Re: Fw: Registration
- Subject: Re: Fw: Registration
- From: C*
- Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 18:05:52 -0400
Once again, I want to remind everyone that I am just having a little fun with Bill.
I totally disagree with him, but I hope most of you can see that I'm just joking
around a bit. I say this because right about now I usually start getting e-mails
telling me to quit being such an awful person.
Chick
Chick wrote:
> Hi again Bill.
>
> I've read through our messages again and I think I can see why we don't see this
> in the same way. You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.
>
> I tried to go through your message and note all the mis-statements, errors,
> fantasies, and just plain dunderheaded nonsense, but I was simply overwhelmed.
> So, the best I can do is simply make a list of all the things I can think of, in
> the limited amount of time available, that you should know before you go on.
>
> 1, Your initial statement that there are no new interesting hostas being
> introduced is utter nonsense. Mary, would you like to whop him upside the
> head? "Stuck in a
> rut of endless variations of the same old thing"? If you want something
> different than variations on the same old hostas, try perennial gardening.
> Hostas are hostas and First Look is not going to come up with some hitherto
> unknown cache of revolutionary new plants, unlike anything else we've ever
> seen. It may come up with one, two, maybe even ten, though I doubt it, but if
> those plants are truly revolutionary, they would be discovered and put up for
> sale anyway. If everyone is so sick of all these boring new introductions, what
> do you think we're doing with them all. We're selling them, that's why there
> are more and more of them every year. Not every one is a jewel, but if you
> can't find enough interesting plants among all the new ones being introduced to
> keep you going, then you need to find a new hobby.
>
> 2, You totally dismiss the fact that, for the most part, the tc labs will
> determine what is sold. Certainly a couple of breeders and nurseries may make
> arrangements for these exclusive deals that you envision, but what great benefit
> is that to the world of hostas? Exclusive deals keep availability limited, keep
> price up, and as far as I can see, in no way benefit the consumer. I'm not
> against them, but if I get one it's for my benefit not yours. The best way for
> plants to be distributed, strictly from the customers point of view, is through
> the tc labs. Quickly, cheaply and by the thousands.
>
> I do not grow most of my plants from tc. The vast majority of my plants are
> propagated by division of my own stock. But new plants can be produced faster
> and more cheaply by the labs, and except for those few that can't be done, the
> vast majority will continue to be produced that way. If I had one of the great
> new plants that you are expecting to come out of First Look, I'd be making my
> exclusive arrangement with a tc lab, not Bridgewood Gardens.
>
> 3. Very few hosta nurseries can generate the volume necessary to make an
> exclusive arrangement with a breeder worthwhile, except in cases where the
> breeder is not interested in getting the best return for his plant. Certainly
> there are breeders who don't care about making money with their plant, but if
> they do, most nurseries can't sell enough to make it worthwhile. A few can, and
> they will probably benefit as you envision. The rest of us will just keep doing
> things the way we always have.
>
> 4. And lastly,
>
> Bill Meyer wrote:
>
> > The issue is exclusive new introductions, not new plants to the catalog.
> > You know, that "bragging rights" thing? The ones that have the big star next
> > to them that means "available only from us"? That's what we're talking
> > about.
>
> Why is that the issue? Who said it was the issue? The vast majority of hosta
> producers have muddled through for years without depending on exclusive new
> introductions. My customers buy far more of those old run of the mill new
> introductions from the labs, that I can offer at what I think is a reasonable
> price (though I guess that's open for discussion) than they do of my
> introductions. The only effect I can see that your new marketing method will
> have is to get prices of newer plants back up to where they were before the labs
> started producing plants quickly and cheaply. I'm not a cheerleader for the
> labs, frankly I would prefer that anything I put out remain under my control.
> Your vision of Hosta World would be fine with me, assuming I could get my hands
> on some of these new exclusives. I'm not saying it wouldn't be good for my
> business, I'm just saying it isn't likely to happen.
>
> > That's where having Seedling and Sport Competitions can change
> > things. Nurseries can see a wide range of new seedlings and sports and
> > arrange with the originators to market them. If nurseries want to have
> > exclusive new only-available-from-us plants and not battle with each other
> > selling the same plant with different names then they have to get a look at
> > what's out there.
>
> I say again, Bill Meyers, you should be ashamed of yourself. You have focused
> on the few instances where actions by some producers have resulted in what you
> portray as outrageous frauds on the hosta buying public, and made up a scenario
> of how the business of selling hostas works - unscrupulous producers conspiring
> to introduce the same old plant over and over, controlling the market to insure
> that wonderful new developments never see the light of day - and you have made
> up a vision of how you think it will work after First Look changes everything,
> and neither one have any relationship to the real world.
>
> > Damn, I was going to keep arguing about this but your post just came
> > in saying you agree with me. That's not fair!
>
> I agreed with you on one small issue that had nothing to do with the current
> conflict. Kind of like the Palestinians and Jews agreeing that they have
> nothing against the Swedes.
>
> > Make some more outrageous
> > statements.
>
> Not a problem.
>
> Chick
>
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