replacement item(s) given to a customer in exchange 
for any plants that died or did not perform up to 
expectations. Allowances represent the amount of 
loss incurred by the grower for plants that were 
damaged, became non-sellable, or were sold at a 
reduced price due to the condition of the plant. Items 
that would be included in this classification include 
plants that died or were damaged while waiting to be 
sold, plants that had become too leggy and were no 
longer desirable by consumers, and plants that had 
passed their prime and were no longer desirable due 
to the seasonal nature of the item (potted bulbs, 
poinsettias, cut Christmas trees, etc.). 
Sales. This represents the sum of all horticultural 
specialty crops grown and sold from the operation. It 
does not include income from landscape contracting, 
plant rental, and garden center items sold, such as 
tools, fertilizer, etc. Value of sales from non- 
horticultural commodities were also excluded. 
Short rotation woody crops. This includes fast- 
growing trees, such as hybrid poplar or cottonwood, 
that are grown for 10 years or less for pulpwood, 
saw logs, etc. The production of these trees involves 
more than simply planting tree seedlings. Operations 
that provide inputs and resources, such as fertilizing, 
thinning, watering, and spraying, are included. 
Operations planting seedlings for pulpwood with 
limited or no intervention by external resources are 
considered forestry operations and not horticultural 
specialty operations. This item was included in the 
other kind of business category. 
Only operations that reported short rotation woody 
crops sold were summarized in tables containing 
value of sales for short rotation woody crops. 
Operations that only reported area under production 
were summarized in tables containing area under 
production. 
Sod, sprigs, or plugs. This category includes all 
varieties of specialized grasses cultivated for sale as 
sod. Acres harvested and the value of gross sales are 
included. Grass acreage includes acres harvested in 
2014 and acres planted to grass intended for sale as 
sod in subsequent years and not harvested in 2014. 
Sprigs and plugs were not collected with sod 
harvested in the agriculture census; therefore, these 
data are not comparable to the 2012 Census of 
2012 Census of Agriculture 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
Agriculture. Sod plugs are small cylindrical or 
block- shaped sections extracted from field turf or cut 
from strips of sod. Sprigs are individual plants or 
sections of plants containing several nodes from 
which new plants may develop. 
Only operations that reported sod, sprigs, and plugs 
harvested and sold were summarized in tables 
containing value of sales for sod, sprigs, and plugs. 
Operations that only reported area under production 
were summarized in tables containing area under 
production. 
Ti leaves. Data for ti leaves were separated into 
those sold for floral uses and those sold for other 
uses on the Hawaii report form. Operations that 
could not separate their ti leaves sales reported them 
in combination with cordyline on the Hawaii report 
form. Data for ti leaves were only collected in 
combination with cordyline on the U.S. report form. 
Tobacco transplants grown for sale. This includes 
tobacco transplants grown for sale in greenhouses, 
seed beds, or cold frames, and excludes tobacco 
transplants for the farmer’s (grower’s) own use. 
Total land area. The total land area represents the 
land utilized on the operation as the area for 
horticultural production. This differs from the area 
used for horticultural production. Reported values 
for area used for horticultural production include the 
volume of stacked benches and stacked pots and the 
area used to produce multiple crop types. Data for 
Area in the open do not include acres in production 
for Christmas trees or sod, sprigs, or plugs. See Area 
used for horticultural production for a full definition. 
Total value of horticultural sales by sales size 
category. This item was included in the report form 
to assist the respondent in reporting the total value of 
horticultural specialty sales from the operation. Sales 
were reported in one of the 14 sales size categories 
listed on the report form. Final data were combined 
into 10 size categories. 
Total value of sales of propagative (unfinished) 
materials. This question collected the value of sales 
for all propagative materials for each of the 
following categories: cut flowers and cut lei flowers, 
potted flowering plants, annual bedding/garden 
plants, herbaceous perennials, foliage plants, and cut 
Appendix B B - 9 
