THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
105 
for during the year. Treasurer J C.'Vaughn’s report 
showed cash on hand $1,679.20 
Professor Maynard, of the Massachusetts Agricultu¬ 
ral College, announces that a giant Century plant in the 
greenhouse at Amherst is now in full bloom. It is a 
specimen of the striped variety of Agave Americana, and 
it is said to be probably the largest plant of its kind 
under glass in America. This specimen originated at 
the old Ames homestead in Chicopee, Massachusetts, 
about 1825, and was presented to Mrs. Hitchcock, the 
wife of President Edward Hitchcock, of Amherst Col¬ 
lege, by Mrs. James T. Ames, in 1838. It was used as 
a lawn plant for about thirty years when it was given to 
the college. Since then it has been grown on a mound 
of prepared soil some fifteen feet by fifteen at the base, 
eight by eight at the top and five feet high. The flower- 
stalk is eighteen feet high, with a panicle containing 
over 3,000 buds and flowers, and the whole plant is 
estimated to weigh about a ton. The flowers are green¬ 
ish yellow, two inches long by one inch broad, with six 
bright yellow stamens exserted some two inches beyond 
the floral envelope 
cTinona (5roir>cr5 anb Dealers. 
William C. Barry spent a portion of the summer 
in the Adirondacks. 
The Silas Wilson Nursury Company has been incor¬ 
porated at Atlantic, Iowa, with a capital stock of 
$i 50,000. 
Eugene Germain, proprietor of the Germain Seed 
and Nursery Company of Los Angeles, Cal., has been 
appointed United States Consul at Zurich. He will 
assume his duties October ist. 
William Parry, of the Monmouth Nurseries, Parry, 
N. J., has sent out specimens of a new apple, called 
the Starr, which originated in Southern New Jersey. It 
is a large, smooth, green apple, sub-acid. It has not 
yet been placed upon the market. 
Erank Ford & Son of Ravenna, O., are of the opin¬ 
ion that those who are criticizing the Crandall currant, 
have gotten hold of a currant that is not the Crandall. 
They meet the criticisms with the statements of a large 
number who have tried the Crandall and who pronounce 
it a valuable fruit. 
Asa D. Barnes of Waupaca, Wis., writes: “I have 
* nearly 300 Northwestern Greening apple trees in my 
orchard, some of which are yielding 2] bushels of 
apples the fourth year after planting. I write this in 
proof of Professor Bailey’s article on adaptation in the 
July number of the National Nurseryman. This 
orchard stands within 15 miles of the original seedling 
Northwestern Greening tree. I have for some years 
claimed that adaptation and acclimation are at least two 
of the essentials for successful orcharding in our arctic 
Northwest.” 
INSPECTING NURSERY STOCK. 
The commissioners for the several districts of the 
state of Washington, appointed to inspect orchards and 
the condition of nursery stock sent to planters for use in 
that state, have made reports to the State Board of 
Horticulture. 
Commissioner Chatfield, of the first district, sa3-s : 
“ I believe that one of the most important subjects the 
State Board of Horticulture has to deal with is nursery 
stock. This ought to l)e carefully looked after. All 
precaution should be used to prevent unscrupulous nur¬ 
serymen or agents from imposing worthless or infected 
trees on innocent purchasers. Certainly, a sufficient 
portion of our appropriation should be applied in thor¬ 
oughly inspecting all trees in, or that may come into 
the state. We were brought into existence to further 
the horticultural interests of the state of Washington, 
and, as far as the appropriation goes, let us do our 
work well.” 
Commissioner E. L. Von Gohren, of the third 
district, says : “ There has not been any complaint or 
any request made to me for inspection since the October 
meeting, although there has been a large amount of 
nursery stock shipped to this district from eastern and 
southern nurseries, sold and distributed by agents with¬ 
out a certificate of inspection, thereby violating the rules 
of the board, and it is impossible for the inspector of a 
district to visit all portions of his district, or to find out 
when and where nursery stock is being sold and ‘dis¬ 
tributed by agents for nurseries outside the state who 
J 
have not certificates of inspection, without the earnest 
co-operation of all fruit growers and others interested in 
fruit culture. In my opinion, it would be well next 
season to station three or four inspectors’ at the main 
distributing points in the state to inspect all nursery 
stock shipped into the state before allowing it to be 
re-shipped to its destination, or some other equally 
effective method.” 
Commissioner H. H. Spaulding, of the sixth district, 
says; “A large acreage of young orchards has been 
planted during the last season, and I am sorry to say 
that the majority of the orchards planted during the last 
two years in the eastern part of the state have been im¬ 
ported trees of a ver^' inferior grade, and more or less 
infected with fruit-tree pests. Although the state fruit 
inspector, D. M. Jesse, has devoted a good part of his 
time in looking after imported trees, it was impossible 
to examine them all ; and right here I wish to say that 
this part of the state is the most exposed portion of the 
whole state, and needs more help to look after its fruit 
interests. A good live man should be stationed at 
Spokane to help look after the fruit interests there, espe¬ 
cially during the planting season.” 
John T. Blackburn, commissioner of the state at 
large and president of the State Board of Horticulture, 
