REPORTS OF COUNTY SOCIETIES. 381 



some nursery business by sending out catalogues. Xow a man of his 

 standing, as a man, of course, is popular and well thought of at home. 

 Yet this summer, some of our best salesmen have gone into Denison, 

 Texas, and sold several thousand dollars worth of stock to the citizens 

 as well as to the farmers, and not one word has been said against Mr. 

 Munson or his business, for it is above reproach, and besides that is 

 not our style of doing business. Xow if these Denison parties who 

 have sent us their orders were left alone, we think not one out of a 

 hundred would have gone to Mr. Munson of their own free will and 

 bought a bill of trees, and had he mailed them catalogues perhaps two 

 out of a hundred would have given him an order. 



You will please pardon me for bothering you with such a long let- 

 ter, but I wanted to give you the experience in regard to agent busi- 

 ness, for nine-tenths of the men that get up and talk in the various 

 farmers and similar meetings over the land, seem to think that travel- 

 ing men of all kinds, nurserymen particularly, should be abolished; 

 stop this system of selling nursery stock, and three-fourths of the nur- 

 series in the country will be forced to go out of the business, and the 

 remaining fourth should necessarily cut their plant down fully three- 

 fourths, and then they would have surplus stock every year. 



You, perhaps, have no idea of the vast quantities of stock that is 

 sent to every corner and section of the country. Of course it is just a 

 little on this farm and a little on that, but the aggregate is simply im- 

 mense, and those not acquainted with the nursery business of the United 

 States can form no correct opinion of the business and the way of 

 doing it. 



You may think my assertions are rather strong, but I think you 

 have been in the business somewhat yourself, so that you will appre- 

 ciate same far more than those without experience. It is the inex- 

 perienced talkers that know so much about the business of others and 

 do but little at their own. 



With regards to yourself and family, I remain 



Yours truly, 



W. P. Stark. 



