TUK NATIONA I. NURSE RYM AN 
17J) 
Acting President Mayhew’s Letter to Nurserymen 
'Po the Niii\S(Myni(‘ii of AnuM ica: 
This oarly may 1 ui'^o evi'iy iiurs(M'ymaii llie (*omitry 
()V(‘r lo at((‘ii(l tiu' iiKM'liiig of llu' American Association to 
he held in (hiica^’o, Sherman House, Juiu' 26-28, 1918. 
It matters not if you have not lieretofore l)een a immilKU' 
or if you have let your memhershij) lapse', now is the 
ht'sl possible time to la'iiew your nu'inhershij), ami any 
memlx'r will be glad to present your application. Many 
j)rol)lems which alleet your business can only he solved 
by eomhined elTort, and for^piirely selfish reasons every 
worthy nurseryman in America should hold mend)ership 
in the Ainei’iean Association. 
Matters of very great imjeortance will lee determined by 
the (diieago (onvention. You should have a voice in 
sliaping the future destiny of the Association. A study of 
the program as prepared by Chairman Chase and his 
committee proves that there will be “something doing” 
at Chicago every minute of the time. You can’t afford 
to miss this program. 
The age of the prophets is in the past, we are told, but 
this may or may not l)e true. It does not take a j)rophet 
to see some things however, because they look us squarely 
in the face. 
(li Prices of nursery products, wholesale and retail, 
must adv^ance to save the business from bankruptcy. 
Comjjared to every other commodity under the sun, nur¬ 
sery products are, and have ahvays been, the cheapest, 
and because of increased costs in labor, lands, material, 
etc., this to-day is our great problem, one wdiich calls 
for the combined statesmanship of all to solve. In con¬ 
versation with a leading nurseryman a few days since, 
he slated that it costs 100% more to produce trees in 
1918 than it did in 1914. He was not far wTong. 
(2) Cur future policies must be shaped to meet our 
changing conditions. The world is to-day in the re¬ 
making. Policies w hich w ere counted dependable yester¬ 
day are today questionable, and tomorrow, perhaps, must 
be abandoned. The nursery business must be placed 
upon a more stable basis, we must inaugurate a system 
of research w hicb w ill go to the very root of the matter. 
We must provide adequate machinery in our organiza¬ 
tion for getting at these problems and at the same time 
provide funds necessary to carry on the wmrk. 
(3) The nursery business must render a higher order 
of service. This is not saying, to be sure, that the char¬ 
acter of service rendered in the past has not been accepl- 
abh'. On the part of a vast majority it has been, but it 
can and must be improved. Our standards are not as 
good as they could be made. A ban must be placed on 
“shyster” practices in growing, grading, selling, adver¬ 
tising. etc., by the few", the result of w"hich is borne by 
all. Every time an adveiiisement is printed it builds or 
demolishes the business. If it is 100% fact it is a pow er 
for good, first, to the concern w ho pays for it and. second, 
to dealers in nursery products generally. If. on the other 
iiand. it is fals(‘. it is an assassin’s knif(‘. E\t‘ry case of 
•'misbianding,” ('very cas(' of ‘•umh'i' grading." ('ach act 
of "unfair (h'aling,” digs dec'jx'i- tin'. |)il from which lo 
clind). W(; mnsi m('('t condilions as tln'v ar('. call things 
by their true nanu', and, in tin' "name of hnsiin'ss." d('- 
mand righl('onsness in husiness. 
(4) Mark('t (h'vc'lopnn'id. For many y('ars much has 
b('('n said con(*('rning the n('('d of a conq)r('h('nsive. prac¬ 
tical plan of |)iihlicity. a plan whi(*h would stimnlal(' tin' 
planting of nurs('ry produc'ts. Eveiybody |■('aliz(‘s tin' 
need ot market de\'elopnn'nt as oin' of our biggu'sl prob¬ 
lems. A bunch of tin* "liv('st nui’Sf'iynn'n in Ann'iican 
Association” got tog('tln'r and workf'd out a plan lo jaisi' 
Jt^btt.OOO.OO p('ryear for tiv(' yi'ars for mark('t (h'velopnn'nt. 
This tund is gi'owdng rapidly and tin' committee having 
the matter in charge' In'lic've the fund w ill h(' l ully sidt- 
scribed. The eidiie plan will In' ably |)r('S('ntc(l at Ihi' 
coming convention. 
These are some of the (|in'stions whiedi will ('iigross 
the Chicago conveidion, and any phase of Ihe many (pn's- 
tions hint('d at would demand your pj'('S('nc('. 
At Detroit in 1915, the American Association of Nui- 
seryrnen was reorganized. A new constitution was 
adopted, broad ejiough to do all things possibh' for tin' 
membership. However, as is now seen, adeipiati' pro¬ 
vision was not made to tinance our organization. A thing 
wdiich could not be foreseen in 1915 is (juitc' apj)arent 
today. As a special order of busiin'ss carric'd ov('r from 
last convention, the resolution and amendnn'id lo con¬ 
stitution, as they appear in body of |)rogram. an' otfc'n'd 
for adoptioji by the Chicago conv('ntion, and an' otD'ied 
in the belief that their adoption w ill. (1) provide in'cc's- 
sary funds for carrying on this gn'at woik. and. (2) to 
direct the Executive Committee spt'citically in inalt('rs 
where the Gomniittee might hesitate'. 
I earnestly hope that these questions may have your 
best thought, and that every nurseryman in Ami'ilca will 
realize that all this is his business and that no proxi('s arc' 
allow"ed on tbe floor of the cunvention. L('t us make 1918 
convention the best ever held. 
(5) Supplies. There are some things that. lik(' the' 
“nigger’s bread,” the nurseryiiK'n "must have." liox lum¬ 
ber, shingle-tow", burlaj), twiiu'. ('tc. It Ix'gins to look 
at this date that not only w ill suppll('s b(' higlu'r than llu' 
proverbial “cat’s back.” but it is also a (jueslion of pro¬ 
curing certain needed suj)plies at any i)rice. I am led lo 
this conclusion, esjiecially conceining box-lumber and 
shingle-tow, by information coming to nu' fi'om sonu' of 
the largest mills in Louisiana who have lu'ia'tofoia' sup¬ 
plied the nurserymen of the Southwv'st. and w ho advisi' 
me they cannot handle the trade the coming sc'ason. 
Every nurseryman should gather all possible information 
about where such itc'ins can b(' j)rocured. and at what 
})rice, as such information will be invaluabh' at this par¬ 
ticular time. 
Yours very truly. 
.1. H. Mayhew;, Arl'uKj l>r(>s\<l(nil. 
Waxahachie, Texas. May 10, 1918. 
