BULLETIN 228

PENNSYLVANIA

FLOWER GROWERS

MARCH, 1970

CAPTURE SPRING! — Advertising and promotional aids will be received by 28,000 florists this month inthe "How To Capture Spring Kit" produced by the American Florists Marketing Council. Examining thekit at the Society of American Florists Headquarters are, left to right, Grant Sharif, AFMC Director ofField Services; Paul Dawson, SAF Director of Marketing and administrator of the new AFMC all-industryadvertising program and John H. Walker, Executive Director of the Society of American Florists.

PENNSYLVANIA

FLOWER GROWERS

BULLETIN 228

MARCH, 1970

OFFICERS

PRESIDENT LOUIS HELBLINGMercer Greenhouses, Inc.

Fredonia, Pa. 16124V. PRESIDENT MARTIN P. GOHN

Gohn's GreenhousesWillow Grove, Pa. 19090

TREASURER AND EXECUTIVESECRETARY HOWARD G. KRUPP

P.O. Box 247, Chalfont, Pa. 18914EDITOR JOHN W. MASTALERZ

907 Glenn Circle SouthState College, Pa. 16801

HOW TO

CAPTURE SPRINGThe "How To Capture Spring Kit"

—containing advertising and promotional aids to increase every-day flower sales— will be received by 28,000florists this month, announced William C. Sieck, Chairman of the American Florists Marketing Council.

The AFMC-produced kit offersflorists top-quality but low-cost materials which will enable them to advertise locally this spring andthroughout the year in the media oftheir choice.

"For the first time in industry history, florists have a nationally andlocally integrated all-media advertising program," Mr. Sieck said, "and ata cost so modest that top-quality advertising is now within the reach ofall. For use on their very own hometown TV and radio stations, and intheir local newspapers, individual retails florists and Allied groups canpurchase AFMC advertising materialthat repeats the over-all nationalAFMC advertising theme."Featured in the kit are:• Three TV commercials on film with

sound track. A selection of 60, 30and 20 second versions that can be

used throughout the year. Price:$55.00.

• Radio commercial music and effectstape, also usable throughout theyear. Price: $2.75.

(continued on page 12)

SOME THOUGHTS ON MANAGEMENT

Management defined:

Management is the process by which a person called a manager combineshis resources of capital, men, land and equipment in a way which will mosteffectively accomplish his business objectives.

The manager manages through use of the management process:

1. Planning — setting of objectives for the business based on study of thesituation and evaluation of resources.

2. Organizing — putting together the resources available in such a wayas to most effectively meet the objectives.

3. Communicating and coordinating —informing people and units withinthe business of the plans, organization and techniques to be used.

4. Directing —the channeling of other people's efforts and talents towardthe accomplishment of business goals.

5. Controlling and evaluating —observing results in terms of accomplishment of objectives and taking action to insure that desired results areachieved. Control and evaluation usually result in further planning, andthe management cycle is thus constantly repeated in the managementof any business.

Management is also a decision-making process whereby the manager mustconstantly decide just how he may make the best use of his resources. He isconstantly faced with alternatives as follow.

Resources:

1. Capital

His ability and talent as agrower and manager.

3. Land and buildings (orequipment)

Alternatives

Invest in own business.Invest in bank, stocks, etc.Invest in other business.Don't invest at all.Others

Establish his own business.Work for someone else in the green

house business.Work in a factory.Don't work at allOthers

Use in his own businessRent to someone else

Allow to lay idleSell

Others

A manager's decision as to how to use his resources will, of course, dependon the business objectives he sets. And, because business objectives vary widely,there is no one combination of resource use which will spell success for everyoperator. To some operators maximum return on capital and maximum profiton operation is the only possible objective; for others, being one's own boss anddoing what he enjoys doing are primary objectives. The latter operator places"psychic income" over monetary income in his scale of values. His approach tomanagement of resources will be very different from that of the former operator.These differences must be clearly recognized by anyone working in a management development program with any group.

