THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
121 
on the perforated line, and we have a neat, clear and easily read 
' bill, and the entry made for our day book all in the one process. 
We have a Gorin Tabulator attachment on our typewriter 
by which the simple pressing of a key will move the carriage 
along to any desired point, and you can write in columns 
without adjusting the machine for each line. This tabulator 
attachment does not interfere in any way with the use of the 
machine for writing letters when not being used for billing 
purposes. In fact we use these tabulators on all our machines 
as they are a great labor saving device for writing estimates 
or any matter where columns of figures are to be written or 
any statement prepared in tabulated form. 
Under this system we believe that one bookkeeper can do 
the work more quickly and more satisfactorily than three 
bookkeepers with a pen rewriting the account in a day 
book under the old method. 
We also use the loose leaf ledger. As soon as an account is 
paid the ledger leaf is removed from the “live” ledger and 
put in the “dead” cover. When the account is open again 
the “dead” leaf is restored to the “live” ledger. In this 
way our ledger .shows only open accounts. 
THE IMPORTANT STOCK BOOK. 
Our stock book is patterned after the one in use by. nearly 
all nurserymen, but we have ours made to order and espec¬ 
ially ruled to meet our requirements. 
First there is a column in which we note the quantity we 
have to offer,—then the name of the plants, the size; this 
is followed by columns used for prices,—per 10, per 100 and 
per 1000. We show these prices here as we use our stock 
book from which to make up our estimates and, so that 
when the orders are being booked the prices can be 
affixed at the same time to the order sheet for the use of the 
bookkeeper when billing the goods. By using our stock 
book in making up offers and estimates we can see at a glance 
just what stock we have unsold and we never make an offer 
when we are actually sold out of stock, or have not the quan- 
’ tity enquired for. 
In booking these orders we put down the name of the party 
ordering the stock, the quantity ordered and the balance left 
unsold. We know then just what we havedeft without taking 
the time to cast up the figures each time. 
We send out a considerable number of catalogues, folders 
and printed postal cards and for the addressing wo use an 
Elliott Addressing Machine. On this machine we can ad¬ 
dress 10,000 catalogue envelopes on one day. 
Our address lists are all classified and if we want to send 
some circulars to any particular set of customers or to any 
state or states, the cards or envelopes can be addressed 
quickly and without labor of sorting and selecting each name. 
[Mr. Meehan exhibited quite a number of blanks and forms 
offering to send them to all who were specially interested 
in the subject.] 
DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU. 
That Rail Tickets are accepted on D. & B. Daily Line Steamers? 
Under special arrangement with the Michigan Central, Wabash 
and Grand Trunk Railways, all classes of tickets reading via these 
lines between Detroit and Buffalo, in either direction, will lie accepted 
for transportation on D. & B. steamers. 
Send a two cent stamp for illustrated booklet. Address 
D. & B. Steamboat Co., 
Dept. A. ' Detroit, Mich. 
THE SALES END OF THE NURSERY BUSINESS. 
A CLEAR DISCUSSION OF AN IMPORTANT SUBJECT. 
The present dissatisfaction among nurserymen in general, 
with the sales end of the business, is, it would seem, due 
largely, if not entirely, to a lack of system and organization 
of the nurserymen themselves. In almost every other busi¬ 
ness, prices are practically controlled by the laws of supply 
and demand, and this should obtain in the nursery business— 
both as to domestic and foreign stock. 
The line between wholesale and retail business should be 
more sharply drawn and more closely observed. Take, for 
instance, the case of Landscape Architects, buying for their 
clients both large and small quantities of material at trade 
prices, or at figures even lower. Why should the owner 
of a country estate be able to purchase stock at trade prices 
through his architect, any more than if he ordered it direct 
himself? Is this possible in any other line of business ? 
The Landscape Architect, according to customs and rules 
of business generally, should only be entitled to strictly trade 
'prices when he buys outright for his own account to sell again. 
This evil would easily and in a comparatively short time be 
done away with by co-operation among the responsible men 
in the business. If they would agree to stand together on the 
lines indicated, and, when called upon to quote prices in com¬ 
petition, they would name only such figures at which first- 
class stock can be sold to ensure a profit, and never quote 
nurserymen’s prices to anyone outside the trade, or those 
strictly entitled to trade rates, it would tend directly to make 
purchasers realize that good stock is always worth a good 
price, and that quality is to be preferred to cheapness of price. 
Under the present conditions, with so many irresponsible 
men in the business, against whom one is called to bid in 
competition, it is simply “a cut-throat game;” hence, it 
often follows that the man with the worthless, poorly-grown 
stock is getting the business and making money out of it, or 
else the more responsible houses are meeting his figures and 
selling a far better quality of stock at a price that, for the 
very reason that the stock is better and has cost more to 
grow, is causing their books to show deficits instead of profits. 
As to the competition from the department stores coming 
into the field, and offering stock at prices so far below the 
actual value of good material of its kind, this will cause no 
one any fear, for it will not take people long to realize that at 
the prices at which they sell, they cannot deliver high grade 
stock either as to name or quality. The department stores 
have been offering Holland grown roses at two for a quarter, 
or less, and as no one for a moment imagines that they are 
willing to lose money, it is easy enough to understand that 
they buy cheaply; and yet to anyone familiar with the price 
of first-class Roses in Holland, it is difficult to realize how, 
if they pay the current trade price, the department stores can 
make the price they do. But, as a matter of fact,, they do 
not pay the current trade price, or always get stock that is 
true to name. The stock they obtain is not infrequently 
culls that no first-class nurseryman would invest in, but the 
Holland grower is learning a few Yankee tricks, and is glad 
to get rid of his worthless stock at any price, and may chance 
to label a Cabbage or Provence Rose with a La France or 
Hermosa Label, with few, if any, qualms. This of course is 
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