THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
265 
THE NURSERYMAN AND THE ENTOMOLOGIST 
S. J. Hunter, State Entomologist, University of Kansas* 
In the fall of 1896, the Kansas Nurserymen asked the 
Entomologist of the University of Kansas to assume respon¬ 
sibility for the inspection of Kansas Nurseries. For eleven 
years without legal requirement these nurserymen, of their 
own volition, asked for inspection annually. And then they 
caused the enactment of our present law. So what I have to 
say might be classed under “Fifteen Years Among Nursery¬ 
men . ’ ’ The Nurseryman and his business are not always clear¬ 
ly understood. The individual or organization of individuals 
who travel about the country buying stock where they may 
and selling where they can, regardless of consequences, are not 
Nurserymen. A Nurseryman in the proper sense of the tenn 
is a biologist, a student of that invisible stream of life which 
courses through twig and leaf. To be successful, therefore, 
he must have a high and proper conception of his vocation 
and its responsibilities. 
In my annual visits among our Kansas Nurserymen I have 
been not only interested but deeply impressed with the spirit 
of experimentation manifested in the earnest desire to im¬ 
prove present varieties and to develop new ones. As a re.sult 
the Nurseryman is now a competent authority on varieties 
adapted to given regions and the culture such require. In 
my own state, the first planted orchards were in the main non¬ 
productive. Their planters had no opportunity to profit by 
the experiences of the present day Nurseryman. 
It was my good fortune once to be a country school 
teacher and janitor ex-officio. There is the place to deal with 
the country life problems. If the teacher places proper 
emphasis on the marvelous possibilities of the fanner and 
fruit grower rather than idealizing those vocations which 
have their centers in cities, then our young people will look 
more toward rural life for the realization of their ambitions. 
And now it may properly be asked, what is an Entomolo¬ 
gist ? The public frequently associate him with the butterfly 
net. In reality he has little or nothing to do with the capture 
of insects, but his time and energy are largely devoted to 
those fundamental questions which deal with the relation of 
plants and insects and the development of both. He, too, is 
a student of biology and as such should be fellow investigator 
in a common interest with the Nurseryman. 
The Nurseryman and the Entomologist are now likewise 
assoeiated through legal enaetment and it is this phase of the 
subject that doubtless concerns this association most. In 
this relation it goes without saying that both should be men 
of integrity. The Entomologist should be a man of good 
sense and possessed of a reasonable amount of fair judgment. 
He should be a man to whom you will always want to tell your 
troubles. If he is not, there is something wrong either with 
him, or with you. He shorfld keep you advised at all times 
regarding the nature and condition of your stock and treat 
your business as strictly confidential. 
It has been my uniform experience that Nurserymen want 
rigid inspeetion and that they have little patience or respect 
for things that do not mean what they say. The eertificate 
of inspeetion is not a commodity to facilitate business but the 
outward expression of a standard which every true Nursery¬ 
man endeavors to maintain. If this be not so, then it should 
be evident that eaeh state in its own interest must avSsume the 
responsibility for this standard. 
I believe that we will all agree that just at this time it is 
unusually easy to find fault, but constructive criticism is what 
we want. The Nurseryman and the Entomologist can be of 
mutual helpfulness. Such, however, can be only through 
mutual confidenee and earnest eo-operation. 
It goes without saying that we need greater uniformity in 
state requirements, but there will always be questions which 
each state must settle for itself. The Nurserymen of each 
state, therefore, should have a part in determining the poliey 
of its inspection regulations. It should not and ean not be 
properly done independently of them. If present arrange¬ 
ments can not give you a voice you should ask for it. A State 
Entomologist some time ago asked me what he could do to 
improve the efficiency of his nursery department. I told him 
to select from among his nurserymen an advisory committee 
of representative nurserymen and to counsel with them fully 
regarding all of his plans of operation. 
The Entomologist can be made one of your most valuable 
assets. You need never question his intentions. His judg¬ 
ment may not always appeal to you. The Entomologist has 
his problems in the administration of his part of the nursery 
business. The certificate carries with it his standing. If the 
certificate is misused it reflects directly upon him. He finds 
it very difficult at times to classify as a nurseryman an appli¬ 
cant for certificate who has but a few plants on a vacant lot. 
Nurserymen are coming to establish fellowships Whereby 
the Entomologists co-operate with them in solving some of 
the problems which are now costing them thousands of dollars 
annually. Some Nurserymen are sending their sons to Uni¬ 
versities for special training in Entomology. Others are 
placing an Entomologist on their working staff. This is the 
proper attitude and one certain of results. 
“It is an ill wind that blows nobody good.’’ To petty 
thieves we owe the discovery of the wonderful fungicidal 
power of the Bordeaux mixture, first placed on grapes as a 
protection against pilferers. Injurious insects have ]3roven 
an incentive to proper culture. . 
When we consider that more than one-half of our injurious 
insects are foreigners imported into our country, that foreign 
imports of nursery stock increase with each year and that 
with these we are in great danger of introducing enemies of 
horticulture eapable of creating great losses and becoming 
heavy handicaps to the business represented here, we should 
be fully awake to the necessity of most hearty co-operation 
between the Nurserymen and the Entomologists in securing 
national legislation of the right sort. 
This is a time of getting together, the day of co-operation, 
of government by commission. The Entomologists and the 
Nurserymen working as a commission, then, are in harmony 
with the times. In no other way ean either obtain so good 
results. 
