General Tnade Edition 
Dic *DUuNG 
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 
VOL. 20 
WAYLAND, MICHIGAN U.S.A., 
SEASON OF 1953 
NO. 1 
In our Bulletin last year we offered 
aS our opinion regarding the dahlia 
situation this forecast: “We do not 
believe the total acreage in the 
United States available for 1952 
trade will be as great as last year 
nor will prices be very much, if any, 
lower than last year.’’ We all know 
that the demand for dahlias this past 
spring was probably as great as, if 
not greater than, at any time during 
the war when such demand was at its 
peak. Those of us who have kept 
close watch of the classified advertis- 
ing columns in the leading news- 
papers of our trade also know that 
prices have not broken at any point 
during the entire season. This makes 
us feel quite certain that no surpluses 
have been carried over for planting 
this year and also makes us feel per- 
fectly safe in repeating our last 
year’s forecast for the season of 1953. 
As-our customers know, most of 
our trade is with the larger mail 
order seed and nursery houses. These 
people prepare their catalog copy 
early in the fall each year and natur- 
ally when preparing this copy they 
are placing contracts to cover their 
requirements for the coming season 
so they have their supplies assured 
before their catalog goes to press. 
Many of these contracts have already 
been received and most of the others 
will be in long before we start our 
harvest October 1st. To make it pos- 
sible for these people to cover their 
requirements in advance without 
giving a definite order or investing 
money in stock before it is needed we 
many years ago inaugurated what we 
call our Reservation Order plan. 
Under this plan the customer esti- 
mates his requirements and we accept 
his tentative order for same and re- 
serve stock for him until it shall be 
needed next spring. He is not obliga- 
ted to take his entire reservation 
should business fail to meet ex- 
pectations and he is protected against 
any drop in prices throughout the 
season. The plan absolutely insures 
his having stock available up to the 
quantity estimated and always at 
lowest prices prevailing at the time 
goods are needed and also insures 
Dahlias For Fifty-Three 
against his being left with any sur- 
plus which he would otherwise have 
to sell at a loss or plant out in his 
own fields to be sold another year 
thereby making it impracticable for 
him to change his list from year to 
year and keep up to date in the yvari- 
eties he has to offer. 
In addition to our mail order trade 
we have a very large trade with the 
jobbers and florists as well as other 
dahlia growers who, since they are 
not issuing a catalog do not have to 
buy so far in advance of the time 
they need their stock. These people 
will find our Reservation Order plan 
equally desirable to them as to the 
mail order men, because it will en- 
able them to place their order in the 
fall while varieties are still available 
and yet with absolutely no deposit 
required to insure this stock being 
held for them until it is wanted next 
spring. 
We have upwards of eighty acres 
of dahlias this year and we are send- 
ing our list to all of our customers 
early this season to enable them to 
make their selection early and thus 
be sure of their supply when planting 
season approaches. 
We realize that with such an 
enormous quantity of dahlias as we 
should harvest this year we have a 
tremendous problem before us in the 
distribution and marketing of this 
crop. We should have plenty of roots 
to meet all demands but it is our 
principal interest now as it has been 
in the past to see that these roots are 
marketed with satisfaction and profit 
to our many customers. The dahlia 
is unquestionably the greatest of all 
fall flowers and it is also about the 
most easily grown of all flowers. They 
do well in every state in the Union 
and sell well through every method of 
merchandising — through mail order 
catalogs over the counter and at the 
nursery. They are never a glut on 
the market so prices have to be cut 
in order to dispose of them and they 
always sell at prices which leave as 
high profit as any horticultural sub- 
ject. We do not believe you will find 
any line which sells more readily or 
at better profit than the dahlia. 
I have before me a book on “The 
Elements of Marketing’? by Paul D. 
Converse, the Associate Professor of 
Business Organization and Operation, 
University of Illinois, published by 
Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York. In 
this book on page 991 I notice a 
paragraph on “Advantages and Dis- 
advantages of Advertising’’ which I 
am taking the liberty to quote as 
follows: “The chief advantage of ad- 
vertising is the low cost of reaching 
a prospect. An advertisement can be 
placed before many prospective buy- 
ers for the cost of having a salesman 
make a single call. Advertising can 
make its appeal frequently while the 
calls of a salesman are generally rela- 
tively infrequent. Advertising also 
reaches prospects whom. it would be 
difficult for salesman to interview 
because they are not interested. Ad- 
vertising may reach them through 
newspapers, through the mail, or on 
the streets, and may attract their 
attention and arouse their interest. 
Advertising is thus important in do- 
ing the preliminary work of selling. 
The principal disadvantages are its 
lack of personal appeal and insis- 
tence; the ease with which it can be 
overlooked or ignored; its inability 
to answer questions or objection; 
and its weakness in closing sales.” 
I think Mr. Converse gives a very 
clear and true presentation of facts 
in this paragraph and I believe that 
it is of vital importance that every 
mail order advertiser gives careful 
consideration to the points Mr. Con- 
verse gives as the disadvantages of 
advertising, namely, “Its lack of per- 
sonal appeal and insistence; the ease 
with which it can be overlooked or 
ignored; its inability to answer ques- 
tions or objections; and its weakness 
in closing sales.’’ These points can 
be overcome without great difficulty 
if advertising is well prepared. Per- 
sonal appeal rests largely in the mat- 
ter of illustration; insurance against 
its being overlooked or ignored rests 
in proper display; its inability to 
answer questions or objections in the 
proper preparation of copy and its 
weakness in closing sales in the mat- 
ter of price or terms. 
