36 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
The National Nurseryman. 
C. L. YATES, Proprietor. RALPH T, OLCOTT, Editor. 
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY 
The National Nurseryman Publishing Co., 
305 Cox Building, Rochester, N. Y. 
The only trade journal issued for Growers and Dealers in Nursery Stock of 
all kinds. It circulates throughout the United States and Canada. 
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSERYMEN. 
SUBSCRIPTION RATES. 
One year, in advance, _ _ _ _ _ $1.00 
Six Months, 
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. 
Jtg^Drafts on New York or postal orders, instead of checks, are 
requested. 
Correspondence from all points and articles of interest to nursery¬ 
men and horticulturists are cordially solicited. 
Entered in the Post Office at Rochester, as second-class matter. 
Rochester, N. Y., April, 1897. 
A BLOW AT THE NURSERY TRADE. 
While the nurserymen of the country were busily engaged 
last month in final preparations for the spring packing, a 
national convention was held at Washington, the proceedings 
of which, published in full in another column, are of the 
greatest importance to the nursery trade. 
It was a convention dealing almost entirely with nursery 
interests of the whole country, yet there were but two nursery¬ 
men, as such, present ! And one of these was sent, uninvited, 
to see what was intended to be done. In view of all the cir¬ 
cumstances, we are constrained to state the evidence points to 
direct antagonism of nursery interests. While the intent may 
not have been so pronounced as this, the results, we believe, 
amply justify the statement. 
This convention of fruit growers and entomologists met 
pursuant to a call of the Ohio Horticultural Society requesting 
all state horticultural societies to send delegates ; and upon 
the resolutions adopted was based a bill, to be introduced in 
congress at the first opportunity, providing for the inspection, 
fumigation and destruction when necessary of nursery stock 
throughout this country. 
In spite of the refusal upon the part of fruit growers who 
served on the legislative committee of the convention to fur¬ 
nish a copy of this bill. The National Nurseryman is 
enabled, through the courtesy of the chairman of that com¬ 
mittee, Professor William B. Alwood, state entomologist of 
Virginia, to present the bill as finally revised. It is stated by 
fruit growers that copies of this bill will be sent to nursery¬ 
men ; but the difficulty in securing a copy for that very pur¬ 
pose leads us to make sure by this publication that the nursery¬ 
men shall have an official copy with the latest revisions. Par¬ 
ticular attention is called to this bill which appears in this 
ssue. The fullest information in relation to this subject is 
necessary in order to be able to deal with it when the time 
comes. 
It will be seen that the bill treats first of nursery stock im¬ 
ported into this country ; and secondly, of nursery stock which 
is the subject of interstate commerce. 
Special attention is called in the first place to the fact that 
fruit is subject to the same inspection as is nursery stock, on/y 
in case of importation into this country. Now the avowed object 
of this bill couched in general terms is the prevention of the 
introduction and the dissemination of the San Jose scale. And 
in what foreign country, except Japan, has the San Jose scale 
been reported ? And how much fruit is imported from Japan ? 
Section 5 of the bill refers to restrictions upon interstate 
commerce and now the words, “or fruit,” are dropped ! Only 
nursery stock is to be subject to the severe restrictions imposed, 
when it comes to a question of interstate commerce. And yet 
the entomologists who attented this convention are on record 
as declaring that the San Jose scale has been discovered in 
large numbers upon pear fruit sent freely from point to point 
within the United States and within certain states! 
The latest declaration of this nature was that of Victor H. 
Lowe, entomologist of the New York Experiment Station at 
Geneva, N. Y., in a paper read before the recent meeting of 
the Western New York Horticultural Society, an organization 
of fruit growers, and published in part in the last issue of The 
National Nurseryman. Mr. Lowe’s name appears in the 
list of those at the Washington convention. In his paper, 
above referred to, he said ; 
“ At present the San Jose scale is doing its ivorst work in this 
state on Long Island. It has been found from one end of the 
Island to the other. On two different occasions we found fruit 
exhibited at the Long Island fairs which was badly infested. 
Since that time we have observed it in the nurseries there. [First 
on the fruit and then in the nurseries.] 
As early as July of 1894, we found pears infested with the 
San Jose scale for sale on fruit stands in New York, Brooklyn 
and Jamaica, I. I. In the first two instances all of the infested 
fruits observed were Bartlett pears from California j while at 
Jamaica, not only infested pears from California, but also in¬ 
fested pears grown on the Island were found for sale in the 
market places. This, together with the fact that infested fruit 
was sent to the Long Island fairs not only that year and the year 
following, but this year as well, indicates almost criminal careless¬ 
ness on the part of those responsible.” 
And yet in the face of these positive statements regarding 
the danger of infection from the transportation of fruit within 
and between states, this convention of fruit growers deliberately 
struck out of the sections of the bill referring to interstate 
commerce all mention of fruit! Will a congressional com¬ 
mittee report favorably a bill of such transparent injustice as 
this—a bill framed by fruit growers as against the nursery¬ 
men and ignoring entirely the provisions which should be 
operative against fruit ? 
Is it to be supposed that the fruit growers would acquiesce 
in a bill identical with this except that the words “or fruit” 
should be included in all sections referring to interstate com¬ 
merce ? 
Why were the words “or fruit ” not included in the sections 
referring to interstate commerce ? Why, indeed, when the 
State of California, the land of the origin of the scale in this 
country and the land of the infested pear fruit on sale in New 
