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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 issvsd 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 nurserymen 
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 he 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, Bditor, Plourtown, 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., August, 1915. 
The greatest problem the nurseryman 
ADVERTISING has to solve is advertising. The only 
thing he does know for sure is that he 
must advertise in some form or other, whether it be by 
catalogue, magazine, or some other way among the many 
methods. If there is one subject that it is really essen- 
tiol to have a decided opinion upon it is this. Yet there 
is no subject quite so difficult to determine the right 
course. 
Advertising men will lay before him convincing argu¬ 
ments in favor of their own ideas, hut they do not stand 
to lose cash if they fail, as does the nurseryman who 
foots the bills. 
The nurseryman usually knows his goods hut nine 
times out of ten he does not know people as well as his 
plants and very often the reverse is true of the advertis¬ 
ing man, who may know the people hut does not know 
the nurseryman’s stock in trade. 
To illustrate this more fully, the nurseryman and the 
llorist to the advertising man are about one and the same 
thing, and yet the llorist usually sells a finished article, 
while the nurseryman only sells one of potential value. 
Out of the chaos of conflicting opinions and ideas on 
the subject, the one fact stands out plain. Advertising 
in some form or other is essential. 
There are no specifics to fit all cases. It is really up to 
the proprietor or manager to figure out what policy or 
scheme is best suited to his particular business and then 
get the best advice possible as to the method. 
It would be difficult to prove that the most unsatis¬ 
factory advertising in immediate returns was a complete 
failure. There is a cumulative value that cannot be meas¬ 
ured and as most advertising falls short of expectations 
in immediate results, plans should be laid so as to get 
the best value in publicity, even if immediate returns in 
orders are not secured. 
To do this it must be consistent and persistent. The 
field being so large, and the ramifications and phases of 
so numerous, that the opportunities to throw away for¬ 
tunes on futile advertising are many: so that it follows 
the best way is to have a defined policy which will ham¬ 
mer away at one thing, even if it is only the publicity of 
the name of the nursery. 
If we look over the field of effort in these lines there 
comes to mind nurserymen who have made a success by 
advertising specialties. It may be roses, fruits, stock, 
service, low prices, quality, Iris, or any other wedge that 
can be pounded in the public’s memory. 
It may not be feasible for the aver- 
PRUNE OUT age nurseryman to establish an ela- 
UNPRODUGTIYE borate system to determine the cost 
WOOD of the plants he raises, but it is not 
such a difficult matter to find out the 
amount of his overhead expenses. Those fixed charges 
that are always there in poor seasons as well as good 
ones. With a knowledge of these and his acreage he 
can very soon arrive at what his ground has to produce 
per acre before he can begin to think about profits. 
With this information in hand he will soon find out if 
some of his acreage is not being worked at the expense of 
the other, and if this occurs too frequently it means a 
loss and drag on the business that is hard to overcome. 
Too often many lines are carried that never do pay, so 
that other branches or acreages of his nursery have to 
support them and make good their annual loss. Prune 
out the dead wood in the business as well as the plants. 
It will perhaps be impossible to make every acre or 
item pay every year but it will not be so bad if you know 
just which they are and whether they are carried for 
prestige, advertising accomodation or any other reason. 
Any reason is better than ignorance of the fact that they 
are a losing proposition. Too often a block is kept going 
because it looks possible to sell stock out of it, or at any 
rate it seems too good for the brush pile, but the point 
to be quite sure of is it paying overhead expenses. If 
not, there should be no hesitation in cleaning it out and 
either dropping it entirely or putting something in its 
place that will pay. There is nothing like lean years and 
business depression to start the business men investigat¬ 
ing as to just what is paying and what is not. The 
present is a good time to prune, because when times are 
booming unproductive wood is more likely to accumulate 
than in times of depression. 
NURSERY OFFERED FOR SALE 
Mrs. Rachel R. W. Jones, executrix, is offering for sale 
the business of the Union County Nurseries, Est. of 
Hiram T. Jones, deceased, Elizabeth, N. J., with or with¬ 
out the real estate, on such terms as may be required by 
the exegencies of the character of the business. 
Inventory and synopsis of business furnished upon re¬ 
quest. 
This is a rare opportunity to secure a going business 
at one of the best locations in America. 
