78 M. H. HARMAN NURSERY COMPANY, Inc. 
Quality 
We beg to quote from an unbiased article which appeared in the “Evening News,” of New- 
ark, New Jersey, September 28th, 1912: 
“If one should compare the prices in a nur- 
seryman’s catalogue of a few years ago with 
the prices of the present season’s list he 
would find a substantial increase in the cost 
of all nursery stock. There was a time when 
the stock could be had for a song, but today 
well grown trees, shrubs and vines cost 
money. The day of eight-cent apple trees and 
five-cent peach trees is over; so is the day of 
cut prices among reliable nurserymen. 
“The demand for nursery stock has in part 
been responsible for the advance in prices, 
but the determination on the part of the nur- 
serymen to make a reasonable margin of profit 
from their efforts is the principal reason for 
the present prices. It costs more money to 
grow the stock than it did a few years ago. 
The buyers are more critical in their demands, 
and the cost of labor, implements, working 
stock and other accessories is greater. 
“There was a time w'hen almost any kind of 
stock could be palmed off on the buyer, but 
not so today. The planter, knowing the value 
of properly grown plants, demands only the 
best and will not accept anything but the best. 
The up-to-date nurserymen, knowing this, use 
every precaution in the production of their 
plants and save no expense in producing the 
kind of stock the pianter desires. In turn, 
they place the price of their stock on a par 
with its quality. 
“The buyer who is looking for cheap trees 
can find them without much effort, but he 
must remember that QUALITY trees cannot 
be had at a small cost. QUALITY nursery 
stock costs money to grow and money to buy. 
The mere fact that a tree is cheap should 
stamp it as worthless; on the other hand, an 
exorbitant price is not an indication of su- 
perior quality, but more usually an indication 
of fraud. The dollar apple tree may be as 
worthless as the ten-cent apple tree. Price is 
not always the ruling factor in QUALITY. 
“The first cost of nursery stock is nothing 
when QUALITY is considered. Qne could 
afford to pay S5.00 or $10.00 for a tree if it 
contained that amount of QUALITY. Ulti- 
mately fruit trees will be cheap at a dollar 
each, but not before a dollar’s worth of 
QUALITY is bred into them. Plant breeding 
is only beginning to be recognized by nur- 
serymen generally, and as a consequence the 
trees being produced today do not possess 
the QUALITY that their successors will pos- 
sess. The more care that is taken in pro- 
ducing the stock, the more it is worth to the 
planter. 
“Qne can tell whether a tree is healthy, 
well grown and strong from outward appear- 
ances, but he cannot tell of its QUALITY and 
dependableness — the true value of the plant 
— by looking at it. It requires but a few 
months to ascertain the value of flower or 
vegetable seeds or plants, but it takes years 
to learn if a tree is a heavy producer of fruit 
that is true to name and of the best quality. 
Too much care cannot be taken when pur- 
chasing nursery stock. 
“In buying nursery stock, the planter has 
but one means of securing the best there is 
to be had, and that is through dealing with 
firms known to be absolutely reliable and 
honest and utilize the most approved methods 
in propagating and growing their stock. These 
nurserymen only charge such prices as are 
consistent with QUALITY and never take ad- 
vantage of the purchaser. This State is 
spotted with orchard failures that are due to 
dealing with unreliable firms or the purchas- 
ing of cheap nursery stock.” 
The general public is rapidly being educated to the fact that it is RETURNS and not first cost 
of nursery products which should be the more considered. We positively must ignore 
Cheap John competition. QUALITY considered, we invite comparison of all phases of the true 
situation. All things being equal, and in keeping with prevailing exigencies, our quotations 
bespeak a reasonable price for a good article. 
3*'Iiioi(lent to the Ircquently lUictiiuting market, we «lo not iiuliilge qiiotatioiLS in 
tins (ienerai Catalog. I’jxni request, we wiii gladly (|UOte prlees, in keeping with the 
nature of your wants, tlirougli our autliorized re^>res^‘ntati^•es or iiuqliiim of the mail, 
telegraiili or leleplione. M. H. HAU.MAX XCHSf'.llA' CO.MPAXY, IXC. 
