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THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
The National Nurseryman 
Established 1893 by C. L. YATES. Incorporated 1902 
Published monthly by 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN PUBLISHING CO., Inc. 
Hatboro, Pa. 
Editor .ERNEST HEMMING, Flourtown, Pa. 
The leading' trade journal issued for Growers and Dealers in 
Nursery Stocks of all kinds. It circulates throughout the 
United States, Canada and Europe. 
AWARDED THE GRAND PRIZE AT PARIS EXPOSITION, 1900 
SUBSCRIPTION RATES 
One Year in Advance .$1.50 
Foreign Subscriptions, in advance .$2.00 
Six Months . $1.00 
Advertising rates will be sent upon application. Advertisements 
should reach this office by the 20th of the month previous to the 
date of issue. 
Payment in advance required for foreign advertisements. Drafts 
on New York or postal orders, instead of checks, are requested by 
the Business Manager, Hatboro, Pa. 
Correspondence from all points and articles of interest to nursery¬ 
men and horticulturists are cordially solicited. 
Photographs and news notes of interest to nurserymen should be 
addressed, Editor, Plourtown, Pa., and should be mailed to arrive 
not later than the 25th of the month. 
Entered as second-class matter June 22, 1916, at the post office at 
Hatboro, Pennsylvania, under the Act of March 3, 1879. 
Hatboro, Pa., August 1922 
THE NURSERY There are so many phases of the nur- 
RUSINESS sery business that it is profitable to 
once in a while stop and consider its 
numerous aspects when attempting rules and regula¬ 
tions to govern it. 
Whether a nursery firm controls thousands of acres 
and grows and sells millions of trees annually or an in¬ 
dividual cultivates a small plot of ground and grows a 
few shrubs or plants and sells them to his neighbors they 
are both classed as nursery businesses. One business 
may dig and store its entire output in houses built for 
the purpose, selling them direct to jobbers and other 
distributers, while another may dig and deliver direct to 
the consumer. Some nurseries may confine themselves 
to the production of certain lines of nursery stock such 
as fruit trees while another may grow a little of every¬ 
thing that is possible to dispose of. 
The same variable conditions exist in the distribution 
of nursery stock. Some distribute direct to the consum¬ 
ers others through agents, others through jobbers, land¬ 
scape gardeners and others again 'direct to the trade. In 
attempting to standardize the trade practices, it is well 
to keep all these varying phases and factors in mind. 
Attempts to frame standard practices to govern the 
many peculiarites is difficult in fact the attempt to do so 
is what causes chaotic conditions of the trade as a 
whole, and the tendency is for each particular house to 
be a law unto itself as regards policy and trade practice. 
Each business house considers as long as it keeps with¬ 
in the state and federal laws, and observes the common 
decencies of business they have a perfect right, to fix 
their own policy. 
The National Association and all broad minded nur¬ 
serymen realize, however, that something more is need¬ 
ed and for the business of the country to progress and 
expand there must be uniformity and cooperation. 
Paul C. Lindley crystallized the thought when lie 
quoted from Dr. Frank Crane’s editorial on clean bus¬ 
iness, “What is there in it for the other fellow.” 
To get the correct view on the whole subject, we must 
forget our own selfish interest in our particular bus¬ 
iness, and view the trade as a whole. The nursery trade 
really consists of two phases and the overlooking of this 
particular point is really what causes the lack of uni¬ 
formity in trade practice, or at least makes it so difficult 
to adopt practices that are voluntarily adhered to. The 
one phase or division of the nursery trade is production 
which parallels the manufacture of other lines of mer¬ 
chandise. The manufacturer of most products is rarely 
the distributer. His control or active interests in their 
distribution is left to others who make a special bus¬ 
iness of it, in fact many manufacturers dispose of their 
goods to the jobbers; the jobbers direct to the distribu¬ 
ters. Each forming a separate business requiring sep¬ 
arate organizations. In the nursery business both the 
first and second phase namely, production and distribu¬ 
tion, is all very much involved. Nursery businesses are 
rare that confine themselves exclusively to production, 
and they are just as rare when they are distributers 
that do not also produce. 
Possibly it is because nursery products are living 
things and that some responsibility for the continued 
life of nursery products is naturally laid on the pro¬ 
ducer. The medium of the storage house only very par¬ 
tially modifies this, and it is doubtful if the nursery bus¬ 
iness will ever become so organized that the grower or 
manufacturer will be able to deny responsibility for the 
welfare of his products after he has disposed of them, 
to the extent enjoyed by the maker of clothing or fur¬ 
niture. Of course standard practice in nomenclature 
growing and grading nursery stock is feasible and prac¬ 
tical and should be put in operation; but when it comes 
to disclaimers, warranty clauses, unfair competition, 
bribery graft, and all those things upon which different 
businesses have different opinions, it will not be so easy 
to establish standard practices that will insure enthus¬ 
iastic adoption. To insure trade practice being followed 
it must be equitable for all and appeal to the good sense 
of the majority. To insure this full consideration 
should be given to the fact that the production of nur¬ 
sery stock is an entirely separate business proposition 
than that of distribution, and the clearer this can he 
kept in mind when attempting to standardize trade prac¬ 
tice, the more likely will be the adoption of rules that 
will be adhered to. 
PLAY We are accused from time to time of being 
FAIR biased in favor of a particular group of nur¬ 
serymen or nursery interests. 
Our columns are open to all who care to express an 
opinion. 
We do not necessarily endorse all signed communica¬ 
tions we print, but gladly publish anything in the inter¬ 
ests of fair play and for the good of the trade as a whole. 
