Cbe national IDursorjpman. 
FOR GROWERS AND DEALERS IN NURSERYSTOCK 
The National Nurseryman Publishing Co., Incorporated 
Vol. XXVII. HATBORO, PENNA. NOVEMBER 1919 No. 10 
ACTIVITIES OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION 
The members of the American Association of Nurserymen have 
been attracted by the following notice sent out on Sept. 15th. 
Morrisville, Pa., Sept. 15th, 1919. 
To the Members of the American Association of Nurserymen: 
This letter is to announce that John Watson, a former presi¬ 
dent of the Association, and a man known personally to most of 
you, has been persuaded to accept the position of Executive Sec¬ 
retary, and has already taken over the conduct of the business 
of the Association. 
Mr. RiO-ckwell retired from the management of the Market De¬ 
velopment movement Sept. 1st, and the office maintained by 
him in New York is discontinued. ]\Ir. Watson, who from the 
first has been a promoter of this movement and who in conse¬ 
quence is familiar with it, has assumed its management. 
Curtis Nye Smith severed connection with the Association 
July 1st. A Credit and Collection service, similar to that main¬ 
tained by him will, through an arrangement with the United 
States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, be available to members 
from Mr. Watson’s office. Legislative matters will be passed 
upon by a representative and active committee, which Mr. Wat¬ 
son will assist whenever possible. His proximity to Washing¬ 
ton will be an advantage in this. 
Mr. Sizemore now becomes Assistant Secretary and Traffic 
Manager, though for the present his duties will remain substan¬ 
tially as before. 
New ways for your Association to he of service will open under 
Mr. Watson’s management, and the membership will be kept 
informed. 
Your officers feel fortunate in having secured Mr. Watson and 
are confident the appointment will be popular with members gen¬ 
erally, as Mr. Watson is recognized as a leader among us with 
progressive, profitable ideas for the advancement of the nursery 
industry. 
Address John Watson, Executive Secretary, American Associa¬ 
tion of Nurserymen, 400 Nassau St., Princeton, N. J. 
We want the membership to back Mr. Watson up actively— 
to use his office freely, and, if yon like, confidentially, for in ac¬ 
cepting this position all interests heretofore held by him in any 
nursery enterprise have been relinquished. 
Very respectfully, 
J. EDWARD MOON, 
President. 
Many among the membership knew that IMr. Watson had been 
asked to accept this important office, and had written urging his 
acceptance. This persuasion on the part of the membership, to¬ 
gether with President Moon’s frequent interviews with Mr. Wat¬ 
son, has resulted finally in his acceptance of the position. 
Mr. Watson’s duties have not been defined. It is felt that this 
work is new, and the avenues of usefulness along which such a 
Secretary can work are not yet clearly determined. These will 
evolve as Mr. Watson becomes established in his new position.^ 
He at once becomes ^Manager of the new Credit and Collection 
Bureau, instead of Assistant Secretary Sizemore, as was stated 
in publications a month ago. Announcement concerning the 
Credit and Collection Bureau will go out from Mr. Watson’s of¬ 
fice soon. 
The Market Development movement has, from its inception, 
been endorsed and encouraged by IMr. Watson. It was in need of 
a business man to manage and direct it, who could, as occasion 
lequired, employ for the writing of articles or advertisements, 
talent developed along those lines. The movement’s greatest 
need now it its establishment on a business basis, so that when 
next year membership dues are paid to the National Association 
on a basis of one-quarter of one per cent (%%) of the gross an¬ 
nual business of the members, we shall have established and 
ready a business organization that is capable of giving members 
the greatest return possible on the money thus invested in mem¬ 
bership dues. The funds available for Market Development this 
year are limited, so that it is impossible to look for marked re¬ 
sults immediately, but the foundation should be laid for a great¬ 
er work that is expected when our new basis of dues comes into 
effect. 
