176 
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA 
Great corporation head is 
amazed at the skill & devotion 
of Davey Tree Surgeons 
c^ 
Correspondence between W. W. Salmon, Presi- 
dent of the General Railway Signal Company, and 
M. L. Davey, General Manager of the Davey Or- 
ganization — a message of vital importance to every 
owner of trees. 
GENERAL RAILWAY SIGNAL COMPANY 
Principal Office: 
Rochester, N. Y., U. S. A. 
W. W. Salmon, President. 
New York City, Sept. 29, 1916. 
Mr. M. L. Davey, Davey Tree Expert Co., Kent, Ohio. 
Dear Mr. Davey : 
-Jinclosed herewith please find my check to your order for 
.$1,081.33 in full for tree surgery on my property at Beechmont, 
New Rochelle. 
In making this remittance permit me to express my appre- 
<:iation of the capable interested service rendered by your organi- 
zation. Your New York Office as well as your Westchester 
representative and your foreman, have one and all given the 
most painstaking attention to tny needs, and I have been so much 
impressed with the efficiency of your organization as I have 
■come in contact with it, that it would please me greatly if, when 
you can find time, you will have the goodness to furnish me with 
■any data at your command, showing how you have built up and 
maintained it in such a way as to bring about the devotion and 
enterprise so evident in your representatives whom it has been 
my pleasure to meet. Yours very truly, 
W. W. Salmon. 
Kent, Ohio, Oct. 3, 1916. 
W. W. Salmon, Esq., "Beechmont," New Rochelle, N. Y. 
Dear Mr. Salmon : 
Acknowledging your esteemed favor of Sept. 29th, I want to 
assure you that such a voluntary expression of satisfaction is 
more than a pleasure — it is an inspiration. The public as a whole 
has been very gracious to us in return for our conscientious 
efforts to give Quality First Tree Surgery and honest service. 
I believe that most worthy things, especially along the line of 
organization, are the result of evolution based upon a funda- 
mental policy. Our purpose from the beginning has been to give 
maximum service, which means perfected methods, high type men 
■and an organization ideal. 
Perhaps the thing of first importance is the men — the men 
■who actually do the work. The people whom we serve are not 
particularly interested in my theories or my knowledge or my 
ability. They measure the Davey organization by the men whom 
they see and rightly so. Consequently, we have endeavored to 
get the right kind of men. 
We go on the theory that "A leopard cannot change his spots." 
If a man is dishonest, if he is lazy, if he is careless and indiflfer- 
ent, if he lacks intelligence, if he lacks the spirit of co-operation 
and devotion to his work and his employers — if he lacks these 
fundamental things, no argument and no appeal and no induce- 
ment will make him a good man. We, therefore, eliminate the 
poor ones as fast as we find them, keeping only those who have 
in them the qualities which have impressed yo«. The good ones 
we boost and encourage and try to inspire as soon as we find 
that they are good. We pay these good men well and pay them - 
more as soon as they prove they are worth more. The foreman 
who had charge of your work will be given a raise immediately 
on the strength of your letter. Is it not reasonable to suppose 
that he will strive still harder to please every other client? 
Every man in the Davey organization knows that his advance- 
ment depends upon his service and upon no other thing. 
While we pay well we demand much in return. If a man faill 
to live up to our high standard, we do not want him and will 
not have him. If our service at any time falls below this high 
standard, zve let the offender go and make good to the client. 
Thus the process of elimination leaves us the good men, those 
who are intelligent, industrious, honest and devoted to their 
work. 
Our men are all trained in the Davey organisation. We take 
no man's recommendation of himself. He must go through the 
mill and show us. Every man is responsible to us for his work 
and his conduct, which is the measure of his service. Thus the 
client gets, through us, the highest possible service — guaranteed 
service. We, who know values in Tree Surgery, select the man 
who is to handle your priceless trees and we stand back of it with 
the whole strength of our organization and reputation. 
We have devoted ourselves unceasingly to the perfection of 
our methods, with the result that our work is in reality prac- 
tically perfect both mechanically and scientifically. We maintain 
our own school at a considerable annual expense for the specific 
purpose of training our men according to the Davey methods and 
Davey standard. 
Every year we have a Convention, when we bring all of our 
responsible men together, including foremen, special representa- 
tives, officers, students and school faculty. We had our usual 
Convention last March^ We had more than si.vty foremen in 
attendance. The average length of their experience was about 
five years, with the result that more than three hundred years 
of actual experience was concentrated, massed, on the problems 
Trom Mr. Wm. M. Wood. Pres. 
Am. Woolen Co., Boston, Mass. 
"Your work upon my trees bears the mark 
of expert knowledge, and I am looking forward 
confidently to the best possible results from 
From Mr. W. H. Mullins, Pres. 
The W. H. Mullins Co., Salem, O. 
"The work done by your men on my trees 
has been very satisfactory and I hope will be the 
means of prolonging their life for many years." 
From Mr. Ezra F. Hershey, 
Hershey Chocolate Co., Hershey, Penn. 
"It is a pleasure to me, and I feel it a duty, 
to recommend any work that is done as in- 
telligently as you handled my work here." 
your intelligent treatment, 
tree preservation makes 
benefactor." 
Your success in 
you a real public 
From Mr. G. M. Palmer, Pres. 
Hubbard Milling Co., Mankato, Minn. 
"1 was very much pleased with the work of 
.your men on my trees. They seem to under- 
stand thoroughly their business and I am sure 
they have put my trees in first class condi- 
tion." 
^ Davey Tree 
FOR SAFE TREE SURGERY 
