406 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
NEW VOKK STATE GOVERNMENT IN GOMPETITION 
WITH NURSERYMEN 
There is liRle equity in government institutions sueli 
as tiie New York State College of Forestry wJiieli is sup- 
])orted by tlu' taxes, running a business in eoinpetition 
w itli a portion of tliese same taxpayers. 
There is am])le seope for tlie brains and energy of 
sueh an institution if they eonfine themselves exelusively 
to edueatioji, investigation, experiment and those lines 
whieh eannot be earried on by the individual yet are of 
inimense benetit to the State or nation. 
The following is an extraet from the "Elmira Star:” 
"The New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse 
is maintaining in eo-operation with the Conservation 
Commission in Albany a eoimnereial nursery just south 
ol the city line on South Salina street where over one 
million little trees, w hieh can be purchased from $3.50 to 
$5.00 per thousand, are grow ing. The College invites in- 
s])eetion of this iiursery and the State Forest Experiment 
Statioji adjoining it and will give information regarding 
the kind ol trees that are best suited to different soils and 
w ill accept order blanks for trees at any time.” 
II it is equitable for the State to sell trees in competi¬ 
tion w ith the nurseryman why not State dairies, market 
gardens, orchards, stock farms, etc.? 
There is little doubt but that government raised pro¬ 
ducts can be sold cheaper than those raised by a private 
business that must necessarily be self supporting, and 
even if they are not, they should not be put on the market 
as long as nurserymen are able to supply tbe demand. 
CEMETERY SUPERINTENDENTS MEET. 
The American Association of Cemetery Superinten¬ 
dents held their tw enty-seventh annual convention at St. 
Louis, October 6 to 8 inclusive, the Planters Hotel being 
headquarters. 
The meeting was w ell attended, members coming from 
all j)arts ol Ihe country and all w ent boine highly pleased 
with the sj)lendid hospitality given by the St. Louis 
peoi)le. 
The following are the officers elected for the ensuing 
year.: 
Thomas Wallis, superintendent Rosehill Cemetery, 
Chicago, president; .1. Warren, superintendent City 
Cemetery, Providence, R. L, vice-president; A. B. Law- 
son, superintendent Elmwood Cemetery, Chicago, sec¬ 
retary-treasurer; H. S. Adams, superintendent Forest 
Hills Cemetery, Boston; J. A. Reed, superintendent West- 
lawn Cemetery, Canton, 0.; and W. B. Jones, superinten¬ 
dent High wood Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pa., the three 
members of fhe executive committee. Minneapolis has 
been chosen the meeting place for 1915. 
TOG MANY VARIETIES 
"Hortensia,” in the International Horticultural Trade 
Journal in discussing hardy perennials says: 
“The nurseryman cannot economically maintain col¬ 
lections of from fifty to a hundred named varieties of a 
subject, two-thirds of wdiieh are not re(juired. There is 
waste of labor in proj)agation and labelling, waste of 
room lor aeeommodation, and w aste of space in the cata¬ 
logues for listing them, and after it all there is annoy¬ 
ance for the customer who is ever uncertain as to 
w hether this or that variety is really worth buying, and 
who frequently finds after paying new^ plant price for a 
thing it is no better than something he already possessed. 
If some strenuous effort is not made to keep lists of 
Jiamed varieties within bounds, there is likely to be 
trouble. 
For my j)art I tliink nurserymen w ould act wisely by 
considerably curtailing their lists or names, and by more 
lucidly describing the plants they list. There are many 
catalogues of hardy plants imblished, but few are as ac¬ 
curate, entertaining or informative as they should be. 
Much may be done by a thorouglily good catalogue, bot- 
anically correct, artistically illustrated, and consisely 
descriptive. Such a catalogue helps business, and helps 
to maintain interest in the line it represents. The hardy 
plant industry is of sufTieient importance to warrant such 
catalogues, and it is essential to the continued welfare of 
the trade that the catalogues published shall be both re¬ 
liable and interesting.” 
These remarks apply with equal force to other plants, 
especially roses, lilacs, althaeas, peaches, etc. 
THE ENGLISH WALNUT 
Recently much has been w ritten concerning the profit 
to be found in the English Walnut. All those with a 
knowdedge of trees wdll at the same time realize that it 
can hardly be expected that the crop is going to be a safe 
and profitable venture at its northern point of hardiness 
or beyond and it would be well for those who anticipate 
anything in this line to thoroughly investigate before in¬ 
vesting heavily. 
C. C. Pomeroy and others have been experimenting 
along this line and from all accounts are making a suc¬ 
cess of it. At the same time the walnut is not reliably 
hardy much north of Maryland. There are isolated 
specimens in many ])arts of Pennsylvania and other 
points north. At the same time young trees, even in the 
localities w here the old ones are growing, very often win¬ 
ter kill back very much in the young state, even wdien 
grown from the nuts produced by these same northern 
trees. 
No doubt location and exposure have a bearing on the 
subject but the walnut is not a tree that is dependably 
hardy in many localities and will often suffer to the lat¬ 
itude of the New^ YV)rk State line. 
DRY WEATHER 
If the present drought had occurred in the 
early part of the summer it wmuld have been 
disastrous to crops, but being in the fall when 
most plants have matured their seed and 
growdh it does not cause much concern, except perhaps 
with the patient nurseryman wdio notes with a practiced 
eye the bad effect on hiany of his choice plants, especially 
evergreens. The deciduous plants merely ripen their 
wmod and shed their leaves a little ahead of time but 
many evergreens look sick. The Arbor Y^itae group los¬ 
ing the leaves now^ which they should not shed until next 
spring. It is at such times as these one sees the value of 
a deep soil and deep cultivation or an irrigation system to 
tide tile stock over until more congenial growing w^eather. 
