284 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
the end that there shall be evolved and created out of this 
investigation and study a law that shall develop, foster, 
conserv'^e and protect all the interests of horticulture in all its 
several divisions, and which shall have the support and 
indorsement of horticultural officers and all the horticultural 
industries of the several states. And we further recommend 
that this convention adopt this report and proceed to carry 
out its provisions by the appointment of a committee of 
three, which shall consist of one member from the Atlantic 
Coast, one from the Mississippi Valley region, and one from 
the Pacific Coast, with full power to utilize this fund as in 
their judgment shall be deemed necessary. And it is further 
recommended that this report be placed upon the records 
of both organizations. 
All of which is respectively submitted. 
Peter Youngers, 
Henry B. Chase, 
J. B. Morey, 
A. W. Kirkpatrick 
C. M. Peters, 
P. A. Dix, 
M. McDonald, 
S. A. Miller, 
Geo. B. Roeding, 
F. A. Wiggins. 
REPORT ON TARIFF 
Your committee on tariff beg leave to present the follow¬ 
ing report: 
After a good deal of correspondence and consultation, it 
was decided that we should present as strong an argument 
as possible in favor of keeping the rates as they were in the 
last Tariff Act, and that especial emphasis be laid on retain¬ 
ing the specific features which had worked out so satis¬ 
factorily under the Payne Bill. 
A Hearing before the House Committee was arranged 
for, which was attended by Messrs. Pitkin, Meehan, Dayton 
and the Chairman. This was fortunate, as no hearings 
have been held in the Senate, except before a sub-committee, 
and from present appearances no changes are likely to be 
•made. The Bill, as passed by the House, cuts the rate on 
trees and mlrsery stock from 25 to 15 per cent arid on apple, 
pear, quince and St. Julian stocks reduces the rate from $2 
per thousand to $i per thousand. It leaves the rates on 
roses, rose stocks, Mahaleb, Mazzard and Myrobolan 
the same as in the Payne Act. 
If the Bill is not changed in the Senate, and the chances 
are that it will not be, your committee feel that the trade 
generally has fared better than was expected and better 
than other more important schedules which could, and did, 
bring much greater influence to bear. 
This result was largely due to the fact that there was no 
division in the ranks of the nurserymen. Those good 
Democrats who believe in a Tariff for revenue only kept 
quiet and allowed your committee a free hand, and while 
the result is not all the high protectionists wanted, the 
nursery schedule is certainly a fair proposition, and we 
believe will be satisfactory to the trade generally. 
For the Committee, 
Irving Rouse, Chairman. 
REPORT OF MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE 
Our report of what the Membership Committee has 
accomplished shows in the Badge Book. The 1912 Badge 
Book listed 363 members in good standing, the present one 
lists 463, a net gain of 100 members. Our campaign brought 
in 120 members, at an expense of $161.94 or 27% of the pro¬ 
ceeds. Several new members have been booked since the 
Badge Book went to print, so that the total membership in 
this organization is now around 500. 
In my opinion, the founding of a membership Committee 
by our President is a large step forward and I strongly recom¬ 
mend its continuance. There should be a continued organ¬ 
ized effort to increase the membership of this organization; 
you require a live wire in charge of this Committee, a man 
who is not only willing to undertake the task, but has the 
ability, the clerical equipment and who has access to a mail¬ 
ing list that includes every nurseryman in the United States 
and Canada worth while. 
Every nurseryman in the United States and Canada not 
now a member, should be persistently invited to join. As 
soon as a man or Arm starts in the nursery business, their 
attention should be called to the advantage to be derived 
from membership in this organization, and that policy should 
be followed until this organization has, at least, 1,000 mem¬ 
bers. All nirrserymen enjoy the benefits of the work done by 
this body and all should be willing to pay membership dues 
as their part of the expense. 
My campaign was based on three circular letters; the open¬ 
ing letter outlined the objects and purposes of the organiza¬ 
tion; it told of the good and effective work the different 
Committees were doing, and had done; it showed why it was 
the duty of every live nurseryman to support this work by 
becoming a member and concluded by extending a personal 
invitation to join. That letter went to 2 700 nurserymen non¬ 
members. 
Then I organized a sub-committee of 34 members, young 
Nurserymen, mostly friends of mine. They were selected as 
representative men located in Nursery centers, who I knew 
would work hard for the cause; I sent each of them a copy of 
my first letter and enclosed 2 5 application blanks, asking each 
of them to write to 25 nurserymen friends in his district. 
Their work is herewith acknowledged with thanks. 
t 
My second letter was short, but to the point; it em¬ 
phasized the advantages of membership and brought out 
what they missed by not being members. This letter went 
to a selected list of 1100 names, as I had cut from my list the 
smaller firms. 
As the first two letters had exhausted my stock of argu¬ 
ments and appeals, the third letter was founded on this little 
story—“What a willing pair of horses you have,” said Farmer 
Jones to Nurseryman Smith, “Yes” said Smith, “One horse 
is willing to do all the work and the other is willing to let 
him.” This letter went to a boiled-down list of 600 names. 
They must have seen the point because that letter pulled in 
37 new members. 
In every one of the 4800 letters sent out, an addressed 
envelope and application blank was enclosed, every applica¬ 
tion was accepted by a personal letter, welcoming the new 
