THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
289 
BETWEEN THE NURSERYMAN AND THE 
FRUIT GROWER 
Paper Read by LLOYD C. STARK, Louisiana, Mo., at the Portland Convention 
The past two or three generations have witnessed great 
changes in all lines of business and in all walks of life. The 
nursery and orchard business is no exception. It has not 
been very long since the fruit tree agent was a laughing stock, 
and the ntrrsery business in general occupied a very much 
lower level than it really deserved. 
Nurserymen assist orchardists: Of late years there has 
been a strong tendency among leading nurserymen to get in 
closer touch and co-operation with orchardists. In the old 
days the transaction was closed as soon as the trees were 
delivered and paid for. No particular criticism here—the 
buyer got his trees, the nurseryman his money—everything 
about the deal was perfectly honorable and legitimate. 
However, right here the nurseryman lost an opportunity, he 
should stand by his customers, both big and little by not only 
furnishing him the trees but by assisting him in bringing them 
into profitable bearing orchards. This statement is truer as 
regards the amateur and the small orchardist than the com¬ 
mercial orchardist. Nevertheless, in otrr Company, we are 
going on the assumption that every man who buys our trees is 
entitled to all the assistance we can give him, even assisting 
him in marketing his product. 
In our efforts toward co-operation along this line, we have 
established what we call our “Special Service Department.’’ 
The men who handle this correspondence and assist custom¬ 
ers who apply to this Department, cost us a lot of money 
every year, but we believe it a paying investment and good 
advertising, aside from the moral side of the question. 
Whenever a man plants Stark Trees, and is successful with 
them, he is not only going to be a walking advertisement for 
our nursery, but he is also going to be a booster for the great 
cause of horticulture. If he grows a good profitable orchard 
his example and influence will help every nurseryman and 
orchardist in America, for just so long as the majority of 
orchards are handled on profit-paying basis, nurserymen 
everywhere wiU enjoy a good business. From a purely 
mercenary standpoint, we do not believe that the nursery¬ 
men necessarily owe this to the customer, but we do believe 
every good American citizen owes it to his country to assist, as 
far as possible, in conserving the resources and increasing the 
productiveness of this great land of ours. 
Grow best varieties. There are, of course, many other ways 
in which the nurseryman can be of great assistance to the 
orchardist. For instance, he should not grow or sell varieties 
he himself would not plant, for the orchardist is bound to 
plant the varieties nurserymen offer, therefore, it is the 
mmseryman’s duty to see that his list is not loaded dowm with 
worthless varieties, and at the same time, see that it includes 
new varieties which have proven worthy of propagation. In 
short, the nurseryman should give more attention to the 
varieties he grows and sells. We are glad to say, that, taken 
as a whole the lists of the better nurserymen are evidence of 
the fact that they are improving from year to year. 
Orchardists preserve valuable new fruits. Right here is 
where the orchardist in his turn may be of assistance to the 
nurseryman and repay the obligation he has incurred by 
accepting his services and assistance. He should be on thfc 
lookout for new and valuable varieties, and should he dis¬ 
cover one that seems to be of unusual merit, he should take 
steps to see that it is not lost to horticulture. Orchardists 
should follow the shining example of such men as S. A. Hiatt, 
who first sent the Delicious Apple to my father, Mr. C. M. 
Stark—who named and added it to his propagating lists and 
later distributed it throughout the length and breadth of our 
land; such men as Peter Gideon to whom we are indebted for 
the Wealthy Apple and Florence Crab; Dr. Stayman, 
originator of the Stayman Winesap, and hundreds of others. 
Smely it is the bounden duty of every conscientious 
orchardist to see that no valuable variety perishes from the 
face of the earth and be forever lost to the horticultural world. 
Quality trees—quality prices. Another point which some 
orchardists seem to overlook is the fact that they should not 
only plant first elass varieties, but the most vigorous and 
finest trees of those varieties they can procure. A puny child 
more often than not makes a puny man—weak trees always 
make poor orchards, and poor orchards are not only un¬ 
profitable but when uncared for, they become harbors for 
pests and are a real danger and menace to the community. 
It is the orchardist’s duty to plant the best trees he can buy 
and he should be willing to pay the nurseryman a fair price 
for good trees. The nurser3mian must live and if the orchard¬ 
ist is not willing to pay a good price for a good tree, he can not 
expect the nurseryman to grow good trees for poor prices. 
Of course, very often, nurserymen are to blame because of 
overproduction, but no doubt in some instances the general 
unwillingness of the orchardist to pay a fair price for trees 
may cause some nurseryman to slight the tree at some stage 
in its growth and cut down expenses in order to make things 
come out even, or make a little profit. When the orchardist 
buys cheap trees, he has no right to grumble if they develop 
into a cheap inferior orchard. 
Cut prices. We are glad to know there is a growing senti¬ 
ment among orchardists to pay more attention to quality and 
less attention to price. We believe our own experience in the 
past year is an excellent proof of this statement. As you all 
know, the apple and peach tree trade was decidedly unsatis¬ 
factory; throughout the country, in most cases, there was 
much price cutting. In the face of low prices, our Company 
held our prices up. True, we lost some business, but we 
believe we got about as many orders as we would^ have 
