Last year we had to open this section with an allusion to the re- 
markable jump in the cost of merchandise during the year 1916, in every 
line of business. These costs have steadily risen. I.abor costs more 
because of the scarcity of men owing to the call tor the 
Continued Army and Navy. These conditions are likely to become 
Rise in Costs aggravated in the year before us. The Food Adminis- 
tration department of the Federal Government has tried 
to regulate the retail price of foods and other merchandise, with more 
or less success. 
This was possibly the m"st serious })roblem facing the commercial 
florist, and indeed all who had charge of greenhouses during the Au- 
tumn of 1917. Not only had the price of hard coal risen to an average 
of $8 a ton, but owing to the shortage of freight cars. 
The Coal due to the transportation of troops and munitions, it 
Situation was difficult to procure supplies, and many growers also 
refrained from making their purchases until the season 
was dangerously late, as they hoped that the situation would improve 
and that prices would fall. To some extent the Government encouraged 
this hope. As a matter of fact prices showed no deeline from Mid- 
summer onward. 
In November, the Coal Administration intimated that those indus- 
tries not regarded as necessary to the successful conduct of the war, 
or the so-called luxury industries, among which flower growers were 
classed, might summarily have their coal supply curtailed. This added 
a fresh anxiety to the already over-worried growers. It was hoped that 
by united action, the growers of the country could prove to the Gov- 
ernment the wisdom of allowing florists to have their necessary, even if 
minimum, quota of coal. 
That the war has interfered with the ordinary routine of business 
has been exemplified also by the diffieulties that shippers of perishable 
stock have experienced in getting rapid transit by express. In October 
the situation was so serious that a delegation of ship- 
Express pers interviewed the heads of the express companies 
Transportation in New York City. The situation improved thereafter, 
but the expectation was that at the holiday season fur- 
ther trouble might mature. Many serious losses were experienced by 
delayed shipments and frozen shipments in the Winter of 1916 and the 
Spring of the past year. It is safe to say that some thousands of dol- 
lars;’ worth of stock perished. 
Roman Hyacinths, Freesias, Paperwhite Narcissus, etc., from 
France, came in good time, and were of satisfactory quality. Not so the 
