22 The Florists^ Review 



Apbil 20. 1922 



"Do it right, of not at all" 



The following letter was written hif "Father John" Davey to the 

 men in the Davey organization. It is reprodueed here to give 

 you an idea of the spirit behind these master Tree Surgeons 



DEAR BOVS": DO IT RIGHT, OR XOT AT ALL. " It was 

 my father's and has been my slogan for seventy-two years. Here is 

 its history, as 1 know it : I was nearly four years old. My father was 

 planting- potatoes, in front of our neat little cottage, on a fine May evening. 



I asked him if I could plant some. He opened up a trencli at the end near- 

 est the house. Then took a potato and said: "If I let vou plant it will you 

 do it RIGHT r' "I will do what vou tell me." Then, looking at me ten- 

 derly, he said, with a firm voice: "YOU MUST DO IT RIGHT, or NOT 

 AT ALI^." He then went into the house and brought out a big iron spoon, 

 and remarked: "Here is your shovel; keep it clean." He then cut the potato 

 in two, and made a mark for each [)iece, telling me I must put the cut side 

 down, and went on to liis work. I carefully laid the two halves in place, 

 then took my shovel and looked at (what appeared to me) a big ditch that I 

 had to fill. 



Well, by sundown 1 had this huge hole filled, and father showed me where 

 I could improve on the level, or grade. After saying my little prayers I re- 

 tired, but father's voice was heard : "Do it RIGHT, or no't at all." In the 

 morning I awoke,and still that voice was ringing,"Do it RIGHT,or not at all." 



Then came those long days of waiting. "Will tliey NEVER come up?" A 

 heavy rain packed the ground. Then 1 was presented with a new garden im- 

 plement, a steel table fork; but it must be kept clean. With it I must keep 

 the soil stirred. Finally a gentle rain came and, next morning, the ground 

 was cracking and mother told me, "two little baby plants will be born." And 

 the next day; what a miracle! It was not two plants, but two groups of trip- 

 lets, six new-born plants! Then came the instructions, "never let the ground 

 pack, keep it loose, and give the plants water — in hot weather." I was shown 

 how to push the fork into the soil and keej) the ground loose, and, in hot 

 \^ weather, I would hear mother calling: "Johnnie, your plants are thirsty; 



come and give them a drink." Then she would give me a little pail with 

 water, and a little tin cup, and oh! how my plants would drink! And they 

 grew and went away ahead of any of dad's; and when the crop was dug, he 

 had nothing that could compare with mine! I did it RIGHT! 



Dear "Roys": Here is something you never had known, namely: THE 

 SEED of The Davey Institute of Tree Surgery was sown 72 years ago, in 

 front of the little cottage where I was l)orn. That seed was: "Do it right, or 

 not at all." That kindly but manly voice went with me through boyhood's 

 days, and particularly through young manhood. As a result, I have never 

 known what it was to be OUT OF WORK, but lia\ e frequently been in 

 > dire need of ^jrocuring others to help nie execute what has been forced upon 



/ 



JOHN DAVEY I ^^J IjFather of Trff Svnjery 



