50 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
of succss went to manufacturers who catered to the 
needs of the many. 
Now about this platform that is at the back of our 
slogan and cooperative efforts. If it is a purely selfish 
one, the nature of nursery products and economic laws 
doom it to failure. Judging from the addresses made at 
conventions, opinions expressed by individual nursery¬ 
men and association activities the belief is all too preval¬ 
ent that restricted output would be panacea for our 
troubles. It is only very recently the National Associa¬ 
tion made a tentative attempt to convert itself into a 
monopolistic corporation. 
The everage nurseryman sees or thinks he sees other 
trades that are able to control output and in a measure 
control prices and would like to apply the same practices 
to the nursery trade. Rut gentlemen we’re not handling 
proprietory goods, patents or even manufactured articles. 
Ours are primary products with the raw material only 
limited by brains and labor. 
How are you going to artificially control prices? I am 
sure not by selfish processes of restricted output. A 
business to be a success must produce in such volume 
and at such prices that its goods are within the reach of 
all, if it is to reach its maximum of Service to the people. 
Don’t for a moment think that any propaganda or pub¬ 
licity is going to produce the results we are after unless 
it is founded on serving the people to their advantage 
rather than ours. 
Look into the history of any successful business cor¬ 
poration or association, they have succeeded to the extent 
they have served humanity. If you could consult one of 
the executives of these monopolies he would tell you 
while they charge all they can they are very careful not 
to raise the price to where it will reduce consumption. 
Maximum consumption at highest price it will permit 
should he the policy of the nurserymen, not restricted 
consumption with a view r to keeping prices up. To at¬ 
tain maximum consumption we must approach the prob¬ 
lem from the consumer’s point of view and make beauty 
easily available to all and in doing so you will make it 
popular. 
It is up to the Nurserymen or ornamental Horticultur¬ 
ists, as we sometimes call ourselves, to do something that 
will entitle us to our profession. 
If the extent of our service consisters of getting as good 
living as we can for ourselves we do not deserve the in¬ 
terest of others. But if we are the means by which we 
make it possible for the homes of the Country to be made 
beautiful, why then we shall be entitled to cooperation 
from everyone and get it. 
The sentiment, desires of the whole country are in our 
favor if we w ill only tackle the job and do it. There is 
scarcely a child horn that does not like to play in dirt, 
grown people are only children of larger growth and ly¬ 
ing dormant in practically everyone is a love of the beau¬ 
tiful, and that desire to place a stick in the mud and grow 
a beautiful tree or in some way satisfy a plant hunger 
that lies dormant in almost everyone. 
In fact, if we look at what might be called the field 
for the market development for nursery products, there 
is absolutely no end and no limit and we as a trade are 
years behind other trades in the methods of selling and 
distributing our products. 
The United States has now reached an age as a 
country when the people have more time to think about 
the finer things of life. Americans are better clothed 
than any nation on earth, better housed, better fed, 
have more luxuries, yet perhaps when it comes to the 
yards, gardens, houses, villages, towns and cities they 
are decidedly more utilitarian than beautiful. 
The nursery trade has been progressive in methods of 
production, when the necessity has arisen it has been 
equal to it. The fruit industry alone proves that, but it 
is sadly behind in distribution, lacking in modern 
methods o publicity advertising and distribution. 
The units of the trade try to be producers, wholesalers 
and retailers even encroaching on the profession of land¬ 
scape gardening. The trade as a whole has never been 
able to see that such a policy must necessarily prevent 
as large consumption of its products, as is enjoyed by 
other trades. 
Try and imagine the growers, growing only those 
things in great quantity, they could grow cheapest and 
best, depending on the retailers or small nurseries distrib¬ 
uting their goods to the consumer. 
The large concerns instead of having centralized nur¬ 
series, trying to grow a great variety and sell them, es¬ 
tablishing a chain of small nurseries so that every town 
w ould have its nursery as w r ell as its butcher and baker. 
The goods to be shipped in bulk to these distributary 
points. I am not referring now to the supplying of large 
commercial orchards, parks, cemeteries, etc., but the 
homes in county, tiwn and village throughout the United 
States. 
The very nature of our products would seem to call 
for such an aim in the Nursery business. 
My message to the Illinois State Nurserymen’s Asso¬ 
ciation or perhaps I should say disjointed remarks may 
be summarized somewhat as follows: 
Plan cooperation so that it will cooperate—Convince 
the public by publicity, that ‘‘Beauty is Wealth,” and the 
trade is sincere in its efforts to supply it. 
Progress and profit will come to the Nursery trade by 
making it possible, and necessary for a better standard 
of living, so that the many may use its products. 
The nurseryman’s profits must come from economics 
in production and distribution, especially the latter. En¬ 
courage the retailer so that every locality will have a ser¬ 
vice and supply station. 
Personally I do not think a slogan is of vital import¬ 
ance. It is a good thing to have one to give point to the 
propaganda of the nursery trade publicity campaign for 
the development of a market for our products, and I sup¬ 
pose a catchy phrase with a point to it, that all nursery¬ 
men would rally to is the best. But don’t forget it is 
business management and funds that produce profitable 
publicity and above all cooperation to serve the public 
that w ill place the nursery trade where it belongs. 
Mr. B. J. Manahan, manager of the Pontiac Nursery 
Company, Detroit, Michigan, will leave on January 16th 
with wife and son for a two months’ trip to Los Angeles 
and Southern California. 
