What You Should Know about Sriter-State Nurseries 

First of All, the Soil—Ever look at Hamburg on the map? 
You will notice it is near the center of the United States. 
Did you settle there by accident? Or on purpose? 
The answer is: on purpose. We looked around for a long 
time, checked many locations, and finally picked Ham- 
burg for one big, overwhelmingly important reason—THE 
SOIL. 
If you ever come out to Hamburg, pick up a handful of 
this dirt, and you will see what we mean. It is the kind of 
soil the geologists call loess (16-és)—a word from the same 
¥ 
L. R. (Les) SJULIN 
L. R. SJULIN (““LES’’) is responsible for 
the planning, writing, illustrating and 
production of the colorful catalogs that 
enable you to plan your planting at 
your leisure in your own home. zines and newspapers. 
Who Built Inter-State? Friends, if you imagine for one moment 
that we think the whole answer is “‘the Sjulins,’’ let us tell you that 
we think this only a small part of the story. Sometimes, when we 
drive over the 1600 acres of the nurseries here, we fee! proud. Proud 
of what Inter-State has grown up to be—and immensely grateful. For 
we know that Inter-State owes just about everything it is to its great 
army of customers. 
The People of America. The real builders of Inter-State are people 
scattered over the whole face of America. All the way from the tip of 
Maine to Southern California. All the way from Puget Sound to the 
Florida Everglades. People who have loved their homes and wanted 
to make them beautiful. Backyard gardeners. Farmers setting out 
orchards and berry patches—who wanted the best, because they knew 
the real profit is always in the best. Growers of roses and flowering 
plants—some of them wealthy, but most of them people who have had 
to spend carefully for the beautiful things in our catalogs. These are 
the people whose faith and support built Inter-State Nurseries—and 
this we do not allow ourselves to forget. 
How It All Started. Inter-State, you may be interested to know, 
began business in 1919 as wholesale growers of nursery stock. We grew 
fields of fine plants and supplied them to retailers. Our customers in- 
cluded distributors whose names suggested superb quality in every 
part of the country. But along came 1929 and the years of depression 
that followed. With the retail companies unable to distribute, whole- 
salers were left with fields of prime stock. Some thought there was 
nothing to do but wait for better times. But Inter-State thought 
differently — 
A Plan Takes Shape. This choice stock of plants and trees we had, 
as fine as any in America—certainly there were, somewhere, people 
who would want these things if they knew about them. Surely they 
would respond to fair prices, and to good treatment. But how could 
CARL O. (Billy) SJULIN 

CARL O. SJULIN (‘Billy the Nurseryman’’) 
prepares our broadcasting programs on 
nearly 50 radio stations as well as direct- 
ing our advertising campaign in the maga- 
origin as ‘‘loose.”’ And that is exactly what it is—rich, 
soft, loose. Plants grown in it develop the strong, healthy 
root systems that make them thrive when transplanted to 
your yard or garden. It isa very rare type of soil, occurring 
in only a few places throughout the entire world. 
And the Climate—Here at Inter-State we have a good long 
growing season—time to make the husky plants you want 
to. set out. Neither too hot nor too cold—but vigorous! 
Plants, like people, do best in a climate that is “not too 
much ear-muffs, not too much siesta.” 
D. L. O. (Dave) SJULIN 
D. L. O. SJULIN (“DAVE”) manages 
the business offices and directs a large 
staff of trained workers who acknowl- 
edge, record and ship your orders at 
the proper planting time to every state. 
we reach them? The way, of course, was to go to the public direct. So 
we decided to become retailers, and in 1931 we issued our first catalog. 
What People Liked. It took courage to take the step, but our de- 
cision to enter the retail business turned out to be one of the wisest 
things we have ever done. Adversity turned out to be a blessing in 
disguise. People liked the things we shipped them. “Those roses you 
delivered,” they would write, “have the most magnificent roots we 
have ever seen.”” Then would come another letter telling us how well 
the plants were blooming—and often enclosing the names. of neigh- 
bors who wanted our catalog. (We learned the power of the voice that 
tells good news across the back fence.) 
“That Something Extra.’”’ Our early customers found that they 
could count on what we told them. They could tell, of course, that we 
were enthusiastic about our goods. But what pleased them most, we 
think, was the discovery that what we delivered was generally at 
least a little better than they expected. Our customers came to look 
to us for extra quality; for fair prices; and for alertness in searching 
out new varieties—being careful that they are good as well as new. 
They were impressed by our practices—like selling only fruit trees 
budded from proven bearing trees. : 
They learned that the big question at Inter-State is, Will this product 
give the customer the permanent satisfaction he has a right to expect? 
Please continue to count on “that something extra” in value 
and quality. 
This, then, is a short story about Inter-State Nurseries, a national in- 
stitution which has helped make America More Beautiful, More 
Fruitful. The proudest possessions we have are the thousands of vol- 
untary letters telling about the greater enjoyment, better health, 
more beauty and the satisfaction of making homes better places in 
which to live. 
