THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
37 
TREES TO BUENOS AYRES. 
The following letter to Ellwanger & Barry was received last 
month: 
New York, April 10, 1899. 
Messrs. Ellwanger A Barry. Rochester, N. Y. 
Gentlrmkn —Our friend in Buenos Ayres, to whom we shipped last 
winter a package of trees, packed by your good selves, has just ad¬ 
vised us of their safe arrival and also advised us that in spite of the 
vexatious delays we had here, before shipment, in consequence of the 
necessity of securing numerous certificates with large seals, and in 
spite of a delay of over two weeks in the custom house at Buenos 
Ayres, after the arrival of the package there, the trees were all planted 
and that each and every one of them at the time he wrote us was 
doing well. He asks us to write “to thank the nurserymen for the 
skill and care they displayed in packing the trees so carefully, as 
they are very highly prized by me.” We are glad to commuuicate 
this. Yours very truly, 
Turle & Skidmohe. 
The trees above referred to were packed in several small 
bales and shipped in boxes and forwarded by steamship as far 
as possible, after which the bales were taken from the boxes 
and transported the remainder of the distance on the backs of 
mules. 
NURSERYMEN IN CUBA. 
Fred G. Withoft, of Dayton, O., president of the Ohio Fruit 
Land Co., piloted a party of nurserymen and fruit growers to 
Cuba and Porto Rico during the early spring. Regarding the 
trip Mr. Withoft says: 
To a traveler from the temperate zone, who enters the semi¬ 
tropics in midwinter, the transition is almost like a dream of 
fairyland; from snow and ice to blazing, relentless sunshine; 
from furs and blankets to the thinnest of cotton fabrics and 
constant perspiration; from the howling of wintry blasts to the 
ripple of summer seas, the lazy flutter of fans, and the melody 
of native birds. 
Cuba nearly always basks in the sunlight, and so we envy 
her; yet a glance into her bare streets, lacking in shade, save 
for the many gay awnings, and here and there a park; with 
narrow walks bordering a roadway scarce broad enough for 
two single vehicles to pass, make us draw back, and blinking, 
seek some friendly oasis of green. None in sight, however, 
save, perhaps, a stunted, crooked-trunked native tree; but if 
we penetrate into the open central court of one these houses of 
Spanish architecture we may find some fine palms, a fountain, 
blooming plants, apd all one could desire, save, perhaps, green 
grass, for the court is paved. 
The houses, too, are very interesting; although the exterior 
appearance of many of them is dilapidated, the stucco having 
dropped off in great patches, yet when one enters often marble 
steps lead upward, and brass and iron fretwork meet the eye in 
unexpected places Colonades of white columns, even though 
defaced and marred, still possess a dignified beauty, and one 
occasionally sees tiled floors in gay mosaics. 
Every Cuban city of size has its plaza, where are the drive¬ 
ways of the wealthy, and the promenades of the middle class, 
and the lounging places of the poor, who are everywhere, in¬ 
deed. Here are some trees, but none of those grand old ma¬ 
jesties we love and with which we are familiar; sometimes, as 
in the suburbs outside Havana, one sees an avenue of 
those most beautiful royal palms, which lend themselves so 
readily to the beautifying of the landscape. Beyond the con¬ 
fines of the city, out where the eyes are gladdened by the free, 
bold stretch of open country, the full luxuriance of tropical 
growth delights the sightseer. Here a.re the cocoanut, date 
and royal palms, the pineapple plantation stretching widely, 
and the banana tree, which is really only a plant grown to tree 
size, having no real bark, whose luscious fruit hangs tempting¬ 
ly'before us, and whose broad green leaves are used by the city 
baker in which to wrap and bake his loaves of bread. Roses 
and bulbous blooms quite familiar to the northerner here yield 
their sweetness to the suburban dweller all the year round; 
fruits in abundance offer to the winter tourist a refreshing 
contrast to the high-priced products found in our city markets, 
which, having been picked and shipped while yet unripe, pos¬ 
sess less of the luscious sweetness and mellow flavor which ren¬ 
ders Cuban fruit so perfect. The street stalls present a gay 
and attractive appearance, filled with oranges and lemons, pine 
apples and bananas, grape fruit, guava, figs and melons. 
Nurseries are needed in the West Indies to supply the de¬ 
mand for trees to replace those destroyed during the war. 
PLANT NOMENCLATURE. 
At the present time, says Meehan’s Monthly, the only dic¬ 
tionary of the plants of the world, with their synonyms down 
date is the Index Kewenis; Britton and Brown, and others 
cited are excellent authorities. They are undoubtedly correct 
in their position that many of the names they propose to be 
adopted should have been adopted; but they have a hard task 
in trying to upset the accepted nomenclature of the whole 
world, throwing everything into confusion, and utterly demor¬ 
alizing general literature, because some generations ago some¬ 
body blundered. In every other affair of life, even to the col¬ 
lection of an honest debt, there is a period when it becomes 
outlawed. The justification is, that by the failure of the cred¬ 
itor to collect in time, too many innocent interests become in¬ 
volved. In like manner there can be no reason why thousands 
should be made to suffer by a change in plant names, because 
credit for the original was suffered to sleep for a century. 
ALABAMA REQUIREMENTS. 
Acting Entomologist F. S. Earle has addressed the Alabama 
nurserymen as follows : 
I shall expect all who apply to me for nursery certificates to comply 
with the following requirements : 
First—I shall expect to be furnished with a record of all stock pur¬ 
chased and brought onto the premises during the year, including 
budding and grafting wood, the source whence it was obtained 
and the fumigation or other precautions that have been taken with it. 
Second—That a rapid and complete system of crop rotation shall be 
established, and that all blocks of trees from wdiicb stock is to be sold 
shall be dug and completely disposed of by the end of the second year. 
If for any reason it is desired to keep stock for more than two years, 
or where rows of stock trees for grafting wood or trial orchards are 
planted, it must be on separate premises well removed from the regular 
nursery stock that is grown for sale. 
Third—All such old stock, stock trees or trial orchards, and all 
shrubbery, roses and ornamental trees, etc., about buildings must be 
sprayed thoroughly at least once every winter, either with the mechan¬ 
ical kerosene and water mixed of a strength of at least 30 per cent, 
kerosene, with a kerosene emulsion of the same strength, or with 
whale oil soap solution of a strength of 2 lbs. to the gallon. 
