22 



The Florists^ Review 



May 1:2, 1913. 



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GREENHOUSE INDUSTRY ^ 

 fs AS A MARKET FOR COAL 



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SECOND LARGEST ITEM. 



Cost of Fuel in the Trade. 



Five years ajiu the roal .salosman 

 who j,'ot tlio fircoiiliousi' trade was the 

 jolly good fellow. Today — aud the flo- 

 rists' contracts are ear-h season better 

 worth having — tlie ni;ni who brings 

 home the bacon is the one who can tell 

 the florist how to reduce his fuel bill 

 and make it work out in practice. 



Is there any other industry in Avhich 

 luel consumes so large a {)art of gross 

 income? Perhaps! And if there is, 

 that field is esi)ecially well worth the 

 careful, serious, studious at1(>ntion of 

 the coal trade. 



• lust how much coal goes under green- 

 house boilers in a season nobody really 

 knows. b>it it is so big tliat it seemed 

 important to the Unit('<l States Census 

 Bureau to lind out. However, the cen- 

 sus ])eople did not make out very well 

 with floriculture; such of the figures 

 as iiave been published have been 

 sharply questioned by the trade author- 

 ities, and the Census Bureau never has 

 ventured to tell Avhat it found out 

 about fuel consumption. Of course the 

 fuel consumption varies widely witii 

 the character of the coal and the tight- 

 ness of the greenhouses. To a certain 

 extent, also, it varies with the severity 

 of the season, the character of the heat- 

 ing apparatus and the ability of the 

 man in charge. Nowadays, too, a great 

 many greenhouse establisliinents oper- 

 ate pumps, dynamos and refrigerating 

 apjiaratus, adding something to the 

 cost of fuel over what wonM lie r(^- 

 quired for wainith alone. 



Eighteen Pounds to Foot. 



Taking the replies of a numbei of 

 widely sejiarated llori^ts. burning %a- 

 rious kinds of fiud under \arious con- 

 ditions, it apjiears that the nverage sea- 

 son's consumption is aliout eii:hteen 

 jiounds of coal for each sqiiiire foot of 

 glass exposure. Tliat i- no rule of 

 thumb, liut it seeni< to be ;i laiily accu- 

 rate 'jeneral ;i\eiage ;nid. mrioiisly 

 enougli, the .-nerage --eein- to lie ex- 

 tremely close to the e.Npelieii.-.' ol the 

 lari^er establishment-^ of the middle 

 west, where aeres are iindei -la>- 

 wliere New Iii\'er and roi-alioni ,1- . 

 aie tlie fli\oi-ite t'neis. 



Xow. elLrllteen pound- nt ,-,,;ii i,f 

 il>ell" doe- not niaki' a \ery Iiil: pile, 

 but tliere ;iii' an\ number ot ;:reenlioii-e 

 e-taldi-lunent- tliroiiLih the I'nited 

 States that contain from .a ifiillion to 

 Xwi) million -'|ii;ii. t.'et ol' glas-. He i- 

 not a \'eiy IiIlj lloii-t wlio (joe- not 

 ha\e ,00,OfM) I'cct. :in'i even tlie small- 

 est florists liurn two or threi' ear- ot 

 coal a season. 



In Cook county. Illmoi--. ;iIone the:.' 

 is over ten million feet ot' i:reenhou~i- 

 glass! Just how many i,-.t of gla-- 

 there are in the greenlioi-e- of \\.<' 

 United States nobody knriu-. The cen 

 sus tried to find out, but h;i-n't pub 



an<i 

 0:1 Is 



■J'liis :irti<li'. ill wliicii llic tr.idr will In- iiilrr 

 i-liil. .'i|i|>('^ir<'il M.iy IT ill Tile Uliiik I ii:iiii(iiiil. 

 ,1 IcMiliiiir i'cimI tniile jinirniil, 



lished its findings. [In its issue of 

 May ], The Review published the cen- 

 sus figures of area covered by glass in 

 1909, showing ]0r),16,'),7:{i) square feet. 

 — Kd.| Those in jiosition to keep best 

 in touch with such matters estimate 

 that the greenhouse industry has just 

 about tripled in si/.e and in importance 

 to the coal trade in the last fifteen 

 years. The principal iucicase now by 

 new people entering the fi(dd is in the 

 west, though glass area still increases 

 rapidly in the east and the bulk of 

 those in the liusiness still are in the 

 section east of the Mississippi and north 

 of the (^hio. 



Heavy Cost of Cartage. 



Ten years a;;o the green 

 entered a boom peiiod — tin 



not care any more about 

 fuel than he did about the 

 luncheon the coal salesmai 

 when the florist came to 

 things are different now. 

 industry still is growing 

 mills tliat make a s])ecialt 

 house structural material bi 

 of feet of gi'eenhouses a > 

 eiease their outjiut e\(My 

 old. hapjiy go-lucky method 

 snflice. 'i'here is a good | 

 liu-ines- no one e\er hear- 

 goiiig bankrupt — but the ol 

 monev i- not theie. I'ro 



house trade 

 ' florist did 

 the cost of 

 jirice of the 

 bought him 

 town. But 

 While the 

 apidly — th(> 

 y ol' gieen 

 lild millions 

 ear and iii- 

 -eason — the 

 s no loiigei 

 rolit in the 

 of a glower 

 d time easy 

 luction li;i- 



' ho 



'11 



■ii'. 



so nearly cjiught up with demand, 

 the big glowing centers at least, t 

 the good money depends on improv 

 quality, maintaining production 

 keeping down the cost of operation 

 One of the ways of cutting cost 

 operation is of direct interest to 

 wliolesale coal trade. The older gri'. 

 houses were located just anywh. 

 Nowailays no one would think of atiiit 

 ing a greenhouse range for growm;; 

 cut flowers anywhere except besiih- u 

 lailroad, where a sidetrack is obt:i:n 

 able, so that coal can lie receive<l m 

 dump cars. As an instance of tin-. .1 

 big greenhouse plant near Chicago jn-t 

 now is removing at a cost of close id 

 $100,000 from a location over half ;i 

 mile from the railroad to one besiif 

 the railro.'id's right of way. The owi, 

 ers found that from a -mall begiiiiiii;.: 

 ilie i-ost of ciirtage had increased witli 

 the si/.e of the plant until it amoimte.i 

 to fOJioii pel' year. 



Going After Business. 



Wages is the big item of lo^t 11; a 

 greenhouse. It is a pojiular idea fh.it 

 llowers "just grow," but the fact is 

 that good flowers in quantity i-an only 

 lie had at the cost of skilled labor, anl 

 lots of it. There are many greenhuii-i-s 

 tiiat carry liOO to ;'.iin names on tlie 

 jiayroll. Futd is the next Idg^^est item 

 ot ex]ieiise; also, it is the one in wlinli 

 the most important saxiii;: e;in be nuiii''. 

 The glower <-aiiiiot t-ut cjown hi- help 

 without hi- income -utferiuL:. but if '16 



Boiler Room of the J. W. Davis Co., Davenport, la. 



In Chi weiitlicr tliiH li:iltcr.v m IhmI. 1- bning liniii forty 1,, mu i,,iiv ut ri>;il ejicli iiM>iit\ fnui li'.i 



