THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
2(i5 
111 inks h(‘ is ^n'lliiig aloii" fjiirly well mil il .1 iiiu' Isl (‘omcs 
\\ Ill'll Ik* liiids Ik* lias iiol iiiaili* I'liou^li iiK)iK*y dui iii^' IIk* 
(*iilir(* y(*ai' to pay liis hills, Ik* d(*(*id('s al inici* llial llii'ri* 
is soiii(*lliiii”' \\ loii^- hill as iiiosi iik*ii of his class an* 
liahic lo do Ik* iiiak(*s up his mind llial Ik* is iiol workiiij^r 
hard (*iKiii^>ii so iiisl(*ad of workiii”’ 12 hours p(*r day he 
hc^iiis lo pul ill lo; Ik* do(*s iiol luni* liiiii* lolookahoul him 
and find oul w hal llii* oIIk*i' IVIlow is doiii^, Ik* do(*s iiol al- 
I(*ikI any coiiV(*iilioiis or h(*loufj' lo any associalioiis, in 
facl, Ik* do(*s iiolliiiig Inwards or^aiiiziii^’ and i)(*rr(*cliii^ 
IIk* comm(*rcial end of his hnsiiiess and llins Ik* puls in 
his life slrn^'^liiig away for a hai'C (*xisl('iK‘e. Il is sale 
lo say llial il‘ Ihis iinrs(*rymaii iiiv('sli^al(*d (‘oiidilioiis, Ik* 
would find llial lliere is som(*lhiii^' radically w ron^' soiiii*- 
w hen* and 1 do not liesilale lo make* IIk* remark llial aft(*i' 
a lliorongh inv(*sligatioii he would I(*1I ns llial some nni- 
s(*iy iiK'n arc in a great measnn* respoiisihle lor his linan- 
eial emharrassmeiit. 
I have studied this iirolilem from I Ik* standpoint of a 
n*tail nnrsi'ryman and grow (*r and w hile I am w illing to 
aeknow ledge that the retail division of the retail husiiK*ss 
has he(*n exceedingly careless and nnhnsiiK*sslike in the 
('X(*reise of their atfairs, I cannot hut f(*(*l that the gn*ater 
part of the hlaine in this tionhle should hi* jilaeed din*etly 
at the door of the so-called w hol(*saler. Undouhtedly 
Ihis statement will hring forth a storm of indignation 
from the wholesalers who r(*ad Ihis paper, they will tell 
us at once that they have conduct(*d their husiness in an 
lion(*st and ujiright mann(*r, furnished llii* retail(*rs with 
slock at lowest possible prices, given tlK*m cr(*dit until 
their di'liviu'ies had Ijeen made, and olh(*rwis(* (*xteiid<'d 
courtesies lhat should at least m(*iit the gralilude of 
(*V(‘ry retailer who has had tin* fortune of dealing with 
with them. 
Now we are not denying any of tiK*s(* claims, in facl, 
W(* are [■(*ady lo acknowledgi* the many (*ourtesies af¬ 
forded us from the reliahle w holesalers, Inil w hat has the 
w hol(*sah*r failed to do that he might have done?—Has 
he done anything to protect tin* rctaih*!' in the held of 
Iradi*; has hi* given him any encouragenieni in enlarging 
his husiness and directing tin* way to more (*xtensive 
mai’kets; has he done anything toward unifying and ex¬ 
tending till* hundreds of selling organizations maintained 
at hig (*xpense hy the nurserymen throughout this coun¬ 
try; has the wholesaler taken the l(*ad in encouraging 
thi^ sale of the most successful varieties; has he launclK'd 
any campaign toward the elimination of suicidal methods 
and pernicious jnactices that have* proved a hoomeraiig 
and a paralyzing factor to tin* trade; has he und(*ilaken 
lo discourage the grow ing of worlhl(*ss varieli(*s lhat are 
so often suhstiluted for valuahh* sorts h(*cause of their 
(*as(^ of propagation? I would like lo ask—has the 
w hol(*sal(*r (*ver und(*rtaken lo d(*vise any' nK*ans hy 
w Inch the relailer can learn in advance tin* various lines 
of slock llial promise to lie in hig sur|)lus each year. oi‘ 
on till* oilier hand dillicult lo olilain hecansi* ol small 
plantings? l)o(*s Hie w holesaler give oul any infornia- 
lioii whal(*V(*r regarding futuri* prospecis lhat niighi save 
IIk* r(*lail(*r Ihousands of dollai'S in Hie dir(*ctiiig of his 
canijiaigii that might otlK*i‘wis(* lii* (*xpend(*d in disposing 
of much of Hie sur])lus llial (*venlually finds its way to 
the hrush jiile? Has tin* whol(*saler suggested or en- 
courag(*d any kind of puhlii'ily lo (*nlaig(* Hie (h'lnands 
for nu|■S(*I‘y slock, and linally has he I'ver designated w ho 
is a nurs(*rynian and who is I'lililh'd lo hiiy his slock al 
w hol(*sah* and r(*(*ei\(' Iraih* lists? 
