Chapter XI 



BUYING FOR PLANTING 



IF I were a florist about to start a nursery department 

 and hardly knew one shrub from another, I should 

 indeed be at a loss to know what to buy. Wouldnt 

 you? In writing this little book I started to ask myself 

 what I was going to advise the florists to buy, and real- 

 ized that, although I had certain definite idea, the plants 

 which I would advise might not be suitable for other 

 florists. With this in mind I sent a letter to eighteen of 

 the most prominent nurserymen from New England to 

 Illinois, asking them what they would advise a florist to 

 purchase. 



The list of plants given in this chapter is, therefore, 

 a fair one from which to make your purchases, being the 

 result of the combined judgment of fifteen nurserymen. 

 Of course, it doesn't include all the best things, nor all 

 those that I would call staple plants, the ''bread and but- 

 ter'' sorts of trees and shrubs. 



HINTS ON THE BUYING OF NURSERY STOCK 



Now a few words about buying nursery stock. Even 

 though you have fairly made up your mind to buy of 

 such and such a nursery, you should send out a want list 

 to the other nurserymen in your territory and get some 

 comparative prices. The best way would be to dupli- 

 cate your list on the typewriter and mail copies to the 

 nurseries with a request for prices. Don't be surprised 



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