THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
415 
According to certain pathological reports, apple trees 
affected with root or crown gall planted 24 feet apart infect 
the soil with gall and contagion results; but root gall upon 
raspberries planted two feet apart in the same row, in the 
above experiment, did not communicate itself to young 
plants, or sprouts grown from the same root. The theory of 
soil inoeulation is a doubtful one at best. Practical experi¬ 
ments sometimes disturb and set at naught theories which 
have not been fully demonstrated or tested. 
V CONCLUSION 
} 
Formerly the cry was, “The Philistines are upon us,’’ but 
today we nurserymen may say, “The bacteriologists are upon 
us.’’ They experiment with and inoculate trees, and because 
they find contagion thru this process, they condemn whole 
shipments of nursery stock; but nurserymen are not adopting 
the practice of inoculating trees prior to shipment, therefore 
much of this contagion scare should not apply to them or 
their product. Certain diseases of the human system can be 
communicated by inoculation, but if the inoculation does not 
occur, there will be no contagion. So it is in a large degree 
with such tree diseases as the hard and hairy forms of root or 
crown gall. 
The writer is in reeeipt of a letter from the Pathologist in 
charge at Washington, dated May 8th, 1911, addressed to the 
Superintendent of Horticultinre in one of the western states. 
We quote from the letter as follows: 
“While I am in sympathy with the effort of keeping newly 
planted apple orchards free from diseases, the present scare in 
regard to crown gall is probably unnecessary. It is a very 
slow thing as a rule, and has been in the older eastern orchards 
for years. Oftentimes old galls are found on successful bear¬ 
ing trees forty years of age.’’ Respectfully submitted, 
E. A. Smith, 
Chairman Root Gall Committee. 
PRESIDENT STARK’S CONVENTION ADDRESS 
CONCLUDED 
Higher Standards of Quality 
The world moves and we are all carried along with it— 
except those who do not do a little moving themselves and 
they are continually dropping away. The history of the 
nursery business, as well as that of practically every other 
industry, had been that of an upward and onward movement, 
of progress, development and ever striving toward higher 
ideals. The improvement in grades in the past twenty-five 
years is but a beginning; it is in the improvement of the trees 
themselves that the real start must be made. Trees are our 
product, and to improve them calls not only for a thorough 
knowledge of the best soils adapted to the growth of each kind 
of stock, but a working knowledge at least of fertilizers, 
entomology and spraying. The commercial spirit of economy 
demands that only those lands be used which are best adapted 
to the propagation of each kind of stock. More space must 
be given to each tree, only those stocks employed which are 
best adapted to the purpose for which they are used, and 
more individual attention given to each tree, plant or vine. 
More care should be used in the selection and cutting of buds 
and scions and in propagating from improved strains, as well 
as selected trees which^have shown a marked superiority over 
others of the same variety growing under equal conditions. 
Then when digging time comes, we should use every precau¬ 
tion to prevent any damage or lowering of the vitality by 
exposure. Nurserymen lose more than they realize here; for 
the damage is not conspicuous and often not noticeable, yet 
when a tree, low in vitality, fails to make a proper growth, a 
complaint is registered and the nurseryman suffers. After 
all the trees are dug it is usually necessary to throw out a 
large per cent which do not come up to the necessary require¬ 
ments. The standard for our trees should be like that of an 
orange packer in the South, who had tacked this legend over 
the tables, “Every Doubtful Orange is a Cull.’’ 
Our responsibility does not cease with growing and grad¬ 
ing, but extends to the packing. The best materials con¬ 
sistent with proper economy should be used and no unneces¬ 
sary risks taken. We have not only the value of the stock at 
stake, but the good will, success and future patronage of the 
customer as well. We can also help in other ways such as 
adjusting overcharges, preventing delays, doing the.right 
thing at the right time—in other words by applying to our 
every-day business what is known as the “personal touch.’’ 
There are better methods of selling and distributing to be 
worked out. The nation is undergoing an industrial meta¬ 
morphosis, as different from those of the past as the beautiful 
butterfly is different from the odious caterpillar. Higher 
prices are forcing the elimination of unnecessary costs in pro¬ 
duction and distribution. Circumstances demand that we 
devise new ways and methods, and as the selling cost has 
always been such a large per cent of the whole, it needs must 
be one of the first to yield to this pressure of the times, which 
is bearing heavier each season on the cost of production. I 
say there is a way, and it has already been pointed out, 
indicated by large pioneer businesses in other lines. Just 
how closely we will follow the trail blazed by these pioneers 
remains to be seen. This preachment, or if you refer, plea 
for higher ideals, which none have reached in the past and 
few, if any, of those present will ever attain in the future, 
would be worse than futile if it were merely a statement of 
what one individual thinks should be done. 
I have endeavared to call attention to a condition which 
we recognize and to especially emphasize it, because we 
become so familiar with what we see every day that we fail to 
realize the ultimate outcome, or at least fail to appreciate our 
opportunities. 
I consider what has been accomplished in horticulture in 
the past and yet this wonderful development was the result of 
work of good men, who were poorly equipped in every way. 
The result of the improvements of the past few years will not 
be felt for some seasons to come; for in horticulture the work 
done one spring does not bear fruit the same season nor the 
next. 
The opportunity is here but to grasp it, to rise and meet it, 
the nurserymen must develop fraternal interest, and strive to 
elevate their business standards to a closer working harmony, 
as well as to develop a more binding social spirit. 
