The National Nurseryman. 
FOR GROWERS AND DEALERS IN NURSERY STOCK. 
Copyright, 1901, by the National Nurseryman Publishing Co. 
“ North America is the great fruit growing country of the world."— Bailey. 
Vol. IX. ROCHESTER, N. Y., MARCH, 1901. No. 
TO COMPEL FUMIGATION. 
New York Nurserymen Appear Before Legislative Committee and 
Vigorously Oppose a Bill — Only 0,000 Trees Affected by 
San Jose Scale in New York State, as Against 200,- 
000 in I8Q8 and 1800—Proof of Control of 
the Pest — Large Interests at Stake. 
Rochester nurserymen went to Albanv on February 20 th, 
and vigorously opposed, before a legislative committee, the 
passage of a bill to require the fumigation of nursery stock as 
a preventive of the spread of the San Jose scale. Irving 
Rouse said that, under the present law, nurserymen must de¬ 
stroy all infested stock without receiving any compensation 
therefor. The commissioner of agriculture now has the 
power to order, fumigation when he considers it necessary. 
While the present law is not perfect, it has worked very well. 
The reports of the Department of Agriculture show but 6,000 
trees affected in New York state, as aganist 200,000 in 1898 
and 1899 . This is regarded as strong evidence that the 
nuisance is under control. Mr. Rouse said that in most cases 
scale is found in small nurseries on Long Island, which could 
scarcely be called nurseries. He asserted that the commer¬ 
cial nurseries would never allow the San Jose scale to get a 
footing. 
William L. Pitkin, secretary of the Eastern Nurserymen’s 
Association, told the committee that the Eastern Nurserymen’s 
Association comprises about fifty members, including some of 
the largest nursery firms in the country. Among the members 
are: Ellwanger & Barry, capital stock $ 200,000 ; Smiths, 
Powell & Co., Syracuse, $ 100 , 000 ; W. T. Smith & Co., 
Geneva, $ 100,000 ; R. G. Chase & Co., Geneva, $ 100,000 ; 
Brown Brothers Co., Rochester, $ 150,000 ; T. S. Hubbard 
Co., Fredonia, $ 25 , 000 , besides a number of smaller firms and 
individual nurserymen. Mr. Pitkin read a memorial to the 
legislature from the legislative committee of the Eastern 
Nurserymen’s Association, in the course of which he called 
attention to the fact that last winter the Western New York 
Horticultural Society favored a bill akin to the present one, 
while this year the organization is against it. Mr. Pitkin 
argued that the question of eradicating the San Jose scale 
should be left to the Federal legislature, where a bill to regu¬ 
late the inspection of nursery stock in all the states is pending. 
He asserted that the agitation regarding the scale had preju¬ 
diced the Canadians to such an extent that a law had been 
enacted which forbids the importation of American nursery 
stock into the Dominion. 
Charles J. Brown, of Brown Brothers Co., read extracts 
from agricultural papers condemning-the proposed bill. He 
asked Assemblyman Phipps if he had asked the attorney gen¬ 
eral whether his bill would be constitutional if it provided for 
fumigation of stock that had been inspected by the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture and given a clean bill of health. 
Mr. Phipps replied that he had not as yet. Mr. Brown 
rejoined that it might be well to look into that matter else, if 
his bill passed and were declared unconstitutional, it might 
happen that the whole of the present inspection law would fall 
by the wayside, and the last state would be worse than the 
first. 
C. M. Hooker, of Brighton, of the legislative committee of 
the Western New York Horticultural Society, told of the com¬ 
promise effected between the fruit growers and the nursery¬ 
men at the recent meeting of the society in Rochester, and 
argued against the passage of the bill. 
The nurserymen expect that, even if the bill is reported 
favorably by the committee, it will not be passed by the 
assembly. 
NURSERY INTERESTS OF pHIO. 
In an address before the Columbus Horticultural Society, 
James S. Hine said: 
We may say there are two main nursery centers in Ohio—one at 
Painesville and one at Dayton; but these do not include all of the nur¬ 
series, by any means, for they are scattered about in all sections, and, 
with few exceptions, good healthy stock is being produced, the nur¬ 
serymen using great care to keep their premises free from insects and 
plant diseases that may be distributed with their stock. I can say, 
speaking from this standpoint, that I am sure that there has been a 
vast improvement in the nursery business in the past few years. 
The question of seedlings is one of interest. Outside of peach, prac¬ 
tically none of the seedlings of fruit trees are produced in Ohio They 
are either imported from Europe or obtained from growers in our 
Western states. Between domestic and foreign grown seedlings there 
appears to be a difference, and all nurserymen, when interrogated on 
the subject, do not hesitate to express a preference for one kind or the 
other. I was much interested when it was possible to see growing in 
this state a plantation of about three acres of apple seedlings. They 
looked well, and from appearances then would produce desirable stock 
by the end of the growing season. 
The wider the acquaintance one gets with orchards and nurseries, 
the more apparent it becomes that soil, in order to grow fruit trees, 
must be well drained, either naturally or artificially. I am sure that a 
great many young orchards are assisted on the road to extermination 
by improper drainage of the soil on which they are planted. Closely 
associated with improper drainage is what is known under the name 
winter-kill. A great deal of this is present in some sections. The 
tree may be alive and have apparently heavy foliage, but the bark is 
peculiar, the growth is stunted, and the trunk, if bent, will snap off 
like a pipestem, as we say; the heart-wood being*black, or, in extreme 
cases, entirely rotten. Trees affected by winter-kill may find their 
way into the market, but they are almost sure to die in a short time 
after they are set in the orchard. 
The number of ornamental shade trees that Ohio nurserymen are 
producing is striking. The Carolina poplar, although it is not the 
most desirable tree in the estimation of landscape gardeners, leads in 
the numbers produced. 
Tiie Butler & Jewell Co , Cromwell, Conn., Feb, 8, 1901.— 
‘‘Enclosed find $1. Don’t drop us off your list while we are on earth,” 
