110 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
THE NURSERYMAN’S LABEL. 
JOHN C. CHASE, DERRY. N. H. 
(Before the Nurserymen’s Association at Atlanta, Ga., June 22-24.) 
HISTORICAL. 
Historically, the nurseryman’s label in some form or other 
is practically as old as the race itself, for we read that closely 
following the catastrophe that overtook the first nursery 
of which we have any record, “the Lord set his mark upon 
Cain.” Evidently there could have been no chance of error 
in this case for the labeling was done after the specimen had 
borne fruit. Whether it remained true to name or not is 
not in my province to discuss. 
Further down the centuries the doctrine was set forth 
that “by their fruits ye shall know them,” from which we 
may infer that in those days no more faith was put in the 
glowing description of the glib-tongued agent, the gorgeous 
imagery of his plate-book, or the labelling of his wares than 
is said to be justifiable at the present day. 
From the mechanical point of view the crudest method 
of marking the purchaser’s trees was in use until within a 
few years, the only device being a plain slip of wood on 
which the nurseryman wrote the name and attached the 
wire by hand. 
About twenty years ago the machine made, wired and 
printed label made its appearance. The cost being consid¬ 
erably less than the price paid for a plain unwired label, it 
was only a short time before they came into general use, so 
that now as a rule every tree retailed has attached to it in 
legible form the name it is supposed to bear. If the fruitage 
of later years tells a different story, it is not the fault of the 
MATERIAL USED. 
While tinned or even copper wire is used to lengthen the 
life of the label it is not expected, by the seller at least, that 
this identifying tag shall be anyways permanent, merely 
lasting until the tree shall have reached and been established 
in its permanent abiding place, for after fruiting it needs no 
label to tell its name, and if by any misfortune a mistake 
has been made in the labelling it is as well that no visible evi¬ 
dence should remain to confound the seller. The non¬ 
removal of the labels at a proper time may also cause serious 
injury to the tree, a growing limb being frequently killed by 
the constriction of a wire not loosely enough put on. Any 
complaint about the quick rusting of the so-called iron wire 
in use in recent years may be answered by saying that the 
wire used at the present time is made of steel, which cor¬ 
rodes much faster than the iron wire in use a generation 
ago. Those of you who have had any practical experience 
with wire shingle nails do not need any further elaboration 
on this point. ' KINDS 0F LABELS . 
The wired printed labels being had in bundles of 100 only 
leaves a field for a label large enough to be legibly written 
upon the case. These are usually made of pine, a soft clear 
article being desirable to preserve the good nature of the 
user. A copper wired painted label is generally used when it 
is desired to preserve the name for the longest practicable 
time. It is assumed by many that such labels should be used 
on all cellared stock, but that custom is by no means univer¬ 
sal, and is as variable as any-other personal notion of the 
user. 
A large label some six inches long is in use to some extent 
for marking bundles of trees, but does not appear to call 
for any extended mention. The pointed labels, running 
from 3^ inches to 12 inches in length, plain or painted, are 
in more general use by the florist, and are only mentioned 
in passing. lake the blank wired labels they are of soft 
pine, and are seldom found printed, except in the shortest 
lengths which are used in marking bunches of strawberry 
plants. Paper tags are also used to some extent, but more 
especially by dealers who do a mail order business, and are 
generally unwired. durability. 
The lasting qualities of the label so far as legibility is con¬ 
cerned are exceedingly variable, depending to a great extent 
upon the exposure to which they are subjected. Some times 
the writing or printing will be legible for three or four years, 
but as a rule one-half that length of time would be a proper 
limit. The trees sent out a year or two ago by the National 
Department of Agriculture as a presumed aid to political 
fence building were marked with the ordinary blank label, 
on which the name had been printed by a rubber stamp with 
analine ink. After the first heavy rain to which they were 
subjected the trees were nameless, and what little value 
they might have had in the beginning had practically been 
lost. Thus does a paternal government dissipate the peo¬ 
ple’s money to the' detriment of the nurserymen and seeds¬ 
men, and where and when will be the end no one can say. 
PERMANENT LABELS. 
When the matter of marking trees in parks, nursery exhibi¬ 
tion trial grounds or any place where a permanent legible 
record is desired, we are confronted with conditions quite 
different from those met with by the ordinary nurseryman, 
where, as I have before remarked, all that is usually expected 
is to identify the nurseryman’s product until it has reached 
the seller, somewhat analogous to the price mark on a suit 
of clothes. Numerous devices for the permanent marking 
aforementioned have been placed on the market. Some of 
them are in general, but limited use, notably a zinc tag, 
upon which a special ink is used and a copper slip written 
upon with a stylus or very hard pencil. The last named 
fills the bill of permanency, but is far from legible. Other 
devices have been the enclosing of the written or printed 
slip of wood or cardboard in a small bottle of clear glass; a 
double label of two slips of wood hinged at the end and clos¬ 
ing up like a pocket knife, the name being on the inside and 
therefore not visible without manipulation of the label; 
large wooden tags on which the name is hand printed with 
printers’ ink, loosely attached to the specimen to be marked 
with a heavy copper wire. The last named appears to be 
the most practicable and general device in use. 
The comparatively limited demand and probable unwilling¬ 
ness to pay the price that a first-class article would call for 
probably operates to prevent the bringing forward of a hor¬ 
ticulturists’ label that would satisfactorily fill the exacting 
conditions under which it is to be used. 
I have thus endeavored to give a brief description of the 
nurseryman’s label, its function and limitations, an item 
comparatively trifling in itself, but one that has much to do 
with the convenience and comfort of the nurseryman, and 
frequently of serious import in maintaining pleasant rela¬ 
tions between the seller and buyer of trees. 
