THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
135 
effort to create demand for nursery products. 
The main effort so far by nurserymen lias been to 
scramble for business that is already developed or in 
other words the customer knows he needs stock, and the 
nurseryman tries to get the business. 
Strictly speaking this is a poor, superficial business 
and really boils down to a competition of prices, or order 
taking. Real salesmanship consists of creating a de¬ 
mand. 
If any nurseryman wants to analyze the possible mar¬ 
ket for his goods let him go on the road for a couple of 
weeks, selecting the territory most favorably known to 
himself and then do some retail selling, calling only on 
those whose grounds would he benefited by planting. 
He will find fully fifty per cent, of the prospects he 
calls upon do not know they need stock. They may 
have recently built a home and have a nice yard around 
it, yet their desire for and knowledge of plants, if they 
have any at all, ends perhaps in a couple of trees for 
shade along the street, a hedge maybe and a few flowers, 
say an expenditure of from $5 to $20, when in reality, 
gauging by the cost of the house and other improvements, 
the expenditure for nursery stock should be ten times 
that much. 
To the writer the greatest forces at work for creating a 
demand for plants are: 
First. A nicely planted and well kept place as an ob¬ 
ject lesson. This will do more towards creating a de¬ 
mand in a neighborhood than any other cause. It is on a 
parallel with a tempting display of goods in a store and 
which our business sadly lacks. 
Second. Nurserymen’s catalogues. It is perhaps a 
debatable question if the catalogue really creates the de¬ 
mand it should considering the money and brains that is 
put in its production. Some are certainly master¬ 
pieces and very effective where they fall into the hands 
of those who are already interested and it is interesting 
to note that the leading catalogues are approaching the 
customer from the point of his needs rather than a list of 
what the nurseryman has to sell. 
Third. Magazines, such as those which devote their 
columns to country life, suburban life and garden sub¬ 
jects. To these the nurseryman owes a great debt of 
gi i: +ude as well as financial support in their advertising 
coitus. but it does seem as if more real plantsmen 
should contribute to their columns, more plant facts and 
less art would contribute to a permanent interest in gar¬ 
dens. 
Fourth. Horticultural and civic associations? The 
latter especially when they devote their energies to tidy¬ 
ing up a locality and get the neighbor’s competing as to 
which shall have the most attractive yard or grow the 
best Dahlias, encourages the trend of thought towards 
the nurseryman and his goods. 
There may be other forces at work, such as lectures and 
books, but there lacks the big systematic, co-operative el- 
fort which should rightly come from the nurseryman 
himself to demonstrate his goods and make the people 
acquainted with them. 
The nursery business is too universal. It can never 
become a monopoly, but this is no reason why the nur¬ 
sery interests should not combine to create a demand lor 
their goods. 
In just which way this should be done it is not easy to 
state. More efficiency in the forces already at work 
should be striven for and this cannot be done without or¬ 
ganized effort. The first step in this direction should be 
the appointment of a committee by the National Associa¬ 
tion of Nurserymen to consider ways and means to attain 
the object. An effort in this direction would certainly 
be worth while. 
Judging from the notice of quarantine 
THE PINE against the importation of European 
QUARANTINE pines published on another page; il 
does not seem as if the protest made by 
the nurserymen before the Federal Horticultural Ih/anl 
had much effect. In fact it looks as if the quarantine 
was decided upon without the slightest regard for the 
nurserymen’s interests and their invitation to appear be¬ 
fore the board was a mere matter of form. 
According to the report made by Mr. Fred W. Kelsey, 
who represented the nurserymen at the hearing on Feb¬ 
ruary 2nd, the nurserymen were assured that no further 
action would be taken without a full opportunity for the 
nursery interests to present their case, in fact Chairman 
Marlatt of the Horticultural Hoard went so far as to say 
ithat possibly further action would possibly not be taken 
until the spring of 1916. 
Without going into the question of the need of the 
quarantine the haste in putting it into operation w ithout 
giving the nurserymen more opportunity to present their 
"case seems to have been rather uncalled for. 
The nurserymen are just as anxious to keep disease 
and insect pests out of the country as is the Federal Hor¬ 
ticultural Hoard and were recently congratulating them¬ 
selves on the fact of a growing knowledge of and confi¬ 
dence in each other, such hasty action in connection with 
the pine quarantine will not increase the confidence or 
lead to a better understanding. 
THE EXPORT OF FRENCH SEEDS 
On January 9th last the French government issued 
a decree prohibiting the export of French seeds. 
In order to avoid any misinterpretation of this decree 
several bodies and the President of our Federation have 
demanded explanations of the Ministry of Agriculture, 
who replied as follows: 
This decree is not applicable to England, English col¬ 
onies, and the U. S. A., where seeds may be exported as 
formerly without any permission. 
They may be also exported to Switzerland and Spain 
after having obtained a special permission. 
Their export seems to be prohibited for all other coun¬ 
tries. 
Hoping that this communication will be useful to your 
readers, 1 remain, Dear Sir, 
Yours faithfully, 
E. Turbat, General Set retary. 
I herewith enclose $1.00 for a years’ subscription to 
the National Nurseryman. Could not do without it as 
long as I am in the nursery business. 
Yours very truly, 
RIC H AR D RENNING H A US, 
Payette, Idaho, R. No. 2. 
