THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
118 
usual amount of stock will be planted next spring owing to 
the fact that the nursery business is now on the road to pros¬ 
perity.” _ 
AMERICAN INSTITUTE FAIR. 
The sixty-seventh fair of the American Institute was held 
at the Academy of Design, New York city, September 26th to 
October 8th. Dr. F. M. Hexamer is chairman of the com¬ 
mittee on horticulture. P. J. Berckmans pronounced the col¬ 
lection of 43 plates of hot-house grown apples, pears and 
plums of W. Rockefeller as wonderful. The cost he said 
must have been $10 per fruit. Ellwanger & Barry had a large 
and valuable exhibit ; as also did William Parry. 
THE APPLE CROP. 
The apple crop of the United States is smaller than it has 
been since reliable statistics of this crop have been collected, 
says the American Agriculturist. The failure is widespread, 
reaching from the Pacific coast to Maine. In none of the 
states does the output of fruit approach an average, and in 
only a very few does the yield exceed 50 per cent of the crop 
of 1896, which may be considered a full one, amounting to a 
total of 70,000,000 barrels of commercial quality, exclusive of 
cider stock. The total supply from the 1898 crop of the U. 
S. will not reach 30,000,000 barrels compared to something 
over 40,000,000 barrels last year. Much inferior stock, that 
usually would go into cider, will this season figure in the com¬ 
mercial supply. The distribution of the crop this year is 
rather peculiar. In the great apple states of the West, like 
Missouri and Illinois, the crop is almost an absolute failure, 
being only about 500,000 barrels in each state. Indiana is in 
like condition, and Kansas and Nebraska have almost no 
winter fruit. On the Pacific coast there is some fruit, but this 
cuts little figure in the commercial trade. Iowa’s crop is very 
short as a whole, though good in some unimportant localities. 
Wisconsin has a fair crop, but no surplus The crop in Ohio 
is poor and unevenly distributed, the northeast counties having 
the best apples. Missouri will have to ship in apples for home 
use, and dealers are now trying to find out where to get them. 
Michigan probably is the most available source and the supply 
will be secured from there. The same is true of Illinois, as 
this state has absolutely no winter fruit outside of a few 
favored localities in the northern section and in the central 
districts. 
The common explanation of the failure is that during the 
blooming season there was excessive rainfall, which washed 
out the pollen and prevented proper fertilization by insects, 
while a cold wave added to the injury. Then the moist humid 
weather during the season was very favorable to the develop¬ 
ment of fungous diseases, which accounts in a measure for the 
exceedingly poor quality of the fruit in the middle and western 
states, especially the appearance of knots and blighted spots. 
Possibly also the fact that an immense crop was secured in ‘96 
and a big one was due this year caused many people to neglect 
spraying and a proper culture of their orchards. 
The foreign crop is also short. 
Honest adveitising creates confidence and confidence creates 
business. 
Push, enlarge, expand. There is no Monroe doctrine in business. 
TREE PLANTING IN NEW YORK. 
The following advertisement appeared in the New York 
Tribune last month : 
The Tree Planting Association of New York will furnish, free of 
charge, full information as to the most suitable trees for city growth, 
with list of nurserymen, and the charges of each for the completed 
work (including iron tree-protectors), also printed blank forms for 
orders to nurserymen, on application by mail only to its office, Nos. 
64 and 66 White steet, New York city. Orders should be placed now 
to secure the best results. 
Un Burger^ IRows. 
Preparing Nursery Rows—Thomas H. Douglas, Illinois, in Jnne 
broke three acres of meadow for nursery ground, turning under grass 
14 inches in height. The piece was sowed to buckwheat on July 15 th, 
and this was plowed under September 16 tli. When the buckwheat 
was rotted a sub-soil plow was used. Much rain aided the work. 
Cherry Blight —Professor Bailey, who has just returned from an 
extended European trip, calls attention to a disease in Belgium cherry 
orchards which externally and microscopically resembles pear blight. 
Sweet and sour varieties are attacked, and the whole tree is killed in a 
single season. Professor Bailey thinks the disease may appear in the 
United States, as it can easily be transmitted through scions, stocks 
and bud sticks. 
Slitting Bark of Fruit Trees— Professor J. L. Budd, Ames, la., 
says in Rural New Yorker that, under certain conditions, it is beneficial 
to slit the outer bark on the stems of cherry and plum trees. This, he 
says, is to prevent injury from “ tight lacing.” Slitting the bark of 
pear or apple trees cannot possibly have anything to do with blight. 
Washing the stems and the main branches with a solution of lime, 
sulphur and water, will lessen blight, as it lowers the temperature and 
is not favorable to bacteria. It must be understood that slitting the 
bark would invite bacterial attacks rather than tend to prevent them. 
Where to Caliper —W. A. Watson & Co., Normal, Ill., ask: 
“ At what point of the tree is it usual to caliper when giving grades ? 
Some here contend measurement should be taken four inches above 
the collar, others say right at the collar.” It would seem that the 
nursery tree at the collar could not be generally regarded as the proper 
measurement. The general average diameter is what is intended to 
be conveyed by a caliper measurement*. This can only be obtained by 
measuring above the collar. So excellent an authority as Professor L. 
H. Bailey says on this point, “Nurserymen express the size of a 
tree by its diameter about three inches above the bud.” A prominent 
Rochester nurseryman says the measurement should be taken just 
above the collar. 
Grading Nursery Stock —J. H. Black & Son, Hightstown, N. J., 
answering a query in Rural New T Yorker, say : Peaches should never 
be older than one year from the bud. Sizes of extra first-class should 
be 4 -J to 6 feet, 9 - 16 -inch caliper and up. First-class should be 4 to 5 
feet, | to 9 - 16 -inch caliper. Medium grade should be 3 to 4 feet. f to 
i-inch caliper. Second-class should be 2 to 3 feet, stocky and should 
have some branches. Pears, European plums, apples and sweet 
cherries should never be three-year-olds, and are, in the case of Kieffer 
and Le Conte pears and sweet cherries generally two year-olds. Sizes, 
extra first-class, should be 5 £ to 7 feet, f-inch caliper and larger. First- 
class should be 5 to 6 feet, f to f -inch caliper. Second-class should be 
4 to 5 feet, i to f-inch caliper. Japan plums should be graded the 
same way, but should never be over two-year-olds, and one-year-olds 
well branched are preferable. Sour and Duke cherries should caliper 
the same, but run about one foot shorter, as a rule. Apricots and 
quinces are graded similar to peaches, but are two-year-olds instead of 
one year. Quinces are not so tall, but more branched. These are the 
standard grades, and should run between the two extremes. If none 
run over the lowest limit, they are graded too close. 
