THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
65 
Correspondence 
PEDIGREE TREES 
Editor National Nurseryman: 
« 
We realize that technically speaking the term “breeding 
up’’ is not correct, but it seems to be the most expressive 
way for us to get it before the people. We do not think this 
should be misleading to them, since the manner of the work 
is fully described. 
We have noticed one thing especially the last few years 
among large commercial planters: They specify a certain 
size and consider that altogether without paying any atten¬ 
tion to the way the stock is propagated. Thus, they often 
get trees grown from water sprouts and forced to make a 
large, woody growth on rich land, which are likely to be 
sadly lacking when it comes to quick bearing. 
This year we noted there were thousands of such scions 
gathered, instead of the terminal fruit wood, which we 
believe to be right. We shall be glad to see the day come 
when people will appreciate quality instead of the size of the 
package, and there seems to be considerable progress along 
that line. 
The Winfield Nursery Co., 
Per J. Moncrief. 
Note: This is undoubtedly the right view. Selection in 
orchard fruits should count just as much as it does in most 
other lines of plant improvement. The principle is right 
though the nomenclature may be wrong. 
A WORD ON PRICES^AND THE GENERAL CUSSEDNESS 
OF OUR COMPETITORS 
Mr. Editor: 
Now, what we started out to say was this. The nursery 
business is in a surprisingly bad condition. Great Scott, 
what is wrong with it all ? Are there no business men with 
business methods in charge of things? On every hand we 
see the same old story, all manner of prices! Just today we 
had a beautiful instance and a common one. We were 
asked to quote on a line of stock, for a gentleman who has 
but lately embarked in the fruit business. The order, a nice 
one, at our prices amounts to better than two thousand dol¬ 
lars. We quoted and were shown other quotations. One 
line ran from $10.00 to $45.00 per 1000, another from $15.00 
to $40.00, another from $17.50 to $50.00. We were asked 
what was wrong, and could offer little more than the old 
explanation. We quoted on a nice order a week ago; one 
of the largest firms in the business had already quoted the 
same prices practically as ours, and note, ours are always 
the same. Hearing we had quoted, and fearing we would 
get the order, our friends immediately stated that they 
would discount any prices we might make by 25 per cent. 
We got our price and the gentleman will we believe never 
deal again with the firm mentioned. Oh, it’s very rotten. 
Someone should come along and line them all up! What 
do you think? 
X. Y. Z, 
Note: We think the millenium is not yet!— Editor. 
NURSERY IMPLEMENTS IN CALIFORNIA 
Editor National Nurseryman: 
1. As far as implements for working the soil are con¬ 
cerned, we are not using anything which is new. 
2. Yes, we use a sub-soiler. This is the type with the 
standard and the blade at the base slightly concave. We 
have found this sub-soiler a very efficient tool in planting 
grape cuttings. We plow out a dead furrow, and then run 
the sub-soiler twice in this furrow. This loosens up the 
ground so thoroughly that we have no difficulty in planting 
a quarter of a million grape cuttings a day with a crew of 
forty men. 
4. We do not use tree strippers. We do no digging in 
California in the fall, and have never had occasion to try 
them. With some classes of trees, like apples, which do not 
lose their leaves until January, a tree stripper, no doubt, if 
it is perfected, could be used to advantage. 
5. We use the Bean Spray Pump. 
6. Among the valuable new fruits which we are intro¬ 
ducing, and which have been tested out thoroughly in 
California, are the: Crocker Bartlett Pear, Burbank 
Cherry, Formosa Plum, Tilton Apricot, Pineapple Quince, 
Gaviota Plum, Sims Cling Peach, Jordan Almond, Santa 
Rosa Plum, Royal and Paradox Timber Walnuts, Cali- 
myrna Fig and many varieties of Capri figs, Sevillano and 
Ascolano Olives, Jujube (Chinese date plum), Dattier de 
Beyrouth and Sultaniha Rosea Grapes, Mammoth Black¬ 
berries, Morse Strawberry. 
We are also for the first time introducing two new fruits 
of Mr. Luther Burbank, viz.: the Standard Prune and the 
Patagonia Strawberry, both of which promise to be very 
valuable acquisitions. 
THE SEASON 
^The indications for a favorable nursery season are very 
good indeed. The planting will be very extensive providing 
the rainfall is favorable. Thus far the rainfall in California 
has been very light, and this condition of affairs always has 
a discouraging effect on planters. The demand for the 
general run of deciduous fruit trees in California will be for 
pears, apricots, prunes, almonds, walnuts, peaches. In 
some of the higher localities in the coast region, there is an 
active demand for apples. The call for citrus trees will be 
fully as heavy as it has been for the last two or three years, 
with exceptionally good prices for this class of stock. There 
is a heavy demand for olive trees, in fact the demand far 
exceeds the supply. The purity of California Olive Oil is 
creating a very heavy sale for this product, and the demand 
for ripe pickles has developed to such an extent that the 
factories in California are not able to supply the demand, 
largely due k) the fact that they cannot get sufficient 
material from the growers. This will undoubtedly be the 
great center for supplying pure olive oil, not only for the 
United States, but all over the world. If anything, the 
conditions in the interior valleys are more favorable for the 
growing of olives than along the Mediterranean. 
