THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
133 
increase both of local and distant available marketing 
districts. Ten nurseries, representing practically the 
acreage, responded for conference and when conditions 
were realized there was a prompt voluntary reduction 
in the proposed graft lists, averaging 25%. No “ar- 
bitor” but each firm chose independently the amount and 
announced definitely the reduction made. 
The nurserymen of the Pacific Coast realize, from 
past experience, that the policy of maintaining some 
definite degree of equilibrium between supply and de¬ 
mand is one of the essential fundamentals for coopera¬ 
tion, because so long as they propagate blindly total 
productions may reach 50% or more than can be sold 
or held over resulting in waste of energy and general 
losses, striking first the smaller nurseries, less able to 
cope with the situation, demoralized marketing condi¬ 
tions follow affecting all. then cooperation is out of the 
question. Surveys also reveal in what classes of stock 
there is likely to be less than is required by the planters 
and modifications to meet such conditions may he made 
in good time. 
The proper market value of nursery stock is the total 
costs of growing and maintenance of the business with 
reasonable profit margin added, modified by the demand 
of planters. The problem then is to take into account 
every item entering into the cost of production, to de¬ 
termine prospective demand each year in advance and 
to adjust the total plants of nurseries accordingly. 
Solution is possible because nurserymen will cooperate 
under a practical system for that purpose. The expense 
of carrying out this program, amounting to a fraction 
of a cent per tree on the Pacific Coast, is one of the 
items to he included in the costs of production and sell¬ 
ing prices because it is one of the essentials to maintatn 
a dependable supply of trees for the planters. In the 
case of the cotton growers their policy was sound but, 
evidently, their system was defective. 
Members of the Pacific Coast Association are lined 
up over their own signatures, for fair play, guarantee¬ 
ing a square deal to customer, competitor and supplier. 
Betrayal of confidence is unpopular and will become 
increasingly so. The way of the perpetrator will be¬ 
come harder each year. 
C. A. TONNESON. 
Executive Secretary. 
Pacific Coast Association of Nurserymen, Burton, 
Washington. 
Birmingham, Ala., April 10, 1922. 
Editor National Nurseryman, 
Flourtown, Pa. 
Dear Sir: On March 7th, a medium-sized man of rath¬ 
er delicate appearance, apparently of good breeding and 
refinement introduced himself as “J. B. Cork of The Berry 
Hill Nursery of Harrisburg, Pa.,” and appealed to me 
in distress for some financial assistance. He stated that 
he had been South attending Mardi Gras at Mobile and 
New Orleans, accompanied by bis wife, who was in bad 
health, and while in Mobile, after a sight-seeing trip on 
one of the sight-seeing omnibuses he had been robbed of 
all tin* money he had in bis bill fold with the exception 
of enough money to get to Birmingham, where he hoped 
to find an old friend who had been engaged in the grain 
business and whom lie knew in Harrisburg some years 
ago. On bis arrival in Birmingham he failed to locate 
this friend. He stated that he had wired to The Berry 
Hill Nursery for sufficient funds to get him home and 
did not have enough money to buy food. 
The writer talked with him at length, sounding him out 
as to his acquaintance in the nursery trade and from his 
answers he represented himself as a man of good stand¬ 
ing, as he seemed to have a pretty good acquaintance with 
the nurseries all over the country, knew quite a little 
about the nursery business, spoke of personal acquaint¬ 
ance with several people in Harrisburg whom the writer 
knew. On the strength of this we loaned him .$25.00, to 
be returned as soon as he received funds from Harris¬ 
burg. Up to date we have heard nothing further from 
him. On March 30th we wrote The Berry Hill Nursery. 
O. P. Beckley and J. Horace McFarland whom he had 
mentioned as knowing intimately. All of these parties 
now report that he is a fraud, that there is no one by that 
name connected with The Berry Hill Nursery, and that 
we have been victimized. 
This man as stated, is of rather small structure, appar¬ 
ently about fifty years of age, bald headed, teeth some¬ 
what irregular and prominent, rather sallow complexion 
and a nervous timid manner. 
Please warn your subscribers to be on the lookout for 
him and any one connected who can be detained. We 
are willing to spend some money to prosecute him as we 
believe some steps should be taken to prosecute a man 
going around victimizing nurseries and florists. 
Yours very truly, 
FRASER NURSERY COMPANY. 
Per O. W. Fraser. 
STARTING FERN SPORES 
Fern spores, as everybody knows, are produced in 
great abundance and yet new fern plants are not usual¬ 
ly numerous. There are many vicissitudes in the life 
of a sporeling and few come to maturity. The spores 
are so exceedingly minute and the conditions for growth 
are necessarily so exacting that young plants are easily 
discouraged. Those who grow ferns from spores find 
that great care must be taken in preparing the soil. 
Usually it is sterilized by baking and even then other 
low forms of life may overrun the young plants before 
they fairly get started in the world. Often the spores 
are sown on a block of peat which is kept moist and 
sheltered from the sun and wind. Noticing how fre¬ 
quently sporelings are found on the outside of the flow¬ 
er-pots in the greenhouse, some growers stop up the 
hole in the bottom of a pot, fill the pot with water and 
sow the spores on the outside. The water seeps through 
j ust fast enough to give the proper amount of moisture. 
An improvement on this method is to hollow out one 
side of a soft brick and fill the hollow with sterile soil 
upon which the spores are sown. The brick is then 
placed in a saucer of water and "kept close,” as the 
grower phrases it. This method of growing plants may 
also be followed in the case of minute seeds which are 
difficult to start in ordinary seed pans or flats.— Amer¬ 
ican Botanist. 
