2^4 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
lhrouf;Ii lack of Ihe application of the same priii- 
ciph'S that had Ix'en a|)plie(l so siicc('ssfully to other 
liix's. 
't he \vis<' !n<'n advised tlnmi to take to heait and act 
upon it the P'acliing of the great Huskin, who said: 
“It may h(‘ |)roved with much certainty, that 
('lod intiMids no man to live in this world 
wilhoni \\()rking; hut it scmmus no less evi- 
(hml that Ih' intends ('v<‘ry man to he ha])py in his work. 
It was w ritt(Mi: ‘In tin' sweat of thy brow,’ hut it was 
n(W('r writt(‘n: ‘In the hia^aking of thy heait.’” 
It has I' ,er been n'corded if the nurserymen put their 
husiiK'ss on the same {ilaiu' as other industries. 
AD VICK TO SALESMEN 
If it well' possible to turn a well-trained lot of iiur- 
smy salesmen into the country, the demand for nursery 
stock would he tri'Lled or quadrupled in a year, not 
mmely order-takei’s with a picture book, hut men who 
know' plants and can create a desire for them. 
The ten eommandments of salesmanship by Dr. Frank 
(h-ane were recently published in the press, and if 
adajited especially to nursery salesmanshij), would read 
somewhat as follows: 
1. Be agreeable. Other things being equal, I buy 
from the man that tries to please me. Exert yourself to 
make a pleasing impression on me. I appreciate it. 
lienee, dress well. Untidy clothes mean that you do not 
care w hat I think of your appearance. Do not dress too 
W(‘ll. That gives you an air of showing off. Dress just 
right. If you do not know' how', find out. Cultivate a 
])leasing voice. Learn to converse entertainingly. Cut 
out all mannerisms. Give me the impression of a gentle¬ 
man, hon(‘st, siiuare, anxious to please and good-natured. 
2. Know" your goods. Do not let there be any ques¬ 
tion I can ask you i-elative to a plant that you cannot give 
me some information about it, if possible its common and 
botanical name, w here it comes from, the soil or position 
w hich suits it best. In fact, the nursery salesman should 
he a w"alking encyclopaedia of plants. 
B. Do not argue. Make your suggestions, but alw ays 
give way to the opinion of your customer. Leading, do 
not op[)ose. Do not show' him w"here he is wu’ong, but 
show the customer wherein you are right. Suggest and 
do not antagonize. Argument as a rule results in irrita¬ 
tion and not conviction. 
■4. Make things plain. Don't use any words I don’t 
understand. You can explain the most complicated mat- 
t('r to a washwoman if you know" your subject perfectly 
and practice using simple language. Don’t air your tech¬ 
nical know'ledge of plant names and try to impress me. 
I w ant to be flattered, not awed. 
5. Tell the truth. Don’t lie, or exaggerate, or mislead, 
or conceal. L(4 me b'el that you are sincere, and mean 
cvmy word you say, and that every statement you make 
is of f>ar value. If you represent goods that need lying 
alaml. -lirctly or indirectly, quit. There are plenty of 
aitichv" that an* straight and all right. Sell them. 
6. Be dependable. Even in small things create the 
impn'ssion M.et w hatever you promise is as T„uch to be 
(h'pemh'd upon as your signed note. If you mak(* an 
appointmi'iit ei p. ui. Tuesday, be there at 2.45 or tele¬ 
graph. If I ord(*r goods of a certain grade, let them be 
found to be exactly of that grade w hen I receive them. 
7. Bemember names and faces. If you have not a 
natural gift for this, acquire it. Get a little hook and set 
down every day the names of those you have met, with 
their characteristics. Practice this until you become ex¬ 
pert. No man likes to be forgotten or to have you ask 
his name. 
8. Don’t be egotistic. Eliminate the pronoun I as much 
as possible from your vocabulary. Talk about me not 
yourself. Don’t tickle yourself, tickle me. I’m the one 
you want to win. 
9. Think success. Success begins in the mind. Why 
think fifty cents, when it is just as easy to think fifty 
dollars? Tell success stories, not incidents of failure and 
hard luck. Badiate jirosperity. Feel prosperous. It’s 
catching. Keep your chin up. 
10. Be human. The reason you are hired to sell 
goods is that you are a human being. Otherw ise your 
employer wmuld have sent a catalogue. So be a human 
being, likable, engaging, full of human electricity. For 
I patronize as a rule the salesman I like. 
Selling goods is the greatest business in the world. It 
takes all there is in a man. You need to know" psy¬ 
chology, you need tact, intelligence, self-control, courage, 
persistence and inexhaustible good humor. It is not a 
job for a second rater. You simply have to make good or 
go under. 
FOUB GKNEBATIONS 
In these days the wonderful and commonplace are 
very much mixed. On a hot day recently the writer 
called to see an old friend, James Krewson, at Chelten¬ 
ham, Pa. 
Being in the seventies I fully exiiected to find him near 
the nurseiy office sitting in the shade of a tree. His son — 
Charles Krewson, who has charge of the office, advised 
me he was out on the ground looking after some draining. 
Sure enough he w"as, not only looking after it, but right 
in the ditch w"ith the other men apparently enjoying it. 
How are yon Mr. Krewson, isn’t this kind of work a 
little hard on a man of your age on a day like this? Oh 
no, I feel first class and like it, but my father is not so 
well during this hot w^eather. And how" old is your 
father? 94 years. Well you have much to be proud of, 
four generations on earth at one time. And up above a 
flying machine w as looping the loop doing the nose dive 
and the leaf drop. 
The past generation had no such thrills while w"orking 
out in the nursery. 
GOOD NEWS FOR NURSERYMEN 
The United States Railroad Administration has given 
assurances that the orders of last March placing nur¬ 
seiy stock on the list of commodities exempted from em¬ 
bargoes w"ill be continued for the Autumn and Spring 
shipments of nursery stock. 
Walter F. Webb of the Guaranty Nursery Company. 
Granite Building, Bochester, N. Y., reports business very 
fine, in fact two or three times ahead of last year. 
