N.Z. NURSERYMEN

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 108, 31 January 1919, Page 8

N.Z. NURSERYMEN

: -^^ ANNUAL; CONFERENCE : ." .'■■, ■■"' ' :;i ? ; THE; : PINAL BUSINESS The annual conference of the New Zealand.Association of Nurserymen continued, its sittings yesterday at the'.Dominion "'■Fanners''.'institute.' Mr, '1\ Waugh-presided. In:committee, the conference appointed a committee "to go into the question of opening up overseas markets for dis- ! posing o' nursery Blocks. At the afternoon session Mr. R. Nairn (Christchurch), the incoming president, delivered an address on "The functions of a Leaf." ' ' "The Tractor in Eolation to Horticulture" was the subject of a paper delivered by Mr. G. A. Green (Auckland). Soj far, said Mr. Green, the perfect tractor was not available; nevertheless, power traction , in ■ connection with both agriculture-.and horticulture had : gone beyond the experimental stage. The tractor was here to stay- AVhat it was doing for the farmer to-day it would bo doing for tho orchardist and gardener to-morrow, and the nurseryiunn could not afford to bo left behind. Last evening, Mr. A. W. Hamilton , (Hastings) read .a paper, entitled "AfterWar Conditions and Beorganisation in the Nursery Trade." ■ Mr. Hamilton expressed, the opinion that the .'quality of efficiency would have to , be striven for ,in times of peace, just us much as in war, and co-ordination must also be cul- , tivoted. In short, while they could not „ accurately diagnose after-war conditions,' ~ they knew tlint efficiency, co-ordination, faith in one's own business, a determinn- „ tion to succeed, and the (raining of the ~ individual would ,play a largo part in , settling those>conditions., -On the sub- , ject or reorganisation, Mr. Hamilton , dealt with questions of primary, costing, i ~ reduction of varieties of fruit and other ,„. trees, propagnnda for more extensive j . planting by the people, the" need for liar-1 IL . mony in the relations of Capital and ] ■. Labour, and the establishment: of 'a | , buying and .selling organisation. The t nursery.industry being a basic one, that ~ was, of primary products,: it was most: „ necessary .that every effort-should be i „ made to discover the most- economical i _ methods in running their businesses, and | . he 6iiggested : the. oxtreme importance of I , adopting some system of costimj in the j . nursery trade.. In this country there ■' were hundreds of homes where little or; , no planting -was-- done, • and some that I , was haphazard and. without much regard ! , to beauty or utility, and surely there | „ was i field that the association . could i work in, with tho idea first of beautifying the home, and secondly of increasing I .. their ■■ sales. He suggested that it be a j , recommendation to the executive to go I , into the whole question of a publicity .. campaign, and arrange for a committee,: . if necessary, to take steps to have the „ whole matter properly brought forward. . Labour was going to be more costly than , before the war. In itself 'that was not . the most serious aspect, as a little in-1 , vestigation into the cost of production I would,put.the matter right by levelling j up tho .selling price. The-moro .serious i as_pect was that.; they could not afford to give any: reasonable ground' - for a , feeling of unrest-or dissatisfaction on I ! the part of their employees, or the v cer-! . tainly could not expect to get the best \ ■ • wIV ' T . uo -PTiicious doctrine of "as l.ttlo-work as" possible for" as much' ™ ol ' e £,M Edible" would undermine and ! destroy any business in a very ehort. i , „ time. Most, nurserymen would pay a ! , fair day s pay for a fair day's work, j but many felt that they could not afford i , to do so, as prices obtained for their j . goods did not seem ..'to'"warrant an in-'l . crease in their workirien's wages. .That , was just where n-syste'm of casting would ' ; . wive all, difficulties as to whether a! , selling prp paid or "not." He believed! . it would be worth while to evolve soma 1 , , scheme of co-partnership, which,, if it i could be successfully applied to (hoi ' ,»&' Yr ld ,^,. a t -. 10,, /' wn y Awards en- i 6unn ff the stability, of their business i . -J he conference concluded, its sitting . Jrili k^JS' , tO -*V"the' delegate! j n1» . hC ' g^ste the ' ; ■to"s^" nc,1 _ o,ia ' i " c ~i