Now these are just a fi'w of Ilii* perlineni (jiK'iies llial 
Hk* relail(*r diii'cls al Ilii* wholesah'r al Ihis linn*. Hiese 
ai'i* imporlanl and we cannol say llial any elfort whal- 
ev(*r has heen iiiadi* U|) lo this linn* dir(*cled toward Hk* 
(‘allying oul of a singh* oiii* of llii'si* pr(*-eniinenl ipies- 
tions. Is il any wondi'r llial Hiere is a si rained relalion- 
ship (*xisling h('lw(*en Hie I'elaih'i' and Hie w holesah'r? 
Now I would siiggi'sl lo Hk* w hol(*sah'i's a iirograni 
that in my opinion would (*v(*nliially cliniinale many of 
the crilii'isms olf(*r(*d hy the |■(*lail(*rs. I und(*rsland that 
till; w hoh*sah'rs liavi* an organization niainlained jirin- 
cijially lo del(*rniiiK* who of the r(*tailers are worthy of 
cr(*dit and who an* not, I do not know llial this associa¬ 
tion has for ils purpose any ollii*!' ohji'cl. Il may he llial 
they know the (|uanlili(*s of slock that an* availahh* in 
the fields of the glowers throughout tin* counliy. hut if 
they do, the retailers havi* never learni'd il. Why could 
not this whol(*salc organizalion esiahlish a hur(*au. (*ni- 
jiloying a conipel(*nl man with pro])(*r assislanci* whose 
duly il wauild hi* lo gather statistics and compile aggre¬ 
gates of all the marketahle and availahh* nursery slock 
being grown throughoul the country? This bureau 
could he made a hui'eau of information and from lime to 
lime issue hullefins lo Hie w holesalei's w ho in liirii could 
mail them lo their Irade. TlK*se hullelins h(*si(l(*s giving 
out the quantities of stock offei'cd for the following sea¬ 
son could also point oul any particular items that are 
especially long oi' short. In this way the retailer could 
he advised lo direct his cfforls toward the sale of varieties 
that are more likely to he in sui jilus and on w hich prices 
would he reasonahly low instead of allow ing his sales¬ 
men to conlinue selling varieties already oul of the mar¬ 
ket. This bureau could also he used as a bureau of re¬ 
search and hy (li\i(ling Hie various stales inlo horlicul- 
tural districts give out Naluahle infornialion on many of 
the varieties now being propagated. .Many dealers 
throughoul Hie couniry are selling worthless varieties 
simply because they don't know any hellei-; these var¬ 
ieties go to the |)lant(*rs and of course prove a damage in¬ 
stead of a benefit, Hierehy discouraging the planter and 
causing him to give up the idea of commercial fruit grow- 
ing. 
I maintain that the best plan to promote commercial 
orcharding is to encourage Hie selling of varieties most 
valuable and best adapted lo Hu* particular location in 
which the orchard is localcd. Tliere ai’c hundreds of 
land owners scattered Ihroughoul Hu* leiiglh and hl•eadHl 
of this country that have heen al one lime anihilious lo 
plant and operate an extensive commercial orchard hut 
h(*caus(* of being sold and furnished with worthless \ar- 
ieties on the start soon gave uji the idea with a firm con¬ 
viction that it could not he made a success. This has 
all heen hi'ought about Ihrough Hu* failure of the iiui- 
serynian to make a study of condilions and to he pre- 
jiared to furnish Hie most valuable vaiielies that would 
instead of discouraging the planicr hring him success 
and stimulate increased operations. The wholesalers’ 
bureau in giving out jiuhlicily to this one impoi'tanl ques¬ 
tion could do a vast amount of good toward Hu* sale of 
nurserv slock. The bureau could also he a bureau of 
