Afbil 21, 1921 



The Florists^ Review 



23 



^syi^i^i^i^ji^iiSiii^iisyi^i^tii^i^iiSiJi^i^i^iiS^ 



COSTS' CLIMB IN CANADA 



5Si?it^r«tiri«xiri«tiri«\ih«vir«tir«tir«ti:^rM]rrs\if?s>rtr)^ 



mn 



RISING COST OF PRODUCTION. 



At Big Canadian Establishment. 



My subject, "The Cost of Produc- 

 tion," was no doubt suggested by the 

 fact that there has been some unfair 

 criticism in the press referring to prices 

 of flowers. Fault has been found that 

 prices are unreasonably high, and 

 while we admit that they are higher 

 than in some years past, Ave are pre- 

 pared to justify prices as being fair, 

 and even lower than might have been 

 expected, taking into account the in- 

 creased cost of production. 



Let us take for comparison a few of 

 the leading items. As you no doubt 

 are already aware, the two which 

 largely make up the cost of growing 

 flowers in Canada are labor and coal. 

 Taking the former, we will take periods 

 1900, 1910 and 1920. I go back to 1900 

 because my knowledge of the flower 

 business commences with that year, 

 having taken a position with the late 

 Henry Dale in April of tliat year as 

 office boy at $2 per week. 



Common Labor. 



Coiunion labor, which wc find in 1900 

 could be secured at 12 cents per hour, 

 had risen in 1910 to 16 cents per hour, 

 while in 1920 we were actually paying 

 50 cents per hour. In 1900 assistant 

 growers, being chaps around 18 and 22, 

 were readily secured at 9 and 10 cents 

 per hour. In 1910 we were paying 13 

 to 15 cents, while in 1920 they were 

 demanding 45 to 48 cents. Full-fledged 

 growers in 1900 could be secured at 14 

 to 16 cents per liour. In 1910 the rate 

 had risen to 24 and 27 cents, while in 

 1920 we were paying 55 and 60 cents. 



I made a careful examination of our 

 wage hooks at these different dates, 

 and found that in 1900 we were em- 

 ploying forty hands at a weekly wage 

 of $350, making the rate per man $8.75. 

 In 1910 we were employing 135 men at 

 a weekly wage of $1,500, the rate per 

 man being $11.10, while in 1920 we were 

 employing 275 hands at a weekly wage 

 of $6,700, or a little over a $24 average 

 for every employee on the place. 



You will note from this information 

 that from 1900 to 1910 wages had in- 

 creased not quite one-third, while from 

 1910 to 1920 the increase was about 

 125 per cent, and I am sorry to say in 

 many cases the efficiency was greatly 

 lowered. 



Coal and Other Supplies. 



Next let us turn to coal. In 1900 

 there was no difficulty in getting all the 

 coal required laid down at Brampton 

 for about $1 per ton. In 1910 the rate 

 had risen to $3 per ton, and in 1920 I 

 think I am safe in saying that the 

 average price paid by growers in this 

 locality would be around $12 per ton, 

 so that you will observe that the yrice 

 of fuel had risen 300 per cent from 1900 

 to 1910 and 400 per cent from 1910 to 



r.ippr read by J. E. roopor, of tlie Diile Es- 

 tate. Rramiiton, Ont.. I)cf(iri> Hip Toiontd Flo- 

 rists' Society, April 11. 



1920, or its cost was twelve times 

 greater in 1920 than in 1900. 



Fertilizers, which also play a consid- 

 erable part in greenhouse production, 

 had risen from 300 to 400 per cent dur- 

 ing the ten years between 1910 and 

 1920. In 1905 Manetti used for rose 

 grafting could be purchased at $10 per 

 thousand, while in 1920 stocks of the 

 same quality were costing $70 delivered 

 liere in Canada. 



Glass, which is also another impor- 

 tant item in our repair account an- 

 nually, had risen from around $4 in 

 1904 or 1905 to $15 in 1920. 



