96 



THE SMALL NURSERY 



chaotic state. The task of standardizing nursery business 

 practice is peculiarly difficult, for it involves working out 

 rules that are technical to some extent and at the same 

 time practicable. It is obvious that to serve the desired 

 ends Horticultural Standards must be adopted and 

 practiced by the trade at large. 



Past difficulties among nurserymen in reaching agree- 

 ments as to grading and other standards clearly indicate 

 the needs in horticultural lines. Everyone now agrees 

 how desirable would be accepted standards in growing, 

 digging, grading, storing, packing, shipping, advertising, 

 catalog making, nomenclature, terms and abbreviations 

 used by shippers and others, and fixed terms of sale among 

 nurserymen or between them and their varied list of cus- 

 tomers. Growing, buying and selling have been largely 

 guesswork and based on the personal equation rather 

 than on fair, square, open and accepted business standards. 



This has worked against the fair customer and the 

 honest tradesman and to the advantage of the crooked 

 customer and careless or mendacious grower; while the 

 agents of both buyer and seller have often thrived on 

 graft exacted from one or both. 



Some of the specific advantages in standardizing hor- 

 ticultural trade practice are as follows: 



L Filing. Where lists of plants are kept with card 

 catalogs, it is indispensable to have a good system of word 

 terms with abbreviations and definitions. 



2. Catalog Making. If trade terms (words) are 

 standardized with abbreviations it is possible to use a 

 large number in making up catalogs, saving space and 

 making the descriptions much clearer. The seller knows 

 how to correctly describe his wares and business methods, 

 while his customers can easily and intelligently use his 

 printed matter, knowing fairly well what the results will 

 be when he places an order — which is far from the situ- 

 ation today. 



3. Correspondence. In making quotations, trade 

 terms and abbreviations should be well understood, thus 

 saving time and expense, and insuring accuracy. 



