284 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
What about accepting retail countermands? Please 
remember that we are in the business to make a living 
(plus); that is the basis of this answer. Recently a 
pretty well known concern had out some good salesmen 
who sold some real good orders to Mrs. So and So, 
amounting to several hundred dollars; Mr. So and So 
got tight in money matters and raised Gain about the or¬ 
der. But it was shipped in due time, notwithstanding, 
as it was accepted by the nursery in good faith, the stock 
reserved, etc., and the bill was paid in due season. The 
following year that same live-wire salesman called on 
Mrs. So and So to see how everything was coming along, 
and low and behold he got another order for over one 
hundred dollars. Everybody happy, yes. Suppose the 
countermand had been accepted? Not only would the 
first order been lost, but the friendship too of the cus¬ 
tomer for all time to come, and there would have been 
no second order. Between wholesaler and retailer, the 
story would probably he different; still, we believe a 
contract should be lived up to for the final good of all 
concerned. When it suits all hands to cancel an order, 
why mark it off the books and forget it, as a matter of 
course. 
The question of publicity, in whatever form, is im¬ 
portant. The man who advertises, whether through per¬ 
iodicals or direct, who does not honestly represent his 
goods is simply cutting his own throat; is spending his 
money to condemn himself. It has been truthfully said 
that you can fool all the people a part of the time, a part 
of the people all the time, but you can’t fool all the peo¬ 
ple all the time. And it does not take long for the public 
to get you sized up. Some of the periodicals of the coun¬ 
try now go so far as to guarantee the honesty of the ad¬ 
vertisements carried in its columns. This question of 
publicity will perhaps bring up the question of colored 
plate books that the ordinary nursery salesman shows to 
his prospective patrons, what about them? They are the 
nearest representation that it is possible to get. and it 
seems necessary to use them or nothing. Most of them 
are too large, show the fruit larger than the ordinary 
specimen; but may be not larger than SOME specimens 
There does not seem to be any other successful way to 
sell fruit trees to the average farmer for the home or¬ 
chard except by the plate book method; the fact that the 
farmer continues to buy from these tree salesmen is 
fairly good evidence that he understands about the 
colored plates, perhaps has learned that he has to take 
them with a pinch of salt. We wish there was a line of 
colored plates that shows exactly what each variety of 
fruit looks like, but it would be a monumental task to 
get it up. 
Now, probably you will say that nothing new has been 
brought out. and we fully agree with vou, because hon¬ 
esty is as old as the hills, and that is about all there is to 
ethics about any business. If you have conducted vour, 
business for a period of years on a basis so that it is in¬ 
creasing from year to year, then you may be reasonably 
sure that you are conducting it along ethical lines; if it 
is going backward or standing still—in volume—then 
we would suggest that you take stock of your methods 
and see just where you stand. 
THE PART CASH IN ADVANCE PLAN 
How it is Helping to Put The Nursery Business on a 
Solid Foundation 
By Paul C. Stark, Louisiana, Mo. 
Gentlemen: 
I am not going to take much of your time in going 
into detail regarding this plan, because you doubtless 
received last spring the little booklet that was carefully 
worked up by a committee and published by the West¬ 
ern Association of Nurserymen. If any did not receive 
a copy of this booklet, they should write Mr. Ilolsinger, 
of Rosedale, Kansas, who is secretary of the Western 
Association. 
A large number of the nurserymen who have care¬ 
fully investigated the advantages of this plan have taken 
steps to put their business on this basis for they realize 
that most of the conditions that make the nursery busi¬ 
ness hazardous can be eliminated if a good proportion 
of cash is collected when the order is taken. I have 
talked with a number of the nurserymen who have given 
the plan a trial since the committee made its report and 
they are enthusiastic about the results they are securing. 
Speaking personally, our company is putting our sales¬ 
men under bond according to the plan recommended by 
the committee and the salesmen are starting to collect 
part cash with the orders. 
Another very encouraging feature is the fact, that the 
salesmen almost unanimously recognize the advantages 
and added prestige by their becoming “Bonded Sales¬ 
men.” 
We first wrote the salesmen explaining to them the 
benefits received by the salesmen, not only in prestige, 
but in bigger business, more profits for salesmen, larger 
advances, and less losses from countermands. 
Of course, it is going to take some time before all 
salesmen and all the public thoroughly understand and 
accept this part-cash-in-advance plan, but I firmly be¬ 
lieve that the nurseries that adopt the plan, will not only 
do a bigger business than formerly, but they will largely 
eliminate the losses in collections, countermands, bad 
notes and the like that have made such deep inroads on 
the profits of the nurseryman in the past. 
There is one thing SURE, and that is—there is noth¬ 
ing for each nurseryman to lose by adopting the plan 
and a great deal to gain. In fact, those who adopt the 
part-cash-in-advance plan will have the advantage over 
those who fail to adopt it. 
Any nurseryman’s policy or plan which was not for 
the best interests of the honest public and the honest 
salesmen, would be undesirable and would undoubtedly 
fail in the end. However, this plan is not only a good 
proposition for the nurserymen but it is a great benefit 
for the honest public and the honest salesmen. 
The only persons who could object to the principles 
of the plan are the crooked buyers and the crooked sales¬ 
men—and their objection is the best of recommendations. 
By this plan the customer gets more value for his 
money, is put in a “Perferred Class,” is protected from 
dishonest agents and the customer does not have to pay 
for the bad debts of the dishonest customer. 
Some of the advantages of the “Bonded Salesmen” sell- 
