THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AT THE COMING 
CONVENTION. 
(Continued from pags 147.) 
Mr. L. A. I>er(‘kiii;ni, Fruitlniid Nurseries, Augus¬ 
ta, (Ja., writes as follows:— 
“'The subjects uieutioued iu your eiixudar letter 
are most iiiterestiug, and are eertaiuly of vital impor- 
tau('(‘ to the average ui)-to-date. uurserymau. As far 
as possible we will give our o])iuiou ou them. 
“No. 1. Uniformity iu retail ])riees and grades.” 
“hdiere is now entirely too great a range in the re¬ 
tail pri(‘es of the same commodity in different locali¬ 
ties. hdus is caused in a great measure by inability 
of the grower to com])ute cost of growing a certain 
])laut. It is ])ractically an im])ossibility to give the 
cost of production of any certain plant, unless only a 
few items are grown; then it would be practical to ar¬ 
rive at cost of i)roduction, but when many varieties 
of plants and trees are grown in the same nursery 
block and ])ro])agated at different times and under 
different conditions, cost of growing such })lants is 
an ini])ossibility. 'Phis cost of production will vary 
more or less from year to year; owing to failure in 
])ro])agating, unfavorable climatic conditions ;ind 
other causes. 
“Grades can l)e m;ule nioi'e unifoim. There should 
be a standard for every variety, l)ut to do this intelln 
gently would recjuii'e an immense amount of time and 
money. Another thing which causes differences in 
grades is that in certain sections of the country we 
can get a larger ])lant of a certain variety in one year 
than you can secui'e in the same sort in another local¬ 
ity in two years. As for example: Our No. 1 field- 
grown roses of Western and Eastern growers. 
“No. 2. Pi'evention of sur])lus and low ])rices: 
“iV ])revention of sur])lus of some items is an ini- 
])ossibi!ity. A nurseryman will do the same as a 
farmer when they try to cut down the cotton crop. 
Smith, Johnson and Jones promise to cut down their 
])lanting of cotton twenty-tive per cent. Thomson 
says that as those three fellows are going to curtail 
their ])lanting I am going to plant twice as much as I 
did last year and get the benefft of the prices which 
will surely result from this curtailment. This is the 
same the farmer ])lays here, and it will be the same 
with th(‘ Nurseryman. 
“.\s t(^ low prices, we are satisfied that there 
should be a general increase all along the line. The 
cost of ])rodu(dion, labor and supplies advances an- 
uually, and the ])ri(‘es of nursery stock have not ke])t 
])ace. 
“Instead of selling sur])lus stock at cut-throat 
])ricesatthe tail-end of the season, better consign 
this surplus to the trash i)ile and keep the prices up. 
As a matter of fact, we know that some nursei'ymen 
could have saved money by burning stock rather 
than selling it, as it actually cost them more to dig it 
and i)ack it than they received for the goods. This is 
sending good money after bad. 
“No. J. Bettering the sup])ly of choicer things that 
are invariably short: 
“Many of the choicer plants can only be ])ro})agat¬ 
ed prolitably in certain localities, and some of these 
choicer ])lants are very difficult and costly to ])roi)a- 
gate, and unless the grower has an assured outlet for 
such things he will be cautious so as not to over pro- 
])agate, l)ut if the grower finds that he can ])ropagate 
certain things to advantage in a certain locality he 
should s])ecialize on these and let it be known to the 
horticultural world. 
“No. 4. (Creation of wider markets. 
“This can be brought about by advertising, by 
visiting your brother nurserymen, and by attending 
the conventions and making yourself known in the 
horticultural world. 
“No. 5. Plants that are not usually ’well grown. 
“iMany ])lants are grown in a locality and under 
conditions uncongenial. Such ])lants should only be 
grown where the best specimens could be developed, 
and under the most normal conditions. 
“No. (). Should nurserymen combine to advertise 
and demonstrate their goods? ‘ 
“Do not understand this (piestion. 
“No. 7. To what extent should a nurseryman guar¬ 
antee his stock to grow ? 
“Tie should only guarantee that the stock will be 
first-class in every res])ect, ])erfectly healthy and true 
to name-, up to grade in every res])ect and well i)ack- 
ed when leaving his hands, but after delivery to for¬ 
warders all losses resulting from delays or exi)osures 
in transit are at risk of purchaser. Neither should 
the nurseryman be held responsible for failure aris¬ 
ing from defective })lanting or from subsecpient 
faulty treatment or cultivation, but should any faulty 
trees or ]dants be sent out, or if they prove untrue to 
label, the nurseryman should make good to the 
amount of the original cost of such trees or plants as 
being unsatisfactory or untrue to label. 
“No. 7. How can we obtain more skilled help? 
“Make the nursery business and the surroundings 
of the help attractive. 
“The following subject should be discussed: “Is it 
fair to give a large luiyer quotations and S])ecial 
])rices which are the same as the lowest trade 
])rices ?” 
Mr. Uharles A. Steck, Bethel, Uonn., sends the fol¬ 
lowing good words about “The National Nursery¬ 
man.” 
“ Referring to your ])aper, I must say you have no 
idea of the benefit 1 derive through this journal.” 
