226 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
This grading was supposed to be used by all members, 
but reports and discussions at subsequent meetings prove 
that such was not the case and widely varying practices 
still obtain. 
At a later meeting of the 0. G. A., August 6-8, 1913, 
in Philadelphia, a Committee on Nomenclature and Revis¬ 
ion of Sizes was appointed. This committee prepared a 
report on nomenclature and grading, and submitted it 
at the winter meeting of this organization, January, 1914. 
This report with minor changes was adopted and subse¬ 
quent stock reports changed to comply with it. 
In 1916 a separate Special Committee was appointed by 
the Ornamental Growers’ Association on “Standardiza¬ 
tion of Grading, Trade Terms and Abbreviations” as fol¬ 
lows: Harlan P. Kelsy, chairman; F. L. Atkins and Er¬ 
nest F. Coe, but one of tbe most important features of 
standardization, namely the subject of “Nomenclature,” 
was referred to a special committee who joined with the 
American Joint Committee on Horticultural Nomencla¬ 
ture. Therefore Standardized Nomenclature is not in¬ 
cluded in this report. 
The Standardization Committee reported January 3, 
1918, at the winter meeting of the 0. G. A. in New York. 
It was decided to refer the whole subject to the American 
Association of Nurserymen and this Association’s Com¬ 
mittee on Standardization has continued (he work. 
The August 3d, 1911 report made to the Ornamental 
Growers’ Association by its “Committee on Grading Or¬ 
namental Stock,” and a still earlier one on January 8, 
1908, of its “Classification Committee” were educative 
and provoked rather violent discussions, but all import¬ 
ant specific recommendations failed of adoption. 
Committees of the American Association of Nursery¬ 
men for several past years have made recommendations 
for standards of grading, but these also have failed of 
adoption and so today nursery practice is not uniform 
but in a deplorably chaotic state. The task of this com¬ 
mittee is peculiarly difficult for it involves not only work¬ 
ing out rules of practice that are to some extent technical 
but rules that must be really practicable; yet, no matter 
how good a code might be, if not adopted and practiced 
by the trade at large it would be of little value. The field 
is therefore still practically new and untrodden, but the 
necessities are so great that to delay longer would stamp 
(lie nurseryman and horticulturalist as among the most 
unprogressive business men. 
The question is, are nurserymen alive enough to get 
together and establish businesslike rules of practice that 
w ill be honestly and consistently adhered to by all, for 
the benefit alike of themselves and their customers? 
It is hoped that this report may serve as a basis on 
which in the future may be built just, uniform and pro¬ 
fitable l ules for horticultural practice. 
Your committee recommends that after further careful 
additions, revision and consideration by the nursery 
trade, the American Association of Nurserymen adopt a 
Standardized Code of Nursery Trade Practice and dis¬ 
tribute it to its members and the nursery trade gener¬ 
ally. Necessary revisions must be made at stated periods 
and therefore the Committee on Standardization should 
be made permanent. 
It w ould be much too tedious to introduce here all the 
arguments and evidence on which this report is based; 
your committee prefers rather to submit results in some- 
what tabulated form, and as briefly as possible. 
We should like, however, to state briefly some of the 
uses the lists of trading terms with abbreviations may 
be put to. A few r definitions have been given and it might 
be w ell to amplify this feature. 
Some Uses for a List of Trade Terms and Abbreviations 
(For what seemed good reasons the List of Trade 
Terms and .Abbreviations although prepared, has been 
omitted from this report, but after careful revision should 
be included in a 1923 Report.) 
1. Filing. Where lists of plants are kept with card 
catalogs it is indispensable to have a good system of terms 
w ill) abbreviations and definitions. 
2. Catalog Making. If trade terms are standardized 
with abbreviations it is possible to use a large number in 
making up catalogs, saving space and making the de¬ 
scriptions much clearer. The seller knows how to cor¬ 
rectly describe his wares and business methods, while 
his customers can easily and intelligently use his printed 
matter, knowing fairly well what the results will be 
when he places an order—which is far from the situa¬ 
tion today. 
3. Correspondence. In quoting, trade terms and ab¬ 
breviations should be well understood at a saving of 
time and expense. 
4. Telegraphing. It is almost needless to mention 
how important a standardized list of sizes, abbreviated 
trade terms, etc., will be in telegraphing. Expense will 
be saved, accuracy assured and sales promoted. A nur¬ 
serymen’s Standard Telegraph Code should be prepared 
and adopted. 
3. Landscape Architect in Making Plans and Spe¬ 
cifications. Here it is almost imperative that a system 
of standardized terms and abbreviations be in effect. 
Much additional information can be put on plans and in 
planting lists, thus promoting business relations between 
landscape architect and nurseryman. 
6. Business Relations Between Buyer and Seller. 
Standardized trade terms and uniform business practice 
will enable customers to know what is being offered or 
advertised and just what they will get or at least justly 
expect. This means increased business all along the line. 
Today few nurserymen caliper trees alike, and descrip¬ 
tions of quality and grade of stock as well as the trade 
terms used are so lacking in uniformity that catalogs 
today leave the buyer in the dark as to what he may 
expect. 
7. Law Suits. With standardized terms and trade 
practice the honest nurseryman, florist or dealer is pro¬ 
tected as he is not today. Thus it means protection for 
the legitimate tradesman who is doing a straight business 
and in time the weeding out of dishonest or slovenly nur¬ 
sery practice which is very detrimental to the business 
in general. 
8. Shipping, Importing, Etc. Many trading terms 
are already used quite extensively and their abbrevia- 