Carl Gortzig, Cornell University

solved form after the granules take upwater. The thickness of the coatingregulates the rate of the release of theelements within. Data reported byOertli and Lunt3 indicated that thin,and to some extent medium thickness

membranes gave a very rapid initialrelease of fertilizer while a heavilycoated granule provided a slower andmore constant release of materials.Data of Sheldrake and Matkin2 indicated that the "3 month" releaseOsmocote 18-9-9 reached maximum

release of nitrogen at the 5th weekwith a rather low release rate afterthe 10th week.

The "9-month" release Osmocote18-6-12 should be tried for mixingwith soil at 1 pound per bushel, 20pounds per cubic yard or 30 pounds

per 100 square feet of bed area. Theshorter release formulations are suit

able for top-dressing and are availableas 14-14-14, 18-9-9, 12-0-41, and 26-0-0 formulations. A teaspoon of material per 6-inch pot or 15 pounds per100 square feet of bed area is suggested for supplemental fertilizationwith these materials.

1 abbreviations used: ppm = parts per million;N = nitrosen; P = phosphorus or phosphate;K = potassium or potash.

- Unpublished preliminary data of R, Sheldrake, Jr..Cornell University and O. A. Matkin. Plant andSoils Lab., Orange, Cal. Personal communicationfrom Or. Sheldrake.

•' Oertli. J. J and O. R. Lunt, 19(52. Proc. Soil Sci.Soc. Amer. 2(i: 579-587

YOU ARE INVITED

FLOWER GROWERS DAY

APRIL 23, 1970

form is suitable for mixing in soil orfor top dressing while the containertablets are specifically made for placing on the soil surface in pots of 2\(,through 8 inch sizes. The tablets breakup upon the application of water andspread over the soil surface.

Magensium ammonium phosphateand magnesium potassium phosphate:Mag-Amp (7-40-6) made by W. R.Grace and Company, is a granularformulation of these 2 readily insoluble materials which furnish a slowrelease of elements (including magnesium) at rates depending upon moisture and the size of the granules butwith little relation to temperature. Itis unfortunate that its use predicatesa very high phosphorus ratio as somedifficulties have been encounteredwhich appear in some way related tothis fact. Species and varieties respondquite differently but a frequently occurring symptom is that of iron chlorosis and some reports have indicatedbenefits from the application of ironcompounds. The data of Sheldrakeand Matkin- show that some nitrogenis released the first and second weeksbut sustained slow release of nitrogenbegins following the 8th week of use.

The coarse grade of Mag-Amp ispreferred for mixing into the soil. Onepound per bushel, 20 pounds percubic yard, or 30 pounds per 100square feet may be incorporated before planting many crops. The medium grade of Mag-Amp may have moreuse for top dressing and 15 pounds per100 square feet is recommended.

Coated soluble fertilizers: Osmocotc

made by coating granules of solublefertilizer with a resin through whichthe fertilizer moves slowly in dis HENRY F. MICHELL CO. KING OF PRUSSIA. PA.

Performance Factor

Quality

Timeliness

Initiative

Adaptability

Communications

GUIDE FOR EVALUATING EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE

Far Exceeds JobRequirement

Exceeds Job"Requirement

Meets JobRequirement

Needs SomeImprovement

Leaps tall buildings Must take a running Can leap over short Crashes into build-with a single bound. start to leap tall buildings only. bigswhen attempting

buildings. to jump over them.

Is faster than a Fast as a speeding Not quite as fast as Would you believe aspeeding bullet. bullet. a speeding bullet. slow bullet?

Is stronger than a Is stronger than a Is stronger than a Shoots the bull.locomotive. bull elephant. bull.

Walks on water eon- Walks on water in Washes with water. Drinks water,sistently. emergencies.

Talks with God. Talks with the Talks with himself.Angels.

— 5 —

Argues with himself.

Docs Not Meet Minimum Requirement

Cannot recognizebuildings at a glance.

Wounds self whenattempting to shoot.

