TTTE NATION AT. NURSERYMAN 
87 
PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS 
By Lloyd Stark, Western Nurserymen’s Association January 
2Lth, 1917, Kansas City, Mo. 
F ellow meinl)ers of the Western Assoeiatioii of 
Nurserynien: To have l)een selected by you to 
act as your Ihesideiit is a gi’cat lionor, hut to have 
gained your friendship and confidence in sufTicient degree 
to cause you to place me in this position of responsibility 
and ti ust is a far greater privilege. 
The history of the Western Association is one of action 
—it is, and has always been, a working business organi¬ 
zation, It has been the source from which has flowed 
much to improve and upbuild the entire nursery profes¬ 
sion, not only in the West but throughout all America. 
I am proud to be a member of this body of men. I 
am proud of the record of the Western Association and 
I feel that the future will sen^e to increase that already 
splendid record of achievement. 
In the nursery world, as in all other lines of endeavor, 
times have changed—old boundary lines of East and 
West, North and South have largely been effaced. Our 
nurser>^ activities are necessarily becoming broader and 
less localized, and with this broader activity has come a 
broader vision, a more sympathetic interest in the general 
welfare of all those engaged in the nursery profession, 
all of which makes possible tbe opening of the door to a 
stronger, closer co-operation, a co-operation not only be¬ 
tween the various sectional and national associations, 
but between the individual members as well. This co¬ 
operation, in our every business activity, we must pre- 
scTwe and foster against every opposing influence. 
We have heard much of co-operation in recent years, 
but we have practiced too little that which we have 
preached. Seriously, gentlemen, the time is at hand 
when we must co-operate or perish. It is. without a 
shadow of a doubt a question of “United We Stand, 
Divided We Fall.” 
Consistent co-operation, gentlemen, is the foundation 
rock on which rests the giant structure of all modern 
activity, both commercial and military. Let every mem¬ 
ber of this organization remember the word “co-opera¬ 
tion”-—let us make it our slogan and watchword, for the 
time is at hand when we must present a solid front 
against all the various influences which may tend to dis- 
runt and crinple the nursery bu^iiness. 
Since we last met here, one vear ago. mighty economic 
changes have taken place throughout America, and 
throughout the world. Many of these changes, of 
course, are directlv traceable to or are the effects of the 
European war. The giant strides of the United States 
never could have been accomplished, but for the splendid 
co-operation of all our varied national interests. As a 
result, the United States stands today the wealthiest na¬ 
tion on earth, and temporarilv. at least. New York has 
become the money center of the world. 
The American dollar has become a more important 
medium of international exchange than the English 
pound Sterling. All previous world’s records of all na¬ 
tions for exports have been broken. The resources of 
our national banks exceed by a billion dollars the com¬ 
bined resources of England, France, Russia, Italy, Spain, 
Holland, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and .Tapan. 
This phenomenal record, while largely due to the war, 
was made possible in a secondary sense at least by the 
close co-operation of all the financial and industrial re¬ 
sources of the United States, not excepting the Federal 
Government, itself. But for consistent co-operation 
these staggering records could not have been made. 
The prosperity of the railroads, so intimately con¬ 
nected with our national prosperity and welfare has 
eclipsed all banner years by over 30 per cent, but even 
this record would have been vastly greater had the rail¬ 
roads practiced a little closer co-operation with their 
allied forces and industries, for the efficiency of the rail¬ 
roads has been, as you all know, on the verge of a break 
down due largely to congestion of a freight traffic too 
great for their facilities. In the case of the railroads it is a 
case of lack of preparedness—a case of paying too much 
attention to the cries of stockholders for dividends and 
too little spent on up-keep and new rolling stock. 
The freight situation as regards the nurserymen is 
much more encouraging than it was sometime ago, tho’ it 
is still precarious, as so many things can happen. How¬ 
ever, we believe by the time our spring shipments are 
ready to go out the railroads will be in position to handle 
them satisfactorily. 
At a recent meeting of growers in New York the writer 
read to that body a letter from the office of the President’s 
Conference of the Eastern Railroads, addressed to Mr. 
Curtis Nye Smith, the Counsel of the American Associa¬ 
tion, wherein it was stated that Mr. Smith’s representa¬ 
tions on behalf of the nurserymen calling attention to the 
absolute necessity of handling shipments on time, re¬ 
moval of embargoes, etc,, had been placed before the 
President’s Conference and the tone of the letter indicated 
that it would receive favorable attention and that the em¬ 
bargoes would be removed. A copy of this letter was 
forwarded to the office of the President’s Conference for 
the Western Railroads (West of the Mississippi) and 
there is every reason to believe that it will receive their 
favorable consideration. Briefly, it does not now appear 
that we will be face to face with a freight embargo this 
spring. 
Internal Trade Matters: The subject, which a large 
volume of correspondence with the different members of 
the Association indicates to be uppermost in the minds 
of not only the retail but the wholesale nurserymen, is 
the standardizing of our basic sales methods so that there 
will not be the wholesale competition that a number of 
