THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
3 
N. Y., in the course of his paper on “Shade Trees in 
City Streets,” said: 
Americans despise the day of small things. This national 
foihle is always prominent in the selection of trees for street 
planting. The general practice is to secure the largest trees that 
can be obtained or conveniently handled. If nurserymen can’t or 
won’t furnish them to order as wanted, they are often procured 
from neighboring woods if the kinds can be found there. It is sur¬ 
prising and mortifying to every experienced grower of trees to see 
each spring the numerous wagon loads which countrymen bring in 
from swamps and thickets, and expose for sale in our streets day 
after day with little or no protection from sun or wind. They are 
usually much larger than the most overgrown nursery stock, and 
the younger saplings twice or thrice the height becoming to their 
age. The only roots are a few stout prongs, but they are bought 
in preference to the nurseryman’s “small fry.” They are set out 
in the smallest holes that will admit the tusks, and the tops are 
either left unpruned or entirely chopped off. They remain stand¬ 
ing like bean poles for one or more years. Then they are pulled 
out and other bean poles put in their places. It is said “experience 
teaches fools,” but on this subject they need many years of school¬ 
ing, else the class always under instruction could not be so large. 
Nurserymen preach against this practice incessantly, hut the 
fools think they see through their selfish tricks, and are too wise 
to be guiled so easily. But they cannot see the patent facts that 
trees grown in nurseries have needful qualities of root, stem and 
branch, entirely lacking in the spindly saplings that have strug¬ 
gled for life in a shady thicket. The nursery plant is forced into 
vigorous growth from the start by furnishing it with rich soil, and 
special cultivation to induce numerous fibrous roots near the stem, 
which is trained to an ideal standard of strength and symmetry by 
proper pruning, and ample allowance of space for light and air. It 
is transplanted from time to time to force a closer mass of small 
fibres by cutting back the leading roots. When sold it can then be 
dug up with most of its rootlets uncut, -and the small wounds are 
easily healed. Thus the risk of transplanting is slight, but it is 
always in inverse proportion to the size. The younger the t.ree 
after the first few years are passed, the better the bargain both 
for nurseryman and customer. 
Of course in street planting the smaller the tree the greater 
the risk of serious damage by accidents that would be trilling to 
one of twice or thrice the size. This argument is the clincher in 
all discussions on this point. For this reason elms, maples, lindens 
and horse-chestnuts which can be safely planted of a much larger 
size than tulip trees, oaks, or nut-bearing trees are so commonly 
preferred. Yet the rule holds good that even in street planting 
The youngest trees of whatever kind that can be protected with a 
reasonable chance of safety ought to be preferred. 
ARE VARIETIES RUNNING OUT ? 
Professor L. H. Bailey, of Cornell University, in a 
paper entitled “Are the Varieties of Orchard Fruits 
Running Out ” said : 
The most direct method of approaching the subject is through 
the historical method. What proportion of the varieties cultivated 
fifty or a hundred years ago are now known ? If any of these old 
varieties are not cultivated at the present day, what are the causes 
of their disappearance? In ISOfi McMahon catalogued fifty-nine 
varieties of apples for cultivation in North America. Of these, 
twenty-two were offered for sale in 1892. In 1817, William Coxe 
gave a list of 101 kinds of the best apples for cultivation in North 
America, of which forty werer still offered for sale in 1892. In 1845 
A. J. Downing described 190 varieties of apples, of which 84 are 
now offered for sale. The percentages of apples in these lists 
which have persisted to our time as commercial varieties are 37, 
:19 and 40 respectively. In other words, from 03 to 54 per cent, of 
these have disappeared within a century. Why? The conclusion 
of the whole matter as I now see it is this : Varieties of orchard 
fruits, which are propagated by buds, do not run out on wear out, 
but they disappear because they are ill-adapted to various condi¬ 
tions. because they are susceptible to disease; they are supplanted 
by better varieties or those which more completely fill the present 
demands or fashions. 
LITTLE INJURY FROM INSECTS. 
Dr. J. A. Lintner, of Albany, New York State Ento¬ 
mologist, in his report said : 
The year has been one of remarkable exception from insect in¬ 
juries, as the result, beyond question of meteorological conditions, 
quite unfavorable to the multiplication of our more common insect 
pests. This has been particularly noticeable in the very few com¬ 
plaints that have been received of injuries to fruits—certainly not 
one-fifth of the average of preceding years. ■'This, in part, may be 
ascribed to the better knowledge of methods of dealing with the 
enemiesof fruits, to which our fruit growers are becoming educated, 
and to the rapidly growing use of insecticides and spraying instru¬ 
ments. 
Certain it is that several of our most noxious insects, which 
almost annually are the cause of serious injury, did not present 
themselves in sufficient number to call for active operations against 
them. Thus, apple ti*ees, for the most part, escaped their usual 
early spring visitation from the aphis. The cherry tree aphis was 
not prevalent. The orchard tent-caterpillar was far less abundant 
than in preceding years. Not a single communication came to me 
relating to the operations of the spotted bud-moth, which had been 
thoroughly destructive in 1891, and a general cause of complaint 
from orchardists in Western New York. No very serious attacks 
have been reported to me upon garden or field crops. No complaint 
has reached me of injury to grain by the grain aphis. The year 
has further been an exceptional one in that no new insect pest has 
come under my notice, calling for special investigation. 
world’s fair exhibit. 
George T. Powell, of Ghent, who has charge of the 
horticultural exhibit of the state at the World’s Fair, 
explained that because of lack of room in the horticul¬ 
tural building and the late date at which preparations 
in this state were begun, the work of securing a credita¬ 
ble exhibit had been greatly embarrassed. Only 507 
square feet of space can be given to the New York State 
exhibit at first, but more maybe given for fall exhibits. 
George C. Snow, of Penn Yan, made an earnest ap¬ 
peal to the grape growers to send a creditable exhibit. 
In a paper on “Causes Affecting the Fruiting of 
Pears and Apple,” M B. Waite, of the National Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture, said that self-pollenation was ster¬ 
ile in 66 per cent, of the varieties experimented with. 
As to the quantity of fruit produced by cross-pollenation, 
Mr. Waite said that a larger and rougher fruit was pro¬ 
duced while self-pollenation had the smaller and finer 
looking fruit but the specimens were not typical of the 
variety. Insects are the most effident agents in the 
transportation of the pollen. 
Mr. Arnold, of the committee on the black knot 
law, reported the amendment formulated by the com¬ 
mittee. The change looks towards making it a misde¬ 
meanor on the part of a mayor or supervisor to refuse 
to enforce the existing law. It also provides for an in¬ 
crease of the salary of the commissioners. President 
Barry appointed J. S. Woodward a committee to pre¬ 
sent the proposed amendment to the Legislature with 
instructions to use all lawful means to effect its passage. 
