198 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



important consideration. "When a gentleman orders a bill of trees^ 

 he should state carefully what the local conditions are. It is one of 

 those things which should never be omitted. 



Mr. Dore — It seems to me that at each annual gathering of the 

 nurserymen and horticulturists of this state, they can do no better 

 favor to the people who wish to plant trees than to agree upon 

 some list that they all will say is the best; then it is a plain, simple 

 matter for ordinary people to follow it. 



President Fratt — Do you think they could agree? 



Mr. Dore — I do, on the same principle that a jury agrees — shut 

 them up somewhere until they do; not buy any trees of them until 

 they agree. I know that the recommendations of prominent fruit- 

 growers in this state, who have a reputation for fair dealing and 

 honesty, would count for more than any itinerant tree peddler's 

 recommendation. There is no nursery near to us, and none very 

 near that ought to be patronized, because they are not on the same 

 kind of soil; there are none except on the land that lies between 

 prairie region and the timber region. The nurseries nearest to us 

 I think we ought not to patronize. I think their trees are not 

 adapted to our wants; and if we go to the northern or southern 

 portion of the state, the work there is done by these tree tramps. 

 A man will come there, and if Mr. Gould's nursery, at Beaver Dam, 

 has a good reputation, he is selling trees from Gould's nursery, and 

 they will come from all over creation except there. It is a matter 

 "well known to some of us that such has been the practice. Now if 

 you nurserymen can do something to protect those men who want 

 to plant trees and do not know what to plant, you will find that it 

 will greatly advance your own interests, at the same time that it 

 will secure them from impositions of this kind. I have sometimes 

 thought that there ought to be a penalty for this imposition; per- 

 haps the general laws would reach the case. It seems to me it is 

 worse with this matter of trees than with agricultural implements, 

 if possible. The only guaranty that a farmer has that he is going 

 to receive the variety of trees he desires, is the reliability or 

 responsibility of the nurseryman; that is, the ordinary farmer, who 

 is not capable of judging varieties from the appearance of the 

 trees; and there ought to be something tangible to this state society 

 that we can rely upon, and get trees that we know are just what 

 they are recommended to be; and if we find any nuseryman who 



