THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
413 
HORTICULTURAL ADVERTISING 
By Warren J. Chandler 
Witliin the past ten years the eyes of business men all over 
the world have been opened to the decided advantage of 
advertising, though I am sorry to say that there arc still 
some “doubters” who are looked upon with pity by those 
who have “made good,” by up-to-date publicity methods. 
Let us look at horticultural advertising as it is today. 
In the first place it is largely made up of two general 
efforts, advertising in publications and the personal appeal. 
The latter method was for many years the chief one in the 
distribution of nursery stock and in analyzing it now, a great 
deal of the suspicion which the buyer of to-day has when pur¬ 
chasing, comes from the untruthful agents whose only purpose 
was to sell plants regardless of means used. 
This deplorable method is I am sorry to say still employed 
by some agents and the cry of the fleeced is heard on all 
hands. 
Thanks to the new business ideals, this bad i^ractice will in 
time die a natural death. 
As the field of horticulture began to support magazines 
they in turn enlisted the help of the nurserymen and seedmen. 
Today the horticultural establishment failing to advertise is 
finding business difficult to secure. The reason is obvious. 
In viewing advertising from the nurserymen’s standpoint 
there are several conditions which have a bearing on what 
should be the best methods to follow. 
To reach the most practical decision requires an analysis 
of conditions following the answering of the questions given 
below. 
Is my stock commercial or ornamental? 
Am I seeking the trade of the dealer, orchardist or private 
home owner? 
Shall I seek local or wide-spread business? 
Will I do a mail order or agent business? 
Have I a speciality or many good leaders to bring before 
the public ? 
What are my facilities for disbursing goods? 
In dealing with the trade only, descriptive catalogues are 
not essential, but where the consumer buys direct they are, 
and the more thorough they are the better standing is secured 
at the first hearing. 
The fluctuating of prices and sizes in nursery stock 
demands a revised price list yearly or semi-yearly. 
To revise a large descriptive catalogue means not only a 
great amount of work, but has been proven an unwarranted 
expense. This has resulted in a general catalogue having 
few and in some cases no prices or sizes at all. 
Specializing is proving to be the big factor in increasing 
the business of the nurserymen just as it has been in other 
lines of work within the past few years. 
In advertising in the horticultural trade and general 
magazines there is much to criticise. 
In the first place, I feel safe in saying that very few of 
these advertisers can tell you whether their publicity is 
profitable or not and cannot produce a detailed report on 
returns in full. 
What has really made a good deal of this advertising 
successful has been the craving on the part of the public for 
information and stock. The good results, therefore, have 
been in spite of indifferent announcements. 
Of course what I have just said refers to the advertising 
in the garden and general magazines and not in trade jjapers. 
The advertising in trade papers today is of a particularly 
poor character. How many of the announcements in a trade 
paper make an impression on you ? Do you feel inclined to 
respond to any? 
It would seem that the only desire on the part of those 
advertising is to have their name before the readers. I doubt 
if some will even gain this result. 
How much better would a short, live advertisement be 
which would in a few well chosen words tell an interesting fact 
about some product for sale. 
The advertising which is bringing results today is not of 
the business card kind. It tells something beside name and 
address. 
Nurserymen must not think that the proper growing of 
plants is enough. They must let the buyers know about 
them. 
Analyze your stock, get down as near to cost of production 
as you can, regulate your marketing prices accordingly and 
then get after orders. 
In this last work you will need more than a knowledge of 
your stock. You will need a knowledge of human nature and 
how to tell your story to the buyers who are ready to use your 
goods. 
If you feel any hesitancy about how to go about it, then go 
to a good reliable advertising agent and work out a plan with 
him. There is a bright, rosy future for the nurser\"man who 
will get out now and dig, not trees alone but orders as well. 
To do this efficiently he must put as much thought in his 
advertising as he does in his growing. The nurseryman who 
can attract the attention, arouse the interest is pretty sure 
to get the orders if his stock is good. 
NEW BRAMBLES 
Explorations in China during the last few years have 
added to our gardens a very large number of hardy trees and 
shrubs, some of which are of purely botanical interest, while 
others possess decorative qualities which warrant their 
inclusion amongst select ornamental subjects. Of several 
families which have received large additions from these 
introductions, the bramble or rubus family is one of the fore¬ 
most, and a large number of new kinds is a\'ailable. The 
various species differ widely in habit, says a writer \n Garden¬ 
ing Illustrated, published in London, some having vigorous, 
upright branches, 15 feet high, others growing into sturdy 
clumps three to four feet in height; some producing long, 
slender shoots which require support, and others, again, 
rarely rising more than a few inches above the ground. 
Several have distinctly ornamental foliage, the principal 
interest in others being their white or bluish bark. Pecu¬ 
liarity of habit marks some kinds as being quite different 
from that of others previously in cultivation, while the fruit 
of a few sorts suggests that with a little improvement they 
would be able to compete favorably with our garden rasp¬ 
berries and blackberries. In the hands of the hybridist the 
finer fruiting forms may also have a bright future in store. 
