738 



HORTICULTURE. 



May 14, 1910 



Seed Trade 



The 



Condition of Seed Crops and 

 Prospects. 

 The average temperatures for May 

 up to this date have been lower thau 

 were those the latter part of March, 

 which of course has not been good 

 for vegetation. But few crops have 

 been planted excepting peas and mar- 

 Ivet gardeners' products. Reports about 

 peas are not entirely clear, but it 

 seems that the crop has not suffered 

 very severely up to this time. Prac- 

 tically no sugar corn or beans for 

 seed purposes have been planted. Root 

 crops, such as beets, cabbage and tur- 

 nips for seed have been planted and 

 are generally looking well. This does 

 not apply to European crops, about 

 which we have had but little informa- 

 tion of a reliable character, but as 

 our sources of information are of the 

 best, we shall give from time to time 

 such reports as reach us. 



Very small reserves of standard var- 

 ieties of seeds will be carried over 

 into next season. This applies par- 

 ticularly to cabbage, turnips, mangels 

 and several varieties of garden beets, 

 golden self-blanching celery, parsnips 

 and many odds and ends of biennials. 

 No doubt, prices will rule high on all 

 of these lines again next year — possi- 

 bly higher than during the past sea- 

 son, and retailers will make no mis- 

 take in buying early; in fact they 

 seldom do. 



TRADE PRICES AND THE AMA- 

 TEUR PURCHASER. 



The following correspondence fully 

 explains itself: 



WINTEUSOXS SEED STORE, 



45-47-49 Wabash Avenue. 



Chicago, April 26tU, 1910. 

 -Mr. A. T. Boddington, 



342 W, 14th Street, 



New York, N. Y. 

 Dear Sir: 



Some time ago, we sold a wealthy Chi- 

 cago mail liy the name of Jos. N. Patter- 

 son who has a home in Libertvville. Ill , 

 .some Cannas. His private gardener saw 

 the advertisement in the various trade 

 papers and ordered some considerable 

 amount ot the Cannas. -Mr. Patterson is 

 a wealthy man and in no wav entitled to 

 a wholesale price. He kicked several times 

 on the price charged and would sav. we 

 charged him the regular price in our "retail 

 catalogue. 



We wrote to him advising him that if 

 he could show us stationery or anv proof 

 whereby he earned his living growing these 

 Cannas for proflt we should be glad t» 

 give him the wholesale price— otherwise, 

 the retail price. 



He comes back with a letter todav as 

 follows: ■■In regard to your letter of the 

 Kith inst. (copy herein enclosed) kindly 

 point ont to me wherein vour catalogue 

 ot Dec. 25th, 19<)9 (he refers to our retail 

 catalogue) you state that customers must 

 earn their livelihood in the flower bu.siness 

 m order to escape being charged 400 per 

 cent more for your goods than the price 

 at which you advertise them. 



We also enclose a copv of the letter 

 sent him today and will you kindly write 

 .Mr. Patterson a letter direct, explaining 



to him that he is not entitled to wholesale 

 prices. He is a man very well able to 

 pay the bill as charged and simplv wants 

 to get the wholesale price, which we can- 

 not afford to give him. Yours truly 



E. F. WINTERSON CO., 

 Per S. H. Winterson. 



Seedsmen's Convention. 

 It is barely six weeks to the Seeds- 

 men's Convention, which, as is gen- 

 erally known, is to be held this year 

 at Atlantic City, with headquarters at 

 the St. Charles Hotel. This is one of 

 the best "Taverns" at the Ocean City 

 and doubtless most of the seedsmen 

 and their friends will recall with 

 pleasure their last convention held 

 there. While perhaps, there is not 

 much danger of the hotel being over- 

 crowded, it might be well for those 

 expecting to attend the convention to 

 engage rooms in advance. A little' 

 forethought often saves much incon- 

 venience. 



Spinach, Turnips and Farmers' 

 Alaskas. 



It is reported that present supplies 

 of spinach are short, especially Bloom- 

 dale, and as the new crop will not be 

 available for this year's recjuirements, 

 holders are likely to stand firm for ad- 

 vanced prices. The same may be said 

 of turnips. Purple Top White Globe 

 is firmly held at 20c. or better, and 

 Purple Top Strap Leaf at 16 to ISc. in 

 liberal quantities. 



Alaska peas of pedigree strain are 

 scarce, but so-called "Farmers' Alas- 

 kas," grown by Wisconsin farmers, are 

 procurable in liberal quantities at 

 around $2.00. Several hundreds of 

 bushels of these peas are usually re 



WINTERSON'S SEED STORE. 

 4.5-47-49 Wabash Avenue. 

 ,. , Chicago, April 20th, 1910. 



Mr. Joseph N. Patterson, 



Libertyville, 111. 

 Dear Sir: 



io,"''^ at hand regarding the Canua deal. 

 Would say our retail catalogue is for re- 

 tail trade only and we charged you the 

 prioes listed in this catalogue, sucii- as we 

 would do to any other person ordering 

 (-niinas, who are strictly private people. 



There is no argument whatever about 

 this case and we would sav that the pub- 

 lishers of the trade papers are to blame 

 tor your getting the trade papers, wherein 

 flilTerent items are listed at wholesale 

 prices. These prices quoted in trade papers 

 are strictly for wholesale people only and 

 not private parties. As we explained to 

 you before, you are in no wav entitled to 

 wholesale prices on Cannas. 



We have taken the matter up with Mr 

 Boddington and have asked him to write 

 to you from his standpoint regarding this 

 question. 



