438 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
The National Nurseryman 
Established 1893 by C. L. YATES. Incorporated 1902 
Published monthly by 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN PUBLISHING CO., Inc. 
218 Livingston Building, Rochester, N. Y. 
Editor .ERNEST HEMMING, Flourtown, Pa. 
The leading trade journal issr id for Growers and Dealers in 
Nursery Stocks of all kinds. It circulates throughout the 
United States. Canada and Europe. 
Official Journal of American Association of IT urserymen 
AWARDED THE GRAND PRIZE AT PARIS EXPOSITION , 1900 
SUBSCRIPTION RATES 
One Year in Advance.$1.00 
Six Months .75 
Foreign Subscriptions, in advance.$1.50 
Six Months .$1.00 
Advertising rates will be sent upon application. Advertisements 
should reach this office by the 20th of the month previous to the date 
of issue. 
Payment in advance required for foreign advertisements. Drafts 
on New York or postal orders, instead of checks, are requested by the 
Business Manager, Rochester, N. Y. 
Correspondence from all points and articles of interest to nursery¬ 
men and horticulturists are cordially solicited. 
Photographs and news notes of interest to nurserymen should be 
addressed, Editor, Plourtown, Pa., and should be mailed to arrive not 
later than the 25th of the month. 
Entered, in the Post Office at Rochester, N. Y., as second-class matter. 
Rochester, N. Y., December, 1915. 
a flDerr^ Christmas to Ell! 
The editor wishes to sincerely thank those 
THANKS who have so kindly helped to make the col¬ 
umns of the “National Nurseryman” of in¬ 
terest to its readers during the past year. 
A trade paper would he dull indeed that only ex¬ 
pressed the opinions, impressions and experiences of 
one individual and what is more it would he very un¬ 
desirable. The aim and object of a trade paper is to 
advance the best interests of the nursery business, to 
bring together the different units and make them co-op¬ 
erative for their own good. 
To do this it must keep in touch and its linger on the 
pulse of the trade so as to mold opinion as expressed by 
the majority. This can only be done with the co¬ 
operation of its readers. 
While a bouquet from one brings a thrill of gratifica¬ 
tion, a brick bat is none the less welcome for its discip¬ 
linary effect. 
It is sincerely hoped that both will come in showers 
the ensuing year. 
Is the rising generation of nurserymen 
ELEMENTARY learning or becoming familiar with 
BOTANY elementary botany? It is very doubt¬ 
ful if this can be answered in the af¬ 
firmative. While it is taught in the schools and col¬ 
leges, it seems to be a curious fact that knowledge of it 
rarely lasts much longer than the teaching of it. 
For those whose occupations take them to the offices, 
factories and workshops, it is not to be wondered at, but 
to the nurseryman, florist or gardener, it is so fundamen¬ 
tal and vital to his profession it is hard to understand 
why it is not studied as a first requisite to success in the 
profession. 
It is true a knowledge of botany is perhaps not essen¬ 
tial to the commercial side of the nurseryman’s or flor¬ 
ist’s business. It is a prime requisite to become a mas¬ 
ter in the profession. If for no other reason, the train¬ 
ing it gives the perception and mind, it is worth while. 
I will venture to say every veteran nurseryman many 
times during his life wishes lie had studied botany in his 
younger days, so that he would at least have been master 
of plant nomenclature. What is more embarassing to a 
professional nurseryman than to have to say “I don’t 
know,” when asked the name of a common or even an 
uncommon plant, and what gives more assurance and 
power than a thorough knowledge or “speaking” ac- 
quainance with all the plants one meets along the road¬ 
side, in the woods or gardens? 
The nurseryman who knows what a pin oak is merely 
by seeing it and handling in the nursery has not as 
broad a knowledge as the one who adds to that know¬ 
ledge that the pin oak is Quercus palustris and is indi¬ 
genous from Massachusetts to Maryland and as far west 
as Kansas and Arkansas, that it grown naturally on low 
grounds, takes two years to mature its acorns, etc. 
Plants have affinities and associations. Take for in¬ 
stance that group of plants comprising the natural order 
Ericaceae —The Heaths, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Andro- 
medas, Kalmias, etc. They are all found growing wild 
under about the same conditions, partial shade or shel¬ 
tered positions constant yet free from stagnant moisture, 
and never on limestone or alkali formations. A botanical 
knowledge of this group of plants is equal to a key to 
their culture. How many millions of dollars have been 
wasted in trying to grow these plants where an observant 
nurseryman, with a knowledge of botany, knows it is 
impossible, and so it is with all other plants. 
To a man who has a grasp of plant classification the 
whole vegetable kingdom falls into groups not only ac¬ 
cording to systematic botany but to practical culture. 
The man with a knowledge of it can usually recognize 
at a glance those with water associations, those from the 
desert or arid plains, from moist woods or exposed moun¬ 
tains, from whatever part of the world they hail from, 
which gives him an immense advantage over the man 
without such knowledge. 
A knowledge of structural botany, or the biolo gy of 
plants is also of great value to the practical grower. 
A knowledge of the functions of the leaves, flowers, 
stems, roots, etc., cannot fail to make a better propagator 
and grower. 
The two latest important works on Horticulture, 
namely Bailey’s Encyclopedia of American Horticulture 
and Commercial Gardening by Weathers, are both pre¬ 
faced by many chapters on the subject, showing a 
knowledge of it to be essential to modern proficiency. 
Urge the young nurseryman to apply himself to ac¬ 
quiring a knowledge of botany, if it be only one branch 
of it. The future progress of the nursery profession 
will demand it. 
Once a year, at least, we ought to 
THANKFULNESS close our books, take an inventory 
and see how we stand in optimism 
and hope as well as in doubt and fear. 
There is not the slightest danger of forgetting our in- 