Smells like a bull.

Passes water inemergencies.

Loses these arguments.

SOME OBSERVATIONS-

FLOWER IMPORTS

FROM LATIN AMERICA

At several meetings recently attended by the editor, flower growershave expressed some concern aboutimported flowers and what effect theywill have on local markets. This articleprovides some useful information onthis question,

A marked upward tendency has occurred during the past five years inthe production and marketing of flowers in various nations of Latin Americaand elsewhere in the world. A largepercentage of these flowers has foundits way into the United States market.These imported flowers consist almostentirely of types presently grown inthe United States. Although manyLatin flower growing operations arelocally owned, a number of growers inthe Latin American floricultural industry are from the United States.Most locally controlled firms rely onUnited States technological consultation and marketing contacts.

Current information on the extent

of these floricultural operations inLatin America and elsewhere is

sketchy. Data on the quantities ofvarious specific floricultural commodities imported into the United Statesare incomplete. Many refinements willbe required for the series of statisticson foreign trade in floricultural products to be of maximum effectiveness

to interested users.

Objectives of this paper are to present available statistical data on U.S.imports and exports of floriculturalproducts, especially from the tropicalAmericas, and report observationsmade by the authors and others on thedeveloping ornamental industries in

Cecil N. Smith and Will E. WatersUniversity of Florida

Reprinted from Florida Flower Grower

Latin America.

U. S. Import Export TrendsStatistical data on commodity im

ports and exports are published periodically for most commodities by theU.S. Department of Commerce. Sincefloriculture and ornamental horticulture consist of a more complex conglomerate of products than most othercommodity classifications, many of theavailable data are for groups of products rather than for individual itemssuch as carnations or roses.

Imports—Data released by the U.S.Department of Commerce showedthat the annual value of all imports ofnursery and greenhouse stock rangedfrom $13 million to $15 million in theseven fiscal years from 1962 through1968. Bulbs, roots and corms were themajor crops imported; in the sevenyears reported the value of imports ofthis group varied from $12.7 to $14.1million. Bulbs and associated productsaccounted for more than 90 percent ofthe value of all imports of greenhouseand nursery products in the yearsfrom 1962 to 1968.

The two commodity groups withthe largest increases over the 1962 to1968 period were fresh cut flowers andorchid plants. The value of cut flowerimports increased from $110,000 in1962 to $548,000 in 1968. A 72 percentincrease was registered in the valueof cut flower imports from 1967 to1968. The value of orchid plant imports tripled over the eight-year timespan.

Another series of statistics releasedby the U.S. Department of Commercepertains to the value of imports offlowers and cut foliage. These increased from $1.1 million in 1965 to $1.9million in 1968. Shipments from Eu

— 6

rope have been the major source ofcut flowers and foliage produced outside the United States over this four-year period. Nevertheless, the majorEuropean exporter, Italy, sustained adecline in value of its sales to theUnited States from $621,000 in 1965to $476,000 in 1968.

The most obvious increase noted inthe whole group of exporting countries was that in Canada. Its flowerand cut foliage exports to the UnitedStates rose from $21,000 in 1967 to$210,000 in 1968.

Latin America showed a more sustained growth in its level of exports tothe United States than any other area.Exports of flowers and cut foliage increased from $153,000 in 1965 to$629,000 in 1968. Rises of approximately $200,000 were registered from1966 to 1967 and again from 1967 to1968. Although Brazil was the majorexporter in each of the four years,large increases were reported by Ecuador, Colombia and other countries.

Specific data on cartons of selectedfloricultural products coming fromoverseas destinations into the Miami

Customs District during four monthlyperiods in 1969 indicate heavier shipments of pompom and standard chrysanthemums in July than in othermonths and the highest level of carnation imports in September andApril.

The cut flower for which most

packages were received was standardchrysanthemums. Major suppliers included Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Guatemala.

