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THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
The National Nurseryman 
Established 1893 by C. L. YATES. Incorporated 1902 
Published monthly by 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN PUBLISHING CO., Inc. 
218 Livingston Building, Rochester, N. Y. 
Editor .ERNEST HEMMING, Flourtown, Pa. 
, The leading trade journal 'issued for Growers and Dealers in 
Nursery Stocks of all kinds. It circulates throughout the 
United States, Canada and Europe. 
Official Journal of American Association of N urserymen 
AWARDED THE GRAND PRIZE AT PARIS EXPOSITION, 1900 
SUBSCRIPTION RATES 
One Year in Advance.$1.00 
Six Months . 75 
Foreign Subscriptions, in advance.$1.50 
Six Months .$1.00 
Advertising' rates will be sent upon application. Advertisements 
should reach this office by the 20th of the month previous to the date 
of issue. 
Payment in advance required for foreign advertisements. Drafts 
on New York or postal orders, instead of checks, are requested by the 
Business Manager, Rochester, N. Y. 
Correspondence from all points and articles of interest to nursery¬ 
men and horticulturists are cordially solicited. 
Photographs and news notes of interest to nurserymen should be 
addressed, Editor, Flourtown, Pa., and should be mailed to arrive not 
later than the 25th of the month. 
Entered in the Post Office at Rochester, N. Y., as second-class matter. 
Rochester, N. Y., February, 1915. 
A very prominent and successful wholesale 
MADE florist, who annually forces large quantities 
IN of Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and other im- 
AMERICA ported plants asks “Why we import stock 
which could he grown in this country that 
would give better results? It is impossible to play the 
violin or piano by main strength, and this I believe gives 
•the reason. It takes time, meaning years, to grow many 
lines, equipment and investment, and above all trained 
and skilled help as well as a guiding hand at the helm 
with a fixed resolve to “get there” before a new enter¬ 
prise, such as growing the kind of plants we import, can 
be got on its feet and put on a paying basis. 
There is not a practical nurseryman in the country 
w ho does not know in his heart that nearly all the plants 
we import could be grown successfully here, yes and 
stock that would be better suited to our needs. 
Fruit stocks, roses, tree seedlings, Rhododendrons, 
Azaleas, coniferous evergreens. Boxwood, yes and even 
bulbs. 
Fruit stocks are already being grown by the million by 
some of our western nurserymen. Hoses by the hun¬ 
dreds of acres in many states of the Union. The same 
may be said of coniferous evergreen and deciduous 
seedlings. 
It is only when we come to consider the ericaceous 
group of plants such as Rhododendrons, Azaleas, heaths, 
etc., that we are not quite sure if we could produce and 
compete with the other side, yet to quote Mr. J. B. Eisele, 
manager of the Henry A. Dreer Co. “If I were a young 
man I would not ask for anything better than an oppor¬ 
tunity to devote myself to the commercial growing of this 
group of plants.” 
It is only necessary to see the old boxwood hedges in 
the south, to tell the plantsman that we ought to be ex¬ 
porting instead of importing this item. 
The choicer kinds of evergreens can be grown in 
America just as well as in Europe, if given the same care, 
if not then they are not suitable, and not desirable for 
planting in America. 
"Made in America is a splendid slogan but we must 
not he too impatient. Our business is not that of the man¬ 
ufacturer, if it took ten years to build an automobile to re¬ 
tail for one dollar as it does to grow many kinds of 
plants, that business would not have made the progress 
it has in the last ten years. 
We have the capital, the land, the water, and the cli¬ 
mate for growing all we import in some part of the states 
if not in others. The one great lack is skilled and trained 
help, we are making tremendous strides in scientific and 
theoretical horticulture, but we have a long way to go be¬ 
fore we shall be in the European class in this line. If 
the nurseryman instead of sending his sons to colleges 
and experimental stations, would follow the practice of 
the European nurserymen and other professions and 
trades and send them to other good nurseries in Europe 
or even in America, we should soon begin to develop 
highly trained men as employers in the profession, and 
the skilled workman would materialize. 
America has a habit of developing along independent 
lines and usually “gets there” if there is an incentive. 
Even though our progress is apparently slow one has 
only to analyze conditions to note we are moving in the 
right direction. Nurserymen are devoting themselves to 
certain plants and developing their culture to a high de¬ 
gree such as Clematis, peonies, roses lilies, fruit stocks, 
evergreens, different kinds of herbaceous plants so that 
it will be only a matter of time when the stock we now 
import will be grown in America. 
There is something about an order that brings 
ORDERS a thrill of pleasure often out of all proportion 
to its importance. May be it is because 
we try so hard to get them. Who has not done a hard 
days drumming for business and returned to the hotel 
with nothing to report to the home office, but an expense 
account? or sat down and opened up a'lean mail without 
feeling down in the dumps, and correspondingly elated 
with a good mail or a well filled order book? 
Yet with all, if an order is not a profitable one we are 
better off without it, and it pays to have our prices set, be¬ 
low which there can be no reduction. 
It is also worth while to remember, volume of business 
is not what is wanted so much as profitable business. 
Orders that cost more to handle than the price permits, 
for stock we are not certain we shall be able to ship at 
the proper time, orders from irresponsible parties or 
where the pay is uncertain, or orders for stock that either 
through weather conditions or some other reason you feel 
doubtful about filling the purpose satisfactorily for 
which they purchased, are likely to cause worse than dis¬ 
appointment, or a feeling of depression at the end of the 
season. 
There is only one kind of order worth having." namely, 
that which gives the purchaser satisfaction when filled 
and yourself a profit. 
If an order is accepted, be sure at least that the first 
named condition is secured if at all possible. It is bet¬ 
ter to lose the profit on one order than to have a dis¬ 
gruntled customer advertising your business, and charge 
the loss to your own lack of business acumen in accept- 
