14 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
ought to be considered good authority and that it would be 
unnecessary, to say the least, to ask the advice of interested 
parties. A good tree is one with full system of strong roots and, 
for a two or three year old tree, five to six feet in height, the 
stem three-fourths to one inch in diameter at the ground, and 
with well balanced branches. I would much prefer to plant 
in the fall, throwing up a good big mound about each tree. 
CLASS LEGISLATION. 
The following letter, a sample of many, sent by nurserymen 
of New York state to legislators protesting against a bill re¬ 
quiring the fumigation of all nursery stock, was sent to Assem¬ 
blyman A. W. Litchard, chairman of the assembly committee 
on agriculture, by Frederick W. Kelsey, nurseryman and im¬ 
porter, of New York city, under date of February 19 , 1900 : 
Dear Sir— The principle involved in the practical application of 
Assembly Bill No. 901 would be class legislation pure and simple. A 
contingent of fruit growers, having apparently just reached the panic 
stage of the insect injury scare, rush to the legislature to compel an¬ 
other most important contingent—the producers of the material upon 
which fruit is grown—to be at great loss and expense to protect them, 
the first contingent, so that they may be relieved from any compulsory 
effort in protecting themselves. 
Granting that costly and dangerous fumigation by hydrocyanic gas 
would be a preventive against dissemination—which is questioned by 
some of the ablest entomologists—what equity or fairness can there be 
in attempting to benefit one class, mutually interested, solely at the 
expense of the other ? This principle, or rather lack of princple, should 
of itself be sufficient to remove the bill from the possibility of public 
favor or approval by the legislature. 
In cases where the fruit growers or others desire the fumigation of 
nursery stock or vegetation generally, there can hardly be objection to 
their applying gas in any form, degree, kind or manner they desire on 
their own premises, or of their recommending legislation for themselves 
that does not encroach upon the equal rights and privileges of other 
classes of citizens: But what justification can there be for an attempt 
to use the pow y er of the state to injure others for their special benefit. 
In this respect the bill in question appears entirely unjust, surpris¬ 
ingly inequitable, wholly impracticable and if enacted into law will in¬ 
evitably result in great injury to a very large and important state 
industry; will necessarily result in sectional antagonisms, and must 
from the necessities of the case fail in accomplishing the results 
desired. 
According to such unquestioned authorities as Dr. C. L. Marlatt, 
entomologist of the Department of Agriculture, and Prof. John B. 
Smith, state entomologist of New Jersey—than whom no scientists of 
the country have had broader experience or more thorough knowledge 
of the whole insect pest question and the practical remedies—it is 
about as practicable to undertake to eradicate, exterminate, or to effect¬ 
ually prevent the dissemination of such minute pests as the San Jose 
scale by legislation as to legislate against the rays of the moon, the 
action of the tides or the laws of gravity. 
Permit me to express the conviction that the injury already result¬ 
ing from the panic and legislation thus far enacted has been the occa¬ 
sion of greater injury to the horticultural interests of this state and 
this country as a whole, than the loss by the insects themselves, large 
though that may be. 
_ Assembly Bill No. 901 not only tends to accentuate this unfortunate 
situation, but in its burdensome and inequitable provisions is perhaps 
the most objectionable measure yet introduced for consideration before 
a legislative body. 
With great respect, Very truly yours, 
(Signed) F. W. Kelsey. 
James Cureton, Moreland, Ga., Jan. 22 . 1900.—“Inclosed find 
one dollar in cash to extend my subscription to the National 
Nurseryman a year from the time it expires. I like the paper. Could 
not get along without it.” 
THE CAN ADI AN PROHIBITION . 
Strong Argument Against It By a Canadian Nurseryman—He 
Favors Importation of Nursery Stock From the Northern States 
—Argues for Certificates Upon Proper Inspection—Mem. 
her of Canadian Scale Commission Agrees With Him. 
Not all the Canadian nurserymen favor the Canadian law 
excluding nursery stock that might be shipped over the border 
from the United States. Among these is A. W. Graham, nur¬ 
seryman and fruit grower, of St. Thomas, Ontario, who sends 
the following communication to the Canadian Horticulturist : 
Sir—I see by reports in late editions of your paper that nurserymen 
and fruit growers in your vicinity are still urging the government to 
continue to prohibit the importation of nursery stock from the United 
States and compel nurserymen here to fumigate all home grown nur¬ 
sery stock before selling. These laws militate in favor of large grow¬ 
ers of trees who do business mostly by agents, and against smaller 
growers whose business is mostly local, and also against the general 
planter who has to pay higher prices on account of said prohibition 
and fumigation, and judging by the names as given by those who had 
those meetings, they are the large growers of nursery stock and fruit 
growers who are inspectors and draw government pay, and others 
whom they scare by stories of the terrible ravages of the San Jose scale. 
I don’t believe that the scale is half so bad as those inspectors would 
have us believe, who go about the country with their pockets full of 
bottled vermin, which they exhibit while in gardens and orchards 
where danger of spreading is greatest, and if it is such a serious pest 
it can be overcome by spraying the same as other scale and bugs and 
things. I was glad to find that Mr. Dearness, of Government Com¬ 
mission, was of the same opinion as myself, and in the January 6th 
issue of American Gardening you will find a writer saying that he has 
proved that spraying with crude petroleum will entirely destroy San 
scale without in the least injuring the trees. 
A nurseryman who does a large business by agents can quit selling 
by April the first, have a large fumigation house, dig all his trees and 
fumigate them all at once, and ship and deliver at the proper time. 
The small grower does business differently. He depends on the 
farmers and growers in his vicinity to come in and get what they 
want. When spring opens they are very busy, and when they call for 
trees they are in a hurry and rather than wait to have their stock fumi¬ 
gated they will go home without and not likely return, so we have in 
such cases to lose the sale or break the law. When a man has a certifi¬ 
cate from a government inspector that his nursery is clean and has 
pressing bills to meet, which should he do ? Laws should be framed 
so as to make it easy to do right and hard to do wrong as is consistent 
with the public good. 
I would be in favor of having competent inspectors inspect the nur¬ 
series twice a year at the owner’s expense; give the clean nurseries 
a certificate to that effect on which they can do business without hin¬ 
drance ; where scale is found put a man in charge till every vestige of 
the same is destroyed. I also favor the importation of stock from 
northern states when accompanied by certificate subject to inspection 
here. 
When the prohibition law was put in force nurserymen said prices 
would not be increased. But we find in some lines this year prices 
double what they were three years ago. The fact is there are not half 
enough apple trees in the country to supply the demand, and nursery¬ 
men are not slow to take advantage of the fact to raise prices when 
they can so easily get an advance. 
Borers in Nursery Stock.— In his report to the New Jersey Hor¬ 
ticultural Society, Prof J. B. Smith says: “Some complaints have 
come from nurseries of injury to the twigs of the young stock. This 
was found to be caused by a small insect boring into the twig and 
killing it, and in time the entire tree. It develops in dry weather, and 
does not do much injury in wet or under good growing conditions. 
The remedy is to free the tree as much as possible in early spring, and 
if possible resort to irrigation in dry weather.” 
