84 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
in leaf or branching habit, and no tree harmonizes better 
witli the lines of a building. The color is also good and 
what is more it is a clean tree, usually shedding all its 
leaves in one day after the first severe frost. The light 
frosts turn them golden yellow and a heavy one brings 
them all down, they don’t blow about. The only objec¬ 
tion is the fruit of the pistilate forms that is rather un¬ 
pleasant when near the house. Apart from this it is 
ideal for planting near the house where a tree is wanted, 
that will give shade for windows or porch w ithout shut¬ 
ting oil the breeze. 
In the right situation it is decidedly fast growing and 
although soft it does not seem to get storm broken and 
one rarely sees a dead branch or decaying cavities. 
It attains magnificent proportions that will compare 
favorably with sugar or red maple. While young it is of 
slender habit not unlike the Lombardy Poplar, but as it 
matures it takes on a more spreading habit as seen in our 
illustration. The style of growth is however very uncer¬ 
tain and one of its charms as a lawn specimen, a perfectly 
columnar specimen is just as likely as not to send out a 
branch at right angles to the trunk, while all the others 
follow the leader. 
It seems to be adaptable over a very wide area, thriving 
from Canada to North Carolina in situations that suit it. 
So far the writer has yet to come across a tree infected 
with disease or insects, it seems particularly immune. 
The bark is very tender and easily bruised, so needs extra 
care in packing. 
liotanically the Ginkgo is very interesting, it will be 
noticed the leaves are parallel veined instead of net-veined 
like most other deciduous trees. It is really a left over 
of a very numerous tribe that used to inhabit the earth in 
geologic time and is more nearly related to the evergreen 
cone bearing trees than with such trees as the maple and 
oaks. 
Ill am not mistaken it is nowhere found growing wild 
in the Orient from whence it comes but is supposed to 
have been preserved from prehistoric times in the temple 
gardens of China and .Tapan. 
RIVALRY RETWEEN CATALOG NURSERYMEN AND 
THOSE RUNNING AGENTS 
By Charles A. Green, Rochester, N. Y. 
I have just received a letter from one of the largest 
nursery companies in this country therefore in the eidire 
world, expressing its opinion that the ui)-t()-date mail 
order concerns are as much a benefit to the nursei ies that 
1 un agents as those that run agents are help! ul to catalo*^ 
men. ® 
The thought desired to be expressed by this veteran 
nursery company, in which I fully concur, is that the 
firms sending out catalogs, often in marvelous (luantities 
each season, create an interest in nursery i)rodLicts and 
secure a certain number of orders, but the field is not 
cleared up by this issue of catalogs. There is a vast resi¬ 
due resulting from this large issue illustrating what tree 
planting can accomplish, which brings no revenue to the 
film issuing catalogs, but simply builds up a desire for 
planting our products to be supplied by the tree agent 
who follows the path of the catalog later. 
Likewise the thought is that that agent through his elo¬ 
quence and his colored plates may create a desire for 
planting in the individuals on whom he personally calls, 
which may accrue to the benefit of the catalog nursery¬ 
men later. 
Why then should there be such bitter rivalry between 
the two methods of selling nursery stock. 
Recently I went into a shoe store and asked the pro¬ 
prietor where a certain other shoe store was located, 
from which I desired to purchase a pair of shoes. This 
gentleman courteously pointed out with great exactness 
and solicitude the location of the rival store. This pleased 
me so far that I bought the shoes where I was. After he 
had done up the package I remarked that it was some¬ 
thing unusual in my experience to hear rival stores point¬ 
ing out the location of their competitor. His reply was: 
“Such things would not have been done years ago but 
now business has changed its methods.” 
Yesterday I went into a carpet store to make a pur¬ 
chase. On explaining to the salesman what I wanted he 
said I would find the article at another store across the 
street. My eyes were opened again by this act to the fact 
that business methods have changed and are changing 
and that the business world is learning that there is room 
for all and that petty jealousies and bitter rivalries are 
things of the past in well conducted houses. 
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSERYMEN 
The Executive Committee of the American Association 
of Nurserymen had a meeting at Kansas City, January 
23rd and 24th, 1918, to consider various matters of in¬ 
terest to the Association. 
Those present were. Vice and Acting-President J. R. 
Mayhew; Committeemen J. Edward Moon, C. C. Mayhew, 
T. R. West, E. S. Welch, and Secretary Curtis Nye Smith. 
The Vice President stated that the principal thing to 
be considered was the serious question of transportation. 
The Association Counsel, Cuitis Nye Smith, gave a 
synopsis of what had been done to secure the release from 
embargoes of nursery stock, and he submitted a sugges¬ 
tion which might facilitate the work, namely: that a 
questionnaire be sent to members to obtain data as to the 
time of shipment of nursery stock, tonnage, and the direc¬ 
tion in which the shipments would move, also the terri¬ 
tories in, or into which the stock would move. 
Mr. Smith also suggested that it might be of great help 
to the Association and to the trade it a War Service Com¬ 
mittee was appointed, which could represent the Associa¬ 
tion in any of these war emergencies. 
The Committee requested Mr. Smith to carry on the 
work of securing exemptions from embargo and ap¬ 
pointed a War Service Committee consisting of Mr. Or¬ 
lando Harrison, Rerlin, Md., Chairman; Mr. John Dayton, 
Painesville, Ohio; and Mr. William P. Stark, of Neosho’ 
Missouri. 
The Secretary was also directed to send the question- 
aire to certain representative nurserymen. 
The question of a traffic agent to take care of the many 
difficulties that might arise in the forthcoming shipping 
