General Trade Edition 
Dic = DUNG 
There is no soil, however barren and unproductive, that cannot, by well digging and dunging, be made 
fertile and prolific—Adapted from Cervantes’ DON QUIXOTE, Part II, Chapter XII. 
Sales and Service Bulletin 
YOL. 17 
WAYLAND, MICHIGAN, U.S.A., SEASON OF 1950 
NO. 1 
ALMOST AS BAD AS A FIRE 
Because of the short growing sea- 
son (extreme drought up to within 
20 days before frost) in 1947 most of 
our crop was immature at time of 
harvest and as a result upwards of 
600,000 clumps were almost a total 
loss. This was the first crop failure 
we had had in 21 years and was the 
first time in our history that we 
were unable to complete the orders 
we had accepted. 
Notwithstanding the fact that we 
notified our customers regarding this 
condition as soon as we were done 
digging, some of them seemed to 
feel that we should complete their 
orders even if we did have to cut 
out some other customer. Such stock 
as we could save was used in filling 
orders but beyond that all customers 
were treated alike. Most of our larger 
customers were able to realize that 
we had experienced a, calamity almost 
as serious as a fire, that we had 
suffered as actual financial loss of 
more than $100,000, and that at best 
it would take two or. three years to 
rebuild our planting stock so we 
could take care of our trade as we 
had previously done. 
We issued no catalog last year 
because we had only 20 acres of 
dahlias and very little stock to sell. 
This year we have upwards of 50 
acres under cultivation and while our 
list is complete and strictly up to 
date supplies of many varieties are 
still somewhat limited. Nearly all of 
our former customers appreciate this 
attitude on their part. We shall try 
our best to take care of our trade 
this year and hope by another season 
that our stock will be up to its nor- 
mal proportions so we can supply 
almost any variety in any quantity. 
WHY DAHLIAS “STEAL” THE FLOWER SHOW 
At almost every fall flower show 
you can hear it stated that the dahlia 
always “hogs the show’. This state- 
ment is an absolute fact and we be- 
lieve that it offers a tip which should 
not be overlooked in preparing your 
catalog. To make this point clear let 
us suppose that A, B and C are three 
neighbors who are very much in- 
terested in their flower gardens. They 
all grow asters, snaps, zinnias, etc., 
and each of them has a_ patch of 
dahlias which is his particular pride. 
A is a traveling man who is home 
only over week ends. B is a local 
merchant who has his evenings and 
week ends in which to care for his 
garden and C is a retired business 
man who has the larger part of his 
time to devote to his hobby. 
When it comes blooming time all 
of these men have really beautiful 
flowers; but you will notice that A’s 
asters and snaps and zinnias have 
just about the same size and color 
as those of B and C, but when you 
look at their dahlias you find a dif- 
ferent story. B has been able to give 
a little more attention to his plants 
than A, and C has given his plants 
better care than either A or B. He 
has been able to give them a little 
more intensive cultivation, water and 
fertilizer just when they were needed, 
pruning and disbudding at just the 
right time and the great responsive- 
ness of the dahlia is apparent in the 
results obtained. A’s Boutilliers are 
10 inches in diameter, B’s Boutilliers 
are 12 inches in diameter and C has 
Boutilliers 15 inches in diameter, 
much better form and color and in 
every way superior to those of either 
of his neighbors. 
It is this very’ responsiveness of 
the dahlia to extra care that makes 
the dahlia booth the point of interest 
in the show, for the dahlias do differ, 
and O, how much they differ. At the 
Battle Creek show we once saw a 
bloom of Hunt’s Velvet Wonder that 
was over 20 inches in diameter and 
even the most experienced growers 
who were in attendance at the show 
commented on the immense size of 
the bloom and asked how the grower 
produced it. 
Now it occurs to us that if the 
unusually large bloom is the main 
point of interesi in the flower show 
why shouldn’t the dahlia be able to 
“steal the show” in your catalog if 
the same rule were followed. Instead 
of using 2% inch cuts use a 5 or 6 
inch cut even if you) have to cut down 
on the number of varieties illustrated. 
One 6 inch cut will sell more roots 
of 4 varieties than 4 2% inch cuts, 
one of each variety. 
Naturally we want your dahlia 
pages to be the outstanding feature 
of your catalog and we really believe 
that it is possible to attain to this 
point when we consider the fact that 
where our records show an average 
of 40 roots per 1,000 pages we also 
show one season when the Inter- 
State Nurseries made the record with 
117 roots per 1,000 pages. Of course, 
the free use of color had a lot to do 
with this but still the record stands 
and surely some of our customers 
should be able to break this record 
especially with conditions as they 
now exist. 
A bargain collection of large 
flowering mixed will help a lot to- 
ward raising your average. 
