20 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
THE NURSERY CENSUS. 
In this issue is presented the latest information regarding 
the nurseries of the country, as prepared by the census office 
from the figures of the recent federal enumeration. The tabu¬ 
lated statement has been sent to the National Nurseryman 
by L. G. Powers, chief statistician for agriculture, of the 
census office, Washington, D. C., who says: 
“This table does not include all farms and establishments 
raising nursery stock incidental to their agricultural operations 
but only those making the raising of nursery stock their prin¬ 
cipal occupation. In a short time we shall have completed 
the tabulation of the farms and establishments that raise nur¬ 
sery stock incidental to their business, and the value of such 
products. In comparing these figures with those of ten years 
ago, you should remember this distinction: Nurseries then 
reported included all farms and establishments that raised 
nursery stock from which they secured any report, whether 
such plants made up the principal or incidental product of 
their activity.” 
This explanation clears up the apparently marked contrast 
in the figures of the census of 1900 and that of 1890 as com¬ 
pared in a table published in the National Nurseryman at 
page 271 in the November 1901 issue. There, for instance, it 
is shown that in 1890 there were 530 nursery establishments in 
New York state with land and buildings amounting to 
$10,609,866; while in 1900 there were but 237 nursery estab¬ 
lishments in the state with a value of land and buildings 
amounting to but $3,607,107. 
The listing in the recent census of such establishments as 
make the production of nursery stock their principal business, 
makes the later figures of much greater value, inasmuch as 
these figures are the ones needed in a consideration of actual 
conditions in nursery circles. 
Mr. Powers’ table shows at a glance the total number of 
nurseries, buildings, acreage, values, etc.; the total number in 
each of the five general divisions of the country, and the fig¬ 
ures by states. This table refers exclusively to nurseries, a 
separate table having been prepared from returns from florists’ 
establishments. 
DAMAGE BY HEAT IN CELLAR. 
In a bulletin by F. H. Hall, F. C. Stewart and H. J. Eustace, 
issued by the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, the 
following case is cited : 
A Rochester nurseryman noticed, early in March, that some 
serious mishap had befallen a lot of about 25,000 three-year 
old pear trees in his nursery cellar. The trees had been 
placed in bundles, stood upright upon the cellar floor in rows 
and secured in place by sand piled upon the roots ; and were 
awaiting spring shipment. Contrary to this nurseryman’s 
usual custom, no fire was made in the cellar during the winter 
and the sand about the roots of the trees froze quite solid. 
On February 25, 1,200 of the trees were dug for shipment, 
when all appeared in good condition. Much difficulty was 
met with in handling these trees, however, owing to the frozen 
sand, so on February 27, a fire was built in the corner of the 
cellar where these trees had been removed, with the intention 
of thawing out the sand. 
Soon after this a condition of the trees developed which 
P alarmed the owner so that he sent to the station for advice. 
The tops of the trees throughout the whole cellar turned 
black and the twigs and smaller branches above three and 
one-half feet from the floor were evidently dead. The appear¬ 
ance was very similar to that of pear blight and the owner 
feared that a most malignant outbreak of this dread disease 
had occurred. However, on investigation, it was seen that 
trees of many different varieties in the cellar were equally 
affected, which would not be the case with pear blight ; trees 
of the same planting as those in the cellar, still standing in 
the nursery rows, appeared perfectly healthy ; and no report 
came of anything wrong with the 1,200 trees already shipped. 
These conditions all denied the assumption of disease and 
pointed to cellar injury occurring after the early shipment. 
The fire in the cellar being the only unusual feature, it was 
evident that this caused the damage ; and further investiga¬ 
tion made it certain that this was the case. 
The uniformity in height of the line marking the lower 
limit of injury was striking evidence that heat was the destruc¬ 
tive factor ; for below that line no trees were injured. Even 
tender Bartlett trees, too short to extend above this line, were 
unaffected. Upon questioning the man who built the fire, it 
was found that it had been made a little larger than the usual 
“cold spell ” fire, though it was not hot enough to scorch trees 
standing near. The air had been warmed quickly, had risen 
to the ceiling, about seven feet, and had spread over the whole 
cellar top in a layer which became cooler as it approached the 
floor. This thawed out the tops of the trunks and the upper 
branches and twigs too rapidly, and killed them. The lower 
limbs, the bottoms of the trunks and the roots thawed grad¬ 
ually in the cooler air near the floor, and escaped injury. 
Had the usual fire been kept in the cellar to prevent freez¬ 
ing during the cold snaps, or had the trees been allowed to 
thaw out gradually, no serious harm would have been done. 
As it was, the trees were not really affected except in parts 
which would probably have been removed in planting ; but 
since they were in the hands of a wholesale dealer, who could 
not dispose of them to retailers, the loss was almost complete. 
About half of the stock, disposed of for a nominal price, was 
planted with a loss of only two per cent, of the trees. 
NEW YORK STATE FRUIT GROWERS. 
The New York State Fruit Growers Ass'n held a session 
in Syracuse last month, at which matters of legislation, trans¬ 
portation, nomenclature, diseases of fruits, pests, new plants 
and fruits and marketing were enthusiastically discussed. C. 
A. Weiting was endorsed for re-appointment as state commis¬ 
sioner of agriculture. Secretary W. A. Taylor, of the Ameri¬ 
can Pomological Society, and W. H. Collingwood, editor of 
Rural New Yorker, were among the speakers. L. T. Yeomans, 
Walworth, N. Y., was re-elected president ; F. E. Dawley, 
Fayetteville, secretary. President Yeomans in his address said : 
The experience of the past season shows more clearly than ever 
before that that most pernicious of insect pests—the San Jose scale—Is 
with us, in nurseries and orchards in ever increasing numbers, and 
that we can only hope to keep it in subjection by the most thorough 
and radical measures, to say nothing of its extermination. I am very 
happy to be able to say that nurserymen as well as fruit-growers now 
so fully realize the danger from this pest, that their united efforts will 
be given to secure satisfactory legislation on this all-important question 
at the present session of the legislature. 
