24 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



smaller price and take your cliauces. I tell you it is an awful thing. 

 A man does not grow but one or two orchards in a life time and he 

 can't afford to make these mistakes. I do not believe that the present 

 metliod of getting nursery stock is right at all, for the man, and I am 

 here to say, as long as it is continued we will not have in Michigan or 

 anywhere else the degree of prosperity that we should have. 



Mr. Hawley — I would go a step further than Mr. MorrelL If I Avcre 

 a young man today, just beginning, I should surely learn to bud my 

 trees and I would do my own budding. In this way I would not have 

 to depend upon any nursery man for he is the most undependable man 

 there is in this country. You cannot depend ujion them at all. I do 

 not say that they really mean to be dishonest, but the fact still remains 

 that the stock we get from them does not turn out anything near what 

 it should, but every man should learn to bud his own trees and it is 

 not a difficult thing to learn. Then he can select buds from the very 

 best known bearing varieties. And more, these buds will come from 

 trees in his immediate vicinity which is an additional assurance that 

 they will do the best possible for him. You cannot always get trees 

 from away off that will do as well as trees from one's own locality. So 

 the thing for a young man to learn to do is budding and grafting and 

 then you have the whole thing within your own control. 



A Member — I have no axe to grind in this matter. I have bought 

 from one nursery for eighteen years and have planted 8,000 trees and 

 I have been very much pleased with the results of the stock I have re- 

 ceived from them. I believe that Ave are ourselves somewhat to blame 

 for the conditions referred to by the previous speaker. Agents will come 

 through the country offering trees for sale. They want so much for 

 their trees, representing that they are just as good or perhajis better 

 than some other trees, as many of the growers are anxious to get the stock 

 as cheaply as possible. The cheapest man gets the order, but this does 

 not always mean that this is the best stock. I did have one experience 

 with a nursery Avherein I failed to get what I should, and I never bought 

 any more from that firm. Then I wrote to the nursery and told them 

 what I Avanted, that I expected to plant a good sized orchard and that 

 I AA^anted to contract Avifh them for my trees. The proprietor Avrote back 

 and said that they Avould be glad to do business Avith me and he made 

 a proposition like this : We will make a contract Avith you if you buy 

 all of your trees from us and guarantee that they Avill all be true to 

 name and, if they are not true to name, Ave Avill pick a man and you 

 select one, and these tAvo select a third, and Avhatever they say the 

 damage is, that Ave Avill pay. I signed up a contract with them to this 

 effect and my dealings for years haAe been most satisfactory 



Mr. Hale — I hardly agree with Mr. HaAvley for I liaA^e had just as un- 

 satisfactory experience Avith nursery men as he has had good. We haA^e 

 some good straight, honest nursery men, but the majority of them are 

 not careful enough in handling their stock so that the buyer can depend 

 on always getting what he expects. And yet, it is not ahvays the nur- 

 sery man that is to blame. I think a large share of the trouble comes 

 from the middleman. If Ave would only cut out these fellows and buy 

 our stock directly from our home nursery men, I am quite sure Ave will 

 saA^e lots of trouble. 



Mr. Wilkeu — Even though you do your own work sometimes you get 



