6 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
The National N urseryman. 
C. L. YATES, Proprietor. RALPH T. OLCOTT, Editor. 
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY 
The National Nurseryman Publishing Co., 
305 Cox Building, Rochester, N. Y. 
The only trade journal issued for Growers and Dealers in Nursery Stock of 
all kinds. It circulates throughout the United States and Canada. 
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSERYMEN. 
SUBSCRIPTION RATES. 
One year, in advance, _____ $1.00 
Six Months, ______ .75 
Foreign Subscriptions, in advance, - - - 1.50 
Six Months, “ “ 1.00 
Advertising rates will be sent upon application. Advertisements 
should reach this office by the 20th of the month previous to the date 
of issue. 
Payment in advance required for foreign advertisements. 
[^“Drafts on New York or postal orders, instead of checks, are 
requested. 
Correspondence from all points and articles of interest to nursery¬ 
men and horticulturists are cordially solicited. 
AF1ERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSERYMEN. 
President, Wilson J. Peters. Troy, O.; vice-president. D. S. Lake, Shen¬ 
andoah, la.; secretary, George C. Seager, Rochester, N. Y.; treas¬ 
urer, C. L. Yates, Rochester, N. Y. 
Executive Committee—Irving- Rouse, Rochester, N. Y.; C. L. Watrous, Des 
Moines, la.; E. Albertson, Bridgeport, Ind. 
Committee on Transportation—Wilson J. Peters, ex-officio, chairman ; William 
Pitkin, Rochester, N. Y.; Peter Youngers, Geneva, Neb.; A. L. Brooke, N. 
Topeka, Kan.; Robert C.Berckmans, Augusta, Ga. 
Committee on Legislation—C. L. Watrous, Des Moines, la.; N. H. Albaugh, 
Tadmor, O.: Silas Wilson, Atlantic, la.; Thomas B. Meehan, Germantown, Pa. 
Committee on Tariff—Irving Rouse, Rochester, N. Y.; J. J. Harrison, Paines- 
ville, O.; N. W. Hale, Knoxville, Tenn. 
Annual convention for 1900—Chicago Beach Hotel, June 1J-14. 
Entered in the Pont Office at Rochester , as second-class mail matter. 
Rochester, N. Y., February, 1900. 
FEDERAL LEGISLATION. 
The federal inspection bill, to which reference was made in 
the last issue of this journal, was introduced in both Senate 
and House of Representatives at Washington as a substitute 
for a bill which had been introduced by a California congress¬ 
man, it having been shown that all interests appeared to be 
united in its support. 
I he legislative committee of the American Association of 
Nurserymen, composed of C. L. Watrous, N. H. Albaugh, 
Silas Wilson and Thomas B. Meehan went to Washington last 
month and met there Irving Rouse of the legislative com¬ 
mittee of the Eastern Nurserymen’s Association, and Professor 
William B. Alwood and two other members of the committee 
representing the entomologists and horticulturists. All these 
gentlemen held conferences with the sub-committees of the 
Senate and House committees on agriculture regarding the 
bill. No opposition developed and the bill was reported 
favorably by the House committee and was progressing in the 
Senate when the representatives of the nurserymen left Wash¬ 
ington. It is probable that the bill will become a law. 
The bill as published in the January issue of the National 
Nurseryman was amended slightly. In the first place the 
dates were changed so that the act shall take effect on July 1 , 
1900 . The Secretary of Agriculture is given authority to bar 
out, by quarantine, nursery stock as well as fruit, from 
countries outside of the United States. This gives the govern¬ 
ment power of retaliation for Canadian exclusion laws. The 
provision is secured by inserting the words “nursery stock or’’ 
betore “variety of fruit” and “fruit” in section 2 of the bill. 
Section 8 is amended by inserting the words “ in interstate 
commerce ” after “ shall not apply.” This has the effect of 
making all the restrictions of the bill apply to all florists’ stock 
shipped into the United States. The bill carries an appro¬ 
priation of $ 100,000 to be available on May 1 , 1900 . 
ONE CENT LETTER POSTAGE. 
Nurserymen are interested in federal legislation relating to 
postage rates as well as to freight rates and the inspection of 
nursery stock. The reduction of letter postage to one cent 
and the establishment of a cheap parcel post are advocated 
by the National Board of Trade. These ends can be gained 
by two measures, compelling the publishers of paper-covered 
books to pay eight cents a pound instead of one cent as they 
pay now under the pretense that their books are periodicals, 
and reducing the compensation to railways as much, or nearly 
as much as the railways have reduced the charges for the 
transportation of freight, passengers and express matter. 
It is significant that while the average passenger car, in use 
and in service, earns but $ 10,528 per year, the average mail 
car in use and in reserve, earns upon one basis of computation 
S * 1 4,586 per year, and upon another computation $ 19,427 per 
year. The ratio of cost for mail transportation to the aggre¬ 
gate expenditure of the Post Office Department was but 28 per 
cent in 1878 and in 1898 the ratio had increased to over 35 
per cent. 
TWO EXPERT OPINIONS. 
It is to be hoped that when the nurserymen of the country 
meet in annual session in Chicago in June, there will be con¬ 
current reports of a profitable season with bright prospects for 
the coming seasons and that the question of the inspection of 
nursery stock will be settled satisfactorily. It is agreed upon 
all sides that there has been too much talk of the San Jose 
scale; the ablest entomologists themselves say so, and we 
would gladly drop the subject. But with leading representa¬ 
tives of the American Association in Washington arguing for 
the passage of a federal bill in the hope of securing uniform 
legislation in place of conflicting state laws, we cannot reflect 
current topics if we ignore this subject. 
It seems to us that after the many opinions by horticul¬ 
turists and entomologists based upon local conditions have 
been heard and considered, a broad view of the whole subject 
should be taken and an honest effort made to get at the truth 
about the San Jose scale. 