Receipts rose from less than $17,000in 1965 to more than $250,000 in 1968.In each year the major shipper, Ecua- *^dor, accounted for more than half the

value of imports recorded. Colombiawas in second place.

Exports — Exports of nursery andgreenhouse stock from the UnitedStates to foreign countries rose from$6 million to more than $10 millionduring the 1962 to 1968 period. Itemsclassified as cut flowers, buds, foliage,etc., increased in value from $1.8 to$2.6 million over this time span.

Notes on Latin America

The leading countries in LatinAmerica in the production and marketing of floricultural products areBrazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuadorand Guatemala. In addition to cut

flowers, which consist primarily ofcarnations, chrysanthemums and orchids, substantial quantities of rootedand unrooted foliage plants for propagation and other purposes and of cutfoliage utilized as florists' greenery areexported to the United States. Importduties of 10 and 9 percent, respectively, are charged on cut flowers andon foliage plants. Florists' greenery,classified by customs as a crude vegetable substance, enters duty-free.

Better grades of flowers from approximately 15 acres of chrysanthemums, 15 acres of carnations and 2acres of roses are currently being exported to the United States fromgrowers in northern Latin and CentralAmerica. Specific data on the area incultivation in Guatemala are notavailable.

The floricultural industry in Centraland South America has reached its

present stage with the assistance ofUnited States capital and entrepre-neurship or with local capital supplemented by specialists from the UnitedStates utilized as technical consultants

and with U.S. marketing firms closelyassociated in the sale of their output.Other technical assistance is renderedby the firms supplying various specialized inputs. W. D. Holley is probablycorrect in classifying the rising volume of flower imports in winter andspring from tropical zones or thesouthern hemisphere as possibly beinga boon to the floricultural industry asthey may be the added supply neededto develop successful mass marketingof cut flowers. Holley further statesthat adequate summer and fall supplies of United Slates cut flowers canpossibly be supplemented with high-

quality imports during periods ofshortages. Similarly, off-shore foliageplant industries supply some of thestock required for further domesticgrowing operations.

A number of inherent advantageshave favored, and will likely continueto favor, the growth of the floricultural industry in Central and SouthAmerica. One major advantage is thewide variety of natural climatic conditions in tropical America whichfavor a wide choice of producingconditions for a multitude of floricultural crops. In most instances there islittle danger of cold weather with subsequent crop damages or losses. Aminimum of protection is requiredagainst heavy rainfall and otherweather conditions. A second key advantage is a readily available supplyof labor. A third advantage is availability of cargo space on airplanes between producing points and Americanmarkets. In some instances shippingcosts are very low e.g., a 40 per poundrate from Guatemala City to Miamiand a 7c rate from San Jose, CostaRica to Miami. Another favorable

point is the probable continued advance in technology which has madepossible flower production in certainareas and under conditions impossibleeven 25 years ago. An example is theapplication of photoperiodism in theculture of chrysanthemums and otherflowers. Another key advantage is theexpanding market for products offloriculture in Latin countries.

The daily wages paid labor appar

For TheDiscerningGrower

ently range from $0.90 to $1.50. Generally, because of the vast populationboom in Latin America, the fast growing florists' industry is able to obtainlabor which is essentially surplusrather than bid it away from otherindustries. In nearly all Latin countries minimum wages are set bygovernmental agencies. Nevertheless,flower growers may find the apparentcheap costs of labor nullified by problems in training, efficiency and reliability. On balance, it is probable thatlabor costs per unit of output arelower in Latin countries than in theUnited States.

Problems experienced by flowerproducers in the Latin American arearelate not only to labor but also to anumber of other factors. One of theseis the high cost of specialized suppliesof production inputs and the accompanying delays and other difficultiesin importing necessary supplies andequipment. For example, importduties and shipping costs may resultin a truck costing five times as muchin a Latin nation as in this country.Many production supplies are unavailable in the country where flowersare produced and must be imported.In certain areas expenses must beincurred for irrigation and watercontrol.

