308 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
be associated with the Verbena shrub, Caryopteris Mas- 
tar anthus, as it has somewhat the same habit of growth, 
hardiness and thrives under about the same conditions. 
Its height rarely exceeds five feet and in the colder local¬ 
ities it is almost herbaceous as the tops kill back. It 
flowers very freely having long terminal spikes, lilac- 
purple in color. It is especially adaptable for the fore¬ 
ground of shrubbery, but is apt to be a little straggling 
if not looked after and pruned back. Pruning may be 
done in the spring without interfering with its flowers, 
as it blooms on the wood of the current year. 
It is propagated very readily from seed sown in the 
spring and may be also increased by soft wood cuttings 
in summer, but with this latter method it is not easy to 
carry the young plants over winter unless they be in a 
well protected frame or cool greenhouse. 
To do its best it should be planted in a light soil and in 
a warm sunny position. 
SHALL THE CONSUMER BUY HIS NURSERY 
STOCK AT WHOLESALE PRICES? 
M. R. Cashman, Vice President Clinton Falls Nursery Co., Owatonna, Minnesota. 
I have read with much interest Mr. A. C. Hanson’s “Im¬ 
pressions of a Retailer on the 1916 Nurserymen’s 
Convention” which was printed in the August num¬ 
ber of your paper. This article of Mr. Hanson’s is a 
good one and promises to start the ball rolling so far as 
bringing out discussions from various angles on this 
very important question. The great problem of “Shall 
the consumer buy his nursery stock at wholesale prices” 
should receive the attention of every nurseryman inter¬ 
ested in the future of his business for to my mind it is a 
question of “Shall the traveling salesman be eliminated 
and nursery stock sold direct through catalogue or 
through wholesalers, or should the retailer, who does 
business through the traveling salesman, be considered as 
a necessary factor through which to distribute nursery 
stock to the consumer at prices that will enable him to 
make a living?” 
I have been attending the National Conventions for the 
past ten years and my impressions of the various nur¬ 
serymen attending the National Nurserymen’s Conven¬ 
tion leads me to believe that the nursery business 
throughout the country is being conducted by men above 
the average intelligence and business ability. There is 
no question in my mind that the nurserymen of the 
United States are fully capable to meet any trying situa¬ 
tion that may confront them in their business. Rut it 
is really very astonishing to anyone either in or out of 
the trade who, noting the great variance in prices quoted 
by the different nurserymen, that such a chaos is allowed 
to exist in the business. 
It is true that the wholesale prices in general are in a 
degree uniform and represent but a very small profit to 
the wholesaler for goods handled in large quantities. Rut 
when it comes to the retail end of the business, we find 
no uniformity in prices whatever. The reason for this 
i$ that many retailers fear that they will not be able to 
dispose of their goods uidess they compete in a measure, 
with wholesale prices, which are being continually made 
to tin 1 consumer. 
The retailer has been driven to desperation in bis 
anxiety to discover some method through which he can 
dispose of bis stock in competition with the big whole¬ 
saler and make enough profit to continue in the business. 
Of course, the retailer selling through agents must not 
only fix his prices to cover the cost of the goods, when 
purchased at wholesale, plus the expense of handling and 
profit, but he must also add the commission paid the 
agent, the freight charges, the overhead expense, shrink¬ 
age on bad bills, and other unforeseen losses. He can 
fairly compete with any other nurseryman handling 
goods in the same manner that he does through agents, 
but be finds himself powerless to compete with the whole¬ 
saler who, after loading the retailer with his entire wants 
for the season, finds that he still has a surplus and quotes 
the consumer prices at wholesale and very often at cut 
prices on “clean-up” stock at the end of the season. In 
almost every community dozens of consumers can be 
found who will tell you that they buy their goods at 
wholesale and very often display price lists much below 
that which the retailer paid for his own stock in carload 
lots. 
The American Public is alive to take advantage of 
every opportunity offered them when buying on the open 
market and they are fast becoming educated to use the 
mails to secure the lowest prices on every item they wish 
to purchase. The wholesaler has reaped a fat harvest 
by being able to dispose of his entire surplus through the 
mail to various planters and it is no wonder that the 
wholesaler is not in sympathy with any plan that would 
curtail the distribution of wholesale lists or the making 
of wholesale prices to those outside the trade. 
The European War has added another burden to the 
retail nursery business in the United States. The ex¬ 
cessive importation of shrubs, ornamentals and in fact 
all kinds of nursery stock has demoralized the wholesale 
market as well as the retail market and prices are now 
being made to planters based on the cost of production, 
not in America, but war-ridden Europe where 19 cents 
will buy 10 hours labor. Catalogues and price lists 
qLioting European grown stock are being distributed 
broadcast through this country. Not, however, quoted 
as European grown, but under the name of well known 
American Nurserymen, and at prices so low that no 
dealer could meet, with stock grown by American labor. 
Is it any wonder that the retailer complains and asks 
tor some sort of protection for his business? 
I believe the time has come when the nursery business 
will necessarily be handled either entirely through the 