As to your statement that we charged 

 yon 4(X) per cent more than the wholesale 

 price advertised, we cannot flgnre it as 

 you do as there is no snch difference in 

 the prices. As before explained, the liill 

 rendered you is the regular retail prioe 

 and for which we expect your immediate 

 check. Y'ours truly, 



E. F. WINTERSON CO., 

 Per S. II. Winterson. 



ARTHUR T. BODDINGTON, SEEDS- 

 MAN, 



342 West 14th Street, New Y'ork City, 

 ,, „ April 29th, 1910. 



Jos. N. Patterson, Esq., 



Libertyville, III. 

 Dear Sir: 



Winterson's Seed Store, wholesale west- 

 ern sales agents tor Boddington's Cannas. 

 write us that you are refusing to pav their 

 bill for Cannas charged to you at their 

 retail catalogue prices, you claiming that 

 you are entitled to wholesale rates for the 

 reason that .you are a subscriber to one 

 of the trade papers and thus come in pos- 

 session of wholesale prices. 



While I have nothing to do with this 



quired in the south for second plant- tT'^^^te'^ori' i:^}e*r''S"p".airnrthe^pr?c^ 



mg. Everyone in the trade is sup- ^'"^^ "* "^^ majority of reputable houses 



posed to know what "Farmer<?' A1n« „i'?® ^''fi' *'''"''' '° ^^^^ respect. In my 



ka<!" are A w«r^ T^ „ .'*^' . -^'^ 2S °'""' '^ -^o" stated In your order to 



Kas are. A word to the wise is suffi- Winterson's Seed Store that Von had taken 



cient. the prices from their advertisement In one 



of the trade papers, it was up to Messrs. 



^\ intersoii the minute thev received this 

 order to decide whether thev would ac- 

 cept same or not. If they accepted vour 

 order under these conditions they have only 

 themselves to blame. If you did not n.ame 

 the prices, in my opinion, thev were per- 

 fectly justified in charging von their re- 

 tail prices if that is a general rule in 

 their establishment as it is in ours We 

 do not supply goods to retail buyers at 

 prices charged to the trade and liv ■•the 

 trade" we mean bona tide Seedsmen, Nur- 

 .serymen and Florists. Our reasons are as 

 follows: 



First— It is necessary for the welfare 

 of our business with the trade to afford 

 protection to them and enable them to 

 make a margin or profit. 



Second— It is impossible to handle retail 

 orders on the wholesale margin of proflt 

 for the reason that the expense of hand- 

 ling the retail business Is much greater. 

 As an example of this our wholesale cata- 

 logues complete and mailed costs 3 cents 

 per copy. Our retail catalogue complete 

 and mailed costs 27 cents per copy. 



Third— The publication of the majority 

 of seedsmen's catalogues today is carrying 

 on an educational campaign which is mak- 

 ing for great progress in Horticulture and 

 It IS manifestly to the beneflt of mankind 

 and Horticulture that this campaign should 

 be continued. This educational campaign 

 has been carried on for some time with 

 the aid of truthful half-tone engravings 

 and photographic Illustrations from nature 

 .-ind with elaborate and extensive cultural 

 directions. This Is a heavy expense to the 

 entire trade and is only made possible by 

 the fact that a greater margin of proflt 

 can be obtained from the amateur than 

 from the florist purchaser. 



■The only way that I see ont of this diffi- 

 cu ty IS for every seed house that is pub- 

 lishing a retail catalogue to resolutely 

 stick to the policy of making wholesale 

 prices only to people who are entitled to 

 them. Any other policy will undermine 

 the very foundations of the seed business. 

 Several times lately this matter has come 

 up and In future we shall run a line into 

 our advertisement that the prices adver- 

 tised in the trade papers are Intended for 

 bona Hde Dealers, Nurserymen, Seedsmen 

 and Florists only. The conditions of this 

 trade are peculiar. The trade papers have 

 a circulation of about 8,000. Their papers 

 sell for a dollar and to mail them at the 

 magazine rate they are compelled to for- 

 ward the paper to any person who pays 

 the subscription of $1,00 per year An 

 ideal remedy would be to have these papers 

 circulated by private subscription only as 

 the trade papers in Europe are circulated, 

 but if these difiiculties continue to increase 

 we shall be compelled to stop advertising 

 prices in the present trade papers and 

 start to circulate a publication of our own 

 by private subscription. 



This custom does not extend to any 

 other business that I know of. Recently 

 I mentioned to a member of a flrm of 

 hot-water engineers and greenhouse build- 

 ers that I wished to purchase a steam 

 boiler to heat my dwelling house This 

 gentleman has on different occasions pur- 

 chased seed of me and being a member 

 of an allied trade we gave him the cour- 

 tesy of wliolesalc prices, but when I ssked 

 him about n boiler lie told nie he could 

 only sell it t!ir(uigli anv firm of local 

 plumbers or steamfltters I cared to select 

 .so that they cculd acquire their profit. I 

 do not see wh.\- the horticultural trade 

 should be an exception. Trulv vours 



ARTHUR T. BODDINGTON. 



While we do not understand it to be 

 strictly true that the publisher of a 

 trade paper is compelled to accept 

 subscriptions tendered by applicants 

 who are amateurs in order to hold 

 his second-class mail privileges, yet it 

 requires no elaborate argumeiit to 

 prove that a paper, once printed and 

 sent out, cannot be prevented from 

 reaching the eyes of people other that. 

 its approved subscribers. It is clearly 

 up to the dealers who advertise whole- 

 sale prices to protect their trade buy- 

 ers by refusing to sell at trade rates 

 to any party who cannot show his 

 right to same, as instanced in the case 

 of the steam boiler dealer above re- 

 ferred to. HORTICULTURE upholds 

 this principle as well-founded and 

 right and, whatever others may do, 

 does not make a practice of accepting 

 subscriptions from amateurs, for that 



