82 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
other nursery, for it is impossible to reproduce exactly 
the same conditions in any two places. But my cost-price 
on apple trees, if it shows a profit, must include what I 
happen to lose in growing a block of shrubs, say; be¬ 
cause prices based on cost must yield a profit on an en¬ 
tire stock. And then comes the distribution of that in¬ 
tangible overhead expense which is so obscure and yet so 
ever-present. And distribution as well as production 
must be included in any estimate of cost as a basis for 
price. Nor can one year he separated from another be¬ 
cause ours is a line in which the seasons and the weather 
largely determine crops and their growth; results must 
be varying and prices based upon cost must also prove 
varying and that fluctuation is unhealthy and unprofit¬ 
able. 
If we say that price must be based upon cost, then we 
put our products upon the same plane with bricks and 
shingles. Competition in cost and quantity-production 
leads inevitably to price competition and the sure result 
of that is deterioration in quality. I prefer to think of 
the better competition, the competition that is whole¬ 
some and inspiring, the effort to produce something bet¬ 
ter than anybody else can produce. 
If we reject the idea of merchandizing at cost plus a 
profit on each article figured separately, can we not 
claim something of the status of the artist?—for the ex¬ 
pert plant-grower is an artist. And may we not properly 
consider the matter of service as an element in price¬ 
making? If I go into one of your shops here and buy a 
bunch of roses for my wife—or somebody else’s wife— 
what is my idea? Of course, I may have stayed out 
rather late at the Club, I may have reason to want to 
square myself at home! or I may possibly wish to ex¬ 
press some sentiment that becomes eloquent when I say 
it with flowers. Now, do I hunt through the roses at $3 
or $2 per dozen, if there are any such?—or do I look for 
what best expresses what I want to say? Why, you know 
as well as I do, that I would pick out those Hadleys at 
$12 a dozen. Why? Because the value I put upon those 
roses is their value to me, to the lady who gets them, and 
the value of the message they carry. The important thing 
is not the cost to the seller, but the value to the buyer. 
And who shall say what is the value of a five-foot Pfit- 
zer’s juniper? What it cost to grow it? By no means; 
its proper price is its value to the man into whose garden 
it goes. Service is placing at his disposal an artistic 
creation that acquires value entirely aside from and in 
addition to the money that goes into its production. 
You may be asking yourselves by this time, what all 
this has to do with the American Association of Nursery¬ 
men. In referring to the angles of the business and the 
estimate a man puts or should put upon his trade, I have 
had in mind to explain, what I conceive to be the motives 
and the purposes of the nurserymen of our Association 
in effecting some radical changes in the policy of our or¬ 
ganization. 
When we were organized at Chicago in 1875, you will 
remember that the Association was one of nurserymen, 
florists and seedsmen and so continued for a number of 
years; the rapid growth of all these interests caused the 
two latter groups to withdraw after a while to form sep¬ 
arate associations. If happy is the land that has no his¬ 
tory, could the same be said of trade associations, then 
ours should have led an ideal existence during its first 
forty years; for during that time its even course was 
marked only by annual reunions, almost altogether so¬ 
cial in character but pleasant as affording opportunity 
for old friends to greet each other. As the years went by, 
however, it became apparent that many problems re¬ 
quired concerted action for their solving, and the neces¬ 
sity for a business organization for strictly business pur¬ 
poses caused a re-organization at Detroit in 1915. While 
pending for several years, the actual fact was so sudden 
that the old constitution had to be changed over in the 
short time of the meeting and while the purposes of the 
Association were very clear, the made-over constitution 
did not seem somehow to fit. It became as uncomfortable 
as a man trying to feel at ease in the clothes he wore as 
a school-boy. But in 1917, an important change was 
made whereby the Association so amended the constitu¬ 
tion as to establish a code of ethics for the guidance of 
its members. An important addition to that was made in 
our last convention. I mention these two changes for I 
hope to have you gentlemen realize their importance to 
you. 
They lay down a code of ethics, not in detail but very 
broadly and they make fair-dealing a requisite for con¬ 
tinued membership in the Association. It is made the 
duty of every member to report every instance of unfair 
dealing or unethical practice that comes to his notice, 
whether between members or with the public. We have 
a vigilance committee whose duty it is to investigate 
every report and to apply or recommend such remedy as 
seems appropriate to the circumstances, even to expul¬ 
sion from the Association. There is nothing behind that 
more substantial than the moral influence of the Associa¬ 
tion; but the moral effect of the opinion of one’s fellows 
in a national trade organization of 400 members, and the 
possibility of losing not only that good opinion but the 
privilege of fellowship, is strong enough to secure ob¬ 
servance of the rules of fair-play. 
It might possibly be asked if that amendment to our 
constitution is by way of intimating that members of the 
Association need supervision. We ask the same fair deal¬ 
ing of others not members of our association; we ask no 
more of them than we are willing to do ourselves; and we 
give assurance of our sincerity by doing it first. The As¬ 
sociation has been in existence forty-five years; some of 
its members have been in business longer than that. It 
means a high average of ability, a certain degree of ser¬ 
vice and the giving of real values, to continue in business 
so long a time. But we realize that we need some stan¬ 
dards; that we have been without any statement of them 
for many years. It was only five years ago that we made 
membership elective. Before that, our ranks were open 
to all who paid nominal dues; there was no other for¬ 
mality required. Since then, we have investigated all 
applicants. New members are voted on by our Execu¬ 
tive committee acting as a membership committee. We 
make observance of our rules the condition of member¬ 
ship. We are not exclusive. Our doors are hospitably 
open to all reputable nurserymen who approve of our 
policies and program and who care to stand with us. 
If you ask why we should do this, let me point out that 
the nurseryman bears a peculiar relationship to his cus¬ 
tomer. In every business, confidence must be estab- 
