THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
299 
not all,” and so long as there is left even one to defend 
polieies of the ancient past, they should he eondcinned, 
yea, such a one shoidd he scourged from this Association. 
You think it necessary that the memhership of this Asso¬ 
ciation he largely increased, and I am in hearty agree¬ 
ment therewith, hut one thing we should demand above 
all else is that no memher should he admitted to our 
councils whose business ethics are (luestionahle. Let it 
he understood that a memher guilty of unfair or (pies- 
tionahle transactions is unwelcome among us, that there 
is no room in this association for such an one, write this 
provision into your constitution and live up to it, and the 
etlect will he salutary. I know I hut speak your senti¬ 
ments when I say again that the highest standards are 
not too good for the nurserymen of America. 
(e) Standardization in prices, wholesale and retail. 
Here we reach the climax in the discussion of the ques¬ 
tion of standardization, for after all this is the meat in the 
cocoa-nut. I am not unmindful of the obstacles whicli 
confront us when we a})proach this problem. I am 
aware that by both federal and state statutes we arc pi'o- 
1 < 1 1 
Princeton Nurseries Office. 
hibited from entering into any agreement, that we are 
prohibited from combining to fix and maintain any sort 
of prices. What I shall say and what I shall propose 
shall be safely within the authority of the laws of the 
land. One thing about which we are all agreed is that 
in the matter of costs of our products there is chaos. 
Talk to any man about the cost of producing trees and 
plants and he goes up in the air. lie tells you candidly 
that in his opinion there is no way to arrive at these costs, 
and I verily believe this is our great blunder. Now them 
I would not fix the selling price, hut I would figure as 
nearly as possible the cost of production. Suppose, and 
this is my plan, that we appoint at the expense of the As¬ 
sociation a thoroughly competent commission comprised 
of the best material obtainable, and made up of men who 
are engaged in both the wholesale and retail trade, to de¬ 
finitely, or as nearly as it is jiossihle for them to do so, 
determine the cost of producing trees and plants grown 
and sold in America. Suppose they would, after ex¬ 
haustive research, bring before this body a report that in 
their opinion % ])each trees cost .‘j>80.00 per thousand, 
and that a less price than this would he less than the 
average cost of produclion for this grade of peach. Would 
it not lie a chart to guide; us on this troublous sea? And 
so all along the line they would indicate tin; costs, w Inch, 
to a degree at least, would enable the wholesahu- to ap- 
])roximate the worth of his ])roducts. But we cannot 
stop here, for this stock must go into the hands of the 
planter before anyleody gets any money out of it, and this 
Association must serve as consistently the retailer as it 
does the wholesaler. This commission must continue 
their investigations until the retailer and his marketing 
costs are aecounted for. I helicwe this commission can 
get dependable information on this (juestion which will 
lead us out of the wilderness of doubt, and while it is not 
to he ho])ed or desired that competition among ns should 
he abridged or that every man, whether wholesaler or 
retailer, will sell his products at the same ])rice. it is pos¬ 
sible and desirable that there should he at least some uni¬ 
formity in prices, both wholesale and rcMail. The time 
will not come, nor should it, when su|)erioi'ity of service 
cou])ted with a pleasing personality will not r(H*(Mve its 
due rewai'd, hut it would l)e d(‘sirahle and h(d|)ful to all 
alike if there could l)e ado|)t(Ml some standard of costs 
which could he us(m 1 as a basis, at l(*ast. for tiguiang 
])rices. 
I hear some skeptic say this thing (*annot h(‘ done. T 
want to say to you that it can he doin' and that it will he 
done if any considerahh' numln'r of us will do our part. 
Some other critic says. “Oh, well! You can gather tin' 
data and it would he workahh* if tin' nn'inhi'rs would fol¬ 
low the commission’s h'ad. T Ix'lieve tin' nn'inln'rs of 
fhis Associafion in fin' main ar(' anxious to adojit con¬ 
structive ])()lici('S and that tln'v arc' hungc'iing and thirst¬ 
ing for a ])lan of juocedurc' w hich w ill In' safe' and w hich 
will guaranfec' tlieii' families a living. Furthei'inore, if 
something of this kind is not doin', if the nursery inti'r- 
ests of America are not somehow gottc'ii on a more' stable 
basis, if, in other words, the business is not made to ])ay 
reasonable profits, there is litth' incc'iitivi' for one to give 
it the thought and energy that is so necessary in making 
a business go. Again I want to say that this ])lan can 
be made to work, for “he can w ho tliinks he can.” I he 
question is, are we w illing to give it a fair and inqiartial 
trial. Have we suffered long enough? If wo have, it 
w ill work. 
(Continued in the October Issue; 
WEDDING BELLS 
Alhert E. Meehan and Emilie Margaret Duerr were 
married at the home of the hride’s ])arenfs, Mr. and Mrs. 
Theodore Duerr, Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pa., August 
8lh, 1917. 
After the ceremony tin' happy couple left for Bockland 
Breakwater, Maine, and are s|)ending tlu'ir honeymoon 
travi'ling in that state. Ilu'v w ill he at home alter No¬ 
vember 1st, at 301 Dorset Street, Mount Airy, Philadel¬ 
phia, Pa. 
