32 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
Ifn Common Council. 
Editor National Nurseryman : 
As a test for hardiness girdling beats our hard winters all 
to nothing. Last winter, the hardest for years, allowed our 
tender varieties to escape injury. Girdling works every year 
and in all climates. Late girdling kills everything ; early gird¬ 
ling kills nothing. Choose the medium and work both ways 
by way of experiment. It seems strange to me that the horti¬ 
cultural world does not quickly catch on to this girdling 
scheme. 
Ovvatonna, Minn., March 19 , 1900 . E. H. S. Dartt. 
ENDORSES QUERY COLUMN. 
Editor National Nurseryman : 
I have been associated, directly and indirectly, in the nur¬ 
sery business for a period of ten years, but there are more 
things that I don’t know than there are things that I do know. 
Am glad to know that you are to establish the equivalent to a 
question box, so that nurserymen can ask and answer ques¬ 
tions among themselves, and I am sure that a great deal of 
good will result from the undertaking. Now, what we nursery¬ 
men don’t know, let us ask. A matter of this kind should not 
be neglected, and I know that your subscribers will generally 
appreciate the thoughtfulness on your part in welcoming these 
questions. 
It will, perhaps, be interesting to fruit growers that this sec¬ 
tion is one of the foremost fruit growing sections in the South. 
One company has just finished an orchard of 44,000 apple and 
peach trees, and there are numberless plantings of smaller 
orchards. We have the best Newtown (or Albemarle) Pippin 
section extant. In this county (Roanoke) there are a great 
many orchards of Newtown Pippin, and the owners are now 
realising handsome incomes from their orchards. 
With best wishes for your success and the healthfulness of 
the “Question Column,” I am Yours truly, 
Wm. A. Francis. 
Salem, Va., March 19 , 1900 . 
REVENUE STAMPS ON CONTRACTS. 
Editor National Nurseryman : 
An opinion has been handed down by J. W. Patterson, in¬ 
ternal revenue collector for the third district of Iowa, to the 
effect that on all nursery orders or contracts sold by agents, a 
war stamp of two cents per hundred dollars or less is required. 
Cedar Falls, la., March 17 , 1900 . C. W. T. Schmidt. 
[It is stated by an internal revenue official that the stamp is 
required on all such documents if they are in the nature of a 
promissory note.—Ed.] 
SOUTHWESTERN NURSERY ASSOCIATION. 
The nurserymen of Oklahoma and Indian Territory per¬ 
fected an organization to be known as the Southwestern 
Nursery Association. The following officers were elected : 
President, J. A. Taylor, Wynnewood ; vice-president, J. W. 
Stevens, Yale ; secretary and treasurer, J. W. Preston, King¬ 
fisher. 
secured good results. 
Vincennes Nursery, W. C. Reed, Vincennes, Ind., March 15 
1900. — “ I send copy for advertisement for April issue. Secured good 
results from other issue.” 
A MINNESOTA RHAPSODY. 
I very frequently receive letters, says E. H. S. Dartt, 
Owatonna, Minn., in the Minnesota Horticulturist, inquiring 
as to the responsibility and methods of certain Minnesota 
nurserymen or jobbers in trees. Since the recent disasters to 
trees south of us, there is greater demand for genuine Minne¬ 
sota grown trees. The tree jobber has appeared. He has 
located at a good shipping point, planted a few trees, estab¬ 
lished an office and packing grounds, with tree cellars and 
sheds, gets out an elaborate catalogue and in a few weeks the 
great “Columbian Nursery Company ” gets a puff in the 
papers as a new enterprise and goes sailing on. Its boss says 
to his many agents “Co ye out into this cold world and sell 
genuine Minnesota grown trees. All want the best, as indi¬ 
cated by the price charged, so I have placed prices well up in 
the catalogue. Be liberal. Frequently donate 50 cents or 
$ 1.00 in the shape of a 2 cent grapevine. It pays to please 
customers. Sell the McKinley, Dewey and Bryan at $ 1.50 per 
tree. If your customer is English add Queen Victoria. If he 
is Dutch or Irish put in Gen. Kruger instead and sell the four 
trees for even $5 00 . I have paid $ 1,000 each for these choice 
varieties and have very few left, but sell all you can.” 
I am glad to say that some of the jobbers are planting young 
stock extensively and will soon become respectable nurseiy- 
men, if such a thing is possible after having learned so many 
tricks of the trade. As a matter of information I suggest that 
our State Horticultural Society publish a Nurseryman’s Direc¬ 
tory, giving in tabulated form, name, location, age and approxi¬ 
mate amount of stock growing, number of agents employ ed 
and amount of sales. 
jfrom IDarious IPoints. 
“Arkansas beats the world for fruits.” We are eating carloads of 
New York apples every week —[Arkansas Fruit Grower. 
There are about 130,000 acres planted in fruit trees in Colorado, dis¬ 
tributed as follows: Apples, 98.655: stone fruits, 28,684; pears, 3,125. 
The estimated valuation of the fruit crop for the year 1899 is $3,500,000. 
The dutiable imports of plants, shrubs and vines amounted to 
$47,666 in January, 1900, against $35,702 in the same month of 1899 
The free imports of seeds amounted in .January, 1900, to $182,622, 
against $107,657 in January, 1899. 
At the annual meeting of the Nursery and Seed Trade Association 
(Ltd.) of England it was decided that a fund should be raised to enable 
the association to take the opinion of counsel upon questions affecting 
the trade, and to contest or support any action for their mutual 
benefit. 
The Missouri Horticultural Society sent to the Paris exhibition by 
steamer St. Paul from New York, March 14, a shipment of commercial 
apples in quantity, Ben Davis, Gano, York, Clayton, Winesap, 
Willowtwig, Ingram, and Janet, besides smaller samples of some 
twenty other varieties, 73 barrels in all. 
The Allegheny Fruit Company of Cumberland last year cleared 1,735 
acres of virgin timber land in the Allegheny mountains, and planted 
last fall 181,000 peach trees. With the bearing orchards, from which 
over 100 carloads of peaches and plums were shipped two years ago, 
the company has over 250,000 peach and plum trees. Prof. W. G. 
Johnson says these are the most remarkable orchards in the world. 
ONE OF THE FEW NEEDED. 
Central Michigan Nursery Company, Kalamazoo, Mich., 
March 14, 1900.—“Enclosed herewith please find our usual annual 
remittance for another year’s subscription to your most excellent 
journal, It is one of a few papers that we must have.” 
