320 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
PROPOSED HISTORY OF THE NURSERY TRADE 
To the Editor: 
For some years I have had it in mind to write a history 
of the nursery business in this country: its beginnings, 
its development into a great industry and its contribu¬ 
tion to the country’s present beauty and wealth. And 
while I have gathered material and worked upon it from 
time to time, the real work has been put aside as often 
to give time for more pressing things. 
The history of an industry is largely the history of the 
men in it. The nursery business in this country—in its 
larger aspects—does not date back very many years; 
there are men living now who saw and had part in its 
real development and first important and national 
growth; but those veterans are in their autumn days and 
if the valuable data they can furnish is to be had and 
preserved, the work of gathering and compiling this 
information must be done now. 
I do not undertake the work because of any idea that 
I am the one to do it; rather because it seems to me 
something that ought to be done and that hasn’t been 
undertaken. There are others with wider experience 
and more capable; but somehow the work hasn’t attract¬ 
ed them. It is something that calls for co-operation; to 
make it possible and to bring it to completion, means 
the assistance of very many in the trade. It will have 
to be a composite piece of work. 
My plan is to proceed to the point where the cost of 
the publication can be estimated and then to ask for 
enough subscriptions to guarantee the printing. I real¬ 
ize that the sale of such a book would have to be lim¬ 
ited; that the nature of it would interest only nursery¬ 
men and possibly not a great many of them. It could 
not possibly represent any great profit. Nor do I wish 
to approach the task in any spirit of money-making. It 
must be a labor of love. My identity with the nursery 
business since childhood, my acquaintance with the men 
in the trade and my association with them in various 
trade organizations, make me wish and hope to make 
the volume (with their assistance) an appeciation and 
expression regarding the industry: one that we will care 
to have in our libraries. 
I said that the history of an industry is largely the his¬ 
tory of the men in it; therefore it will contain much of 
biography and the record of leading firms in the busi¬ 
ness. Rut it is to be in no sense a directory. A direc¬ 
tory concerns the present and is temporary. 
If there should be enough subscribers to insure pub¬ 
lishing the volume, it will then be offered for general 
subscription; any surplus over the actual cost of print¬ 
ing and any amount received for later subscriptions, will 
be donated, with their consent, in the name of the guar¬ 
antors, to the American Association of Nurserymen to be 
used in advancing the nursery interests of the country. 
And as 1925 will be the 50th anniversary of the organi¬ 
zation of the association, I think it would be suitable to 
mark the occasion by the publication of this history and 
I hope to have it ready then. Whether that will be 
possible, depends on the co-operation that I confidently 
expect from the nurserymen. 
</ 
National Planting Service 
A TO MAKE - 
XTT3 ip Z\ MORE 
BEAUTIFUL 
CONDUCTED BY AMERICAN ASS'N OF NURSERYMEN 
F.F. ROC 1CWELL, -M.gr. 
BRIDGETON, N.J. 
The work of the National Planting Service, which is 
directed by the Market Development Committee of the 
American Association has been going on since the ap¬ 
pointment of the new committee with Mr. Paul Lindley, 
of Pomona, N. C., as chairman. 
To judge from the comments, made by nurserymen 
whom we occasionally have visit us, the rank and file of 
the membership of the association have very little con¬ 
ception of the extent of the work carried on and of the 
vast amount of detail involved in conducting these sev¬ 
eral branches of the program of the Market Development 
Committee. 
The first thing on this program will be a continuation 
of the educational articles syndicated to newspapers, 
which have proved so effective and so popular for the 
last three years. 
These have proved so popular that two or three of the 
newspaper syndicates, one in the West and one in the 
South, have recently asked that we supply the material 
direct to them so that they can hand it out to their own 
newspapers as part of their regular service. 
It Is Your Own Fault if You Don’t Get These 
Articles Used in Your Own Papers 
One of the greatest troubles which we have always 
had in attempting to get 100% returns from our news¬ 
paper work is the difficulty of getting individual mem¬ 
bers of the association to co-operate by taking up the 
matter of the publishing these with their own local 
newspaper. We know from scores of instances where 
this has been done that it can be done. It merely re¬ 
quires a little gumption on the part of the local nursery¬ 
man, particularly if he places advertising with his local 
newspapers, to bring these articles to their attention and 
to see that they are used. In most instances, no urging 
is necessary. If your local newspapers are not carrying 
this material, write directly to F. F. Rockwell, Manager 
National Planting Service, Rridgeton, N. J., and he will 
send you the ammunition and tell you how to use it. 
We have been making a canvass of the newspapers 
using the publicity service, to find out which of them can 
make use of mat illustrations, along with the text. As 
many of the articles, sent out during the early spring as 
possible, will be illustrated. The extent to which this 
work can be done this year will depend upon the amount 
of funds available for this particular purpose. 
Are You Using the Planting Service Booklet? 
During the past year there were distributed a half 
million copies of the two booklets, “It’s Not a Home Till 
It’s Planted, " and “It’s Not a Farm Home Without 
Fruit.” 
Samples of the new edition of these two booklets have 
just been mailed to all the members of the association, 
and orders for the new edition are coming in rapidly. 
If, by any chance, you have not seen these, send at once 
for sample copies even if you are not a member of the 
John Watson. 
