THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
315 
American Association of Nurserymen 
Office of Secretary, 19 Congress Street, Boston, Mass., August 11, 1916. 
To the Members of American Association of Nurserymen. 
The Executive Committee of your Association, being 
instructed by the recent convention at Milwaukee, lias 
caused to be organized, as a part of the Association's 
activities a Credit arid Collection Bureau for the sole use 
and benefit of members, and under the management of 
Curtis Nye Smith, the Association's Counsel and Secre¬ 
tary. 
This announcement can only briefly outline the 
Bureau’s organization, uses and benefits, but further in¬ 
formation can be secured from the Secretary. 
The principal objects of this Bureau are—- 
1. Cheap, yet efficient collection of members’ accounts. 
2. Prevention of bad accounts by frequent publica¬ 
tions of names of undesirable customers. 
3. Credit Reports. 
4. Free expert legal advice on Bankruptcy, Assign¬ 
ments and kindred subjects: acting as Trustee and Re¬ 
ceiver. 
5. The improvement of the standards of Credit. 
To explain: A co-operative movement of many mer¬ 
chants in the same trade can compel desirable results in 
many matters where separate units, acting independently, 
have no remedy. In the matter of collecting bad ac¬ 
counts, nurserymen have, up to now, failed to use one of 
the most powerful weapons, namely, co-operation. By 
the Bureau’s unique system of collection, impossible to 
secure by the ordinary methods of collection agencies and 
attorneys, the debtor knows, for he is told, that if his 
account is not paid on demand, his name will be published 
to the entire membership, and his credit will cease. This 
is a stern, but fair, compelling force for payment. Fail¬ 
ing payment by this “Demand letter” the claim is vig¬ 
orously pressed by the Bureau’s attorneys and by the 
local attorneys in Debtor’s home town. The entire ser¬ 
vice is comparable to and is as efficient as the best of the 
mercantile or collection agencies. It operates with equal 
effect on California, Florida, Maine or Canadian debtors. 
While the Association’s counsel is in charge, yet the ac¬ 
tive superintendence of this work is with his assistant, 
an attorney having had long and successful experience in 
this work. 
The fees, which are payable only in the event of actual 
collections are moderate and in some instances less than 
those of the reliable mercantile agencies and attorneys, as 
follows: 
1. “Demand letter” (supra). Minimum fee <$1.00; 5 
per cent, on collections of $20.00 to $1000; 3 per cent, on 
excess of $1000. 
2. Attorney Department. Fees 10 per cent, on the 
first $300; 5 per cent, on excess of $300 to $1000; 2*4 
per cent, on excess of $1000. Minimum fee $3.00; on 
items of $6.00 or less, 50 per cent. Minimum suit fee 
$5.00. 
Where local bar rates govern, above rates necessarily 
superceded. 
Net revenue of the Bureau goes to the Treasury of 
your association. 
There are certain regulations to guide members. 
1. Each account shall be in duplicate, one copy being 
itemized. 
2. At present, until the volume of business is ascer¬ 
tained, the accounts shall not be under $5.00 exclusive of 
interest, nor be over 9 months past due. We recom¬ 
mend, however, that accounts be sent for collection 
promptly after falling due as this will create better cre¬ 
dit principles and relieve members of the expense and 
troubles of the labor of collection and prevent losses by 
delays. However, accounts more than 9 months past 
due will be accepted and vigorously pushed on receipt 
of filing fee of fifty cents. 
3. Each account will show whether debtor is a nur¬ 
seryman, dealer or retail customer by the letters “N,” 
“D” & “R” respectively. 
A valuable benefit to members is the “Notification 
Sheets,” giving the names and addresses arranged 
alphabetically and geographically (i. e. by states) 
whether nurserymen (N), dealer (D), or retail customer 
(R), of delinquent, undesirable or unworthy customers. 
These sheets are made up from the accounts actually sent 
in for collection, and so, live information. They are 
periodically issued, more frequently prior to and during 
the shipping season. They can save thousands of dol¬ 
lars to members. 
Credit Report —Information within knowledge of 
Bureau, free. Special local reports, fee 60 cents. 
The Bureau is fully organized equipped and awaits 
the opportunity to serve members. The Executive Com¬ 
mittee recommends that all members send their accounts 
for collection to the Secretary because this Bureau is an 
association activity and is supported by fees earned. It 
is hoped, besides, to make a reasonable profit for the gen¬ 
eral expenses of the association, thereby directly bene¬ 
fiting the members in addition to the great benefits of the 
service itself. 
Curtis Nye Smith, Secretary. 
The U. S. D. of A. reports on a soil survey of Lancaster 
County, Pennsylvania. This county has long ranked as 
one of the leading general farming communities in which 
intensive farming methods are employed. It seems that 
the high rank of this County has been brought about by 
its systems of crop rotation rather than the inherent qual¬ 
ity of the soil, although, of course, the soils have an im¬ 
portant bearing on the results. There are thirty-six dis¬ 
tinct soil types in the county and all have been made very 
productive. Generally a four or five or even six year 
rotation is practiced, although on some soils this is 
lengthened to six or reduced to three on the small farms. 
Grassland is plowed for corn, which in turn is followed 
by tobacco for one year, then wheat, seeded to timothy 
and clover. In the five year system the land is allowed 
to remain in sod for two years. In the six year rota¬ 
tion wheat and grass are grown two years. The three 
year rotation consists of corn, tobacco, following grass 
land and followed by wheat. 
