THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
49 
(4) When vendor in one state ships goods to a factor 
or broker in another state for sale on commission, the 
title to remain in the ex-state owner until goods are sold. 
(5) When ex-state persons establish and maintain 
branch offices or agencies in another state provided the 
agents merely solicit orders which are sent to the home 
office for acceptance. 
(6) And these branch offices may also act as distri¬ 
buting agents for the interstate shipment and delivery of 
the goods on orders previously sent. 
(7) When an ex-state vendor maintains a storehouse 
in another state to which goods can he shipped as ordered 
and from which they can be distributed. 
The obvious conclusion of this discussion is that the 
state’s interference with interstate commerce by means 
of the state’s police power and its constitutional right ot 
inspection is one of great difficulty, and that these laws 
should be carefully drawn. Nurserymen admit, I be¬ 
lieve, that state nursery stock laws are entirely proper 
and necessary to protect the farms, orchards, and wood¬ 
lands of this country from devastating diseases and 
pests likely to be introduced on nursery stock. I am 
equally positive that these nurserymen do not agree that 
this means a license to state legislatures and more par¬ 
ticularly to over-zealous inspection officials to enact or 
promulgate unfair burdens on interstate commerce con¬ 
trary to the rights secured by the Federal Constitution. 
When a state official charged with the execution of a 
nursery stock law not only persistently interferes with 
interstate commerce, even when such interference is un¬ 
supported by the provisions of the state statute, but 
frankly admits, as he did to the writer, that he “did not 
believe in, nor approve of, the nursery business carried 
on through any catalogue measure,” and that if nursery¬ 
men of other states wish to take advantage of the mar¬ 
kets of his state, they should pay for that privilege, the 
nurserymen are justified in inquiring if they have any 
rights under the Federal Constitution. 
The Cost of Growing Ornamental Stock 
A Paper Read at the 13th. Annual Meeting of the Pacific Coast 
Association of Nurserymen 
i 
By Howard Everts Weed, Beverton, Oregon . 
O NE of the first things which I noticed upon coming 
to the Pacific Coast was the varying prices 
asked for ornamental plants. When Weigelas 
are priced at 75 cents each and Junipers at the same 
figure, it is very evident that the grower pays no atten¬ 
tion to the relative cost of production, simply desiring to 
strike a fair average for his selling price. 
A nurseryman is a manufacturer just as surely as is 
Henry Ford. He produces his finished product in a 
different way, to be sure, from most manufacturers, yet 
he does produce the finished product just the same. The 
nurseryman should study the cost of the production of 
his various products in order that the selling price may 
be placed at the same relative price as the cost of produc¬ 
tion It is a well understood rule among manufacturers 
that the lowest selling price is double the cost of produc¬ 
tion. This rule is arrived at by a study of the cost ol 
overhead expense such as interest, insurance, advertis¬ 
ing, postage, etc., and any article manufactured must 
sell for at least double its cost of production or the re¬ 
ceiver is on his way to the factory. 
I am sure that this same rule should be followed in 
the nursery manufacturing business. Let us determine 
the cost of production. Then double this figure as the 
lowest jobbing price. Then add ten per cent, to this 
jobbing price and we have the wholesale price. Then 
add from 30 to 40 per cent, to the wholesale price and 
we have the retail price. 
The cost of the manufacture of ornamentals varies 
greatly. Some plants are easilv propagated and quick 
to reach the selling stage. Others require more time 
and care in propagation and grow so slowly that it seems 
like they never would get large enough to be sold. Some 
plants are sold within one year of their propagation, 
while others require our care for eight or ten years. It 
is but common sense to conclude that the longer we have 
a plant on our grounds the more it is costing us to pro¬ 
duce it. 
Some manufacturers of plants have superior advan¬ 
tages over other manufacturers in that their factory is 
better located so far as soil and climatic conditions enter 
into the manufacture of the finished goods. Some fac¬ 
tories may be located so as to produce superior roses, 
others superior rhododendrons, others superior ever¬ 
greens, etc. It is common sense to say that a manufac¬ 
turer of plants can produce the best and cheapest plants 
where the soil and climatic conditions are best suited for 
any special plants. But any nurseryman as a manufac¬ 
turer should not equip his factory with anything which 
will in any lower the cost of production. In this cate¬ 
gory comes labor saving tools, water supply, and pro¬ 
pagating houses. 
We of the Pacific Coast should study the cost ot pro¬ 
duction more than we have heretofore. We may not 
he able to arrive at the exact cost of production, yet we 
can at least arrive at the approximate cost. If Weigelas 
are to be sold at 75 cents each, then Junipers should sell 
at $3.00. 
