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The Weekly Florists'' Review* 



Mabch 22, 1906. 



NURSERY NEWS. 



AMERICAN ASSOOATION OF NURSEJtYMEN. 



Pres., E. AlbertBon, Bridgeport, Ind.; Vlce- 

 Pres., Orlando Harrison, Berlin, Md.; Sec'y, Geo. 

 0. Sealer, Rochester; Treas., C. L. Yates, Roches- 

 ter. The 8lBt annual convention will be held at 

 Dallas, Texas, June 13-15, 1906. 



M. Stein, formerly at Loudonville, 

 N. Y., is now located at 373 Broadway, 

 New York City, trading as the Wulle 

 Nursery Co., representing a number of 

 European firms. 



The southern nurseries, which are now 

 at the height of their season, especially 

 •those in the southwest, report an activ- 

 ity which promises to make the spring 

 business the best so far recorded by a 

 considerable margin. 



G. Onderdonk, the veteran nursery- 

 man, who has spent thirty-five years in 

 the trade in Texas, says the south- 

 western section of the state was never 

 so prosperous as now and that trade 

 prospects were never better. 



J. T. LovETT, Little Silver, N. J., has 

 recently issued a very complete cata- 

 logue of hardy perennials, a novel fea- 

 ture of which is that the book is intro- 

 duced by several pages on the ' ' Value 

 and Uses of Hardy Perennials." Plant- 

 ing plans for borders for walk and lawn 

 are another excellent feature. 



On page 1199 of this issue will be 

 found the full text of a bill recently 

 introduced in Congress for the purpose 

 of affording protection in the owner- 

 ship of horticultural novelties, together 

 with the report of the action of a nurs- 

 eryman's committee, the opinion of 

 some leading nurserymen and the views 

 of leading seedsmen and uorists. 



DISEASES OF THE APPLE. 



The diseases of the apple which have 

 been classed under the name crown-gall 

 have, during the last few years, at- 

 tracted much attention, due partly to an 

 increase of these diseases and partly to 

 the enacting of more stringent state 

 laws governing the shipment and inspec- 

 tion of trees, says George C. Hedgcock, 

 in a bulletin of the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture. 



A series of investigations into the 

 nature of crown-gall upon the apple, 

 pear, raspberry, peach, almond, grape, 

 rose and other plants has been in prog- 

 ress for some time in the Mississippi 

 valley laboratory of the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry at St. Louis, and also at other 

 points in the Mississippi valley. It is 

 not to be assumed, however, that such 

 diseases are more common in this local- 

 ity than in some other portions of the 

 United States. Apple crown-gall and 

 hairy-root have been found in all nur- 

 series that have been examined in vari- 

 ous portions of the country. 



The preliminary report is sent out, 

 not with the intention of giving the re- 

 sults of all the investigations, but for 

 the purpose of calling the attention of 

 apple-tree growers to the different dis- 

 eases hitherto known as apple crown- 

 gall, and to endeavor to interest them 

 in the collection of data regarding the 

 predisposition of varieties to these dis- 

 eases. 



The investigations have resulted first 

 in separating apple crown-gall into two 

 diseases, which are considered distinct. 

 The disease now designated as crown- 



gall is a callous-like gall growth of 

 hypertrophied tissue following wounds 

 on some portion of the root system of 

 tree, which rarely occurs above the 

 ground on parts of the trunk or limbs. 

 The malady now called the hairy-root 

 disease is evidently the same as the one 

 first given this name by Stewart, Eolfs 

 and Hall in Bulletin i91 of the New 

 York State Experiment Station. It is 

 characterized both in seedlings and in 

 grafted or budded trees by a stunted 

 root system, accompanied with an ex- 

 cessive production of small fibrous roots, 

 often originating in clusters from the 

 main root, or tap-root. Galls often occur 

 in connection with hair-root, but these 

 are a result of wounds rather than a 

 form of this disease. Seedlings of the 



orchards and nurseries as to the effect 

 of these diseases upon the life and fruit- 

 fulness of trees. Any information as 

 to the locality of orchards in which dis- 

 eased trees have been planted will be 

 highly appreciated. In the Bureau's 

 crown-gall orchard there are more than 

 200 trees diseased with the hard type 

 of crown-gall, and 200 healthy trees of 

 the same grade planted under similar 

 conditions. After two years' growth six 

 of the crown-gall trees and nine of the 

 healthy ones have died. No difference 

 in the growth of the trees is noticeable. 

 However, it cannot be assumed from the 

 results so far that, on the one hand, the 

 disease may not yet shorten the life of 

 the trees, or, on the other, that the trees 

 may not entirely overcome its effects. 



Crown-grall on Grafted Apple Tree. Hairy-root Disease on Grafted Apple Tree. 



Some Diseases of the Apple. 



hairy-root type, unless wounded, remain 

 free from galls. 



Apple crown-gall is of two types. A 

 hard, callous form is common on grafted 

 trees at the union of the root and scion, 

 and at any other point of the root sys- 

 tem where wounds occur in either the 

 cultivation or transplanting of trees. 

 The results of extensive inoculations 

 with this type have failed to prove that 

 this disease is of a contagious nature. 



A second type is a soft form more 

 common on seedlings, occurring more 

 rarely on grafted trees. These softer 

 galls resemble those of the raspberry 

 and peach, in that they are soft and 

 often rot off. It is not certain, how- 

 ever, that they, like the latter, are re- 

 placed the following year by a new gall 

 growth from the adjacent live tissues of 

 the host, nor is there proof yet that 

 they are of a contagious nature. 



Careful data are being collected from 



A tree having crown-gall on its roots, 

 however, can never be correctly graded 

 with a smooth-rooted tree. 



Nurserymen are advised to be careful 

 in the selection of seedlings for graft- 

 ing and budding. All rough, warty or 

 galled seedlings should be thrown out, 

 for most of them will form rough-rooted 

 trees. Seedlings with tufted or hairy 

 roots should also be rejected, for these, 

 as shown by the experiments, develop 

 into hairy-rooted trees with a very de- 

 ficient root system. The hairy-root dis- 

 ease, as it appears from the results of 

 two years' experiments, is not con- 

 tagious. It is hoped in the near future 

 to be able to offer some practical means 

 of reducing the percentage of trees af- 

 fected with these diseases in the nur- 

 sery. 



The hearty co-operation of nursery- 

 men and orchardists in securing data is 

 desired. It is hoped to secure the help 



50,000 American Grown Roses 



For varieties and prices, see advertisement in issue of February 15, pas[e 881. 



HIRAM T. JONES, Union County Nursiriss, ELIZABETH, N. J. 



