jANUABr 9, 1913. 



The Florists^ Review 



11 



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HAS HE DONE WELL? 



It is with pleasure that The Keview 

 publishes the following from one of its 

 subscribers: 



"This is the time of year when 

 everybody takes inventory and tries 

 to determine whether he has made or 

 lost during the preceding year; every- 

 body but the florist, it seems. I have 

 occasionally seen a question asked in 

 The Eeview as to how much profit a 

 place of a given size should yield, but 

 the answer has not been especially ex- 

 plicit; naturally enough, so it seemed 

 to me, because of the lack of data to 

 figure from. 



"I am going to confide to The Ke- 

 view some figures of my business dur- 

 ing the year 1912, with the hope of 

 seeing a discussion along the lines of 

 the profit to be made in this trade, 

 that I and others may judge whether 

 we are realizing what we should from 

 our time and investment. Of course, 

 I know you will not use my name, so 

 others may know the source. 



"My place consists of 7,000 square 

 feet of ground under glass; growing 

 about half in lettuce and tomatoes in 

 the spring. Half of the glass is in cut 

 flowers, bulbs, etc., and bedding plants 

 — no roses. I am doing a retail and 

 wholesale business, wholesaling my 

 surplus. Have about half an acre out- 

 doors devoted to early vegetables and 

 raising field plants for the greenhouses. 

 Today's value of the land, including 

 that covered by greenhouses, etc., is 

 about $1,000. Houses and everything 

 in use are kept up, so the depreciation 

 is practically nothing. The houses are 

 three to five years old, but have been 

 repainted and bulbed this year. 



"During 1912 my receipts were 

 $3,287. Expenditures, including every 

 cent paid out for help, new stock, etc., 

 were $1,349. This does not include 

 wages for myself. This gives me $1,928 

 for wages and interest on my invest- 

 ment. To be added to this is about 

 $15 for permanent improvements and 

 the heat and water for my residence, 

 perhaps $50 per year. 



"As nearly as possible I begin 

 my working day at 7 a. m, and 

 quit at 6 p. m. I am in a town of 

 about 3,000 population and have a 

 slight competition. 



"I have set mv head for another 

 $500 clear .money for 1913 and think 

 I can get it out of the same equipment. 

 "Let's hear the truth, whether I 

 have done well or not. I want to 

 know. ' ' 



The Review frequently is asked to 

 Btate the ])rofit that is to be made 

 from a given quantity of glass, and 

 invariably replies that it mostly de- 

 pends on the man, only a little on the 

 location and local conditions. One man 

 makes himself fairly independent in a 

 situation where another at best will 

 only make a living. 



A discussion of the subject may serve 

 to invigorate some of the men who are 



getting less out of the business than 

 they might have, and The Review will 

 be pleased to publish other letters 

 along this line. The writer's full name 

 and address must be signed, although 

 they will not be published. 



POINSETTIAS AT BELMONT. 



This has been a season which has 

 given a great variety of results with 

 poinsettias. Weather conditions appear 

 to have been responsible for the un- 

 usual variations in the crop. Many 

 growers lost a considerable part of 

 their poinsettias, while others had 

 them too early for Christmas. W. S. 

 Richards, of Belmont Farm, Perrysburg, 



Poiniettias at Belmont Farm. 



O., sends the photograph from which 

 the accompanying illustration was pre- 

 pared. It shows a bench of poinsettias, 

 which, as he says, "made an unusuallv 

 good growth." Benched in the firs't 

 part of June, most of them reached a 

 height of eight feet, and he adds, "We 

 had a hard task to keep them from 

 going through the glass." The bracts 

 evidently were of fine quality and Mr. 

 Richards says many of them were from 

 fifteen to twenty inches across. 



Cadillac, Mich.— W. H, Kane, who 

 recently opened a ^orists' establish- 

 ment here, has engaged Charles Cray- 

 lie as manager. Mr. Craylie was for- 

 merly with Eli Cross, of Grand Rapids, 

 Mich. 



FABCEL POST BULES. 



The regulations promulgated by the 

 postmaster-general for the administra- 

 tion of the parcel post would set, in 

 all, about a dozen columns of The 

 Review. They are in part devoted to 

 the details applicable to all parcels, 

 such as rates, places of mailing, method 

 of wrapping, delivery, etc., but a large 

 part of the regulations are purely 

 administrative matters and are of no 

 interest to the public. The only para- 

 graphs having special bearing on our 

 trade are as follows, the first three 

 being parts of Section 7: 



"4. Seeds, cuttings, bulbs, roots,- 

 scions and plants are matter of the 

 fourth class, notwithstanding that a 

 special rate of postage (1 cent for 

 each two ounces or fraction thereof 

 regardless of distance) applies thereto. 

 The limit of weight is increased to 

 eleven pounds by the parcel post law 

 (see sec. 1), but no other change is 

 made. 



"5. Cut flowers, dried plants and 

 botanical specimens not susceptible of 

 propagation are transmissible at parcel 

 post rates. 



' ■ 6. Samples of wheat or other grain 

 in its natural condition, potatoes, beans, 

 peas, chestnuts, acorns, etc., when in- 

 tended for planting must be prepaid 

 at the special rate of postage prescribed 

 in paragraph 4, but when intended to 

 be used as food the parcel post rates 

 apply. 



"Sec. 26. Seeds and other admis- 

 sible articles, which are liable from 

 their form or nature to loss or damage 

 unless specially protected, may be put 

 up in sealed envelopes of material 

 sufficiently transparent to show the 

 contents clearly without opening. 



"Sec. 30. Seeds of fruit, nursery 

 stock, and all other plant products for 

 propagation, may be mailed in accord- 

 ance with the instructions of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture as promul- 

 gated by Postoffice Department orders. 

 No. 6313, of May 29, 1912; No. 6655, 

 of November 16, 1912, and No. 6674, 

 of November 27, 1912." 



THE GLASS MABKET. 



In its New Year's review of business 

 conditions one of the Chicago dailies 

 had the following by Lester E. Par- 

 tridge: 



"The general glass situation is in 

 much better shape, from a price and 

 consumptive standpoint, than it has 

 been for several years. 



"Owing to the new process of 

 making window glass by machinery, 

 there has been for several years an 

 overproduction at certain seasons of 

 the year that has forced prices to a 

 low level. 



"A year ago prices on window glass 

 were the lowest in the history of the 

 business. In fact, the skilled workmen 

 were getting almost day laborers' 

 wages and the manufacturers were ac- 

 tually losing money on every box pro- 

 duced. Wages have been increased 

 since that time about sixty per cent, 

 and, while these wages are still con- 

 siderably less than the average pay re- 

 ceived by the skilled trades in the 

 manufacturing of glass, they are much 

 more satisfactory to all concerned and 

 allow the men to get out a better class 

 of work. 



"These higher wages and the in- 

 creased cost of materials and fuel have 

 forced the prices up considerably, but 



