THE NATIONAL NURSEKY.MAN 
r)5 
])()i’tiiiiity offered at tlie Siiininei' Meeting' for the in¬ 
spection of nurseries and ^-rowini;’ stock, and \ liojx* 
the i<>‘ood work of learnini;- wliere we stand, of wliat 
all the rest of ns are doini*', of gaining- a correct pei'- 
s))ective of the increased demand for our stock that 
may l)e created, either l)y oni’selves, or other moiv 
]K)werfnl agencies, I ho))e this good work will go on. 
In closing, if I may, I want to make an api)eal. It 
is ])rom])ted by an observation in England and on the 
Continent of Eiiro])e, not among the Nurserymen so 
much as at the shows, 1 know that they have l)een at 
it longer there, l)ut we have excelled them in so 
many other things, that it is humiliating to see them 
getting ahead of us in this. I l)elieve that the Horti¬ 
cultural Shows abroad exert an intiuence by erejiting 
a demand, educating the people, and developing a 
trade in new and good tilings greater than we con¬ 
ceive. 
In the Olynpiian Hall at the London Show of the 
Royal Horticultural Society, I remember jiromptly 
after entering, going to a gallery half way across the 
Hall in order to get a ]hcture of the 2000 people who 
had crowded in within ten minutes after the doors 
were o])ened, with the entrance ])rice at one Guinea 
each, and then I looked at them with their notebooks 
collecting data, and in many cases placing the orders 
right at the go-off. AVhen I conpiare that scene with 
the attitude of those who came to the Flower Show 
here in New York last s|)ring, interested to be sure, 
admiring the s])lendid sight undoubtedly, but it 
seemed to me from the standpoint mainly of being en¬ 
tertained only, rather than gathering information 
which they could take home and use in connection 
with their own gardens. To be sure the nature of the 
two shows was different, bnt T wish to express a 
conviction that we have in America Horticultural 
Organizations that deserve more of our siijiiiort. For 
example, I want to mention one that is near to my 
heart, the American Rose Society, a national organi¬ 
zation, but with only a very few nurserymen in niem- 
hershi]), instead of which I feel sure we all should be 
justified in joining, if only for the o])])ortunity of en¬ 
couraging the amateui's in local centers. The Amer¬ 
ican Rose Society is working to standardize the No¬ 
menclature, to establish at (\)rnell University, at 
Hartford, Connecticut, at New Hrunswick, New -Jer¬ 
sey, (St. Paid, Minnea])olis, ])ossibly) and certainly 
at the l)e])artment of Agricnltui'e at AYashington, 1). 
C., exi)erimental Rose Gardens under the charge of 
each of these institutions; in some res))ects antici])at- 
ing the same good results that came from the work of 
the American Peony Society at (Airnell recently. 
These Gardens, if successfully started, are bound 
to attract thousands, such as the oue at Hartford 
already does, no less than 11,000 ])eople of a single 
Sunday, and as such, will serve as ])owerful in¬ 
fluences for educating the average home owner to an 
appreciation of the beautiful; and under the head of 
“Danger of ()ver-]n‘odnction” I a))])eal to you, gen¬ 
tlemen, to hmd your intiuence, contribute your mite, 
or a mightier amount, and mor(‘ than hc'retofore, h‘t 
us co-o])erate with the organizations that an^ striv¬ 
ing to build np those foi-c(‘s which shall educate^ ami 
])rodnce a greater ai)preciation foi- ornameidals. 
FERTILIZERS IN JAPAN 
Vice Consul Walter Gassett, Kobe. 
Jai)an is a mountainous country, with i\ cultivable 
area small in proportion to the total amount of land. 
As the poi)ulation continually increases, intensive 
cultivation is necessary to increase the ])roductionper 
acre. The dislike of the -Jtiiianese for foreign i-ice 
also induces them to increase the yield of nativi'- 
grown rice as much as ])ossible. This is done by 
raising a cro]i of winter wheat followed by rice on 
dry land, while on both dry and irrigated lands 
heavy fertilizating is practiced. 
The total value of fertilizers consumed in da])an 
in 1912 was $104,425,093, of which $30,017,500 was 
rejiresented by artificial fertilizers, $32,300,000 by 
light soil, $31,410,000 by taibi (manure made of 
straw, etc.) and $7,057,500 by ryokubi (weeds) and 
other kinds. Ryokubi were but little used in Japan 
before the war, bnt afterwards the Government en¬ 
couraged farmers to avail themselves of this sort of 
manure. Aleasures were taken foj' raising rengeso 
for this purpose, and the use of these weeds for ma¬ 
nure has very largely increased. 
The total value of fertilizers imported in 1912 was. 
over $26,000,000, or about a quarter of the total valm* 
of the fertilizers used. Of the imjiorted fertilizers, 
bean cake occupies first ])lace, the value of the im¬ 
ports amounting to $12,650,000. Next comes suljihate 
of ammonia, $7,500,000; ])hos])hate, $3,150,000; ni¬ 
trate of soda, $1,400,000; rapeseed cake, $1,300,000; 
and cottonseed cake, $500,000. 
Alaskan ]iowdered fish manure has been inqiorted 
for some years as a substitute for Hokkaido fish ma¬ 
nure, but owing to the bad quality none was inqiort- 
ed into Kobe in 1912. This year (1913) the quality 
has been im])roved, some shipments have been made, 
and thei’e is a good demand for it at the ])resent ]n‘ice, 
about $2.15 ]ier 10 kwan (about $2.50 per 100 
pounds). 
The Ja])anese in Chosen recently have been using 
starfish as fertilizing material; it is ixqiorted to be 
excellent for rice. An analysis shows it to contain 
4.858 I'ler cent, nitrogen and 0.889 i^er cent, phos¬ 
phoric acid. The price is about half that of Japan¬ 
ese-made oil cake .—From Dotijf (^ousulor and Trudv 
Report. 
