THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
355 
OUR RELATIONS ONE TO ANOTHER—FELLOWSHIP. 
The 
Occasion for the Following Speech by J. 
Annual Meeting of the Southern Nurserymen’s 
R. Mayhew, Waxahachie, Texas, was the Eleventh 
Association, Huntsville, Ala., August, 18-20, 1909. 
A]f/E HAVE made progress during the past twenty 
1 'W y ears > an d while there is yet much to be 
accomplished, who of us, as we glance for a 
yj/ moment over the past, are not pleased with 
what has been wrought. I remember as if it 
were but yesterday, my first canvass for the sale of nursery 
stock in Madison county. An old pony, a pair of saddle¬ 
bags, a plate book, a heart full of hope and love and song, 
were my stock in trade, the asset I had to start with. We 
won, for if memory serves me right, there was paid me in 
commissions that year sixty-four dollars, and sixty dollars 
then was equal to a thousand today. It would go further, 
buy more and last longer. I only refer to the past that we 
may by comparison get a correct idea of the present and a 
vision of the future. Yesterday the nursery business was a 
very small affair, today there are vast fortunes invested in 
the business, and tomorrow it will take a combination of 
fortunes to handle our growing demands. Not only will 
the future call for a combination of capital in handling our 
business, but a closer and more cordial relation must exist 
one to another. Over in Texas the signs are good, and at 
our last State Association meeting the splendid feeling 
between our members was a noticeable feature. 
Referring again to my subject, “Our Relations One to 
Another—Fellowship,” I like the ring of that word fellow¬ 
ship, for it points to a higher ideal in business life, it opens to 
us the possibility of getting out of business something besides 
mere dollars. It is a valuable asset, and while not subject 
to invoice like your growing stock or buildings and improve¬ 
ments, contributes to their worth, nevertheless, and, unlike 
every other of your possessions, is not subject to state taxa¬ 
tion or inspection. This question is an interesting one in 
my state today,and will doubtless grow more so each season. 
Whatever the result of legislation otherwise, it is banding us 
together in the strongest ties of co-operation and through 
co-operation will come fellowship. 
This is well, for man is a social creature and, to accom¬ 
plish his best, must have sympathy, must have love, must 
have fellowship. Today as never before in the history of 
the world, perhaps, man loves his fellowman. Today as 
never before in the economy of business, social and religious 
life, we are striving with our minds and our money for the 
betterment of our brother who is not so fortunate as we. 
Men are spending their lives without counting it costly, that 
in the spending their fellows may be benefited. Fortunes 
are being placed daily on the altar of fellowship, and man is 
learning the lesson taught by the greatest of all teachers 
nearly two thousand years ago, that “It is more blessed to 
give than to receive.” If we accomplish that for which God 
created us, there must radiate from our lives those charac¬ 
teristics that make for fellowship, for aside from service to 
our fellowman, life is an incident. 
I am not a socialist, I would not suggest relations that 
would destroy your individuality, but I do plead for that 
brotherhood of man that makes us all akin, for that fellow¬ 
ship that would guarantee to every man a square deal. Try 
as we may to be just, to be considerate, to be helpful, love is 
the key to the situation, for love is the fulfillment of the law. 
“This commandment give I unto you, that ye love one 
another.” 
But to be more specific, will there be gain to us as mem¬ 
bers of this Association to encourage closer and more cordial 
relations? Is it worth while from a purely business view 
point ? I believe that there can be but one answer to this in¬ 
quiry. Furthermore, I would refer you to like organizations 
in every activity of business life whose sole right to existence 
is the promotion of the common good. I said in the begin¬ 
ning that through co-operation would come fellowship. 
This Association exists for no other purpose than the pro¬ 
tection of your interests, and if the results of our labors as 
an association are satisfactory it will be through the loyalty 
-of its members. Association to be helpful must stand for 
organization in the strictest sense, and should be binding. 
We are strong or weak, as the case may be, to the extent 
that we keep or break the faith. 
For illustration, let us suppose that at a bankers’ conven¬ 
tion, (and I use our banker friends because they are a brainy 
set of sellows, and because they all charge practically the 
same rate of interest on the same class of loans), certain sys¬ 
tems, plans, rates, etc., are adopted as being just to both 
themselves and their depositors. Suppose further, that 
certain members of this organization return to their respec¬ 
tive localities and with malice aforethought conduct their 
affairs contrarily, and that they endeavor to procure the 
deposits on the books of their competitors by circulating 
the report that said deposits are unsafe. Do you think 
loyal members of the Bankers’ Association could find fellow¬ 
ship with these deserters? I tell you what would happen, 
they would cease to be members of this splendid organiza¬ 
tion and, in my opinion, would not be entitled to member¬ 
ship. And again, what would the laity think of the business 
represented by the association? I declare to you that if my 
illustration were put into practice bank stock over the 
country would be on a par with nursery stock. Reverse 
the situation, apply the splendid business methods charac¬ 
teristic of our banker friends, and why wouldn’t nursery 
stock be on a par with bank stock ? I state to you a fact 
when I say that whether you want to or not you are forced 
to treat your competitor fairly. Any action of yours to the 
contrary proves a boomerang. \ ou may think his success 
or failure is nothing to you, but somewhere down the line of 
operation his success will contribute to your success, his 
failure to your failure. Do not understand me to say that 
you will necessarily close the doors of your establishment 
