THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
appeals to the best that is in man. I consider the nurserymen of 
this country among our greatest benefactors. The nurserymen’s 
business is full of hope and hope is one of our greatest attributes. 
You deal almost entirely with the young in plant and tree life 
and whenever we deal with youth in plant or animal life we can¬ 
not but gain inspiration to look forward to the future. 
I have been requested to discuss the nurserymen’s opportunity 
in the reconstruction period. * * * j believe there was never 
a time in the history of this country when the nurserymen and 
farmers had a greater opportunity to render service and to enjoy 
the fruits of their labor. We gain from the world in direct pro¬ 
portion to what we give. We cannot live unto ourselves. 
Sometimes some of us get an exaggerated idea of our rights 
and our neighbor’s obligation, but if we turn this around and get 
an exaggerated idea of our obligation and our neighbor’s rights 
we will find no difficulty in cooperating. We speak of the recon¬ 
struction period; it really is not a reconstruction period for this 
country, it is a readjustment period. Even when we speak of 
the period of readjustment, we mean that now is the time for 
learning to do a number of new things and for doing many of the 
old ones much better than before. We do not mean reconstruc¬ 
tion in a sense that we are first to wreck everything and then 
proceed to rebuild the world out of the salvage. 
I take it that the largest opportunity at this time for each of 
us is to pour oil rather than sand upon the bearings upon which 
the world is turning. You know there are some who would 
rather put in sand than oil, just to hear the noise, even though it 
means an inevitable stopping of the machinery. This is a period 
in which to encourage not class distinction, but class cooperation. 
Each industry must learn its dependence upon the other. Every¬ 
thing is done by organized effort; but, organizations of farmers, 
of labor, of capital, of consumers who only organize to protect 
their interests, who combine only for the purpose of getting their 
rights—they all will miss their greatest opportunity, which is to 
help evolve better ways of doing things. 
COST OP PRODUCTION 
This brings me to a concrete suggestion that I want to make 
to the nurserymen of the country. How many of you here pres¬ 
ent know or believe you know what it costs to produce your nur¬ 
sery stock? The lack of information on the cost of producing 
farm and nursery products is one of the large problems that the 
war has emphasized in this country. I fear if some of you nur¬ 
serymen knew the actual costs of conducting your business at 
present, you would make a number of changes in your practice 
or routine next year. The farmer, the nurseryman, the dairyman 
and every other agricultural producer should know the cost of 
production. This is another great opportunity for nurserymen 
and farmers to use their own best efforts and to see to it that 
the National Government, through the Department of Agriculture, 
and the States through the State Colleges, are so equipped finan¬ 
cially as to aid you in securing accurate costs of production. 
The lack of this definite information has been the cause of 
much friction between various interests and consumers and un¬ 
fortunately has often resulted in injustice to the producer. The 
cost of producing nursery stock has greatly increased during the 
past few years. Do you know how much? If not, how can you 
place a proper price upon your produce? I hope that some such 
steps can be taken to ascertain costs in the nursery business as 
are now being taken by the Government and States in other in¬ 
dustries. 
REDUCTION OP VARIETIES 
I have often wondered in looking over catalogs, if it were 
really necessary for nurserymen to grow such a large number of 
varieties of the same fruit or plant. I believe the sooner we can 
come to standard varieties for different sections of the country, 
the better for the grower and the better for the nurserymen. 
There is little to be gained, it seems to me, by a nurseryman 
carrying such an enormous list of varieties of Peach and Apple. 
Efficiency and standardization of the new age should cause you 
gentlemen to give the subject of a reduction in commercial var¬ 
ieties careful consideration. I am certain that many orchardists 
could adopt the practice of raising fewer varieties to advantage. 
A variety registration system would be helpful. It might be or¬ 
ganized through the National Department of Agriculture. 
standardization of grades 
We should make a united effort to secure Federal legislation 
establishing proper grades of fruit. Nothing will improve the 
marketing of agricultural products generally and fruits in par¬ 
ticular, so much as uniform grades and packages. 
There are many State laws in existence—some good and some 
indifferent—but State laws are not what we want for handling 
the Apple and Peach industry. Especially does this apply to 
Apples. Uniform grades will establish confidence in the market 
for the product. There is a vast difference between grades and 
sizes. We can have any number of sizes, but the grades should 
be uniform. 
CONTROL OF INSECT PESTS AND DISEASES 
I approach a brief refei'ence to these pests with a great deal of 
trepidation. I have known some nurserymen who seem to believe 
that insect pests and diseases were created as special tormentors 
of their business, and that State entomologists and other State 
and national officials take special delight in harassing the nur¬ 
serymen. On the other hand, I believe the nurserymen as a 
whole throughout the country have responded generously to the 
demands of modern times for the control of such pests and dis¬ 
eases as have threatened the industry from time to time. I am 
quite certain that no industry has suffered a greater proportion¬ 
ate loss from insects and diseases than the nursery industry. 
The responsible nurseryman who sticks to the fundamental 
policy that a purchaser of a tree or plant is entitled to receive a 
clean, healthy, good-rooted specimen, has had to contend with 
many difficulties and losses. 
There are many problems in the control of insect pests and 
diseases in the nursery that have not been solved. In fact, it 
seems to me we have made more progress in the control of field 
or orchard pests than in those peculiar to the nursery. I believe 
this national organization can be a very effective force in the 
future, for the encouragement of investigational work which may 
solve some of these problems. 
QUARANTINE 37 
I mention this subject with a still greater degree of hesitancy. 
I have observed the various discussions of the justice and injus¬ 
tice of the regulations that have appeared in the press from time 
to time since the announcement by the Federal Horticultural 
Board. I am not prepared to discuss the details pro and con, but 
I am confident that every nurseryman in this country believes in 
the general policy of preventing as far as possible the introduc¬ 
tion of injurious pests. We have enough with us at present. We 
should employ every method consistent with justice to the re¬ 
spective interests to prevent further introduction of foreign pests. 
While there may be many stocks or seedlings and plants that 
we are not now growing successfully in this country, I am 
among those who believe that we can produce somewhere, some¬ 
how, in this vast land of ours, the equal of plants raised in any 
other country. 
The provision permitting special stocks to be imported through 
the Federal Horticultural Board should provide for the entrance 
of necessary stocks and novelties from abroad. I know the Fed¬ 
eral Horticultural Board has given very careful study to this 
problem and while there may he exceptions that seem to be un¬ 
justified, yet, the doubt, it seems to me, should he in favor of this 
country. I believe in taking an opmistic attitude when there is a 
doubt and I firmly believe that in a few years we will consider 
how near-sighted we were at this time to oppose a policy that is 
in the interest of our business and the country as a whole. I 
