162 
THE NATIONAL NUESERYMAN 
The Guarantee as a Business Builder 
The guarantee is a business builder beeause it is a 
eoiilideiice builder. Select in any industry to-day those 
linns wliieli you consider most successful. Does not the 
very fact of their success beget your conlidence? Is not 
the present standing of those linns a guarantee of their 
treatment of you? If then it be impossible for us to 
imagine a truly successful business without this element 
of conlidence, this guarantee of fair treatment to the pub¬ 
lic. Is not the reverse equally true? x\re not two things 
which are equal to the same thing, equal to each other? 
If it be imposible to build a truly successful business 
without this element of conlidence entering in as a foun¬ 
dation and backbone, should not every business which 
aspires to greater success, see to it that lirst of all it 
establish conlidence with the public as the very iron 
frame work of the business structure it intends to build? 
Business is built on and around conlidence. Without 
it business is not built; without the confidence of clients, 
business is shaky and will never rise above the first 
story. It is like going up hill with half the cylinders of 
your car missing. You have cylinders and other parts 
that are not only in disuse but worse, they are a drag on 
the good cylinders—all for the want of good spark plugs. 
Well the guarantee for nurserymen is like possible 
Spark Plugs—use them and they will develop confidence 
building power. Say what you guarantee and it will go. 
—Why?—because that guarantee is a definite index to 
others just where you stand, an index of your confidence 
in your own goods, and confidence you must have if you 
expect the customers to have it; for confidence is con¬ 
tagious—lack of confidence is even more so. Your lack 
of a guarantee to some minds is index to your lack 
of faith in your own goods. It is a sign to many that you 
dare not claim anything for your goods because they 
will not stand it. 
The undersigned well recalls the time, place and cir¬ 
cumstances when he was first urged to guarantee nur¬ 
sery products. He scorned the idea—“What! guarantee 
plants to grow—why that depends on the customer.” And 
then came back the actual experience of the firm which 
offered a certain number .of socks, worn alternately for 
a certain number of weeks with the guarantee to replace 
any which showed holes in that time. It worked and 
when it was tried on nursery stock it worked there and 
has for fifteen years. It is doubtful if proportionately as 
many plants are being replaced to-day to make good 
losses as were in the years before this guarantee went 
into effect. Whereas formerly only those who kicked 
got it. Now all our clients, present and prospective are 
being inoculated with the virus of this confidence build¬ 
ing guarantee, and even if they pay a little bit more for 
the stock, they are happy in the security that the firm 
stands ready to make good. From the nurserymen’s 
standpoint, the hap})y and safe tiling about the situation 
lies in tbe fact that the majority of peojile are honest— 
those so mean as to ask for more than a square deal, if 
decently treated are so scarce, as not to affect the results, 
by even a half of one per cent. 
Is there a reputable one of us in the American Asso¬ 
ciation of Nurserymen to-day who does not furnisli liis 
retail client with at least this service;— 
1. True to Name 
Stock 2. Free from Disease. 
3. Arrival in good condition. 
Is not eveiTi clean wide awake nurseryman doing this 
to-day? Helping his customers to collect claims if the 
Bailroad be at fault. Are not these three things a type 
of service now rendered by most genuine nurserymen— 
but do we say so? Why hide this distinction. Why not 
speak out and say what we do and stand back of it and 
insist that everyone else who says it shall likewise, do it 
—Then let the Public know that there are nurserymen 
and nurserymen, and they will quickly see which ones 
to trust. 
After all it is Service the Public wants. The public 
can be trusted to guard itself from hucksters, if we 
teach the Public to know the sign and seal of those nur¬ 
serymen from whom they can get fair value and a 
square deal. We who know and practice modern mer¬ 
chandising methods, without overstating, dare to say so 
in a plain confidence building guarantee. Why longer 
let this asset appear only on the expense side of our 
ledgers, where if capitalized into a Business Building 
Guarantee, my experience leads me to believe, that it 
can be made to produce increased business, higher 
prices and more profits. 
West Grove, Pa. 
“One Who has Tried It.” 
P. S. One American Nurseryman, perhaps one of the 
largest moneymakers has outstript us all. See his guar¬ 
antee. (Catalog of Geo. G. Roeding, Cal.) 
HOW IT WAS “DID ” IN DIXIE 
Once upon a time, several years ago, one of the mem¬ 
bers of The Southern Nurserymen’s Association stated in 
open meeting that he felt that the time had come for 
nurserymen who worked through agents to get together 
on a certain proposition, and called a meeting for all who 
were interested. This meeting was held several months 
afterward with fairly satisfactory results. However, 
there were one or two leading concerns that could not 
be induced to line up on the work at that time. 
On account of the fact that wc could not get full co¬ 
oper dion, the proposition came pretty nearly going 
through, but as time went on, everybody knew more and 
more that we needed to ork together, and we finally 
got the parties who would not go in at first to lino up, 
and now they are really the most enthusiastic supporters 
of the movement. 
The main idea is simjily that we had to go ahead al¬ 
though we could not get everybody interested, and even 
now there are some of the nurserymen who have not 
joined in; in fact, we do not hope to ever get them all in. 
We have to keep everlastingly at it. 
0. Joe Howard. 
