8 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
willi Ih'I’ success when she observes her name 
in tin* pri'ss among the list of j)rize winners, and it does 
not really matter to her what the exhibit is, if it secures 
the honors. 
It is at the dower shows that estate owners often be¬ 
gin to '‘sit up and take notice.” They see the exhibits 
frotn neighboring estates and wonder why they cannot 
have the same high quality tlowers as their neighbors 
show. Tben they begin to feel that while they are paying 
the l)ills, tlu'y are not obtaining the results. This is not 
always their gardeners’ fault, for the disbursements are 
not always sutlicient for the results they desire. Jlut 
ho^^ are the (mij)loyers to know this, if their gardeners 
do not intelligently inform them how much more could 
be accomplished in making the estate attractive through 
a little additional exj)enditure? 
When a man is placed in charge of a business, he is 
expected to produce certain results, and if he cannot, it 
remains with him to make known the reason why. 
When a gardener tinds that he is not ])roducing satis¬ 
factory results, due to certain restrictions or limitations, 
in justice to himself he should inform his employer why 
the results are unsatisfactory. In doing so, he may suc¬ 
ceed in having the restrictions removed, and at least he 
is performing his duty in informing his employer why 
the anticij)ated results are not forthcoming. ' 
There is no (luestion but that the employers are de¬ 
manding more and more that their gardeners possess 
initiative to recommend how' an estate may be improved 
in order to provide more pleasure for its owner, and not 
merely be able to ‘‘keep a ])lace up” Tbey are looking 
for quality in tbeir gardeners as w ell as ability to work 
and can see no reason wby tbey should not have it. 
Somelimes it becotnes necessary to explain that they are 
not paying the quality price, but this is usually met with 
Ihe resj)onse that they are willing to i)ay the price if they 
can obtain tbe (luality. Now this in no mere theory, but 
is based on wbat actually transpires in interviews with 
estate owners who visit our offices, and who come from 
all parts of the country. We are meeting with an entire¬ 
ly new" class from all parts of the country. We are 
meeting w ith an entirely new" class of owners of country 
estates, men still actively engaged in business wdio are 
ac(iuiring estates somewdiat as toys with wiiicli to play 
and who wish to possess them for the joy they may de¬ 
rive from them, and not because society demands tliat 
tbey must own them. 
The employers are manifesting much interest in the 
afl'airs of their gardeners through their support as sus¬ 
taining members of tbe gardeners’ national association, 
by the way they entertain them during their annual con¬ 
ventions, and in patronizing the association when knotty 
j)roblems arise over the management of their estates. 
It remains w ith the gardeners to continue to increase this 
prestige by showing that if given but half a chance, they 
are willing and interested to minimize the annoyances 
that estate owners have sometimes to contend w ith, for 
when all is said and done, it is really a fifty-fifty propo¬ 
sition. 
Let us start now to do our share to make the big shows 
of the spring of 19'24 a tremendous success. Their suc¬ 
cess w ill arouse a greater interest in American horticul¬ 
ture which spells greater opportunities for the profes¬ 
sional gardeners. You may not be in a jiosition to pre¬ 
pare anything for the big classes, but you must be un¬ 
usually bandicaiiped if you have some glass and cannot 
grow a specimen plant, sometbing not commonly grown, 
or a few dozen blooms to exhibit. It is far more credit¬ 
able to be able to say w hen the show s are over, ‘‘I also 
ran,” than to have to confess that you did not try at all. 
There is nothing on earth today what will heal the 
jealousy and hatred that is })ermeating it, as w ill the love 
for llowers, for he w"ho loves flowers, must love God, 
and he who truly loves God, cannot long hate his fellow" 
man. So fellow gardeners, yours is a great mission 
through the ministry of tlowers. Interest your employ¬ 
ers in it. Approach them as friends, for if you have your 
employer’s confidence, you will surely find that they 
are friends and that they will give their co-operation 
and support to any good motive you may present to them. 
It is through better gardens and more flow er shows that 
this gospel of the flowers can be spread. 
T. SAKATA HAS NARROW ESCAPE FROM THE 
EARTHQUAKE 
The follow"ing letter w ill be of interest to nurserymen, 
as it w as an answ"er to an inquiry by the National Nur¬ 
seryman how" T. Sakata & Co. had fared during the ter¬ 
rible earthquake: 
The National Nurseryman, 
Dear Sir:—It is very kind of you to make inquiry as 
to how" we fared during the terrible earthquake. Just 
tw o minutes before noon of September 1st the first quake 
started and within thirty seconds the roof of our three- 
story house came down, burying eleven of us. Our office 
was a wooden building. The w riter was buried under 
the roof but through being near a strong large safe, 
w hich prevented the roof falling on me, I thus escaped 
death. I tried to dig out but every effort was in vain 
until one of our boys, who had escaped, came to my aid 
and dug me out after about tbirty minutes. I was in a 
terrible condition, my clotbing practically torn from me 
while getting out from under tbe building. 
To our great delight and surjirise we dug out eleven 
boys and girls. Tbey escaped mucb injury w hicb was 
truly miraculous as we found nearly all our neighbors 
lost some of their families. After w^e had escaped from 
the building into the road we found it under w"ater so 
w'^e had to go to Yokahama Park, together w ith our em¬ 
ployees to spend the rest of the day and night, until four 
o’clock the next morning. 
When we reached home I found everything was in 
good condition, the majority of the families of our em¬ 
ployees had escaped with their lives. Everything was 
burned but fortunately the majority of seed stocks were 
not in yet and our loss has been comj)aratively light. 
We are shipping all of our trees and flower seeds to 
our Chicago branch, where they w"ill attend to the de¬ 
livery, etc. It is the only way we can do under our 
present condition. 
Thanking you very much for your interest and sym- 
])athy, we are Sirs, 
Yours veiy truly, 
T. Sakata. 