Still other problems relate to shipping. Delays due to cancellations offlights, changes in schedules and theimpossibility of shipping supplies offlowers when they exceed specifiedamounts have been expensive. Petal

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burn, due probably to temperatureconditions in flight, has been experienced on many flower shipments.Available information indicates thatair cargo space is often extremely coldas well as dry. The complex customs,laws and regulations in other culturesoften inhibit the successful initiationand operation of a business by anoperator without experience there.

During July of this year, while on atrip to Colombia, Costa Rica andGuatemala, the author visited a number of firms actively engaged in theproduction and export to the UnitedStates of various floricultural.productsObservations made on this trip andinformation collected from othersources are reported.

Costa Rica—The oldest floriculturalfirm, located in Cartago, produces hybrid petunia and coleus seed for export to the United States and Europe.A small amount of cut flowers hadbeen produced over a period of manyyears. Currently about an acre and ahalf of roses are being harvested forshipments to United States markets.An additional five acres were propagated for planting in 1969 and forharvest in the following winter. In1968 a related firm began plantingroses as part of a projected 20 to 30-acre operation. The organization alsoproduces carnations and chrysanthemums for sale in local and foreignmarkets.

Another firm began operationsabout five years ago near Herediawith carnations as its major product.Experimentation has been done to determine the optimum elevation forcarnation production. Nearly all of theflowers are shipped by air to theUnited States markets.

The largest grower of cut flowers inCosta Rica is located near the El Coco

Airport at Alajuela. This firm wasformed to grow gladiolus conns on toa larger size. Several years ago astructure was built for the culture of

chrysanthemums and carnations. Currently the firm is shipping these products to New Orleans and Miami withsome 90 per cent of its output goingto markets in the United States.

Guatemala — Some seven firms areengaged in the commercial productionof cut flowers, foliage plants andflower seed in Guatemala. One large

grower produces large supplies of cutflowers, foliage plants and pottedflowering plants for the expandinglocal market. Still another ships cutflowers to markets on both coasts ofthe United States. Others produceflower seed for United States andother foreign firms.

A large firm located in Guatemala'sPacific zone is concerned primarilywith the production of foliage plants.This firm sells stock, used primarily inplant propagation, to foliage plantproducers in Florida and elsewhere inthe United States. Some of the bulbsgrown by this firm are shipped toEurope.

Guatemala is also a major exporterof Chamaedora. These palm leaves,used as florists' greenery, are also imported into the United States fromMexico and Honduras.

Colombia — Two exporters of flowers are located in the Sabana ofBogota at an elevation of some 8,600feet. The climate in this area is cooland ideal for growth of carnations andchrysanthemums, but is slightly toocold for rose culture unless additional

heat is supplied. Other flower producers are located in the Medellin andCali areas.

The major flower-exporting firm in ,^fColombia is a combine financed byColombian capital and managed by aColombian who was formerly stationed as a diplomat in the United States.This firm started operating in mid-1965 and made its first shipment offlowers in January 1966.At the currenttime it has five houses each of carnations and chrysanthemums with atotal of about five acres in production.Chrysanthemum cuttings root in abouttwo weeks and, after transplanting,are then lighted for two to three additional weeks, depending upon growing conditions. Eight to ten more daysare required for chrysanthemums toflower in Colombia than in the UnitedStates. Colombian carnations probably would do better if photoperiodiccontrol were improved.

A number of other firms are in com

mercial flower production in Colombia. The authors visited several of

these in the Cali area where the majorproducts, grown at an elevation of

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some 2,000 feet, were roses, orchidsand potted plants. Although some ofthe orchids have been exported to theUnited States, most of the output wasmarketed locally and to buyers elsewhere in Colombia.

Ecuador — the largest flower-growing operation in Latin America, a firmwhich Ecuadorean and United States

interests are combined, is in Ecuador.A sustained effort was made to locate

this growing operation in a suitablemicroclimate within an hour's drive of

Quito Airport which, with its 9,200feet elevation, is too cold for commercial flower production. This firm aimsto have its maximum production available for export to the United Statesin seasons when market prices arehigh; it markets lower quality flowersto florists in the local area.

