THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
3 
are most anxious about what he doesn’t say. He is generally 
a pretty good fellow and not given to shying stones at glass 
houses, so give him the warm hand and a kindly greeting. 
Show him all the good things you have and cover your weak 
spots as best you can. It will not take you long to learn 
what to hide. He will tell you before you lose him and you 
will be loaded for the “other fellow.” 
Be a little shy of the tree dealer, the man who buys your 
best trees at the price of culls, who borrows your money to 
conduct his business, who uses your name to give you a shady 
reputation, and whose balance is almost sure to be on the 
wrong side of the ledger. He is generally a smooth duck 
with a vivid imagination, an adamantine cheek, and very 
fertile in resources. He is designed by Providence to hold 
the progressive nurseryman in check and prevent his getting 
rich too fast. The regular salesman who handles your goods 
under your direction, and who is sometimes known as the 
“tree peddler,” is a blessing, sometimes faintly disguised, 
'tis true, but still a blessing to the nurseryman and also the 
farmer. Without him there would be but one tree growing in 
this state to-day where are now fifty. Kick him, to be sure, 
and lay the blame of unsatisfactory deals upon him ; he is 
generally irresponsible and always away, so it is safe to abuse 
him ; besides, he expects it. Everybody, from the most 
honored member of the horticultural society to the humblest 
tree puller on the Mississippi sand bars, has a whack at him 
and yet he survives and goes bravely on with the good work. 
There ought to be a sunny corner for him somewhere in 
Heaven, “ Where the wicked cease from troubling and the 
weary are at rest.” 
There are some drawbacks to the business and you will 
meet with some queer people and many funny experiences 
that will have a tendency to expand your mind and make a 
broad gauge man of you. You will realize how little force 
there is in an iron-clad tree contract and how “No counter¬ 
mands accepted ” simply invites countermands. You will also 
be surprised how your little notice of the delivery of your 
nursery stock will stimulate the real estate business. I have 
known of a dozen farmers selling their places within ten days 
of the date for delivering their orders. At least, that is what 
they write, and, of course, it is gospel truth. True, the 
registrar of deeds knows nothing of these transfers, nor do 
the man’s neighbors, and if you ship the goods, he is generally 
the first man to pay cash and no complaints. Then again, 
once in a while a man dies and his dear wife or daughter will 
write you that he is dead and cannot pay. Well, sometimes 
he will fool you and die sure enough, but if you ship the 
goods with a second notice, he generally sends his son With 
the cash and no comments. The men who have “ sold out ” 
or who have “ died ” are almost always on hand to get their 
goods early in the A. M., and invariably pay cash. 
If a man writes that he is “hailed out,” it is always well 
to investigate, but if he simply sells his farm or dies, don’t 
worry ; nine times out of ten he will be there with money to 
pay and generally with plenty of blankets to protect his 
trees. Such are always careful, prudent men. 
We have known a “ tree delivery ” to produce—well, not a 
famine, but a terrible failure of crops in that locality. After 
a time you will view these little peculiarities with charity. 
They are but blemishes on the human character, which once 
understood can be easily forgiven. 
In conclusion, when you can make 98 per cent of your 
grafts “catch” and make the slow growers keep up with the 
faster ones ; when you can dig nothing but straight, smooth 
trees, all six feet high without scar or blemish ; when you can 
give every man the pick of your stock and have enough of 
that to go around ; when you can pack each man’s goods first ; 
in fact^vhen you can obtain perfect control of the laborer, the 
salesman, the transportation companies and the elements, and 
can command a favorable dispensation of Providence occa¬ 
sionally as to the seasons, etc., then you will know “how to 
run a nursery ” and not before. 
SOME CUSTOMS CRITICISED. 
Henry Schroeder, the well-known proprietor of the Sigour¬ 
ney, la.. Nursery, believes with others, in the guarding of 
wholesale prices. Indeed he is very much in earnest in his 
views. He has been receiving postal cards bearing whole¬ 
sale prices. He says : “ How easy can any mail carrier learn 
those low prices and the deputy postmasters changing every 
once in a while ! How much better to use envelopes with the 
same amount of postage. I had rather buy of those who 
follow the latter course and give them a better price for good 
stock. Nurserymen who do their delivering at the livery 
stables and such places will do well not to instruct their 
agents to sell their stock at any price or give it away upon 
refusal of a customer to take it. 
“Some mention their prices F. O. B., and others do not 
mention boxing. Why cannot nurserymen agree more gener¬ 
ally to include boxing in their prices. As it is now, when at 
a livery stable the delivery agent will sell the large boxes to 
farmers for 50 cents. This practice makes farmers wonder 
why nurserymen say boxes cost from one to three dollars 
“I see that in the January number of the journal it is 
announced that our Southern Iowa Horticultural Society has 
appointed a committee to consider the teachings of horti¬ 
culture in the public schools. The plan is well enough in 
some respects, yet such teaching should not be general. Of 
what use is it to teach horticulture to those who will never 
have ground to live upon, but who will seek work in the 
mines, in factories and on railroads ? Instead of much teach¬ 
ing of horticulture in public schools it would be better to 
have one experiment station in every county to prove the 
new varieties.” 
NUT CULTURE IN NEW JERSEY. 
A gentleman of large means, living in Philadelphia, and 
owning a large farm adjoining the beautiful town of Riverton, 
N. J., last fall completed the planting of a chestnut orchard 
containing 4000 trees of improved varieties. The trees stand 
about 30 feet apart each way and present the appearance of a 
fine apple orchard. The trees are very uniform in size and 
5 to 7 feet in height. It is said that the owner has spent 
several years in Europe where the business is assuming large 
proportions. 
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