296 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
Poor Freight Service: 
Wisconsin nurserymen make complaint that freight 
service is very poor, stating that locals are only run every 
other day and desired to know if the Transportation Com¬ 
mittee could take the question up with the carriers. 
Advised them that such service has been put into effect 
in various states as one method of rigid economy adopted 
by the railroads and did not believe it was a question for 
the Association but should be handled by the nursery¬ 
men in those states through the Public Service Commis¬ 
sions. i 
Tree Seed: 
In Ollicial Classification territory apple seed and var¬ 
ious other tree seed, excepting peach seed, are billed as 
first-class. Have taken up with both the Official and the 
Uniform Classification Committee and believe that in the 
near future the rating on apple and other tree seed will 
be given a third class rating the same as in Southern and 
Western territory. 
Dunnage or Preservative Allowance When in the 
Body of Car With Bulk Shipments in Car Loads: 
Most nurserymen are somewhat familiar with this 
question which has come up during the past two years. 
The railroad companies have been trying to get away 
from the dunnage or preservative allowance, but in can¬ 
celling some of their rules wherein a certain amount was 
allowed free, they have conflicted with the provisions of 
the various classifications, and especially in the Western 
and Southern territory. While it is true, any excess 
weight of dunnage or preservative above the minimum 
will be carried free or refunded in case claim is filed, the 
Transportation Committee still takes the view that it 
would not be wise policy on the part of the nurserymen 
to agitate this dunnage question very much as it would, 
no doubt, result in the end to an increase in the car load 
minimum. Remember, Ibis refers only to dunnage or 
preservative in body of car and not to ice in bunkers, 
which has always been carried free if left in the car. 
Extracts from following letters from Mr. Pitkin and 
railroad men to the writer explain how the railroads 
construe it:— 
(Letter from Mr. Pitkin) : 
“When I was at the Kansas City meeting Decem¬ 
ber 9th and 10th, 1 heard some discussion in relation 
to the allowance for the weight of straw and pack¬ 
ing material used in bulk carloads, and on my re¬ 
turn asked the Division Freight Agent of the New 
York Central at Rochester to give me some infor¬ 
mation, and he replies today that he has carefully 
examined the official Western and Southern classi¬ 
fication and fails to find where any allowance is 
authorized. Can you give me any further informa¬ 
tion?” 
(Letter from Traffic Department M. K. & T. Ry. Company) 
“Answering your letter of March 6th, in regard to 
the cancellation of the dunnage allowance: The 
lines operating west of the Mississippi River some 
time ago decided, effective September 16, 1914, to 
cancel all dunnage allowances of the character de¬ 
scribed, and the cancellation was made effective on 
I he date set. If dunnage is used, the transportation 
charges thereon will be based on the rate applying 
on the commodity transported.” 
“Rule 29 of the current Western Classification to 
which you have referred has reference only to ship¬ 
ments of freight in carloads moving under refrig¬ 
eration, and reference to ice or other preservative is 
intended to cover only such preservatives as may be 
necessary to protect shipments of the class requir¬ 
ing refrigerator service. The rates on this class of 
traffic have been so constructed as to include the cost 
of carriage of the ice. The shippers are not going to 
load ice in excess of the amount actually necessary 
to propely preserve the shipments, because of the 
cost of the ice.” 
(Letter from Traffic Department, St. Louis & San Fran¬ 
cisco Ry. Go.) : 
“The dunnage proposition has been fully consid¬ 
ered advisable to cancel same, which was accom¬ 
plished effective September 16th, 1914. On and 
after that date our freight charges have been based 
on the gross weight of contents of car.” 
Lower Minimum in Western Classification: 
Succeeded during the year in securing a graduated 
minimum on trees in Western territory, which starts in 
at 14,660 pounds, and gradually increases according to 
the length of the car. This is much better than the old 
minumum of 16, 20 and 24,000 pounds, and to fully un¬ 
derstand the benefit of this change, nurserymen should 
compare the old minumums with the new. 
Increase in Official Territory Gar Loads From Fifth 
to Fourth Class: 
The change by the Official Glassification Committee 
effective June 1st from fifth class to fourth car load lots 
is the most vital question that has affected the nursery¬ 
man for several years, and if such an increase cannot be 
suspended and cancelled, it is the opinion of the Trans¬ 
portation Committee that it will only be a stepping stone 
for the other classifications to do likewise. As you know, 
the carriers in Official Classification territory were 
granted a 6 per cent, increase by the Interstate Commerce 
Commission and this new increase averaging about 26 
per cent, or possibly a little higher, the nurserymen can 
readily understand how this will affect them in future. 
Mr. Pitkin, with other nurserymen in the Official ter¬ 
ritory, appeared before that Committee and endeavored 
to have such advances cancelled, and one of the questions 
that was put to Mr. Pitkin was that the nursery minumum 
was too low r already for a fifth class rating. 
From railroad sources, also learn that the carriers are 
objecting to the 16,000 pound minumum in that territory 
on nursery stock shipments and this should be another 
reason to the nurserymen why the dunnage or preserva¬ 
tive allowance should not be agitated or taken advantage 
of by the nurserymen when all railroad men are agreed 
that it was through a technical error that it was allowed 
or is in the classifications today. 
No doubt, many of the nurserymen will recall that the 
Transportation Committee, in reducing the minimum 
from 20 and 24,000 pounds years ago to the 14,600 and 
16,000 minumum as at present, that it was done on their 
representation that it was almost impossible to load one 
car in twenty-five with 16,000 pounds of bulk trees. If 
