288 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
difficult varieties and will continue his experiments. 
Mr. McBeth, hopes to be seen at the National Nursery¬ 
men’s Convention just so long as he is able to navigate 
and will be glad to receive any of the nurserymen who 
wish to visit his Springfield plant. 
CO-OPERATION AND POSSIBILITIES OF HONEST 
NURSERYMEN 
By A. J. Shadow, Winchester, Tenn. 
Read Before the Southern Nurserymen’s Association at 
Atlanta, September 5-6 , 1923 
Mr. President and Fellow Nurserymen: 
The subject which I have selected on which I will make this 
attempt is “Co-operation and Possibilities of Honest Nursery 
Business.” The more I study on this subject, the more I am 
convinced that I have selected a subject all together too deep 
for my discussion. Nursery business of this present age is all 
together on a different plan of years past. Growers of both home 
and commercial orchards are demanding the best stock that can 
be grown, stock that can be depended upon as the purchaser is 
absolutely making his purchase on merely confidence as it will 
be from three to ten years before he will actually know the 
results of his purchase and while on this subject, Confidence la 
the key note of our success in our business. Business will not 
be given where there is a lack of confidence and it is up to us 
nurserymen to co-operate as one band of salesmen and furnish 
stock at all times that can be depended upon and we will soon 
have the confidence of our customers. I have a slogan in mind 
that I think will fit our business. “The Right Kind of Stock Will 
Advertise Our Business, The Wrong Kind Will Advertise Us.” 
We all should use every effort to co-operate together and adver¬ 
tise; our business at all times and if honestly done, each one of 
us will get our share of the business. I wish to say here that 
we never get any where when any one of us knocks our competi¬ 
tor as this has a tendency to weaken confidence from the grower 
to the nurserymen and confidence is what we must have from 
our customers to win out. 
Our business, strange to say, is peculiar to itself, but it is 
true. One nurseryman in any locality or State can do more harm 
to our business by careless or dishonest dealings than fifty 
honest nurserymen can do in the same time, doing good. Well 
as a rule everybody expects fair dealings and little is said if 
the customer is satisfied but let some dishonest dealings develop 
and every one in the locality for miles will hear of it. it will be 
the topic of conversation at all gossiping places. I want to say 
here that I think the standard of nurserymen have improved 
wonderfully in the past years and really believe there is very 
few unreliable nurserymen today, none in this association I hope 
and only a few' out. Lets co-operate together and make it 100% 
if it t »can be done. As stated before it is up to us to co-operate 
as objp.iband of salesmen for the good of our business and much 
has ©een said in all our conventions in regards to horticultural 
standards and during the A. A. N. Convention at Chicago this 
past June some of these standards were adapted. We should 
practice a standard in growing, grading, digging, quoting, pack¬ 
ing, we should guard against unfair competition, graft and busi¬ 
ness ethics. The American Association of Nurserymen with which 
our organization is working in harmony has had much to 
say in regards to horticultural standards and etc. which all of 
you know. The task of impressing the importance in nursery 
business "is peculiarly difficult but is very practical and will be 
very" profitable if we practice these standards. I am glad to say 
our conventions we are having, where we all get together and 
discuss is having much to do with eliminating the differences in 
the nursery business. 
Every nurseryman and especially members of this association, 
I am sure desire to grow stock up to the highest standards, 
honestly grade, quote and etc., yet at the same time we should 
at all times be cautious and never be careless in our business. 
In making quotations we should make it plain in regards to the 
stock we are offering, grades we expect to furnish and in our ad¬ 
vertising matter we should at all times correctly illustrate and 
not over exaggerate any thing we are offering in printed matter 
as we fairly know the results if our customer is dissatisfied. 
Standard and uniform business practices will enable our custo¬ 
mers to know what is being offered or just what they will get 
or at least expect. Such practices will increase our business all 
along the line. It has been in the past that nurserymen would 
grade and caliper differently and at times our description of 
stock in catalogues often lacked uniformity and often the buyer 
would be in the dark as to what he may expect. We know that 
many of these grievances can be corrected if we will practice 
the standards of our business. 
Unfair competition, I am glad to say is practiced by only a 
very few nurserymen and while this is a point all together too 
deep for my discussion but will say the following is the most dis¬ 
honest form of unfair competition. We at times hear of some 
one giving gratuities, commission and etc., to individuals who 
are not truly local representatives to induce them to buy. This 
should be eliminated if possible as it is quite time for the high¬ 
est standard of honesty and I am sure it is the desire of every 
member of this association to live up to this standard. There 
are other kinds of unfair competition which is at times prac¬ 
ticed which is too broad for my discussion, in fact we know them 
when we practice or see them being practiced. 
The possibilities in nursery business will be just what we as 
nurserymen make them. If we deal fair with each other and our 
customers, furnish nothing but first class stock in every respect 
and work as one band of salesmen, never knocking our honest 
competitor or our business, we as members of this association 
will prosper. Our business each year is getting on a higher 
plane and I want to see it 100% or as near as possible. If we have 
any unfair nurserymen, lets try to get them in line and if they 
refuse to honestly co-operate, time will soon put them out of 
line. 
I have had quite a bit of experience in the nursery world, 
I was born on the nursery, my grandfather was a nurseryman 
and also my father and there are now five of us boys. 
I have a boy four years old, and think enough of the business 
that I am hoping' to make a nurseryman out of him but the 
point I wanted to impress with the experience I have had is that 
the buying public is not seeking low price stock. They are de¬ 
manding dependable stock. The past summer I was talking to 
a planter in regards to trees for a commercial orchard and he 
mentioned the fact that the planters of today do not consider 
price above quality but that the main object in making the pur¬ 
chase was to know where to get stock that could be depended 
upon, so you see there is another case of lack of confidence and 
when we get confidence restored 100% or near, price will be the 
second consideration. Again I have in mind now a customer 
from this State that only a few weeks ago ordered 100 June Buds 
from us, we have not quoted him this season however he had 
been a customer the past years, we booked his order and advised 
him of the charges and you see this was a case of confidence 
and when we get our business on this level, nursery business 
will be fine. 
At another time I had a customer to say when talking of trees 
“That it was not what he paid that counted, it was what he got 
for the price he paid.” There is lots in this expression. In fact I 
believe a man gets his moneys worth in most any purchase he 
makes these days if he buys from some reliable concern. If you 
pay cheap prices you must expect cheap goods. 
There should be only one standard in Nursery stock, that is 
the best and first class in every respect. Our stock should be 
grown to one high standard, true to name, graded and delivered 
with the sole aim of satisfying our customers and advertising 
our business and as I previously remarked the possibilities in 
future nursery business will be what we as nurserymen make 
it and I am sure it is the desire of every member of this asso¬ 
ciation to work to this end in view. Dependable stocks are not 
grown by accident and we should try to grow the best, price 
should not be considered above quality and we should at all 
times so operate our business that we will advertise our business 
as I mentioned before. “The right kind of stock advertises our 
business, The wrong kind advertises us”—Lets all co-operate 
100% and advertise our business and may I say to our customers 
in behalf of the members of the Southern Nurserymen’s Associa¬ 
tion that if at any time better stock can be grown, we members 
of this association will grow them. Thank you. 
