90 



TIIF. GARDllMiR'S MOXTJIIA 



[March, 



started as " Cinnamon Vine " in ijrnorancc that ' advice we can pive is that wh. n von see thinjifft 



it was (lie old Chinese Yam. No inti'llim-nt nur- adviTtisi-d tiiat arc iiol in ilic licst niirscry t-at- 



servnian or florist would sell a root under sueh a aloj^ues, whose issuers are always in the advance, 



name without stalini; that it was " Dioseorea wait till you do ; hut if you are very anxious to* 



Batatas,'' heeause sueh " deeejitions " or " mis- ho in first on a new fhiii<: which even the hcst 



takes " always react unfavorahly on his pernian- men in the trade have not — well, then you must 



ent business. We fear "them three dollai-s " pay for that glorious privileire, and even three 



are ••ijone'' beyond recovery : and the only aood dollars is a cheap sum to ]iay for it. — Kd.] 



— ^^^- • «* — 



Literature, Travelsi^Personal Notes. 



coj/j/[\\7L:r/V(hvs. 



PLANT PROTECTION. 



i;V i:i (.KNK (il.KX. 



Last winter, in conversation with a leading 

 nurseryman, I ventured the opinion that not 

 more than one-thirdof the Pear trees theretofore 

 sold as Souvenij- du Congres had been genuine. 

 He atrreed with me. Another very active and 

 intelligent nurseryman standing by insisted that 

 the proportion of genuine trees of that variety 

 had not exceeded one-sixth of the whole number 

 sold as such. Be this as it may, it is bad 

 enough ; but unfortunately what is true of the 

 variety mentioned is true of every other new 

 variety, for which its actual merits or the eflbrts 

 of its introducers have created a demand in 

 excess of their abilityto supply at very moderate 

 prices. Unscrupulous nurserymen and dealers 

 are not found willing to accept the profits of 

 selling Apple trees at twenty-five cents each, or 

 Pear trees at fifty cents each, when by simply 

 changing labels the same trees may be readily 

 passed off at from one to three dollars each, and 

 so long as no easily enforced penalties are at- 

 tached to the commission of frauds of this char- 

 acter, they will continue to be committed. 



To such an extent do they now prevail that 

 the agents of nurserymen and dealers, be their 

 principals ever so honorable, are insulted in or re- 

 fused access to thousands of houses all over the 

 country, .simply because the inmates or their 

 friends have been so repeatedly humbugged that 

 they jK'i suade themselves that honest}- hasentire- 

 ly departed from the nursery trade. I need scarce- 

 ly say that this state of things v/orlis a great out- 

 rage upon the public, and that it puts a tax upon 

 the business of each of the many honest members 

 of the trade. 



Fraudfs in merchandise are by no means con- 

 fined to the horticultural trade, but thev are so 



nnicii more serious in their results when com- 

 mitted in this trade than ni any other that they 

 may well be the subject of sjiecial legislation. 

 If a man buys a box of ground spice for twenty- 

 five cents, and it proves to be largely burned 

 rye, his loss by reason of this cannot exceed 

 twenty-five cents, and he readily accustoms him- 

 self to such losses ; but if he buys by name an 

 Apple tree for the same amount, thinking it is a 

 tine sort and Just what he wants when it is some 

 worthless thing entirely unadapted to his wants, 

 at the end of five years or more the fraud is 

 developed. His loss then includes the original 

 consideration and interest, the use of the ground, 

 the care he has yivcn the tree, and the pro.s- 

 pective profit or enjoyment which the genuine 

 tree would have* atlbrded. zVfter repeatedly 

 sutlering such losses, it can hardly be a matter of 

 surprise that men are discouraged and ready to- 

 denounce the entire trade. 



In determining what may be done to suppress 

 this evil, it bei'omes important to consider what 

 is the existing law upon the subject. an<l why 

 does it fail to roach the desired end. 



\ While it may startle some to learn it, there 

 can be no doubt that it is now, ayd for many 

 years has been, the well-settled law of England 

 and the United States that a seedsman wdio sells- 

 seeds under a name which it is not in fact,, 

 thereby becomes answerable to the purchaser to 

 the full extent of the damage sustained, mclud- 



j ing the profits of the crop which might have been 



j realized, estimating it at an average crop from 

 genuine seed in that year, had the seed been 

 genuine. (Randall vs. Roper. '.IC. Eng. Com. Law, 

 S'2; Page vs. Parry, S ; Carr & Payne, 7(i9 ; Pas- 



'. senger vs. Thorburn. :U, X. Y, ():')4 : Van Wyck 

 vs. Allen, N. Y., 1877. 



' By parity of reason it will be seen that a nur- 

 seryman or dealer who sells a tree under a name 

 which it is not in fact, does so at his peril, and is 

 answerable for the difference m value to the- 



