244 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
been done and that have been left undone. If. however, 
the hour lias struck for us to take our place beside the 
industrial organizations in other lines, if from to-day we 
are determined to go forward, the first tiling that we 
must consider is a plan to finance our organization along 
bigger lines. 
In considering the question of finance, doubtless be¬ 
cause we have heretofore depended entirely on member¬ 
ship fees for our resources, I was led to believe that it 
would be possible to raise tbe membership fee from five 
to twenty-five, or maybe fifty dollars per annum, but 
after due thought on this phase of the question, and after 
consultation with several friends in the matter, I was 
forced to believe that so large a membership fee would 
reduce our membership, a thing that none of us wants 
to do. If raising the membership fee would have a ten¬ 
dency to drive out from us any considerable number of 
nurserymen who at present are members of the Associa¬ 
tion. I would not want to suggest it. On the other hand, 
I believe beyond any sort of question that the membership 
of this Association should be not less than one thousand 
members, and if this were true, it would go quite a way 
toward solving our financial problems. Such, however, 
is not the case, as our badge book for this meeting shows 
a membershio of four hundred and thirty-six. hence, in 
dealing with the question of finance, we are forced to 
this conclusion, that in raising funds necessary for our 
needs we cannot depend on what our ideal membership 
should he but what our books show. The question, there¬ 
fore. which confronts us at this hour, is how to provide 
finances for our larger needs among four to five hundred 
members so that the very best results will accrue to the 
Association at large and, at the same time, will not prove 
a burden on the individual member. 
Another question that will at once suggest itself to 
you is how much money can this Association afford to 
spend in the administration of its affairs. I believe that 
we can afford to spend all that it is possible for us to 
raise, and that no matter how well our plans may he 
worked out. we will not have spent the money that could 
have been spent advantageously. T am unable to sav with 
anv degree of accuracy how much money the plan that 
T shall present would bring into the treasury of the Asso¬ 
ciation. hut T believe. Gentlemen, that it would he good 
business, provided such an amount can be raised, to 
place in the hands of the executive committee an amount 
of not less than ten thousand dollars per annum, and to 
double that amount if it is possible. I shall reserve, if 
you please, financial recommendations, as well as all 
other recommendations, until the close of mv address 
when these recommendations will, with the consent of 
this body, he presented in concrete form. 
Why Should We Spend More Money in the Adminis¬ 
tration of the Association’s Affairs? 
This question has probably already arisen in vour 
minds, why the additional funds for the support of our 
Association when our loval friends of the past have 
served its interests gratis? To he sure this particular 
season is one in which we are all practicing rigid econ¬ 
omy. retrenching rather than enlarging our business, and 
most probably in this we are individually in error, he 
that as it may, as it pertains to our individual affairs, 
which is a matter for individual adjustment, 1 am thor¬ 
oughly convinced of the fact, and believe that I can con¬ 
vince you, that if the officers of your Association accom¬ 
plish anything really worth while, if they meet in any 
marked degree the opportunities of serving you efficiently, 
it will he because you place in their hands sufficient 
funds for meeting necessary needs. 
But, answering the question that I have raised 
specifically, why does this Association need additional 
funds. First, beyond any sort of question, we need the 
services of at least one man for his entire time. We need 
a paid secretary-treasurer that will be capable of earn¬ 
ing a handsome salary. In the plan that I shall recom¬ 
mend for your consideration there is provision made for 
the most capable man it is possible for your executive to 
command, and to procure the services of such a man you 
must pay him a salary in keeping with the service he is 
expected to render. It is, to my mind, out of the question 
to longer burden some loyal patriotic man with the Asso¬ 
ciation’s affairs for just such part of his time as he can 
spare from his individual business, and at little or no 
salary. I believe that you will agree with me that our 
combined affairs are certainly big enough to demand the 
services of a thoroughly capable man who will give his 
undivided time and energies to the promotion of our in¬ 
terests. There has doubtless been but one reason during 
all of our past history why we have not had just such a 
man, and that is because of lack of funds. I take the 
position, therefore, that there will be little opposition to 
the plan that I will suggest which provides for a paid 
secretary, providing the plan will be financed. 
Second, I believe that you will agree with me when 1 
say that it is an imposition to ask any body , of men to 
serve as committeemen without remuneration, and to pay 
their own expenses while discharging the duties incum¬ 
bent upon them. Your executive committee, therefore, 
needs money with which to pay the expenses of the dif¬ 
ferent committeemen as they go from place to place in the 
discharge of their arduous duties which cost the Associa¬ 
tion not one cent. The plan that I shall recommend for 
your consideration carries with it the provision that while 
men should be agreeable to serving the Association as 
committeemen without remuneration, their expenses 
while in the discharge of these duties shall be borne by 
the Association. 
Third, we need money and lots of it for publicity. We 
have lost and will continue to lose until provided for, a 
great opportunity to keep our interests before the world 
by a properly financed, well organized campaign for pub¬ 
licity. I do not know how much money should be spent 
in keeping before the people our interests, but when I 
consider the dense ignorance of the people regarding the 
nursery interests of America, it is little wonder to me 
that our profits go up each year in the brush pile. No 
money, I take it, that we could spend would be better 
spent than a liberal allowance to a thoroughly capable 
committee on publicity. Individual corporations believe 
that their very life depends upon keeping themselves 
favorably before the public, and their publicity cam¬ 
paigns are maintained at a large expense. We are led 
to believe that the results are satisfactory, otherwise they 
would not be continued, and if such be true in the conduct 
of affairs in an individual business, it would unquestion- 
ablj be time and would accomplish much greater good if 
