TIIE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
372 
REPORT OF LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE, NEW YORK STATE 
NURSERYMEN’S ASSOCIATION 
Se])leiii})er 10,1914. 
INCE the organization of this Assooiation, two mat¬ 
ters liave eonie to the attention of your Committee. 
First, New York State legislation. Most of you 
are aware that this matter has been adjusted in a fairly 
satisfactory degree!, and are familiar with the provisions 
of the existing law, so that a long repojt on this subject 
is unnecessary. 
During the session of the Legislature of 1913, a bill 
was introduced by Asscnd)lyman Vert, the provisions of 
which were! so ladical and unr(!asonabIe that had it be¬ 
come a law, it would have' inaele! it very dillicull eer impe)S- 
sible lor any reispeensihle! nurseryenan to continue bus¬ 
iness in this state'. The mattei- was hanelleel informally, 
anel we suce'ccele'el in ehifeating the! hill. After the e)rgan- 
izalie)!! e)f this Asseeciatieen in Se'|)te'nihe!r, 1913, anel the ap- 
[eointment of yeeur Legislative (k)mmittee, it was learned 
that the New Yoi'k State Fruit ('ire)wers’ Asseeciatieen in- 
teneled te) re-iidj‘e)eluce the! hill elui'ing the legislative ses¬ 
sion of 1914. Ye)ui' ('eemmittee hael seweral conferene'.es 
with the Fruit Creewers’ Associatie)!! anel finally suc¬ 
ceeded in agreeing e)n a me'asure which is met very bur¬ 
densome to the nursery interests. 
The bill has been wielely printeel and elistributeel, and is 
no doubt familiar te) all e)f ye)u. It makes a few changes 
from the previe)us law in that it extenels the statute of 
limitations lemg e!ne)ugh te) allow trees to ce)me into bear¬ 
ing anel determine the (*e)rre!ctness of the variety, so that 
if incorrect, purchasers may have an opportunity for a 
damage suit. It provides that in every case of a sale of 
fruit-bearing trees in lots e)f twenty-live or more, when 
by written ceentract, the seller must at once furnish the 
‘purchaser a coi)y of such contract, upon the face of which 
shall he i)lainly printed the clause which provides that if 
the contract is not in writing, the burden of proof shall 
be on the seller to establish the fact that there was a lim¬ 
ited liability or non-guarantee understanding at the time 
of purchase. This only applies to sales not covered by a 
written contract, and somewhat strengthens the position 
that the nurserymen have taken that if a written or 
printed contract was properly drawn and contained a 
limited liability clause, that such contract was binding on 
both purchase'!- and seller and would establish the meas¬ 
ure of damage in case of trouble. 
The law also ])rovides that when reeiuested by letter or 
in writing on the coidract at the time of purchase, the sel¬ 
ler must inform the! j)urchaser of the name of the county 
and state where the trees covered by the purchase were 
grown, and also the age of the trees. 
It also provides that every agent must carry a certifi¬ 
cate signed by his princij)al, showing his authority to act 
as such agent, and that a duplicate contract must be left 
with each purchaser. 
While the law w as not d(!sired and urged by the trade, 
your Committee feels that the matter is in fair shape, will 
liot be extremely burdensome, and that its passage will no 
doubt tend to i)revent the urging of more drastic legisla¬ 
tion in the futui'e. 
Workmen’s Compensation Law. 
Thei-e has been and is great doubt as to whether the 
New York State Workmen’s Compensation Law applies to 
the nursery trade of this state, and particularly whether it 
applies to some of our employes who are occasionally en¬ 
gaged in such occuj)alions as are termed “hazardous” by 
the Law'. We have felt that we properly came under the 
exception to the Law' granted to the farmer, as it is dif- 
licult to draw the line between a general farm, or a fruit 
farm, and a nursery farm. They all employ the same 
class of men and use very much the same class of tools 
and iniplements, and it is difficult to see where one is 
more hazai'dous than the other. So far as information is 
available, it seems to be the opinion of the Compensation 
Commission that nurserymen as a class are not covered 
by the Law, but that some of our employes, like team- 
.sters, box makers, greenhouse men handling boilers, etc., 
are under the law. The opinion of the Commission is not 
final. It is suhject to a{)peal to the higher courts of the 
state, and even with a positive opinion of the Commis¬ 
sion, nothing absolutely definite can be known until a 
test case can be brought and decided by the Court of Ap¬ 
peals. 
In the meantime, many nurserymen have covered their 
risks by policies in liability insurance companies, but the 
rates are high and will remain high until a final deter¬ 
mination of the case is reached, and it is the understand¬ 
ing that if the final decision is to the effect that our em¬ 
ployes are not covered by the law, that the rates of the 
liability companies will be reduced. 
It seems advisable, therefore, that a test case be 
brought as quickly as possible, and it would seem as 
though w e had a good chance to win out. If the matter is 
allowed to drift, we will not know where we stand or 
what sort of trouble we may get into, should one of our 
employes be injured or killed. If the Commission 
should decide in our favor, that would not prevent an in¬ 
jured employe from making his claim and appealing 
from the decision of the Commission and taking his case 
to the Court of Appeals, and ag the higher rates of the 
liability companies will continue until the question is 
finally determin(!d, it seems wise to arrange for a test 
case as soon as opportunity offers, and endeavor to find 
out where we stand. 
For these reasons, your Committee would recommend 
that this Association give authority to your Legislative 
Committee or some other committee to employ counsel 
and arrange for a test case as soon as opportunity offers. 
William Pitkin, Chairman^ 
Committee on Legislation. 
In view' of the above conditions, I would suggest to the 
nurserymen of New York State that in case of accident or 
injury to any employe, that I be promptly advised. 
William Pitkin. 
