THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
45 
A PLEA FOR CERTIFICATES . 
A Straightforward Statement from an Entomologist who Endeavors 
to Argue from the Nurseryman’s Point of View—Americans 
Are Setting the Standard of Foreign Inspection and 
Certification —A Reliable Certificate In¬ 
creases In Value —As to Fumigation. 
As the subject of fumigation is lively to be discussed to a 
greater or less extent in all nursery ciicks, the following ex¬ 
tract from a paper by Prof. F. M. Webster of the Ohio Agri¬ 
cultural Experiment Station, Wooster, O., published in the 
Proceedings of the American Pomological Society for 1899 ” 
will be of interest : 
For myself, I have always held that if nurserymen are to be 
kept under surveillance, they should also have the right to 
demand that the country about them shall also be kept above 
suspicion. A law that affects only the nursery row, and not 
the adjacent orchards and grounds in the vicinity, is only, to 
a limited degree, what it should be, and I would give little for 
a certificate that does not include the word premises. It is 
here that fumigation has its chief value, if properly done, but 
if not properly done it is worthless. But to substitute fumiga¬ 
tion for inspection, will be only to make matters worse, in¬ 
stead of better. There must be both in order to get the 
greatest benefit. As nurserymen know each other pretty well, 
further explanation is unnecessary. 
The nurseryman is both a scientist and a business man. 
His “art does but mend nature but he must buy as well as 
grow and sell. None but the smallest local concerns can do 
otherwise. He must of necessity mix the purchased stock 
with that of his own growing, and thus his stock will represent 
not only his caution or carelessness, as the case may be, but 
that of his fellows generally. Fumigating, carefully done, will 
reduce his danger from this source. 
Occasionally I have seen such reasoning as this : If the San 
Jose scale is found on my stock, I can throw the responsibility 
on the inspector, who dare not say on oath that it was not 
present, and overlooked by him in his inspection. Just so ! 
But, as I have previously stated, the premises are there to show 
the actual condition. Stock may go into the trade and become 
mixed so that it can never be recognized, but the letter files of 
the inspector, if brought into court, will often clear up a vast 
amount of obscurity, affording unexpected help for the inno¬ 
cent, but equally unexpected retribution for the dishonest and 
guilty. Be straightforward and use your best efforts to keep 
clear of suspicious stock. If the inspector is incompetent or 
careless, see that he suffers the consequences, for he of all men 
has no business to be either the one or the other. 
The value of a certificate of nursery inspection, then, will 
depend upon the efficiency of the inspector, and the use that 
is made of the document in the hands of the nurseryman. Its 
reliability will increase year after year until it will indicate 
almost, or quite, the exact conditions of the premises of the 
party to whom it is given. If nursery inspection and certifi¬ 
cates are in dispute, it is because nurserymen of that character 
have made them so. 
There are plenty of honest nurserymen in the country, and 
entomologists are doing their best to carry out their duties, 
faithfully, and with full confidence in each other, and I can¬ 
not see why nursery inspection and the entomologist s certifi¬ 
cate of such, should not serve every legitimate purpose for 
which it is intended. There is in every profession or calling, 
a disreputable element, and it is to the better classes that we 
have always to look for whatever of good there is in any sys¬ 
tem or regulation, and nursery inspection and the inspector’s 
certificates are no exceptions. As in everything else, the 
earliest efforts were more or less crude and unsatisfactory, but 
as I have said, each year renders the certificate of inspection 
more accurate and reliable and it is to be hoped that nursery¬ 
men will see to it that no act of theirs shall detract from its 
reliability and usefulness. 
Lastly, we must not forget that all the while we are, to a 
certain degree, setting the standard of foreign inspection and 
certification, and therefore foreign as well as domestic certifi¬ 
cates of nursery inspection will be what the better and more 
reliable class of nurserymen make them. 
PLEA FOR OLD-FASHIONEI) APPLES. 
J. H. Bowerman, Monroe county, N. Y., rpakes a strong plea 
for the old-fashioned varieties of apples, in the Country 
Gentleman. He says : 
There is no apple grown equal to the old Spitzenburg, and I find 
among our customers (and dealers also) an ignorance in regard to this 
apple that is really surprising. I have seen bushels of apples sold 
under this name that were no more Esopus Spitzenburg than they were 
Russets (except in color) and yet the buyer was satisfied, and smacked 
his lips over what ? Imagined, not actual, flavor. And the Swaar 
seems out of market entirely. The call for trees of that variety is so 
infrequent that many nurserymen have ceased to propagate them. 
jfiom IDarious points. 
The Department of Agriculture will take positive steps to fight the 
San Jose scale. It is proposed to introduce into California a scale 
parasite from South Africa which preys upon this pest. 
The frost of December made sad havoc in the nurseries of Angers 
and Ussy, France, especially with stock intended for the United States. 
Great difficulty, it is feared, will be again experienced in filling Ameri¬ 
can orders. 
Corsiderable nursery tree stock is reaching Riverside and other 
Southern California sections from Oregon and eastern points, says the 
California Fruit Grower. The trees being received are of the prune, 
peach, pear, apricot and plum varieties. The greatest bulk of the 
shipments consist of prune stock, with peaches a good second. Apri¬ 
cots take third place. 
The dutiable imports of plants, shrubs and vines amounted to $26,953 
in February, 1900, against $9,717 in the same month of last year. The 
free imports of seeds amounted in February, 1900, to $136,089, against 
$89,485, the value of the imports of February, 1899. The dutiable 
imports of seed amounted to $73,298 in February, 1900, against $51,212 
in February of the previous year. 
The second annual meeting of the Mississippi Apple Growers’ Asso¬ 
ciation was held at Quincey, Ill , March 23, with large attendance. 
The society has about 100 active members. Among subjects discussed 
were the “Planting of whole root or part-root trees,” and “Planting 
one-year or two-year trees.” On the first, opinions seemed equally 
divided ; on the second, one-year-olds were favored. 
The Illinois State Horticultural Board has decided to locate a new 
Experiment Station at Dixon, for the testing of small fruit. This 
station will be under the superintendence of J. L. Hartwell, President 
of the Horticultural Society of Northern Illinois and Director of 
Stations for the Northern District. Mr. Hartwell is a careful and suc¬ 
cessful grower of small fruits, and good results may be looked for from 
this station. 
