240 
THE NATIONAL NUESERYMAN 
modernized lines. The man is somewhere if he can be 
found. Perliaps he has already started. Let us hope so, 
and ill the very near future the business will take its 
jilaee upon the jilane it deserves to he. 
The recent reports from the front have put more heart 
in the nursery business and will enable us to “carry on” 
in spite of the weeds, promissory notes and other discou¬ 
raging conditions. 
It brings the glorious future appreciably nearer. 
To write under such a heading as “women” 
WTJJMLN in a nursery trade paper a few years ago 
would hardly have been considered appro- 
piiate. 
'J'his has all been changed now and they have to he 
reckoned with in nearly all branches of business and 
tiade. 
American travelers of a few years hack when they saw 
the women of Europe working in the lield alongside the 
beasts of burden would thank God they were Americans, 
it was usually the old women and very poor that aroused 
jiity and perhajis indignation that such things had to be. 
'J’oday they are admiring the youth, beauty and wealthy 
doing the same thing and are inspired by it. 
Under proper conditions there is nothing liner or better 
both for themselves and tlie country. At present working 
in gardens and on farms along with works of charity is 
beginning to he recognized as the aristocratic occupation 
of America. 
To work with the soil is elevating and it will he a pity, 
if after the war the view point changes. 
Everything should he done to encourage an enduring 
interest. Students of the history of Horticulture appre¬ 
ciate how much the science owes to the wealthy hobbyist 
and dilettante, men like the late Rear Admiral Aaron 
Ward and thousands of others who have left their im¬ 
press on the improvement or popularity of some par¬ 
ticular class of plants. 
It is a poor kind of man who tries to 
“KNOCKING” boost his own business by knocking 
his competitor. It shows a sad lack of 
enterprise or initiative, and indicates a mind so sterile of 
good qualities that instead of advancing his interests, the 
listener or reader is usually tilled with disgust. 
It is happily a practice of the past, as no up-to-date 
nurseryman or any other concern would stoop to sucli 
despicable methods, and a salesman on the road who 
follows such a practice soon has to seek another job. 
It still persists, however, among inefficient salesmen, 
ignorant advertisers, backwoods journalism and expiring 
businesses. The public is too intelligent to be fooled by 
sucb a shallow practice, as they immediately recognize 
that a person who has to blow his own horn rarely pro¬ 
duces the goods. 
The spirit of the times is helpfulness and co-operation 
and those who do not get in line are not in step with the 
progress of the present day. 
One has only to read the address of J. R. Mayhew, 
president of the National Association, at the Chicago 
Convention to catch the true spirit of the times. It is 
more than co-operation. A better term would be com¬ 
mon-sense Christianity. 
Mr. William Pitkin in his report of the legislative eom- 
mittee to the American Association, very aptly calls at¬ 
tention to the necessity of the Department of Agriculture 
developing the growing of fruit stocks in this country 
before an embargo is placed on the foreign supply. 
While there is little doubt that all the necessary stocks 
can be raised in this country, it will take time, much 
money and special training before it can be accomplished 
in such a way as to make us independent of imports. 
The fruit industry is so fundamental that such work 
should necessarily be done by the goveinment. 
The National Nurseryman, 
Flourtown, Pa., 
Kindly advise me if you think this a good time to build 
up a good business in the nursery line and if you think I 
could get some of your advertising patrons to furnish me 
with stock in a small way until I can get established. I 
can furnish reference if required. 
Kindly enter my name on your list of subscribers and 
send me bill for subscription price. 
I am, • 
Yours very truly, 
W. R. 
July 23, 1918. 
No one is absolutely sure of the future, but we cannot 
imagine a better time to begin to build up a nursery bus¬ 
iness. Since the war started there has been a great cur¬ 
tailment in the production of nursery stock, due to dis¬ 
turbed conditions and the fact that practically all capital 
and labor have been directed into channels pertaining to 
the war industries. 
This will cause a very general shortage at the close of 
the war of nursery stock, when there is every reason to 
believe that the demand will be enormous. 
In the ornamental lines the suspension of building of 
country homes, the laying out of parks, and all that kind 
of work, that calls for large quantities of plants, has not 
caused a surplus of stock to accumulate, but it has 
caused an accumulation of such work to be done as soon 
as labor and materials are released for the purpose. 
The same may be said of the fruit tree industry, pro¬ 
duction has been largely reduced by the war, yet the need 
for more fruit has increased tremendously all over the 
world. We have not the slightest doubt that if you will 
write to our advertisers, furnishing the necessaiy refer¬ 
ence, they will enter into business relations with you. 
We appreciate your order for our Journal and trust 
you will receive much profitable information from its 
pages. 
