THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
427 
I —-— : - 
of production so that the legitimate profits of the grower 
may be larger. Aside from the mere question of profits 
there remains a satisfaction which should always accompany 
good service well performed. Let us then resolve to work 
together for a common and worthy purpose. 
Capital is interested in fruit growing 
CAPITAL enterprises as never before. This, per- 
AND FRUIT haps, has been emphasized more parti- 
GROWING cularly by the rapid development of fruit 
areas in the West than anywhere else, but 
it is true of the East as well as of the West. Capital is now 
as ready to take up fruit growing enterprises as it is to 
engage in mining and manufacturing. The main deterrent 
is the lack of experienced and trained labor. There are 
scores of capitalists who would be willing to engage in fruit 
growing in a large way if they felt assured that they could 
secure competent managers and superintendents. Par¬ 
ticularly is this true of New England where capital is moving 
into the country rapidly. 
In New England the interest is centered in the apple, pear 
and peach. Other sections of the country have their 
specialties also. At the present time Texas is stirred up 
over the growing of oranges in the Pan Handle and tide 
water districts. Florida is extending her great fruit sec¬ 
tions, developing the Everglade land for bananas and sugar 
cane while in the northern part pecan areas are rapidly 
increasing. In Georgia the' peach is still holding its own, 
but with fifteen cent cotton interest is swinging toward that 
crop. In the southern part there is a large amount of 
capital going into the development of pecan groves. 
All this means business for the nurseryman. It means 
that trees are in demand everywhere.. It makes a condition 
decidedly better than that which sometimes occurs when 
bargain counter sales are frequently in evidence and when 
spring bonfires warm the atmosphere. The most interest¬ 
ing and gratifying thing about the whole matter is, however, 
the attitude of capital towards fruit growing enterprises. 
The practice of substituting something 
else for a line you are out of, is probably 
as old as wholesale business methods. 
This question was brought to our notice 
and consideration a number of years ago 
when for a short time we were connected with a wholesale 
hat and fur manufacturing establishment. The"goods were 
sold by drummers under number, each line having its dis¬ 
tinctive number. It was impossible at the beginning of the 
season to gauge the demand so that orders could always be 
filled promptly and precisely as given. Some travelers who 
had an established reputation for carefulness were able to 
sell their customers with the privilege of substituting when 
a special line ran short. Others were not able to do this. 
This seemed to be a question of personality. 
This problem presses with greater weight on the nursery¬ 
man than almost any other business man. For it is more 
difficult to keep up all lines in stock in the nursery business 
than in any other type of manufacturing enterprise. A 
[ shortage cannot be made up with the same ease that it is.pos¬ 
THE SIN OF 
SUBSTITUTION 
sible in the case of the njariufactured article. It is quite true 
-Si/• ^ • 
that the nurseryman who substitutes frequently gives some¬ 
thing better than that which was ordered. The customer 
receives fuller value, but that does not help the situation for in 
the purchaser’s mind there rankles the thought that he did 
not receive what he ordered. Nor does it matter whether 
the order is a large one or a small one. The man of the small 
order is often more “pernickety” than the man who gives 
the large order. It is probable that some of this substitu¬ 
tion difficulty might be overcome if the customer were given 
the option of cancelling that particular part of the order, if 
he did not care to accept another variety which, in the judg¬ 
ment of the seller, was as good as the variety ordered. It 
seems reasonable to suppose that the purchaser should have 
this option, but what shall we say of the firm that winks at 
an employee changing a name instead of a variety in the 
filling of an order? It is So much easier to do this and get 
the troublesome order out of the way than it is to run the 
risk of losing it by notifying the purchaser. Fortunately for 
the trade this type of tree man is becoming less numerous 
than formerly. The modern nurseryman is a business man 
with business instincts, who, apart from all other considera¬ 
tions, realizes that a good business can only be built upon a 
sound reputation, and the men who have been responsible 
for retardingthe progress of ethics in the nursery business are 
fortunately dropping out. Unquestionably there is large 
temptation this year at the attractive prices which are being 
offered, to fill the order whether the exact variety ordered 
is in stock or not. Beginners in the nursery business will do 
well to remember that the old adage “Honesty is the best 
policy” is, perhaps, mgre forceful in the nursery business 
than in many other lines of effort. 
Another striking evidence of the pro- 
REPORT OF gressiveness of our Western boards of 
COUNTRY LIFE trade and chambers of commerce is pre- 
COMMISSION sented by the statement that the report 
of the Country Life Commission which 
was tabled in the U. S. Senate as a result of the opposition of 
Senator Tillman, is to be printed and distributed by the 
Spokane (Wash.), Chamber of Commerce. A limited edi¬ 
tion was presented to the Senate but as the report was not 
accepted no official distribution could be made. I he 
Spokane Chamber of Commerce now ‘comes forward at the 
request of a number of farmers and business men of the 
Pacific Coast and agrees to publish and distribute this im¬ 
portant document. One of the Commission s meetings was 
held at Spokane and q very interesting one it proved to be. 
There is no doubt whatever that this piece of enterprise will 
redound to the advantage of the region and institution con¬ 
cerned. 
PROTUMNA ORCHARDS FLOURISHING 
Mr. John W. Stewart of the Protumna Orchards, Martins- 
burg, W. Va;f has recently completed an up-to-date and 
commodious packing house. 1 he house is equipped with 
all modern facilities for the, efficient and rapid handling of 
large quantities of fruit. , The packing tables and storage 
rooms are the latest pattern. 
