THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
.371 
l{. W. CLUCAS 
We re^rel to aniioimee the death of Mr. I{. W. (dueas, 
l)ro|)i’ietor of the Palisades Nurseries, Si)arkhill, N. Y. 
Mr. (diieas has Ixmmi ill for nearly six. nioulhs and died 
Oetoher Oth. 
Me was l)orii in h]ngland in 1860 and eaine to this 
eonntrv in 1880, working with the Peter Henderson Com¬ 
pany, New York, where he remained about ten years. He 
then became manager of the Seed Department of Pitehei’ 
and Mander, Short Hills, N. J., remaining with this firm 
about ten years. After this he ejigaged in business as a 
member of the firm of Clueas and Boddington Company, 
later founding the Palisades Nurseries in Sparkhill, N. Y., 
making a speeialty of hardy herbaceous perennials. 
Mr. Clueas leaves a wife, one son and four daughters. 
LEWIS BOESCH AND .1. B. MAYHEW EXCHANGE 
OPINIONS 
Eredonia, N. Y., October 3, 1917. 
Mr. J. B. Mavhew, 
Waxaliaehie, Texas. 
My Dear Mr. Mayliew:— 
I have just read your speech to the Southern Asso¬ 
ciation of Nurserymen. I sincerely regret, however, 
that I cannot share your optimism. 
I have been a nurseryman ever since my tenth year. 
I have been a member of the American Nurserymen’s 
Association since 1885, most meetings of which I have 
attended and have heard you st)eak several times. I 
(|uite agree with you on most points you make in d(‘- 
scribing the present condition of this trade, but, I am 
sorry to say, I see no practical remedy. There are sev¬ 
eral things in the way of the success at which you aim 
and I cannot sec how they are to be overcome. I will 
mention a few of them, trusting you can give some light 
and comfort. 
Eirst—There are two classes of nurserymen: those 
who sell only what they grow. They, of course, are on 
the bull side of tin* maiket. Then, there' are' e)theis whe) 
hnv all thev sell anel are' een the' he'ar siele. The hulls 
K- *■ 
anel bears clash anel I eh) ne)l se'e' he)W yeen are' geeing te) 
harmonize' them. “Well,” yeni say, “hy pie'aching the' 
Golden Bnlc and Bre)lhe'rhe)e)el.” VVe'll, that is geeeeel. I 
helieve in them myse'lf. But just the same', I kneew that 
ye)U canne)t get a ce)rj)e)rars gnarel to (ul acceereling to 
those principles. 
I have been eeblige'el se've'ial time's to eelTe'r grape' vine's 
at less than eeest te) gre)w. But I have ne've'r hael the' e'x- 
perience e)f a customer coming te) me anel saying, “Why, 
Be)esch, yon cannot allorel te) sell the)se vines at that |)rice'. 
I need some anel shall pay ye)n a fair* price.” Ne) ne)t e)nce. 
But I have had (*nsle)mers tell me' many times that hih' 
they knew I could ne)l grow anel sell the'm lor the ame)nnt 
(jne)teel, still the'y ceenld ne)t affeerel te) pay me me)re than 
market rates. That they hael the same graeh' e)f vine's 
e)II'ered them by several eethers at the same rate anel if 1 
woulel shade the price a little I ce)uld have the eereler. 
Second—To get together, we niust have ceentielence in 
one another. Of course we de). Neeboely will deny that. 
But for over thirty years, at ('very Asse)ciatie)n me'eting, I 
have heard the announcements that a certain Protective 
Association will meet here, and another there. S('cret 
cli(iues of which the members of one are excluded from 
the other, and more than half the members of the Amer¬ 
ican Association are excluded from both. What for? Is 
it not the most natural thing in the world for the outsid¬ 
ers to conclude that they are pur})osely excluded to 
pnwent them sharing in the benefits those inside hope to 
secure? That, certaiidy, does not inspire confideno'. 
But saying so does not remove the doubt, and so long as 
there is a doubt there is no confidence. 
Third—Then there is the farmer competition. Almost 
any farmer can grow nursery stock and too many do 
whenever })rices get high enough. This extra stock to¬ 
gether with the ensuing greater competition geiu'rally 
runs prices down so that they have to sell at cost or less. 
But the experience of one set does not deter the next in 
the least. There are several years bi'tw een one slumj) and 
the next and one set does not remend)er the sorrows of 
the other, or may mwer have beard of tbem. I read in a 
little pamj)hlet ])ublisbed by the De})artment of Agricul¬ 
ture of New^ York dated September 1, 1916, that one hun¬ 
dred and fifteen nurserymen secured certificates of in¬ 
spection in one ])lace. Many of them had less than an acre 
of stock. Most of them were farmers and laborers growl¬ 
ing a few" trees in their garden. 
Eourth We have all heard it said over and over again 
that the actual cost of nursery slock could not be figured 
out. But of course that is a mistake. It can be done as 
accurately as any other problem by those wdio have the 
skill and ambition to do it. But the trouble is it is of but 
little value wben it is doin'. The cost is one thing in oin' 
year and another in another yc'ar. One thing in one ])lace 
and another in another place, according to weather, soil, 
and labor conditions, etc., etc. But suppose you knew" 
exactly what every ap|)le tree, for instance, costs you, 
including selling, packing, delivering and collecting, and 
that is, say eight cents apiece. Would you not have to 
sell it in comjietltion w ith him w hose trees cost but six 
or five? Or, again, w ould the grow er w hose trees cost ten 