There are members in the Association who look to the Execu¬ 
tive Secretary to gather statistics relating to the nursery indus¬ 
try, and to conduct other business not now undertaken. The Ex¬ 
ecutive Committee, and Mr. Watson, are undetermined as to how 
much of this can be undertaken at present, but they are giving 
consideration to these problems, and hope the organization can 
be made of much greater usefulness to the membership generally. 
Because of Mr. Watson’s wide popularity, the President feels 
that there are persons who will expect from him immediately re¬ 
sults which it is impossible for the Association to get at present. 
I want to bespeak for Mr. Watson, therefore, your indulgence 
while he is getting established and making a survey of the possi¬ 
bilities of further service of this Association. Members must 
realize that with their help anything is possible—without their 
help the Executive Secretary can do nothing except mere routine. 
Mr. Watson, of course, intends to keep in close touch with the 
membership, and while committees have been appointed, the Ad¬ 
ministration and the Executive Secretary feel that every member 
of the Association is a committeeman upon whom they can call 
at any time for advice or assistance, so klr. Watson will constant¬ 
ly desire the help of different members in the work that is being 
undertaken. 
Already the members have suggested that Assistant Secretary 
Sizemore should be associated with Mr. Watson in the same of¬ 
fice, that our work can be more efficiently and economically per¬ 
formed. The Administration is aware -of this, but asks the Asso¬ 
ciation’s indulgence longer while the organization is being per¬ 
fected. It seems of vital importance that the Executive Secre¬ 
tary shall be near the Department of Agriculture at Washington, 
and the Federal Congress there, that our relationships in Wash¬ 
ington may be more carefully watched and become more inti¬ 
mate and friendly, with the advantages that accrue from a co¬ 
operation thus made possible. 
CROP REPORTS 
At the Convention in Chicago, the Executive Committee was 
instructed to see if the Federal Government could be induced to 
collect for the nursery industry annual reports of the stock in 
our nurseries. Pursuant to this direction given the Executive 
Committee, Mr. Moon recently spent a day in Washington with 
Agriculture Department authorities discussing this subject. The 
advantages of such annual reports showing the quantity of each 
variety of stock in the country, its size, and the amount held in 
each State, are apparent to the nurserymen, for such reports will 
be invaluable guides to control our propagation, and to help in 
the distribution of the product, so that surpluses in one locality 
can be absorbed where shortages exist in another. 
In Washington the advantages of such a report were laid be¬ 
fore the Federal Horticulture Board, with the statement that 
from authentic information thus gathered they could issue per¬ 
mits for importations based upon a knowledge of the amount of 
such stock already in the country, or on the absence of it. Then, 
too, the advantages that crop reports afford in pest control elim¬ 
inate the necessity for promiscuous quarantine. 
Mr. Estabrook, Chief of the Bureau of Crop Reports, was inter¬ 
viewed. Dr. IMarlatt was out of the city, but his assistant was 
seen. l\Ir. Kellerman and IMr. Sudworth, of the Federal Board, 
were interviewed, and favored such statistics. The result of Mr. 
Moon’s day’s work is that Secretary Houston now has before him 
a recommendation from the Bureau of Crop Reports, endorsed 
informally by members of the F. H. B., that an appropriation of 
$50,000 be asked annually for the procurement of such Crop Re¬ 
ports. As soon as necessary the officers of the Nurserymen’s As¬ 
sociation will go before Secretary Houston or the Agricultural 
Committee of the House, to further advocate the necessity for 
gathering these statistics, and the procurement of the appropria¬ 
tion. 
FILE YOUR CATALOGUES WITH THE SECRETARY 
The Executive Secretary of the American Association has ask¬ 
ed us to say that he will be glad to have on file in the General 
Office of the Association, the catalogue and price-list of every 
member. As publicity and advertising are a vital part of Market 
Development, copies of all advertising matter sent out by mem¬ 
bers will be valuable additions to the files. And, as index to mar¬ 
ket conditions, surplus and want-lists will be welcome and val¬ 
uable information. The latter will be treated as confidential. 
