204 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
- \ 
BUYING NURSERY STOCK 
PROF. F. A. WAUGH, AMHERST, MASS. ■ 
I suppose that every man who has any reputation as a 
horticulturist is often asked advice in the buying of nursery 
stock. Certainly such inquiries come with remarkable 
frequency to the desk of a man who happens to be professor 
of horticulture in a college and horticulturist of an experi¬ 
ment station. It is sometimes difficult to answer these 
questions fairly, sometimes difficult to give honest advice, 
and sometimes almost impossible to satisfy the whims of 
inquirers. 
There are certainly well-grounded prejudices in the 
minds of tree buyers, prejudices which nearly always have 
to be met in one form or another. The first and worst of 
these is the notion that every nurseryman is a scoundrel. 
Many buyers seem to think that the nurserymen delight in 
sending trees untrue to name. This notion finds its support 
in the practices of the itinerary tree peddler. While the 
tree peddler sometimes sells trees to farmers who would 
never plant anything, his opera¬ 
tions on the whole have been a very 
serious damage to the nursery trade. 
Of course, the nurserymen are in a bet¬ 
ter position to judge this matter than I 
am, but that is the way it looks to me. 
Another prejudice which I find much 
more widespread especially amongst in¬ 
telligent planters, is the one in favor of 
locally grown trees. There is, of course, 
a certain advantage in getting plants 
from the neighboring nursery, especially 
when one can select them in person and 
haul them home in his own wagon. 
There is also the advantage of doing 
business with the man with whom one is 
personally acquainted. Still, I am sure 
that the prejudice is entirely ground¬ 
less in its main point of support. The 
theory that a nursery tree grown in 
Massachusetts will thrive better when 
planted in its home-county than when planted in Ver¬ 
mont, Ontario or California appears to me to be wholly 
unfounded. This observation is based upon many years 
of experience. 
Of course the shipment of trees very long distances in¬ 
volves some risks. Such trees may be poorly packed and 
may arrive in bad condition. These are risks of transporta¬ 
tion, however, and are not properly chargeable against the 
trees themselves. 
We all know that large quantities of our nursery trees, 
especially certain kinds of fruits, are now grown by whole¬ 
salers in the southern states. Even if I send an order for 
one Rome Beauty apple, one William’s Favorite and one 
Maiden Blush from the most reputable nursery firm in 
Rochester. New York, I may actually get three trees one of 
which was grown in Topeka, Kansas, one in Huntsville, 
Alabama and one in Berlin, Maryland. The ordinary 
buyer, who patronizes the northern nursery because he 
thinks northern trees are hardier, does not understand this 
fact. Perhaps, it is just as well he does not, though as a 
rule such ignorance is no advantage to him or to the nursery¬ 
man. 
There is a special prejudice against these southern grown 
trees, but I feel sure this prejudice is strongest in those men 
who know the least about the matter. Personally, I have 
a preference in the opposite direction. I do not wish to 
make any protests in favor of the southern nurserymen as 
against their northern brothers, but, other things being 
equal and all satisfactory, I would use southern grown trees. 
My reason for doing so is simply that they are bigger, 
stronger trees. The southern growers have a longer season 
in which to grow their stock. They, therefore, get the bigger 
and heavier growth. There is absolutely nothing to show 
that these trees are not perfectly hardy when they are 
planted anywhere in the North. 
Another point which buyers of nur¬ 
sery stock ought to observe carefully, 
but which it is difficult to get them to 
attend to, is that of ordering early. 
Every nurseryman knows that the ship¬ 
ping season is made a continuous night¬ 
mare by the heavy arrival of small 
dribbling orders. A gentleman will come 
in calling for a dozen different trees of a 
dozen different varieties. It is im¬ 
possible in the office to tell whether all 
these varieties are in stock or not. It 
takes as much trouble to look up the 
stock list and locate where each one of 
these is as though the man had ordered 
a thousand of each sort. As a con¬ 
sequence the order is refused or shelved. 
Nurserymen, of course, habitually urge 
their buyers to send early orders but I 
think they could make this advice 
more emphatic with advantage. 
I have often considered the advisability of issuing a 
printed bulletin of directions for buying nursery stock with 
a view to sending it out in reply to the many questions which 
come to the office. I think such information would be just 
as legitimate and quite as useful as bulletins on spraying. 
I have always been deterred, however, by two considera¬ 
tions: (i) The fact that it would be necessary to combat 
the deep seated prejudice mentioned above, which could not 
be well done in a brief bulletin; and (2) the difficulty of 
presenting the desired information without directly adver¬ 
tising specific nurseries. 
I know that a good many men in official positions refuse 
entirely to recommend particular nurserymen. I have never 
taken this ground and have never hesitated to give names 
and addresses of men whom I believe to be reliable and 
who are in a good position to supply the trees asked for. 
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WORDS OF WISDOM. ^ 
Your trade paper will always be 5 
of value, if you will get the Nursery- 5 
men to keep you posted on the ques- | 
tions that are giving them trouble, jj 
such as exorbitant freight rates, un¬ 
fair scale laws, and restrictions of 
any kind that are against the inter¬ 
ests of the Nurserymen. If one has 
a problem of this sort and says noth¬ 
ing of it, the chances are that he will 
get no help, and continue working 
under a disadvantage. On the other 
hand, if the matter can be taken up 
by the National Nurseryman, he 
will quite likely find that there are 
others striving against the same dis¬ 
advantages, and stronger action can 
be had. 
Wm. Warner Harper 
Chestnut Hill, Pa. 
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