THE NATlOxXAL NURSERYMAN 
19 
foiiiid that tlie trees vieldiii”- well one vear, are the 
ones tliat always bear a })ayinj^ crop and tliose that 
ii;ive a poor yield are chronic shy bearers. 
It we are to have better (piality trees and better 
])arentage trees, we must study these questions. We 
must s])end onr money in investigation and proof of 
tliem. We should hire the best scientific botanist 
that could be hired. Place him u])on a demonstra¬ 
tion farm and set him to work to investigate those 
unknown (jualities and unknown habits of tree fruit 
with a view of maintaining the (piality that we have 
of increasing the good characteristics and of giving 
our clients the best that can be had, and then charge 
them for it and they will pay the price. 
We shotdd not tiaist our name to a man to work 
for us with whom we would not trust our pocket- 
book, and we should eliminate the name tree dealer 
from the trade and discourage the man who is doing 
the same thing and masquerading under the name, 
of nurseryman. 
IS IT PRACTICABLE TO OBTAIN HIGHER 
PRICES ON MERIT ALONE? 
By LLOYD C. STARK, Vice President, Stark Brothers Nurseries 
& Orchards Co., Louisiana, Missouri. 
Read before the Western Association of Nurserymen, 
Kansas City, Mo. 
At first thought it a]tpears that trees of superior 
([uality should certainly command prices above those 
usuallv obtained for nurserv stock of ordinary or 
mediocre quality. 
If we investigate this same subject as applies to 
other lines of business activity, we will find it almost 
universally true that goods or products of superior 
(piality and workmanship command superior prices; 
ordinary products bring ordinary prices, and goods 
of inferior quality bring low prices. 
There are now, and always will be, several classes 
of buyers. There is one class that will always want 
the best^—this class of men includes those who are 
able to look ahead and see that the best is the cheap¬ 
est in the long run. Then there are the buyers who 
are not es]iecially concerned about either quality or 
pri(;e. i\Iany of this class are willing to have ordin¬ 
ary goods at ordinary ])rices. The third class of liieii 
includes those who will buy most anything if it is 
cheap, in other words “bargain hunters,” men who 
will buy anything from a gold brick to a white ele¬ 
phant if they can be convinced that it is cliea]), and 
as a usual thing, they have little regard for the real 
value of the article, or tree or what not,so long as it 
is cheap. They have not enough judgment to realize 
that the saving of a ])enny in initial cost is often the 
means of losing dollars when harvest time comes. 
At the i)resent time the tendency of buyers is to¬ 
ward the two extremes—those who buy extra quality 
and pay su])erior prices and the other class—the bar¬ 
gain hunters. This statement, I believe, is especially 
true as applied to the nursery trade at the present 
time. Of course the very nature of our business is 
l)recarious for the reason that we offer perishable 
products, which are thus more liable to fluctuations 
in i)rice than are staple or non-perishable articles. 
In addition to the perishable nature of our products, 
we must also consider the fact that no great skill is 
required by the “farmer nurseryman” to grow trees, 
but of course, the stock usually turned out 
by such so-called nurserymen, a good or- 
chardist would not plant. ' However, these 
blocks of practically worthless trees scattered 
here and there throughout the land are a 
constant menace to the man who does grow extra 
quality stock, for this cheap stufi; is almost always 
sold for a song. Such stock appeals to the man who 
knows practically nothing of trees, the man who 
cannot realize that there is as much difference be¬ 
tween good trees and poor trees as there is between a 
thoroughbred horse and a plug—as much difference 
as there is between a $50.00 suit of clothes and a 
$10.00 suit of clothes. In fact, there is more, for the 
difference in initial cost of trees is proportionately 
very much less than in most other articles of com¬ 
merce, and the difference between a healthy, vigor¬ 
ous, profitable orchard and a worthless, debilitated 
block of orchard trees, is simply the difference be¬ 
tween success and failure. 
High prices are sometimes asked for poor trees and 
high quality trees sometimes offered at low prices, 
but these are, I believe, the exceptions which x>i‘ove 
the rule. 
Now, to get back to our subject: “Is it practicable 
to obtain higher prices on merit alone?” If applied 
to the thinking public, I feel sure tliat su])erior stock 
will bring extra prices. As applied to the bargain 
hunter, I doubt if extra quality would ap})eal to him. 
We have, and always will have, at least two classes 
of buyers with which to deal, and I do not believe 
that the bargain hunter class of buyers can ever be 
educated up to that point where they will be able to 
realize that the best is the cheapest in tlie long run. 
On the other hand, I do believe that the better class 
of people in this country, the thinkers, and men who 
have sufficient intellect to look a few years into the 
future will ])ay advanced prices for stock of supeilor 
merit, i)rovided, of course, that the nurseryman offer¬ 
ing the trees has sufficient standing and reputation to 
convince the buyer that he is really getting stock of 
extra merit, and ju’ovided further that the nursery¬ 
man always delivers trees strictly up to s])ecilica- 
tions—stock which will, at all times, give C()m})lete 
satisfaction to the buyer. 
