OVER THE GARDEN GATE 
HOWDY FOLKS: 
It’s been a long time since we chatted over the garden 
gate. Since then I’ve been from here to Boston, down to 
Washington and cross country to Seattle visiting some of you. 
I’m sorry I could not call upon all of you. If I had tried to, 
I suppose I’d still be traveling. 
Nearly everywhere I really got a warm reception, in more 
ways than one. Some places were like St. Louis where they 
told me it was the warmest for some thirty years. Just the 
same I enjoyed it and thank you for making the journey 
pleasant. 
I think what I learned was fully as important as the extra 
sales I put into the bag. I don’t have room to thoroughly dis- 
cuss them here but I will mention a few items. I found that 
some of the items we have been offering you are too small for 
your best use. In the future the minimum size of all plants 
we list under name, will be aimed to properly balance a two 
and a quarter inch pot and be ready for immediate sale. You 
will turn them over faster and so we will make more by sell- 
ing you more. 
I found some folks who habitually place their orders 
through brokers. I do not have a thing against brokers. They 
have a place in our system. We do not sell through brokers, 
simply because there is not enough margin in our price scales 
to permit us to pay them their twenty per cent commission 
and still stay in business. In 1940 we paid men eighteen dol- 
lars a week and sold plants for three dollars a hundred. Now 
the equivalent labor costs us fifty dollars and we sell better 
plants for five dollars a hundred. So to be sure of our plants 
which we think are the best, send your order direct. 
It seemed strange to find that most of our customers that 
are re-selling at wholesale, are selling pot size rather than 
plants. That is they are selling plants in a certain pot size at 
a flat price per pot regardless of the kind of a plant that was 
in it. This has made the cheap weedy type of plant more prof- 
itable than the choicer and slower growing ones. Consequent- 
ly, in many places the public has been fed a small group of 
these cheaper kinds until they are tired of them. 
Competition is considered a good thing. Yet it can be 
over done. For example. When I got into the territory of one 
of the largest distributors in the country, I began to hear 
squawks about his competition. When I finally got around to 
see him, he told me I would be surprised at the competition 
he had to meet and named a lot of these fellows that had been 
talking about him. In other words, they would all like to get 
a few cents per pot more but were pricing in a ridiculous 
manner for fear of this bogey man of competition. 
Since I have been home, I have put most of my time in 
our twenty by hundred foot seed germinating glass house. 
There are over five hundred flats of seedlings there that re- 
quire the care of a nursing baby. Among them are a number 
of kinds, from seed I personally collected in the wilds, that 
have never been on the wholesale market. Most of them will 
not be ready for shipping until about this time next year. One 
of the big green house operators I visited said it seemed 
strange to hear cactus growers talk about one to two years 
to get plants ready to sell in the smallest sizes. He said when- 
ever anything was in his houses for ninety days, he began to 
think something was wrong. 
We have put Haworthias back on our list. We have held 
back on offering these for several years while we have been 
working up stock. We think we have enough on the assembly 
line to insure a steady supply of them. The best of these 
plants are grown from leaf cuttings and it averages two years 
of growing. We think these are one of the best items we offer 
as they wil! take light or shade, water or no water. 
We have always stressed the offering of our plants under 
name together with a definite price for an approximate size. 
There are some desiring shipments of a few hundred plants, 
who will find it more advantageous to order assortments and 
leave the selection of kinds to us. We ship equal numbers of 
each kind in these assortments (except Gates Dish Garden) 
and every plant in each assortment is worth the price. For 
your convenience, these assortments may be ordered under the 
names given below. 
SUNSET—AII cactus, all succulents or mixed as requested for 
2-21 in. pots at $5.00 per 100. 
GOLDEN WEST—Larger plants of the Sunset group for 
214-3 in. pots at $7.50 per 100. 
LITTLE JEWEL—These are the slow growing choice cactus 
of our price group “B” for 2-2 /% in. pots at $7.50 per 100. 
ROYAL—Larger or choicer plants for 21-3 in. pots. Please 
say whether large size or choicer kinds are preferred. 
$10.00 per 100. 
GATES DISH GARDEN ASSORTMENT—Carefully select- 
ed cactus and succulents in varying numbers from all size 
and price groups for the purpose of making up complete, 
well balanced dish gardens. $6.00 per 100. 
Vaya con Dios, 
MISTER CACTUS. 
Prices listed are for 100 of a kind. For smaller lots of a 
kind add the following percentages to the price: 3 to 6 plants 
add 50%; 7 to 11 add 30%; 12 to 24 add 20%; 25 of a 
kind or more take the hundred rate. Minimum wholesale order 
is $5.00. Approximate sizes of the plants we offer are given 
in inches below the price group headings. For quantity dis- 
counts see “TERMS”. 
Price Group A B C D 
CACTUS PLANTS Price persl00 $5.00 $7.50 $10.00 $15.00 
ASTROPHYTUM myriostigma. Spineless Bishop Cap. Globular, usually five angled, covered 
with white dots, yellow flower.............--------------------------2-0c2e-coo ce een nce cscs cese neste 14-1, 
ASTROPHYTUM ornatum. Spiny Bishop Cap. Globular, usually five angled, many white 
dots, stout spines, yellow flower.............-.---------------------------2-----oeecce cron 1-2 
CARNEGIA gigantea. Arizona Giant. Globular, becoming heavy columnar, many ribbed, 
short stout spines......._......-.--.------------------------scee cece ence cece cence enero cee ceca nese annceneceteceee 1-2 
CEREUS peruvianus. Peruvian Apple Cactus. Tall, angular, bluish, short spines.................... 2-312 3-5 5-8 
CEREUS peruvianus monstrosus. Tall, columnar, knobby and: knatled2332) eae 2-3 3-5 
cS sh RR a a SN) LL PE cc 
