THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
355 
SELLING NURSERY STOCK 
It is a pretty good rule for any ntu'sery business to put 
the selling end of the business in the front, and give it more 
serious consideration than the production. 
Too often the young nurseryman devotes all his energy 
in growing, expecting his market to come to him. It is 
true that A No. i stock will almost sell itself if^there is any 
market at all and it is also true that demand rarely exists 
of itself except for necessities. We all know that our fore¬ 
fathers did not desire, or even hear of many things that 
we now consider as necessities. 
The florist business is a good illustration of this. The 
enormous trade in cut flowers has practically all come within 
the last 30 years or less, and it is due largely to the florists 
themselves catering to the innate love of flowers existing 
in everyone. The nurseryman has a larger field of possible 
development, "'t'^en one thinks of the orchards, farms 
and homes throughout this broad land of ours, there is no 
limit to the market. The main question is how shall it be 
developed? 
The principle methods at present are—through the 
medium of the landscape gardener, catalogues and booklets, 
magazine and other advertising and the nursery salesman. 
Many museries have landscape gardeners as a depart¬ 
ment of their business and make plans free if the size of 
the prospect warrants it. Competition along this line is 
likely to lead to a condition of things not altogether desirable. 
Plans cost money and the nurseryman should be pretty 
Slue of his order before going to the expense of having plans 
made. 
If opportunity occurred, many customers would not 
hesitate to ask for competitive plans from different nursery¬ 
men without thinking or caring about the cost as long as 
he did not have to pay the bill. 
It should be a fixed policy that the customer pay for the 
plan, and for the larger places it is better for all concerned 
if the client pays for professional landscape services inde¬ 
pendent of the purchase of stock. 
There are, however, thousands of small places up to 
about an acre in size where the owner could not be induced 
to engage the landscape gardener as separate from the 
purchase of stock and in such instances it is up to the nursery¬ 
man to sell him stock including information in some shape 
or other showing how to arrange it. ^ 
The nurseryman’s catalogue is another way of reaching 
his market and perhaps the one most generally depended 
upon. 
To issue a bi-annual catalogue of any size, is a costly 
operation and unsurported with a good up-to-date mailing 
list and systematic follow-up, is unlikely to prove very 
profitable. 
Magazine and other advertising rarely brings direct 
results, yet the nurseryman who does not advertise will 
soon find he is a back number with a failing business. 
Personal contact with the customers through the medium 
of a salesman seems to be the most promising field of effort. 
The good salesman not only sells stock, but develops a 
market and builds business. The tree agent has done 
good work in popularizing plants in spite of the adverse 
criticism which has been heaped upon him, but the time 
has come when good men have to be sent after the business, 
who know plants and can tell the customer, what, where 
and^how to plant. 
A salesman whose periodical visit to a locality would be 
looked forward to with interest by those who are interested 
in their gardens and grounds. 
Such a man, although^^perhaps expensive could hardly 
fail to make good with'a^responsible house back of him. 
i The nursery salesman may not have an exclusive line 
but he has one that has the greatest possible interest to 
many people. Goods for which, if he has selling ability, 
it is possible to create a'^desire to the limits of the customer’s 
pocket book. 
A sale to be a good one must benefit the buyers as well 
as the sellers so that it is essential to sell plants that are 
suitable for the purpose or situation for which they are 
required. They must be delivered at the proper time and 
in good shape, so that perfect cooperation between the sales¬ 
man and the nursery, is very essential. It is at this point 
that the tree agent often falls down which has brought 
him in such bad repute. 
Competition is keen and often unnecessarily lowers 
prices, mainly however, through lack of standardization of 
nursery products, but there is no line of merchandise that 
the buyer has to take more on faith in the integrity of the 
seller and no merchandise for which proper handling and 
service is so essential. Under these conditions it is a })oor 
salesman that has to cut prices to obtain an order. 
EXPRESS CHANGES NAMED 
The Interstate Commerce Commission ordered reductions 
in express rates today, which will cost the companies fully 
$26,000,000 a year. The new rates become effective on or 
before October 15. The total reductions aggregate about 
16 per cent of the gross revenue of the express companies. 
The report was made after an investigation covering a year. 
It gives a table of 650,000 rates as a basis for a rate charge 
to every place in the United States and its possessions 
The United States under the commission’s plan is divided 
into a block system, rates being fixed upon a determined 
basis for mileage and weight Rates and charges are classi¬ 
fied and the location of each station by block number is 
fixed. Rides governing the delivery and “pickup” service 
have been revised and modified, as has been the requirement 
that each package shall have a label. In case of the ship¬ 
ment of perishable property, consisting of two or more 
packages, the commission decided that the label need be 
attached to only one package. 
Bridger, Montana, Aug. 5, 1913. 
Enclosed find Post Office order for $1.00 in payment of National 
Nurseryman. 
It is like getting a letter from home. We could not do without it. 
Yours truly, 
James P. Callahan. 
