 



H^H (same) 



Boxes. pai)er, extiress. 



■■illlllll (decrease) 



Advertising. 



Ilillllll 



Taxe s, state. 



■■Ill'll! (decrease) 



Insurance. 

 Ill 



At the end of the year the totiil 

 operating costs, plus depreciation 

 charges and a fair interest on invest- 

 ment, say six per cent, are divided by 

 tlie number of square feet of bench 

 space. The result is the cost per 

 square foot to grow the roses named. 

 Some roses are set more closely than 

 others, so that against a certain num- 

 ber of plants of one variety a larger 

 total of square-foot cost may be 

 charged than against the same number 

 of another variety. In the table on 

 this page is shown the cost ])or square 

 foot of bench space arrived at by this 

 method of calculation. If one wishes 

 to arrive at a more exact method of 

 comparing his greenhouse costs with 

 those of another grower, he may divid(> 

 by the number of square feet of house 

 space, instead of by the number of 

 square feet of bench space. The latter 

 calculation was not carried out in 1918; 

 so the comparisons here made are on 

 the basis of square feet of bench 

 space. 



If the cost per plant has been ar- 

 rived at, one has only to divide it by 

 the average number of blooms per 

 plant cut during the year, and he has 

 the price per bloom the grower should 

 receive from the wholesaler. This 



figure should be greater, of cotirse, for 

 longer-stemmed flowers and, conse- 

 quently, less for shorter ones. During 

 the cold months, costs will be relatively 

 greater and prices received should be 

 higher than in the warmer months, 

 when production is heav.ier. 



What Chart Shows. 



The diart at the top of this page 

 jift'ords easy comprehension of where 

 tlie increased cost occurred in this 

 grower 's range. Wages, of course, were 

 the biggest item. But, whereas they 

 were a little more than twice the next 

 largest item in 1918, in 1921 they sire 

 nearly three times as great. Plants 

 and seeds show an increase of 2.33% 

 per cent, the largest in percentage of 

 any on the list. Some items show a 

 decrease — namely, general expenses, 

 fertilizers, boxes and express, and state 

 taxes — doubtless due to measures of 

 economy or to local conditions. 



Naturally, these figures can only be 

 employed as approximate estimates, 

 since coal was carried over from one 

 year to the next, v;irious changes were 

 made at the range in the three years 

 and other conditions ])revailed of which 

 the bare statistics give no inkling. 

 Moreover, these figures must be revised 

 to suit today. For sucli estimates must 

 necessarily cover a considerable period 

 of time to afford a fair average. Wages 

 have gone down somewhat. Coal is 

 cheaper, while this grower was using 

 fuel that cost the highest prices when 

 the 1921 calcul.-itions were made. Other 

 items, it will l)e readily noted, have 

 diminislied in cost, since the period 

 that afforded the 1921 estimate, al- 

 though the decrease as yt't is 7iot great. 



What Are Your Figures? 



Each grower can derive certain con- 

 clusions regarding his own costs after 

 a study of the figures presented in these 

 accompanying tables. It will afford 

 the trade better opportunity to find 

 a real production basis, if such figures 

 may be had from many growers' estab- 

 lishments, whether they are devoted to 

 roses, carnations, sweet peas, or to sev- 

 eral items. The writer hopes that 

 growers, seeing the possible benefit to 

 be derived by this comparative study, 



IDl.S . I'.lL'l , 



. Cints piT sq. ft. Cents per 8(1. II. Ceiils per s<i. II. 



Item biiieli space liencli space linuse space 



Wages 24.44 41 .58 29.G7 



Coal 11-32 1.J.41 11.00 



Commission on sales 10.14 14.9.". 10.67 



Interest on investment 4.35 8.40 6.00 



Depreciation 4.73 4.97 3..54 



Plants and seeds 1.26 4.20 3.00 



General expenses 3.88 3.05 2.17 



Insecticides "9 1-75 1.25 



Fertilizers 2.15 1.40 1.00 



Water, power 1.40 1 .40 ] .00 



Boxes, paper, express 1.58 1.00 .71 



Advertising • • • -80 .57 



Taxes (state) 1-13 -47 .34 



Insurance -03 .2b .19 



Total 07.20 99.64 71.11 



Tabic of Rose Grower's Expenses in 1918 and 1921 Charted Above. 



will send their production cost figures, 

 in such tables as these, to the Editor 

 of The Review. No names will be di- 

 vulged unless it is expressly desired, 

 and no statements will be made that 

 will permit identification of one grower 

 by another. You may show your figures 

 in order to compare them with another 

 grower, who shows his in exchange for 

 the same privilege. The comparative 

 figures will give benefit to all. The 

 names of those who furnish them will 

 be known only to the Editor of The 

 Review. Tie invites yoti to aid your- 

 self and fellow growers in this way. 

 Send in your production cost figures. 



PLANTS AROUND GRAVES. 



Can .you tell me what plants are suit- 

 able for borders around graves? 



A. D. F.— Neb. 



I presume the inquirer means jilants 

 for summer planting and not hardy or 

 perennial plants. There are a number 

 that can be used for this purpose; in 

 fact, nearl.y all of the so-called dwarf 

 bedding plants are used in one style or 

 another as borders for graves and lots 

 in large cemeteries. They are gener- 

 ally used in combinations. The alternan- 

 thera and echeveria are used together, 

 the echeveria generally forming the 

 border for the alternanthera. Madame 

 Salleroi geranium is also extensively 

 used, as are ageratum, santolina, sweet 

 alyssum, achyranthes, dusty miller and 

 the dwarf varieties of coleus. M. P. 



TREATING LEAF SCALE. 



Can you tell me what is the matter 

 with the leaf I am sending you? What 

 is the remedy for the trouble and how 

 long will it take to get the stock in 

 good condition after the trouble dis- 

 appears? H. E. H.— N. Y, 



The leaf in question was covered with 

 brown scale and, in addition, seemed to 

 be browning around the edges. Spra.y 

 through a fine misty nozzle with a soap 

 spray, using any of the good standard 

 remedies for scale. Printed directions 

 come on all cans. Remove the worst af- 

 fected leaves, water carefully and re- 

 member that this plant should not be 

 sprayed over any more than is absolute- 

 l.v necessary. C. W. 



Oklahoma City, Okla. — Furrow & Co., 

 of Guthrie, have leased one of the most 

 prominent and highest-priced locations 

 in this city for a term of eight .vears and 

 will open a first-class retail store about 

 May 2. The address is 205 West Main 

 street, and they will have everything in 

 keeping with the location. The display 

 refrigerator is being built for them by 

 H. Erlich & Son, of St. Joseph, Mo. Fur- 

 row & Co. also are building here a green- 

 house 300 feet long, to serve as the 

 nucleus for a new range. It is the plan 

 to remove a part of the Guthrie range 

 to the new place next summer, leaving 

 the balance of the glass at Guthrie to 

 take care of the nice retail business be- 

 ing done there. 



