UWVERSy 
i 
Vol. LXXI. No. 4134. 
NEW YORK, JANUARY 20, 1912. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 I’ER YEAR. 
HOW THE MIDDLEMAN WAS CUT OUT. 
Co-operative Selling of Cut Flowers. 
The question how to dispose of their product to 
the best advantage has long been a most interest¬ 
ing one to tlie many growers of cut flowers in the 
neighborhood of New York, and various methods have 
been tested. In the early days of this business, before 
the greenhouse establishments reached the large pro¬ 
portions to which many of them have now attained, 
it was not uncommon for the. growers to pack their 
flowers in large baskets and carry them into the city, 
where they covered a regular route each day, or every 
other day, selling direct to the retail dealers. But with 
the rapid increase in the business and the great ex¬ 
tension in the area of glass devoted to the production 
expense of various smaller growers, the method being 
to pay the large consignor more than the market 
price during slack times, and then to take it out of the 
little fellows to make up the deficiency, the object 
of this action being to retain the large grower’s busi¬ 
ness throughout the season. It was such experiences 
as these that brought about the formation more than 
10 years ago of the New York Cut Flower Co., an 
organization of growers for the disposal of their 
flowers at wholesale only. This company was incor¬ 
porated under the laws of the State of New York, 
the original incorporators being about 20 in number, 
and the capital stock being $10,000. The amount of 
stock was kept at this low figure in order to keep 
down the taxes, but the incorporators agreed to tax 
themselves at the rate of one cent per square foot of 
pany, and may employ their own salesman to look 
after their trade, but all sales are recorded in the 
books of the company, and all collections made 
through them, thus guaranteeing the accounts, and 
checks are mailed to the consignors regularly each 
week, the company practically acting as a clearing 
house for the growers doing business there. Every 
sale is recorded upon triplicate slips, one slip being 
retained by the salesman for future reference, one 
sent into the office for filing and record, and the third 
slip sent to the consignor of the flowers. 
Some deliveries are made by the growers them¬ 
selves, but where it is not convenient to do this, an 
expressman employed by the company attends to that 
portion of the business, the greater portion of the 
business being done within the limits of Greater New 
AN OHIO FAMILY WHICH SHOWS NO EVIDENCE OF “RUNNING OUT.” Fig. 19. 
oi cut flowers, this primitive method of disposing of 
the product was gradually outgrown, and something 
more than 30 years ago commission dealers in cut 
flowers began to spring up in the city—we had almost 
said like mushrooms, but possibly toadstools would 
be a better expression, from the fact that the actions 
of some of these commission men seem to have had 
a toxic effect upon the minds of the growers. 
Such peculiarities of business as the selling of 
certain flowers for $4 per hundred, and crediting the 
producer with $2.50 per hundred, then carefully de¬ 
ducting a 15 per cent, commission and the expressage 
irom $2.50—these are things that do not have a 
soothing effect upon the temper of even an ordinarily 
patient florist. Another little foible that has been 
known on the part of a commission dealer in cut 
dowers is that of favoring a large consignor at the 
glass in their respective establishments per annum, 
in order to provide additional working capital. The 
shares were $50 each, and in the original allotment 
no member was permitted to bid for more than 10 
shares until all had had an opportunity to buy, after 
which the remaining shares were offered to the vari¬ 
ous members. The members also bound themselves 
to sell their entire product through the company, a 
violation of this compact making the guilty party liable 
to a penalty. 
The business of the company is managed by a board 
of directors with the usual officers, the latter being 
elected annually, and the company leases a floor in a 
large building at Sixth avenue and 26th street for the 
transaction of its business. Those members of the 
company whose shipments warrant such a course may 
have a certain space set aside for them by the com- 
York, though there is also some out of town trade. 
Those members of the company who do not employ 
their own salesman, consign their product to the com¬ 
pany, and the goods are sold by the manager at the 
best market price according to the grade. 
At first an effort was made to grade the stock by the 
company, but this method did not prove satisfactory, 
and now the growers grade their own flowers, and 
the stock is sold by the company on its own merits. 
A commission of five per cent is charged to the mem¬ 
bers of the company, and to this is added actual cost 
of expressage, telephone and other incidental expenses, 
the total cost of disposing of the goods seldom reach¬ 
ing nine per cent. The company also receives con¬ 
signments of flowers from growers who are not mem¬ 
bers, and the profits from this portion of the business 
are divided annually among the shareholders of the 
