14 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
ELIMINATE THE DELIVERY AGENT. 
By Peter F. Williams, President of the Perry Nursery 
CoRochester, New York. 
Ship From Nursery To The Planter Direct 
Prior to the war, like many other nursery concerns 
The Perry Nursery Co., used to depend upon local agents 
to deliver our orders and make collections. 
Our salesman would go into a town, make a house to 
house canvas lor retail orders and then look up a deliv¬ 
ery man, arrange with him to take care of the delivery 
01 the orders wnen they were shipped and make collec¬ 
tions, entering into a signed contract to take care of the 
business. 
Too often the salesman failed to sign up a suitable de¬ 
livery agent and to engage one by mail entailed a great 
deal of correspondence and was generally unsatisfactory. 
These delivery men we had to pay anywhere from b 
to 10%. During the War and for some time thereafter, 
we found it almost impossible to get responsible delivery 
men, often it would run well into shipping time when, 
as a last resort, we would have to hire most any “Tom, 
Diek, or Harry” and pay exhorbitant rates such as 10% 
gross and even 12 to 15%. 
During this same period of unsettled conditions, we 
got a certain percentage of large orders, which were box¬ 
ed or baled separately and sold for direct shipment to 
the purchaser, the purchaser settling with us direct. On 
checking up these orders we found that we made very 
satisfactory collections. So the question arose, “Why 
not put our entire business on a “Ship Direct basis 
packing every order individually, sending stock so far 
as possible by Parcel Post. Stock that packed too 
large to go in this way, shipping by Express, in all cases 
C. 0. D. we, of course, paying the carriage charges. 
We have had such splendid success with this method 
of shipping that we are glad to tell our other friends in 
the nursery business, who are still shipping in the old 
fashioned way, to delivery agents, about this newer 
method. 
The expense of packing the stock is no greater than 
under the old fashioned way and the carriage charges, 
including the cost of G. 0. D. and remitting, do not 
equal the amount that was formerly paid to delivery 
agents. In fact, we find a substantial saving. 
We are so enthused over this new plan of shipping 
that we have destroyed all of our old style of order 
blanks and the various form letters that were used in the 
hiring of and following up of delivery agents. 
The Post Office Department has given us permission 
to use a special C. 0. D. tag, giving instructions adapted 
to our own business, and the Express Company have per¬ 
mitted our special instructions to be printed on the C. 0. 
D. envelope which they furnish. 
The question may here arise, what if a shipment is re¬ 
fused or uncalled for, or a purchaser wished the priv¬ 
ilege of examination, etc.? Our answer is that we have 
this all thoroughly covered with various printed forms. 
But these troubles represent but a very small percentage 
of our total shipments. 
We believe we were the first agency nursery concern 
making shipments direct to the purchasers by Parcel 
Post or Express G. 0. D. Our entire business is now on 
this basis and this plan of shipping has now been adopt¬ 
ed by Brown Brothers Go., First National Nurseries, Her¬ 
rick Nursery Go. Inc., Federal Nurseries, Inc., Barry 
Nursery Go., and Willems’ Sons' Nurseries. 
We have had inquiries through the mail from a num¬ 
ber of other nursery concerns interested in adopting this 
plan of shipping and collecting, some nursery concerns 
going so far as to send representatives to our office to- 
interview us in person. One of these companies wrote 
us just recently that, they had tried out this G. 0. D. 
“Ship D irect plan this past tall on a considerable 
amount of business, that the results have been so good 
that they are thinking seriously of extending it consider¬ 
ably. 
Even the Post Office Department think favorably of 
our Parcel Post shipments and our special instructions 
to postmasters as is evidenced by the following letter 
from the postmaster at Manchester, Conn. “The Post 
Office Department at Washington in a communication to 
this office has complimented the G. 0. D. money order tag 
which your firm is using in its shipments. The Depart¬ 
ment approves the tag and recommends its use at this 
office. May we ask you to send us by mail two samples 
of each of the tags which you are using?” 
In this connection will say that we will be very glad 
indeed to send samples of the different tags and forms 
to any one who may write us for same . 
THE MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSERYMEN 
A new Nurseryman’s Association was organized De¬ 
cember 7, 1922 at the Pantlind Hotel, Grand Rapids, 
Michigan under the title of the Michigan Association of 
Nurserymen. 
Its object is to further all commendable Horticul¬ 
tural developments, promote clean competition, create a 
more wholesome feeling beteween the Nurseryman and 
the consumer of his products, and further the interest of 
the Nursery business with respect to just State Legisla¬ 
tion. 
About twenty-five Michigan Nurserymen were repre¬ 
sented at this meeting and an active Association of Nur¬ 
serymen for the State of Michigan was formed and the 
following officers elected for the coming year. 
President—B. J. Manahan, Detroit, Michigan. Vice 
President—W. F. Ilgenfritz, Monroe, Michigan. Secre¬ 
tary—Treasurer—C. A. Krill, Kalamazoo, Michigan. 
Executive Committee—Ed. G. Greening, Monroe, 
Michigan, for 2 years. Geo. A. Hawley, Hart. Michigan, 
for 2 years. R. J. Coryell, Birmingham, Michigan, for 1 
year. F. E. Beatty, Three Rivers, Michigan, for 1 year. 
Constitution and By-laws were formulated and accept¬ 
ed at this meeting and certain plans were made for close 
cooperation between Michigan Nurserymen and the Na¬ 
tional Association of Nurserymen from now on. 
It was decided to hold the annual meeting each year 
in December at the time and place the Michigan Horticul¬ 
ture Society have their meeting as it was felt that Michi¬ 
gan nurserymen and State Horticulturists had a great 
deal in common and that the future success of Michigan 
