218 THE MODEL STOCK PLAN . 
produce roses in winter, and that with the present price of 
coal it is impossible to lower production costs. Is this objec- 
tion necessarily valid? Is it absolutely necessary that roses 
for northern customers be raised in the North where coal 
need be used? Perhaps they can be produced in the open 
air at open-air production costs by raising them in southern 
climates, in Florida and in parts of Central and South 
America from which fruits are already so successfully brought. 
The large pompon chrysanthemums which sell in such great 
quantities in the East, especially during football season, are 
grown in California for the autumn trade. Undoubtedly, 
flowers could pay transportation costs better than vegetables 
and fruits, which are bulkier in proportion to value. 
Another point about flowers: A wholesale florist recently 
informed me that in his city the retail price of most cut 
flowers is about three times the wholesale price. This, he 
said, is necessary because of the large quantities lost through 
wilting. As long as the prices are such that the mass of the 
people can buy flowers only for weddings and funerals and 
special occasions, just so long will the demand be irregular 
and impossible of the most effective planning. Let the price 
be lowered to a point where the masses of people can afford 
to buy flowers as freely as they now buy candy, and the 
increase in sales and the consequent decrease in overhead 
expenses will make the loss through wilting relatively 
unimportant. 
This is the kind of thinking about production that will 
come when the principles of the Model Stock Plan are gener- 
ally understood and applied. Experience has already shown 
that analyzing the Model Stock Plan and applying it to lines 
where it is not now applied will probably suggest extraordi- 
nary opportunities. 
Changes are coming on rapidly and radically in all business, 
more particularly in the field of distribution. They are 
coming so rapidly that every store and wholesale house and 
manufacturing company organized and doing business along 
the traditionally accepted lines must make major adjustment 
to these changes. ¥ Otherwise, there is no assurance that the