THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
335 
they did not have near the number of species upon which 
to work, nor equal vigor of constitution and adaptability. 
The exquisite sprays of starry flowers in blues, laven¬ 
ders, white and pink shades have decorative qualities 
that are unequalled for the florist and decorator. 
Their popularity in this country is more likely to he 
brought about by the florist rather than the nurseryman, 
hut the latter would make no mistake in growing them 
and helping them to become better known. 
THE GEORGIA NURSERY LAW 
Common sense comment on the Georgia Nursery Law 
by N. L. Willett, Augusta, Georgia, published in the “Au¬ 
gusta Chronicle.” Mr. Willett is in the seed business 
and in close touch with the nursery trade, and knows 
the effect the 1921 Georgia Nursery Law nationalizing 
and licensing the nursery tree business will have upon it. 
All of us in the late war became tired to death of the 
licensing system and the nationalization of business. It 
put handicaps upon business. It prevented freedom of 
will. It introduced red-tape and autocratic chiefs and 
was entirely contrary to Democratic thought. Such a 
system should not be tolerated by free men in peace time. 
The average Georgia farmer, therefore, as a tree buyer 
will be astonished to know of this late Georgia law as 
passed—and astonished to know that while he can buy 
shoes, hats and drygoods anywhere in the United States 
lie cannot trade in trees and shrubs outside of the state 
with an unlicensed man without having his goods con¬ 
fiscated here in Georgia On the seller’s side this law 
puts upon every nurseryman the onus of conducting his 
business by deceit, fraud and through the substitution 
of tree types. 
The Law. 
This law puts unnecessary costs and hardships upon 
the nurseryman outside of the state and at the same time 
it insults him. It compels every nurseryman to put up a 
thousand dollar bond, use costly tags and go through the 
forms of various red-tape methods, appoint expensive 
agents in the state, which agents, in turn, can be locally 
sued. If all states had a law similar to Georgia the 
whole nursery trade of the United States would quit 
business. Certainly a law that can not he universal is an 
iniquitous one. 
The Result. 
We have in Georgia no strictly wholesale nurserymen 
and no large cheap specialty growers. Our big southern 
wholesale growers are in Tennessee. Alabama and Flor¬ 
ida. Every orchard man and large dealer who buys 
peach and apple trees must go out of the state and this 
applies to other trees, shrubbery as well as apples and 
peaches. I have numerous letters from the largest nur¬ 
serymen in the United States and the biggest specialty 
growers and growers of lining out stock (all of which 
comes outside of Georgia) who say that they will stay 
out of Georgia. They say that this law is too onerous, 
drastic and expensive for them to operate under, and 
that, furthermore, they have all the business that they 
want outside of Georgia. It is the belief on the part of 
Georgia nurserymen who have no option but to take out 
this license that the result will he that nursery stock 
will go up in price; and, indeed, there is no other alter¬ 
native. 
.4 Big Dealer Says. 
Among my numerous letters from nurserymen I quote 
this one from the largest man in Tennessee who says: 
“This Georgia law is an insult to every decent nursery¬ 
man in business. It is diabolical. It is doubtful if we 
comply with such a law. We have a good wholesale 
trade in other states and can sell our stock outside of 
Georgia. The tree buyers in Georgia ought to know as 
to what a disastrous effect this law is going to have on 
them.” 
Origin. 
It seems that one man in our legislature was stung by 
irresponsible promoters who promised to set out orchards 
and do sundry and divers things that on the very face 
of the paper was impossible and I learn that it was this 
man that engineered this bill. Now there is in all busi¬ 
ness unreliable sellers and at the same time there are 
unreliable buyers just as well. In all business there are 
wildcats, promoters and peddlers. It is probable that the 
world can’t be purged of these people and they are with 
us to say. hut no sensible man is compelled to trade with 
them. One, indeed, plays the baby act when he asks 
for a law that protects him from these people. It takes 
a peculiarly high-class man and a man of science and 
education to be a nurseryman. Recause of this fact 
buyers of nursery stock are peculiarly and particularly 
protected. These men understand, in a fine way, the 
ethics of business and to pass war laws against these 
people is not only unnecessary, but a grave wrong and 
an injustice. 
Its Carrying Out. 
The carrying out of this new law in Georgia rests 
upon the Entomological Department. This department 
did not originate this bill. It came up in the legislature. 
The nursery trade in their conference with the legisla¬ 
tive committee had no choice but to accept a compromise 
bill. They acquiesced under duress and compulsion. They 
had no choice. It to them was to accept, the least of 
two evils. The legislative committee plainly told them 
that, it was either to take this law or to accept a still 
more drastic one and a law, indeed, that would have 
killed the nursery business here in Georgia. 
Strange It Is. 
It is strange what bad laws legislatures will pass. 
It is strange how in peace times we go back to war 
methods. The farmer will soon find that this law for 
him is a boomerang. He will find that he cannot buy 
where he wants to and can’t buy sometimes what he 
wants to and he will find all nursery stock for him, 
because of restricted supply and restricted sellers in 
number, is going to be higher. No farmer who buys 
trees or shrubs who keeps away from irresponsible ped- 
lers and promoters and trades only with responsible tree 
growers will ever get defrauded. This Georgia nursery 
bill with its war-time handcaps, is a good one to repeal. 
Will the farmers of Georgia demand it? 