These are only some of the more im- 

 portant items, but I can assure you 

 that a careful examination would prove 

 that a similar increase in nearly every 



Last week's leading article in The 

 Review show^ed the increase in 

 growing costs in the last three 

 years at a big middle western rose 

 range. This week, on this page, 

 even more striking figures are given, 

 though only regarding a few items, 

 showing the rise in growing costs 

 over a period of twenty years at 

 Canada's largest flower growing 

 establishment. The Editor of The 

 Review will be pleased to receive 

 statements of other growers' costs, 

 to be published with or without 

 the name of the sender, as he likes. 



item going into the production of 

 flowers could be shown. 



How Roses Rose. 



On the other hand, let us make a com- 

 parison of flower prices during the 

 same period. In 1900 Bride and Maid, 

 which were the standard roses of that 

 day, were selling in October at $6 and 

 $3 per hundred and carnations at $1.50 

 per hundred. 



In 1910 roses were selling at $8, $4 

 and $2 per hundred; carnations, $4, $3 

 and $1.50 per hundred; violets, $1 per 

 hundred; asparagus, $1 per bunch, and 

 smilax, 25 cents per string. 



In 1920 roses such as Colum])ia, 

 Hoosier Beauty and Premier at the 

 same period were bringing $20, $15, $10 

 and $6 for the different qualities re- 

 spectively, while Richmond and Ophelia 

 were bringing $15, $12, $8 and $5 for 

 the different grades. Carnations were 

 selling at $7, $6 and $4; violets at 75 

 cents per hundred: asparagus. $1.50 

 per bunch, and smilax, 35 cents per 



string. 



Comparing Figures. 



A comparison of these rates will 

 show that rose prices had increased 

 about one-third from 1900 to 1910 and 



from 1910 to 1920 an average of 200 

 per cent. You will also notice that dur- 

 ing this period the varieties of roses 

 grown have been greatly improved. 

 For instance, Columbia, Premier, 

 Hoosier Beauty and Ophelia are much 

 more select in quality than the Killar- 

 neys which formed the bulk of the 

 stock being grown in 1910. 



Dealing with carnations, you will 

 note that there was an increase from 

 1900 to 1910 of about 25U per cent, 

 whereas from 1910 to 1920 the increase 

 showed only about 100 per cent. In 

 my opinion, carnations have never 

 brought a really paying price until the 

 last couple of years, which is proved 

 by the fact that many growers who 

 were extensively engaged in their pro- 

 duction several years ago have given 

 them up entirely. Surely a No. 1 car- 

 nation should bring as much as a No. 3 

 quality rose. 



Violets were being sold in October. 

 1920, at a slightly lower price than in 

 October, 1910, and this is one line that 

 has shown little increase in price. 



Asparagus and smilax you will notice 

 sliow only about a fifty per cent in- 

 crease during the ten vears from 1910 

 to 1920. 



Close Margin on Flowers. 



After careful comparison you will 

 note that the eost of production on the 

 basis of wages and coal actually 

 showed a mucli greater increase than 

 the wholesale selling i)ric(> of the flow- 

 ers, but this has been offset to some 

 extent by the introduction of ma- 

 chinery and improved methods of han- 

 dling soil, etc., and in our case a greatly 

 improved system of heating which we 

 completed last autumn. In this depart- 

 ment alone during February and March 

 we showed a saving of $250 per week 

 in wages. 



I can assure you that the production 

 of flowers on a big scale is an exceed- 

 ingly intricate business. It has been 

 impossible in the short time at my dis- 

 posal to go into details with any 

 minuteness, but I hope the informa- 

 tion given may be valuable to the re- 

 tail trade in refuting any unfair crit- 

 icism on the part of their customers, 

 the public at large or the press as re- 

 gards prices. I doubt if there is any 

 class of goods produced on a closer 

 margin of profit than flowers. 



CYCLAMENS GROWN TOO HOT? 



Commenting on the trouble American 

 growers have with diseased cyclamen 

 plants, a German grower of this plant 

 remarks: 



"I tliiiik yotir growers sometimes 

 grow them too hot. At)Out ten or 

 twenty years ago we had the same trou- 

 lile, as we grew the plants in hotbeds. 

 Now we grow them in beds jiacked with 

 leaves only and give as much air as 

 ]iossible according to the weather con- 

 ditions, and no diseased plants are to be 

 found. Sometimes they may be over- 

 fed and the leaves cannot assimilate as 

 much food as the roots are offering. 

 This causes an overpressure in the 

 bulbs and makes them rot." 



