258 
THEINATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
Publicity 
The industry of grow¬ 
ing nursery stock is one 
of the oldest of our Am¬ 
erican industries; likewise 
it is an honored one, in 
which to be engaged, no 
man need blush. And it 
is an industry which has 
added untold wealth and 
beauty to our country and ■ 
brought happiness to thou¬ 
sands. Yet there exist 
possibilities of develop¬ 
ment, of which you all are 
aware, but which have 
been allowed to go un¬ 
touched and unworked. 
If the customer lists of 
each firm or individual 
member of this Associa¬ 
tion were brought to¬ 
gether, collated by states and these checked against the total nurhber 
of possible buyers in each state, there would be revealed, I doubt not, an 
astonishingly low percentage. The majority of the names in these lists 
would represent, I am sure, buyers of our product who have made their 
purchases, not because we have educated them to the necessity or the 
value of our wares, but because the individual had educated himself. 
It must be apparent, even to those of us who have given but little 
thought to this big subject, that the maximum development in our in¬ 
dustry must come from a united publicity effort—from a campaign of 
education; we, as an organization, must teach our country’s popula¬ 
tion that our products are good products, that they bring not only 
wealth but beauty and happiness as well. Have not all of you had 
dealings with the type of man who had not planted the products of the 
nurserymen simply because he did not know, or have the imagination to 
see, what they would do for him in a few years’ time? 
This country of ours is bigger than most of us appreciate; it is 
peopled with a hundred millions of humans of whom forty millions are 
possible buyers of our products. Publicity then, to this Association, 
means the carrying of our message to these forty millions of people. 
This can not be done in a day nor in a year; but it can be accomplished. 
Publicity of the kind about which I have just spoken, can not be 
thought of without linking with it the idea of unified effort. I doubt 
It is that we are paying 
too little attention to 
working on the imagina¬ 
tions of our customers and 
prospective buyers — we 
are prone to limit our ad¬ 
vertising to the same old 
story “unlimited stock of 
extra fine apple, cherry, 
peach, plum, grape, small 
fruits, ornamentals, etc. 
Send for prices.’’ Why 
should we not make cap¬ 
ital and pay dividends by 
working to its last limit 
the thought of the greater 
beauty, the health, the 
happiness, the content¬ 
ment and the money 
profits to be gained by the 
liberal use of the products 
we are growing ? Think 
about it, men, it is worth 
all the thought and con¬ 
centration you can give it. 
Sooner or later the 
march o f progress will 
force the nurserymen’s present day feeling of antipathy to get out of 
the rut of silence into an appreciation of the necessity and the eco¬ 
nomic wisdom of conducting a vigorous campaign of educational adver¬ 
tising. 
Why should we not accept the inevitable today—now—at this meet¬ 
ing, by appointing a carefully chosen, capable, energetic committee to 
work out for us a practical, common-sense plan for taking advantage of 
the wonderful opportunities on which we are now peacefully sleeping? 
I should feel that my term as your president had been successful beyond 
my expectations did you but act on this suggestion. And when such a 
committee had made its investigations, submitted its report and a real 
campaign had been put under headway, I feel an absolute confidence as 
to the degree of new business life which would be injected into our 
industry. 
Remember that we are living in the 20th century; 20th century 
methods must be used by the nurserymen to meet 20th century condi¬ 
tions; 19th century methods will no longer suffice. 
[Remainder next month.] 
INCORPORATED 
Alvin, Texas. Stockwell Nursery Co., capital stock, $100,000. 
Incorporators, E. S. Stockwell, W. A. Stockwell, H. Gammill and 
others.— Horticulture. 
Showing Crown Gall on Test Trees Planted for Observation by Hoopes Bro. & Thomas 
want only those nurserymen who because of their skill and knowledge 
of the craft, reflect credit on the industry as a whole. 
I want to put this question to the Convention: are we charging our 
members a fair price for the protection, the standing and other benefits 
accruing because of such membership? I am sure we are not and before 
the adjournment of this meeting is called, I should like to see a resolution 
adopted which will increase the fee to a figure more nearly representing 
the worth of the seiwices. 
What should the figure be? Ultimately a membership in the 
American Association of Nurserymen should be worth not less than 
$25.00 per annum; to raise it to that figure from the present $5.00 would, 
I realize, be too long a jump. $15.00 then seems to me to be fair; 
$10.00 should be the minimum. 
It may be argued by some that to increase our fee will be working a 
hardship on the Uttle fellow. This argument I propose to anticipate by 
pointing to the fact that of all our members who are most benefitted 
because of their membership, the little fellow heads the list. One of the 
greatest problems faced by the smaller nurseryman or the new nursery¬ 
man is that of establishing his standing with the world at large. How 
can he gain standing as 
economically and so quick¬ 
ly as to be able to show 
that he has been recog¬ 
nized by the American 
Association of Nursery¬ 
men? 
that there is a single member of the Association who will question the 
necessity or the wisdom of conducting a vigorous campaign of publicity, 
but such a campaign will be a failure unless we work and pull together— 
unless each member is willing to do his full share both of work and of 
subscribing his portion of the money necessary to carry it on. 
There are many kinds of advertising. There is but one kind for the 
nurserymen, as an Association, to consider—associated advertising which 
will educate. Once we have educated home owners and land holders to 
the necessity of planting trees and vines and shrubs, they will become 
ready buyers—orders will take care of themselves. We must preach 
and teach the gospel of nature, of her beauties, her health and her 
wealth. Then we must link the nurseryman with nature, showing how 
closely he works with her, how by his skill and his untiring effort, he is 
producing that which will help nature shine at her best, both in beauty- 
and productivity of fruit wealth. But again I repeat, such a campaign 
is one. calling for associated effort. 
“Fruit and its food value’’’ alone offers unlimited opportunities for a 
campaign of education, especially since the importance of more fruit and 
less meat in the modern dietary is made a subject of frequent reference in 
our country’s periodicals 
and by our foremost phy¬ 
sicians. 
