484 



NURSERIES 



NURSERIES 



ment, which should include, in addition to plowing 

 and cultivating, the care of horses, tools, and the 

 like. Next would come the foreman of grafting, 

 budding and the general work of growing and 

 digging. In addition to these two, there should be 

 a foreman in charge of spraying, which work is 

 now acknowledged to be very important to the 

 thrift and health of the trees and plants, as well 

 as necessary in keeping the stock free from all 

 insect pests and diseases. This, at the present 

 time, is one of the most important points in con- 

 nection with the nursery business, as it is impos- 

 sible to ship nursery stock from one point to 

 another unless it is free from pests and diseases. 



Daily report from field foremen to superintend- 

 ent. — The system established should include 

 daily reports from each of the field foremen to the 

 superintendent, showing in detail the amount and 

 kind of work each man performed during the day. 

 The daily reports should be arranged to accommo- 

 date the various kinds of work in which one man 

 may be engaged during the day, although it might 

 be changed every hour. These reports will be a 

 guide to the foremen as to the value of individual 

 men and help to form the basis for arriving at the 

 cost of stock in any given block, enabling the man- 

 agement to fix the price at which a tree can be 

 sold and a profit made. 



Superintendent's weekly report. — The foremen's 

 daily reports should form and be made a part of 

 the superintendent's weekly reports to the general 

 manager, which should include a general review of 

 the work done in the different departments and 

 the nurseries generally, with recommendations for 

 changes or new equipment required. 



General manager^ monthly report. — If a corpo- 

 ration, the general manager may use the superin- 

 tendent's weekly reports, together with the fore- 

 men's daily reports, in a monthly r'eport to the 

 officers and directors of the company. 



Office organization. 



After planting the seedling stock the first year, 

 the erection of suitable office buildings must be 

 considered. These should be large and roomy, with 

 a view to increased business from year to year, 

 great care being given to proper lighting, heating 

 and ventilation. 



Sales department. — In the organization of the 

 office force, the sales department must be given 

 first consideration, for on the management of this 

 department will depend largely the success or 

 failure of the entire structure. Whether the stock 

 is to be sold by wholesale, retail, or by both methods, 

 great care should be exercised in laying a founda- 

 tion on which to build a sales structure to accom- 

 modate daily balances between stocks and sales, 

 and weekly reports from the salesmen, together 

 with the weekly and monthly reports to the general 

 manager. The retailing of nursery stock through 

 the medium of traveling salesmen being the most 

 generally in favor with nurserymen, these remarks 

 will apply more particularly to that system, al- 

 though the same principle will apply to any other 

 system of selling. 



The sales manager. — The sales manager is the 

 man on whom rests the responsibility of disposing 

 of the products of the nursery farm. He should 

 have a general and practical knowledge of the 

 nursery business and be able to organize, manage 

 and direct a selling force, which work, in itself, 

 requires unusual skill, perseverance and tact. He 

 should also have a personality that will gain the 

 confidence of the salesmen working under him, and 

 have sufficient aggressiveness to inspire the men to 

 put forth their best energies in the advancement 

 of the mutual interests of the nursery and of them- 

 selves. The sales manager must also be able to 

 install an accurate system of accounting or aggre- 

 gating of stock sold and balance in surplus to be 

 disposed of. 



The aim of the successful sales manager must 

 always be to dispose of those kinds and varieties of 

 trees, shrubs and plants that are grown in the 

 nursery farm, and to avoid as much as possible the 

 sale of varieties that are not produced in his own 

 nursery.; this can best be accomplished by keeping 

 an accurate record of sales made from week to 

 week. This, when checked against stock grown, 

 will show remainder yet to be disposed of. The 

 salesmen's weekly reports, together with a general 

 review of the work accomplished during the week, 

 may form the basis of the sales manager's report 

 to the general manager, which report should in- 

 clude condensed comparisons with corresponding 

 periods in previous years, together with general 

 information affecting the business. 



Accounting, delivering and collecting departments. 

 — In addition to the sales department, the office 

 force should be organized into accounting, deliv- 

 ering and collecting departments, each of which 

 will report periodically as desired by the general 

 manager. 



The stock-buildings and organization. 



It is important and necessary, in establishing 

 a commercial nursery, that suitable buildings be 

 erected to store the stock during the operation of 

 packing, and as a protection from the elements be- 

 tween the time when the trees and plants are taken 

 up and the time they are sent out to customers. 

 These buildings should be arranged for receiving, 

 storing, packing and shipping, and should be 

 grouped conveniently so that the stock will pass 

 from the receiving floor to the storage, billing and 

 shipping departments with the least expense in 

 handling. Special attention must be given the 

 storage cellar to insure a low and uniform temper- 

 ature as a protection to the stock from extremes 

 of heat and cold, it being important that stock be 

 held in a perfectly dormant condition for late spring 

 shipments. 



Superintendent of packing department. — The 

 superintendent of this department fills a very im- 

 portant part in the work of the nursery, and must 

 be a man of experience and ability, quick to decide 

 and accurate in his judgment of men and of nursery- 

 stock. 



Packing-house foremen. — Under the superintend- 

 ent and reporting to him there should be foremen 



