44 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
to the present time have not been successfully produced in 
this country. Permit us to import these few things in 
quantity until such time as the F. H. B. find that they are 
being produced here. We are all making an attempt to 
grow these things but so far unsuccessfully but as long 
as we are making the attempts, the F. H. B. should assist 
us by permitting us to bring over a few of these plants so 
that the stock of them in this country may be continued 
until such time as we have discovered how we can grow 
the seedling plants ourselves. 
If the F. H. B. would have just a little more confidence 
in the nurserymen and believe them, when these facts 
are pointed out, everything would move along just a little 
more smoothly and the nurserymen would feel that the 
F. II. B. at least was trying to help them out. In some 
few things they have realized these conditions and are 
granting special permits for Rhododendron and Azalea 
seedlings and more lately Japanese Maple stocks. Now 
let them go a little further and give us permits for a few 
other things which we need quite as badly as those for 
which they are now granting special permits. 
President Lindley, of the American Association of Nur¬ 
serymen, seems determined to make the forthcoming con¬ 
vention in June a “real” success. At the recent meeting 
of the Western Nurserymen’s Association in Kansas City, 
he, very wisely, gathered together all of the officers and 
the chairmen of all the committees in conference. No 
doubt, they have made some wonderful progressive plan, 
the development of which will be awaited with great in¬ 
terest by the members of the association. 
President Lindley is a worker and a deep thinker and 
I, in common with other nurserymen, believe his admin¬ 
istration will be progressive and a great success. He is 
setting a stride which Vice President Harlan P. Kelsey 
will have difficulty in keeping up when the presidential 
mantle falls on his shoulders, as no doubt it will, when 
the election is held at the June convention. 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE NURSERY TRADE 
By C. A. Tonneson 
Executive Secretary of the Pacific Coast Association 
of Nurserymen 
Editor National Nurseryman: 
Your first article in the December issue on Develop¬ 
ment of the Nursery Trade emphasizes the retail trade 
as a strong factor for expansion and concludes with the 
statement that present conditions do not favor the dis¬ 
tributor or retailer, also in a former paragraph in same 
article, it is suggested that “The wise retailer of the fu¬ 
ture will let the grower hold the bag.” 
It is true that the dealer or distributor is equally as 
important to the nursery vocation as is the retailer in 
most other lines of business and that since the war 
period supply of nursery stock in general has not kept 
pace with demand, hence the retailer of nursery pro¬ 
ducts, being the middle man, has suffered diminished 
volume of business with less profits in proportion. 
The growers evidently are striving to catch up and to 
supply ample surplus for development, or expansion and 
now, it seems, is the time to assume and put into practice 
a policy that will serve to standardize production and 
stabilize the business in a manner fair alike to growers 
and retailers. 
In order to analyze the problem and determine how 
this may be accomplished, a glance at early experiences 
during years past might help to visualize the principles 
essential for success. A nurseryman was located in a 
district having a surrounding radius of 50 to 100 miles 
without competition as railroad facilities were only in 
the early development stage. He had produced what in 
his opinion was a normal supply of nursery products 
for the district. There were two distributors. Regard¬ 
less of whether they were agents or selling on their own 
responsibilities it developed upon them to do the retail¬ 
ing. 
Together the grower and sellers determined the pros¬ 
pective demand and anticipated expansion from year to 
year, the plant and arrangement were based according¬ 
ly. Production was somewhat near the mark of what 
the trade required and usually with a fair clean up. 
There was fair play on the part of both interests and the 
policy in vogue made co-operation practicable. 
During later years, with rapid expansion of commerce 
the nursery vocation naturally followed in same course. 
Developments surpassed the methods in detail formerly 
employed by nurserymen working individually, or in 
small groups. Organization on a large scale was the 
natural result, but it appears that in such transforma¬ 
tion some important principles essential for co-operation 
were omitted, among*which was the matter of keeping 
up surveys to determine as accurately as possible the 
prospective demand, anticipated expansion and avail¬ 
able supplies covering the entire country of distribution 
for the benefit of all the membership. While it may have 
been done in an indefinite manner by and for the benefit 
of the few who had the price and time to attend conven¬ 
tions, the great majority of nurserymen with smaller 
plants were left to work in the dark as to what they 
should or should not grow, becoming the prey of those 
assuming the role of buyers, or dealers, in the language 
of your writer they held the sack. Without regard to 
the question of honesty of individuals, under such sys¬ 
tem or method, co-operation is out of the question. 
To obtain co-operation in industry and business, fair 
alike to grower, large or small, and to distributor or 
dealer that will afford substantial development, a policy 
must be assumed providing for surveys to determine the 
situation on a large scale based on the principle of early 
day nursery practice and there must be fair play on the 
part of the organization to reveal such information to 
the members regardless of size of plant, and fair play 
must be exacted from each member in the conduct of 
business. 
Your article further states that “Restricted production 
for the purpose of securing high prices from the con¬ 
sumer is economically unsound and decidedly anti-ex¬ 
pansion.” That is true and the method would be imprac¬ 
tical for there is no law preventing any one engaging in 
