THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
67 
PLANT REGISTRATION. 
Proposed Establishment of a Federal Bureau 
—To Simplify Nomenclature—Details of 
THE Plan—Views of Chairman Corbett. 
The question of establishing a bureau for the registration of 
plants in connection with the present Division of Pomology, 
was brought before the Section of Botany and Horticulture of 
the Association of American Agriculture, Colleges and Experi¬ 
ment Stations by Professor L. C. Corbett, of the West Vir¬ 
ginia University, After a careful consideration of the matter, 
the section appointed a committee to report upon the feasi¬ 
bility of the scheme and to suggest the outline of a plan to be 
presented to congress at an early date. The committee con¬ 
sists of L. C. Corbett, Morgantown, W. Va., chairman ; W. A. 
Taylor, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.; 
Professor L. H. Bailey, Ithaca, N. Y.; F. S. Earle, Auburn, 
Ala.; and C. A. Shinn, Berkeley, Cal. 
PURPOSE OF THE PLAN. 
The purpose of the plan is outlined as follows by Professor 
Corbett : 
1. To discourage the duplication of names and the re-naming of old 
sorts for commercial purposes. 
2. To form a national herbarium of economic plants, which shall be 
made up largely from type specimens. 
3. To simplify the matter of nomenclature. 
4. To aid the student of varieties as well as of variation of plants 
under culture. 
5. To secure to the originator of a truly valuable variety some re¬ 
ward for his labor, the same as is now accorded the inventor. 
The incorporation of such a clause (No. 5) will, I am sure, secure the 
hearty co-operation of all plant breeders, nurserymen and seedsmen, 
and this co-operation we must have in order to advance the scientific 
ends sought. 
It is further proposed that this central bureau be made a part and 
parcel of the present Division of Pomology of the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture. A very valuable nucleus for the beginning of such work 
is had in the fruit models now in the museum of that department. 
Each person interested in this matter will kindly formulate his ideas 
on the subject and send to some member of the committee who will 
put them in such form that a bill may be drafted at any early date and 
presented before congress. The idea in having the members of the 
committee so scattered is to get the needs of the several sections of the 
United States as well represented as practicable. It is hoped that each 
one interested will lend hearty co operation in the matter. 
It is proposed to have some place in the United States 
where all plants placed upon the market can be officially regis¬ 
tered, numbered, and a description, together with specimens of 
the bloom, seed, foliage and fruit placed on record. When it 
is not practicable to preserve the original, colored casts are to 
be prepared, as in the case of citrons, drupaceous and pomace- 
ous fruit, as well as vegetables. In all cases where plants are 
sent for registration, specimens of flowers, foliage, fruit, root, 
tuber or seed must accompany the application. All vegetables 
must be accompanied by a given amount of seed (to be 
determined) to be preserved for purposes of noting the dura¬ 
tion of cultural varieties, the influence of climate during any 
series of years or in any locality. A further purpose of the 
seed shall be to grow plants for purposes of identifying the 
sort. 
This is a topic' nurserymen and horticulturists have often 
discussed. 
PROFESSOR CORBETT’S OPINION. 
Regarding the subject. Professor Corbett writes as follows : 
“The matter is still being agitated and when it becomes possi¬ 
ble to convince people of the importance and the aim of the 
movement, there is no difficulty in getting their hearty support 
and co-operation. The difficulty has been, so far, that those 
to whom the movement would bring the most benefit have been 
those who have brought most opposition to it. Nearly every 
one who has written a criticism of the scheme has understood 
it to be some movement which had for its aim the duplication 
of the work already done by the experiment stations. That 
is, that there was to be some government establishment where 
all varieties, no matter what their origin, were to be tested. 
This of course would take a series of years, would require the 
employment of a large force of hands as well as a large terri¬ 
tory. They have further misconceived the idea in that they 
seem to suppose that such a central station could be made 
practicable. 
“ From the very nature of the case of testing varieties, such 
work must be done at the several state stations in order that 
the climatic conditions suited to the variety of products grown 
in the United States may be taken advantage of. Briefly 
stated, the object of the Bureau of Plant Registration is merely 
to have an official recognition of importations as well as varie¬ 
ties, so that those introducing or importing them shall have the 
protection that such a guarantee would carry with it. It is 
not the purpose to test varieties in any sense, but merely to 
record them and to give the introducer or importer the first 
right in handling them 
“ No official meetings have been arranged for, and it is 
hoped that the scheme can be put in operation without the 
enactment of new laws, either through the head of the Depart¬ 
ment of Botany or Pomology. This of course would necessi¬ 
tate a somewhat increased appropriation to the department 
undertaking the work, but those best informed in the matter 
seem to think that no new legislation is necessary. Therefore 
the third question as to the drafting of the bill is disposed pf 
in this way. 
“ I think there is very general interest in the matter, and if 
we can only get importers and growers to take an active, live 
interest in the scheme there will be no trouble in carrying it 
out. All of the experimental station horticulturists with whom 
I have corresponded, take an interest in the matter as they 
think it will not only be of great scientific value, but a direct aid 
and benefit to those engaged in the propagation of new varie¬ 
ties. Professor Bailey’s ideas on the subject were very clearly 
set forth in his Annals of Horticulture for 1890.’’ 
CONVERT TO STRINGFELLOW THEORY. 
Mr. M. Crawford, of Cuyahoga Falls, O., has become a 
convert to the Stringfellow theory and practice that trees, 
when planted, should be pruned to a straight root, cutting 
close all side roots. Mr. Crawford tried it this summer with 
good results, although some would rather wait until a dryer 
season before they become entirely converted to this new way. 
It has been the custom of nurserymen ever since whip-grafting 
of roots came into practice to cut off all side branches, and 
the grafts have grown without trouble, so there is really noth¬ 
ing new in Mr. Stringfellow’s way, at least as far as one-year 
trees are concerned —Texas Farm and Ranch. 
