July 24, 1915 



HOETICULTUEE 



103 



superior strength of T. J. Nolan for 

 their side as the local men were not 

 up to the wrinkles and seemed just a 

 bit tired after the strenuous week the 

 most of them had getting houses into 

 shape and other little (?) jobs this 

 hot weather. After a chicken dinner 

 a general good time was had, those 

 who wanted to danced, and those who 

 did not dance enjoyed the evening 

 crowd from the city. 



All of this for a dollar. Can you 

 beat it? Any club wanting to give a 

 successful picnic for a little bit of 

 money should get into communication 

 with our committee. For a few hun- 

 dred dollars they might be induced to 

 take charge of your outing. 



Albert M. Hkkk. 



Lancaster, Pa. 



GARDENERS' AND FLORISTS' CLUB 

 OF BOSTON. 

 Annual Picnic and Games. 

 As we are busy getting ready for the 



"THE NURSERY BUSINESSS AS A 

 BUSINESS PROPOSITION." 



(A Paper rt'.iil liefiTf the -InuTioau Asso- 

 ciation of Xurseryiiieii, at Detroit, bv Mr. 

 W. H. Wyman). 



No one who is in the nursery busi- 

 ness today, or who has a fair knowl- 

 edge of the history of the business, 

 can doubt that it is a proposition. 

 Comparatively few, out of the many 

 who call themselves nurserymen, have 

 attained a reasonalile degree of suc- 

 cess; while many more have a name 

 to live, but in reality are leading a 

 precarious existence; while still others 

 have entirely fallen out and cast their 

 wreckage upon the shoulders of too 

 many with whom they have had to do. 

 In this business, a few only succeed 

 while the great majority come far 

 short of success, if they do not ut- 

 terly fail. It may be said that the 

 same is true of every business. 

 Why Some Succeed. 



With that proposition we are not 



lives up to his obligations, providing 

 he has a fair amount of business saga- 

 city, ho can succeed. But if on the 

 other hand he tries a short cut to 

 success, forfeiting his word and dis- 

 regarding his obligations, his doom is 

 sealed. The picture is not overdrawn. 

 A few succeed in tlie nursery busi- 

 ness, while many fail. Why it is? Is 

 it because of its peculiarities? Is it 

 hedged about by obstacles so many 

 and so great as to make success al- 

 most unattainable? 



Some of the Obstacles. 



The fact that some succeed proves 

 that the difficulties, however great, 

 are not unsurmountable. What would 

 the business world think of a shoe 

 manufacturer who should take an 

 order for a thousand cases of shoes, 

 and who did not know just what it 

 would cost to manufacture those 

 shoes? Such a manufacturer would 

 be ruled out of the business. It is of 



New Youk Greek Ajiericax FLom.'iTi* Oirixu 



press the members of the Gardeners' 

 and Florists' Club and their families 

 and friends are enjoying their annual 

 outing at Cunningham Park. East Mil- 

 ton. Mass.. under the etficient manage- 

 ment of the following named olticials 

 and committees; 



Itiiife' Master — \V. .T. Kennody. Starter — 

 I'eu-r .M. Miller. I'lerk— \V. N. Cialg. 

 JudKKs— .lames Metliveu, Aiwlieiv K. 

 Rogers. I'laiik Allison. Duiieaii I'liila.vson, 

 <Ioo. M. Aiiilersou, .lolui l)iij.riil(l. I'eter 

 risher, M. A. fatten. Win. Sim. .\. l-\ 

 Harney, Hnliert Cameron. .lames I'.rown. 

 I'miilies- William .7. Patterson for .Men; 

 Tliomas II. Westwood for lioys; V. E. 

 Palmer for I. .lilies. Committee — Peter M. 

 Miller. Wm. .1. Kennedy, Andrew K. 

 UoKers. Wm. .1. Patterson, Ceo. M. Ander- 

 son. .Tas. Mellivi'n. Clialrinan, Comnilttoe 

 on Kntertalnment — C. W. Ilamer. 



Never was a finer day provided for 

 an outing. Bright, cool and bracing 

 weather, and everything in the land- 

 scape green and clean after the recent 

 rains. The story of the athletic events 

 and names of the winners will appear 

 next week. 



to concern ourselves now. We are 

 nurserymen, and if I rightly compre- 

 hend the import of this organization, 

 we are here for improvement. We 

 have come together from all over this 

 great country, to clasp hands in 

 friendly intercourse; to exchange 

 ideas as well as wares, and to be in- 

 spired, if possible, to greater and 

 nobler attainments in our avocation. 

 One ambition animates every one 

 of us. We all w-ant to succeed and 

 this is true of every man, strange as 

 the proposition may seem. Some may 

 be led to doubt that assertion, but I 

 aver that it is true. All men court 

 success; but from your view-point 

 they could not, if they studied dil- 

 igently, do that which would more 

 surely bring defeat, than by continu- 

 ing on in the course they are pursu- 

 ing. By way of illustration: suppose 

 a young man starts in business with- 

 out capital — he will be given a chance. 

 Everybody will help a fellow to make 

 a start. Brotherly kindness is not 

 dead. If he deals on the square and 



no use to manufacture shoes, or trees, 

 unless it can be done at a profit. And 

 to do it at a sure profit, the cost of 

 production must be ascertained with 

 a reasonable degree of certainty. 



In the case of most manufactured 

 articles, that is a comparatively easy 

 task; but not so in the nursery busi- 

 ness. The superficial method of figur- 

 ing costs is the one most generally 

 employed whenever such an attempt 

 is made. That is, an acre of land will 

 yield a given number of plants, it 

 costs so much to set them out, so 

 much to cultivate the land per year, 

 so much to bud or graft them, and so 

 much more to dig and put them on 

 the market. But that is not enough. 

 The rental of the land, or the deple- 

 tion of the soil in case one owns his 

 land; the losses incurred by climatic 

 conditions, such as excessive rain or 

 no rain, frosts, hail and snow, and 

 many more such natural contingencies 

 must not be left out of account. Then 

 again the depreciation of tools, ma- 

 chinery and buildings must not be 



