JOBBERS OR DEALERS OFFICE ROUTINE 147 



Jobbers or Dealers. In years gone by these people 

 were looked on with suspicion. Times when laws were less 

 strict and the buyers more trusting, much bad material 

 was distributed among farmers. The jobber was often a 

 newcomer in a local section. He would deal in trees for a 

 few years and then vanish. Particularly about the time 

 his first sales came into bearing. He had no reputation 

 to maintain and it sometimes happened that a nursery 

 company would sell to a jobber what the company would not 

 care to sell to a grower; especially stipulating to the jobber 

 that he should not disclose the source of his trees. All 

 orders for all kinds of fruit were not infrequently made to 

 order by the simple device of placing a label. 



At the present time the situation is fairly well taken 

 care of by the restrictive laws which safeguard the interests 

 of the fruit grower. Only reliable firms are becoming 

 doalers and the stranger that calls at the door of the grower 

 is often asked embarrassing questions. His license to 

 sell, the source of the stock he is offering and the inspection 

 certificate issued by the proper state officials are some of 

 the things that the buyer wants to know. Large nur- 

 sery companies are now inclined to celebrate with large 

 bonfires what were formerly the chief source of revenue 

 to the nursery jobber. 



Office Routine. This resolves itself into the most 

 economic way of keeping records so the least possible 

 number of mistakes will be made. The details of the busi- 

 ness are legion. The possibility of error is far greater than 

 for almost any other kind of work. The danger of using 

 the wrong buds or cions, the possible mixing of varieties 



