THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
75 
Frederick W. Taylor who is to have charge of the horticultural 
department at the St. Louis Exposition as he has had at other 
expositions lately. President R. C. Berckmans will deliver an 
address which will present topics for careful consideration in 
connection with the welfare of the Association. A question 
box is to be provided and it is urged upon all who expect to 
attend the convention to present as many practical questions 
as they can, preparing for this feature of the convention in 
advance, so that the box may be ready at the very opening of 
the convention for use if wanted. Questions also from nur¬ 
serymen who cannot be at the convention will be gladly 
received by the secretary. It has been found that the discus¬ 
sions that have invariably followed the use of the question 
box have been of mutual advantage. 
The necessity of securing railroad certificates is again im¬ 
pressed upon the members by the secretary, for neglect to do 
so may work forfeiture of the rights of all to reduced rates. 
There must be one hundred certificates before the reduction 
will apply. 
It is hoped that all the members of the Association who can 
possibly do so will be at this twenty-sixth annual convention 
of the national organization and that nurserymen who are not 
members will make the trip and see what they have been 
missing. Success to the Milwaukee meeting ! 
GOVERNMENT DISTRIBUTION. 
At the annual convention of the American Association of 
Nurserymen, in Niagara Falls last year, the following motion 
was adopted: 
“ Moved that it be the sense of this convention that the 
American Association of Nurserymen, in convention assem¬ 
bled, are unqualifiedly opposed to the distribution by the gov¬ 
ernment of nursery stock in any form, and that the subject be 
referred to the new committee on legislation, with power to 
act.” 
The committee on legislation is composed of C. L Watrous, 
Howard A. Chase, Silas Wilson and Charles J. Brown. It is 
understood that this committee will have a report to make on 
the result of its visit to Washington on this subject and the 
matter of federal legislation regarding the inspection of nur¬ 
sery stock. 
NO SEED COMBINATION. 
Regarding a report that all the large seed houses in Rochester, 
N. Y., and one in Cleveland, O., were to be consolidated 
on June ist. Mr. Mandeville, of Mandeville & King, Roch¬ 
ester, N. Y., said last month : 
There has never been even any thought of consolidating the interests 
which our firm represents, with those represented by Mr. Hathaway, 
nor will any such consolidation be affected. The fact of the matter is 
that as individuals Mr. King and [myself own a controlling interest in 
James Vicks Sons’ business and recently we also purchased the plant, 
franchises, business and good will of the Cleveland Seed company. 
These two businesses, as well as our own, will continue to be run 
entirely independent of each other. The reason for this is perfectly 
obvious. The Mandeville & King company does a commission busi¬ 
ness, James Vicks Sons a catalogue business and the Cleveland Seed 
company a jobbing business These three lines are distinct from each 
other and as distinctive businesses can be run more profitably than if 
they were all consolidated. 
Moreover, I want emphatically to deny the false and damaging asser¬ 
tion that the name of Vick will disappear from the seed history of this 
city. It will always be retained so far as we have anything to do with 
it. It would be the height ot business folly for us to throw away an 
honorable name and reputation that has taken years and millions of 
dollars to build up. 
The firms which it was alleged were to be incorporated in 
this consolidation were Mandeville & King, James Vicks’ 
Sons, Crosman Bros., Briggs Brothers & Co. and the Cleveland 
Seed company 
NEW YORK LAW AGAIN AMENDED. 
During the closing days of the New York legislature of 1902 
the law relating to the inspection and shipment of nursery 
stock was again amended. 
An amendment providing for the fumigation of all nursery 
stock shipped into the Empire State after July 1 , 1902 , chap¬ 
ter 27 , laws of New York, became a law February 19 , 1902 . 
An amendment, chapter 5 19 , laws of New York, which be¬ 
came a law April 10 , 1902 , adds the following: 
And no certificate shall be required for shipment of native stock col¬ 
lected in the United States, not grown in nurseries, nor to stock so 
shipped into the state that its sale and shipment become either inter, 
state commerce traffice or commerce with foreign nations. 
PLANT BREEDING CONFERENCE. 
The council of the Horticultural Society of New York 
announces that it has completed arrangements for the holding 
of an International Conference on Plant Breeding and Hy¬ 
bridization in the fall of the present year, the dates selected 
being September 30 , October 1 and 2 . The programme in¬ 
cludes the following : 
Address, Prof. L. H. Bailey, Ithaca, N. Y.; “ Selection vs. Hybrid¬ 
ization,” F. W. Burbridge, Dublin, Ireland; “Plant Breeding in 
Germany,” J. C. Whitten, Columbia University ; “Notes on Breeding 
Hardy Apples,” John Craig, Ithaca, N. Y.; “ The Everbearing Straw¬ 
berry,”, H. de Vilmorin, Paris ; “ Breeding of Northwestern Fruits,” 
N. E. Hanson, Brooklyn, S. D.; “ Seedlings of the Native Plums,” 
E. S. Goff, Horticulturist. Madison, Wis.; “On Orchid Hybrids,” 
(illustrated by specimens of the parents and progeny), Oakes Ames. 
Ames Botanical Laboraiory, North Easton, Mass.: “Hybrid Plums,” 
F. A. Waugh, Horticulturist, Vermont Agricultural Experiment Sta 
tion. 
The committee has the assurance of other papers, of which 
the exact titles have not yet been submitted, including con¬ 
tributions from Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, Cal., and Her¬ 
bert J. Webster, Plant Breeding Laboratory, Washington, D.C. 
A MISSOURI WONDER. 
A writer in the Cole Camp, Mo., Courier states, according to 
the Cannery Producer, Waterloo, Wis.: 
W. F. Jackson, proprietor of the Smithton Nursery, has originated 
what is called the seedless apple. He has thousands of young trees in 
nursery rows, and expects to make a fortune from them. His idea is 
not to sell the trees, but the cuttings from them for grafts to be used by 
other nurserymen. He has guarded the secret of this apple until now. 
It originated from a seedling tree growing in Y irginia which lived for 
25 years but died last summer. He is the only man in the United 
States having this kind of tree. The apples have no seeds in them and 
the trees do not bloom; but the apples form from a furze that comes 
out where the bloom should be. They are fine, healthy looking apples. 
