C^fje jjfount Qleagant L)re£& 
to all tl )t ^ttrserpmen of tfje Untteb plates 
Q prosperous Qeto Clear ! 
C HE signs of the times point to Prosperity for nurserymen 
—that is, to those nurserymen who have placed themselves 
in a position to deserve Prosperity. There is a class of 
men, of whom a few have crept in among the growers of 
plants, trees and shrubs, who expect to have Prosperity forced upon 
them with a club! Let them not be deceived; His Royal Nibs, the 
Prince of Prosperity, no longer travels with a brass band, nor does he 
break down the nurseryman’s office-door to sit with him, and fatten up 
his bank account! Not much! Prince Prosperity awaits invitation as well 
as deserving, nowadays, and, if he is wanted, he must be prepared for, 
urged to come, and heartily welcomed by performance rather than by 
promise. He can’t be gold-bricked; he has one eye out for the cheap 
man, for the "just as good” imitator, the poor packer, the short-counter, 
the skin-game fellow. He passes silently by such business men. 
But he also misses many honest nurserymen who are hollow-chested, 
and who don’t put on the front that invites Prosperity by seeming pros¬ 
perous, backing it up by the true air of Prosperity that comes from 
doing things just a little better than the other fellow. These are the 
Prosperity-missers who are to be pitied and helped; the other fellows 
are not worth helping. 
Now we are first assistants, almost prime ministers, to the Prince 
of Prosperity who comes to nurserymen, for we give public evidence that 
he has arrived ! We are prosperous ourselves (being not ashamed of it, 
