THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
11 
tion by the U. S. Department of Agriculture of a catalogue of 
fruits recommended for cultivation in the various sections of 
the United States by the society. The list has been revised 
by a committee, of which T. T. Lyon, South Haven, Mich., 
was chairman, and of which the well-known nurserymen L. A. 
Berckmans and C. L. Watrous were members. Professor L. 
H. Bailey and Henry L. Lyman were also on the committee, 
and valuable assistance was given by W. A. Taylor, assistant 
pomologist of the Federal Division of Pomology. 
The United States pomologist, G. B. Brackett, has sent a 
copy of this catalogue of fruits to nurserymen with an earnest 
request that it be used as a guide in preparing nursery cata¬ 
logues. Some nurserymen have already done this, and with¬ 
out doubt the suggestions of the American Pomological Society 
will be generally adopted. Such a result would be of great 
benefit to the nurserymen, eliminating much of the confusion 
in the use of misnomers and synonyms. Regarding the matter, 
Mr. Brackett says : 
“A nurseryman, through his catalogue, is an educator of his 
patrons to a large extent. He is considered good authority 
on the names of the fruits which he offers for sale. Hence 
the importance of having a universal and correct standard of 
nomenclature. I am aware that in many instances it will be 
difficult to break away from old established customs and habits 
in the use of names of fruit, but there is no way that this 
reform can be accomplished more readily than by a united 
effort on the part of nurserymen and fruit growers in this 
direction. It is, therefore, earnestly requested that you give 
this matter your careful consideration.'’ 
It would seem proper that the American Association of 
Nurserymen at its convention next June should take som e 
action on the subject. 
In another column are presented some arguments in behalf 
of the American Pomological Society, which will appeal to all 
who seek the advancement of horticultural interests. 
OMAHA EXHIBITION. 
Editor National Nurseryman: 
Having recently met with the leading fruit men of Nebraska, 
Missouri and Iowa, and having visited the exhibition grounds, 
I am fully convinced that the horticultural exhibition at 
Omaha will be the finest state show of fruits ever made. It is 
hoped and expected that every state in the Union will be rep¬ 
resented. The preparations by these states nearby is on a 
large scale and they will doubtless lead in the apple display, 
but for other fruits the states East and West are expected to 
win the laurels. 
It is hoped that the railroads will give a regular half rate to 
the Trans-Mississippi Exposition and that-a generous display 
and full patronage will be the result. The buildings are being 
rapidly pushed to completion and all will be in readiness early 
in the season. George J. Kellogg. 
Janesville, Wis., Jan. 15. 
General De Due, formerly chief distributor of seeds and 
agricultural commissioner, declared that for all the thousands 
of dollars worth of seeds given away yearly by the government 
at the expense of the taxpayers of the country, not a dozen 
reports have ever been made that were available by the depart¬ 
ment for data. 
REGARDING CERTIFICATES. 
Professor John B. Smith, New Jersey’s Noted Entomologist, 
Says No Man Can Be Sure No Scale Exists in a Large 
Block ot Trees—A Guaranty the Only Remedy, 
At the recent Moorestown, N J , institute, Professor John 
B. Smith, state entomologist, spoke of nurseiymen’s certificates 
as follows: 
“There seems to be no reasonable doubt that the scale 
occurs in almost all the Atlantic states and in most of those in 
the Mississippi valley. Nursery trade is going on constantly, 
and the attempt has been and is being made to control this by 
state legislation. As it has an inter-state bearing, congress 
has been appealed to, and general inspection laws for nurseries 
and a large appropriation have been asked for. 
“The state laws already passed require certificates that the 
stock or the nursery on which it was grown had been examined 
and found free from San Jose scale, yellows, rosette and other 
injurious insects and plant diseases. It is an impossible cer¬ 
tificate to give. No man in the world can go into a block of 
250,000 peach trees and say there is no yellows there. Nor 
can he say even that there is no San Jose scale there. All that 
he can say and all that he does say, in most instances, is that 
he has examined the nursery and found no indications of such 
things—which is quite a different matter. 
“ There are some nurseries in this state on which I have 
been for three years in succession, whose surroundings I know 
fully and where I feel as certain as I do of almost anything 
that no pernicious scale exists. Yet even there I could not 
say it does not exist, from positive knowledge. 
“There is danger from anywhere, and whether there is a 
certificate or not. How do you know that the stock you get 
with a certificate nailed on the box has really been inspected? 
Nurserymen are just as honest as other people, but not a bit 
more so. I know that stock has been shipped out of New 
Jersey with my certificate nailed on the box that was never 
grown in this state. 
“I know that stock bearing certificates and covered with 
scale has actually been received in New Jersey this season. I 
know that a nurseryman of another state, who has a certificate, 
has applied to me for information as to how to treat the scale. 
I know also that trees now in orchards and badly infested 
came from nurseries where now no trace of scale seems to 
exist. There is only one way of getting good stock and that 
is to insist on a guarantee from the seller and to verify at once 
on receipt of the stock. 
“ It will be said that the scale is difficult to find by one who is 
inexperienced, and that is true; but every fruit grower ought 
to be able to tell when his stock is clean, smooth and free 
from abnormal spots or blotches. If anything questionable 
attracts his attention he has always the right to send a cutting, 
or a sliver of bark, or a suspected bud, or anything of that 
kind to the experiment station, and he can be assured of a 
reply by return mail in nine cases out of ten. 
“ At the station the inspection system, under present cir- 
cums'ances, is considered as so unsatisfactory that the giving 
of certificates has been discontinued by order of the director. 
None have been given since October to, and none will be 
given in the future, except under some state law requiring 
them, if such be passed during the present winter.” 
