THE TREE AGENT. 465 



THE TREE AGENT. 



MARTIN FRIDHOLM. 



(So. Minn. Hort. Society.) 



I will give my thoughts in brief as they have occurred to me 

 during the time I have acted as nursery agent. The first thing of 

 course is to soHcit orders, which is the thing for all agents to do, 

 but there are different ways and means to accomplish this part of the 

 work. The true nursery agent obtains his orders in such a way 

 that he can always meet his customers face to face and feel confident 

 that he can not justly be accused of having done anything wrong. 

 He is always pleasant, and always ready to give good advice re- 

 gardless of circumstances — and I wish to say right here that, as far 

 as my experience goes, the average farmer, as a rule, does not know 

 much about trees, and does not see much difference between a box 

 elder and an apple tree, nor does he know much difference in vari- 

 eties of fruit. To him a tree is a tree, and that is all about it, and if 

 it does not grow after he has planted it he thinks it is no use trying. 



Now, therefore, it becomes the duty of the agent to teach the 

 people successful methods of tree planting, and right here is where 

 the most important work of the nursery agent comes in ; now is his 

 opportunity to exercise his influence and apply his knowledge. It 

 becomes his duty to supply the farmers with the information neces- 

 sary for successful tree planting. He must be ready to explain 

 the nature of the different trees and how to care for them. If a 

 man has planted apple trees and not made a success of it, this agent 

 must be prepared to take him out to the orchard and show him what 

 must be done to better the condition of his trees. Another man 

 wants to set out a new orchard, but he is at a loss to know whether 

 this or that location is the best. Here the agent must take the mat- 

 ter in his hands and make a decision, showing good reasons why he 

 selects just this particular place. He also is to a great extent re- 

 sponsible for the selection of varieties to be planted. 



Now about shade trees and windbreaks. A great number of 

 farmers have a wrong idea about this, inasmuch as they plant the 

 shade trees where they should not have them and leave them out 

 where they should be put. And there are a number of other things, 

 such as trimming the trees, guarding against rabbits and mice, and, 

 last but not least, cattle and horses. If the agent prepares himself 

 for this part of his work, so that he does it right and always tells 

 the truth, then his work and influence will be felt and seen in the 

 country, and he will no longer be looked upon as a mischievous in- 

 truder but will be regarded as a teacher and a benefactor, and by 