Outlook

With the continued increase in af

fluence of American consumers and

other developments, the floriculturalindustry in Latin American will probably continue to expand materiallyfrom its present base. Many Americanproducers fear that it will increase toa much larger size and offer stiffermarket competition. As relatively fewreliable statistics on costs, prices andother factors relating to relative profitability and other trends are available,only a qualitative judgment of futuredirections can be made. At the presenttime they indicate a continued growthin the Latin American floricultural industry. As competition to the U.S.flower industry, it is more of a long-run than an immediate threat.

Foreign trade is also a two-waystreet. Much of the competition fromimports has been offset by expandedexports to foreign buyers. Althoughthe current projected increase in aircargo space will facilitate the transportation of flowers from foreignsources to the United States, it alsoincreases the opportunity for American flower growers to expand theirmarketings of floricultural products inCanada, Europe, the Caribbean andother potential trade areas.

FLORICULTURAL RESEARCH

ON REVIEW

APRIL 23, 1970

1970

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BULLETIN 228

MARCH, 1970

CHALFONT, PA. 18914

CAPTURE SPRING

(continued from inside front cover)

• NBC "Spring Is Here" display set,consisting of counter card and window streamer featuring televisionstar Johnny Carson. Price: $1.30.

• Four newspaper ad mats, ready forimmediate use, and throughoutspring. Price: $20.00.

• "Spring Is Here" outdoor billboardposter with individual imprint offlorist's name and shop address.Price $15.00.

• Newspaper flower stories suitablefor publication and featuring individual florist and shop .No cost.

• Four publicity photographs to accompany flower feature articles.Price $.50 each.

Act EarlyFlorists who act early in responding

to the "How To Capture Spring Kit"will benefit in several ways, theAFMC Chairman pointed out. For example: there will be time at AFMCHeadquarters to prepare a personalized audio tag for each florist or Allied ordering TV commercials. Thiscompletely localizes the commercial.

The TV film is a one-minute production with sound, also available in30- and 20-second versions. It is afleeting montage of mingling flowers,faces, colors, sapes and textures expressing the charm of flowers. It is

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synchronized with moving, classicalrhythms carrying the eye smoothlythrough the springing, popping, dancing flowers.

A personalized, local version wouldsay: "Spring has been brought to(Your Town) this year through thecourtesy of (Your Flower Shop or Allied). Return the favor. Give flowersto someone vou love."

Just the BeginningMr. Sieck stressed that AFMC's

"Capture Spring" theme is just thebeginning of a new, progressive andalive floral industry program.

"And the greater the support we receive now from all segments of the industry, the greater our scope will bein continuing the all-industry local andnational advertising thrust in the fall." -<^

ROSE FUNGICIDE TRIALS (See Page 2)Table 2. Results of the Evaluation of Several Fungicides for the Control ofBlack Spot of Rose

Treat. No. Material 8/12/69 9/10/69 10/16/69

1. Fore (maneb) 1.6 2.0 1.4

2. Phaltan-Parnon 1.4 1.7 1.1

3. Benlate (benomyl) 2.1 3.0 1.44. EL273 2.8 3.0 2.0

5. Merck (TBZ) 4.6 6.0 2.86. Pennsalt TD 1604 3.5 5.4 2.5

7. Daconil 2787 1.2 1.2 1.0

8. Check 4.7 6.9 2.2

Table 3. Results of the Evaluation of Several Fungicides for the Control ofPowdery Mildew of Rose0

RatingTreat No. Material 10/16/69

1. Fore (maneb) 6.50 Phaltan-Parnon 2.2o

O. Benlate (benomyl) 1.2

4. EL273 0

5. Merck (TBZ) 1.2

6. Pennsalt TD 1604 1.2

7. Daconil 2787 3.0

8. Check 3.7

Ratings made on plants in the black spot trials.