556 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
Correspondence 
SOMETHING ON ROOT GALL 
Editor National Nurseryman: 
Where did the Elberta Peach originate and by whom 
was it originated? W r as it an accident or obtained by ex¬ 
periment? (Ga. Chinese Cling and Crawford.) 
I have been very much interested in some remarks made 
by A. L. Brooks of Topeka, Kansas, in the January number 
of the National Nurseryman, page 429, on root knot, also 
the reference to this same question by Chas. C. Bell, in the 
February number, page 468. Mr. Bell speaks of his ex¬ 
perience at a horticultural winter meeting at Farmington in 
December. Would like to know in what state this meeting 
was held. WTiat Mr. Brooks and Mr. Bell have said is of no 
small importance to the nurserymen, because both conclu¬ 
sions are .reached by actual experience. 
I have long since been convinced that there is a great 
deal of guessing done and unfounded conclusions reached 
upon the question of root knot, hairy root and crown gall. 
Three years ago the writer had the pleasure of listening to 
Prof. Hedgcock at the National Convention at West Baden, 
at which time he discussed freely and extensively this ques¬ 
tion and gave the Association the benefit of his experiments, 
which were conducted on a broad scale. At that time the 
government, with all of its facilities, had not arrived at 
any definite conclusion as to this disease, its origin, its 
treatment, contagion, etc., but simply gave the results of 
its experiments for what they were worth, and I have not 
yet seen any definite report from the government as to the 
causes, the results, contagion, or remedy for the so-called 
root knot. I am free to confess that I know nothing about 
it, but believe only a small per cent of the talk made against 
it. Of course every one knows, especially the nurserymen, 
that the great hue and cry against it comes from the inspec¬ 
tors and state agricultural institutions. 
So far as my limited information goes, all of the declara¬ 
tions as to the crown gall and root knot being of no impor¬ 
tance, especially attaching to apple trees, has come from 
just such men as Mr. Brooks and Mr. Bell, who have deter¬ 
mined by actual observation. So far as this has gone and 
what they have been able to gather from other experimen- 
tors, root gall amounts to little or nothing. 
I would like to hear through the columns of the National 
Nurseryman or any of our leading horticultural periodicals 
the results of actual experiments by those people, who claim 
that crown gall, root knot and hairy root cause absolutely 
and beyond question the destruction of apple trees, and, 
that trees so affected will not grow and thrive, and rarely 
reach a bearing age. My impression is that this side of the 
question, so far, has been largely discussed from the theo¬ 
retical standpoint. 
I understand that trees are grown, sold and planted in 
the middle West with little reference to these so-called 
defects, and the Western nurseryman who finds himself 
obliged to buy any nursery stock in the East and Middle 
West is confronted with the proposition of “what will you do 
with the root knot and crown gall ? These trees are accepted 
in this country and are all right. , We cannot afford to sell 
them to you to have them thrown out by the inspectors of 
the Inter-Mountain country.’’ 
It is also evident that unless there is a letting up on this 
fad that the Inter-Mountain nurserymen will be obliged to 
charge 30% more for their trees or go out of business. 
Roy, Utah. P. A. Dix. 
RETAIL PRICES—COGENT REMARKS 
Editor National Nurseryman: 
We have read with interest the remarks of the Winfield 
Nursery Co., as set forth in the January issue of your valu¬ 
able paper, under the heading, “Demand Keen in Kansas,” 
and, if privileged, we would like to add a few lines in supple¬ 
ment. 
In their paper the above firm brings out two very signi¬ 
ficant points, namely; that trees of quality are in demand 
all over the country far in excess of the supply, and that 
planters are willing to pay four times as much for such trees 
as others are being offered at; then goes on to say that the 
nursery business is undergoing a change. 
These pronounced truths prompt us to raise the ques¬ 
tion : How much longer is it going to take for these condi¬ 
tions to work a change in the retail branch of the business 
equal to that referred to by your correspondent in the 
wholesale? We mean, of course, here in the West, where, 
in spite of the fact that values have doubled and tripled 
during the past few years, many of the firms (and leading 
ones) are satisfied to continue marketing their stock through 
the retail channels at practically the same prices they were 
selling at 3 to 6 years ago, when conditions in general, and 
the wholesale values that have grown out of them, were as 
different as is day from night. 
We contend that where a firm is sending out stock of high 
quality these things are not only unnecessary, but decidedly 
wrong, for, as is made clear in the article above referred to, 
the people are willing to pay what such stock is worth, and, 
in this country today, they have the money with which to do 
it. With apple trees, as an example, worth $85 to $135 and 
$150 a thousand on the wholesale market, we are at a loss to 
understand wherein any firm should be willing to retail them 
at 15, 20 and 25 cents apiece, or at $12, $15 and $20 in 
hundred lots, and yet, that is exactly what is being done by 
most of the Western nurserymen. There isn’t any reason 
why, with such prosperity as is general over this Western 
country today, we shouldn’t get just as good prices for our 
stock in a retail way as the Eastern firms. If we’re going to 
sell at wholesale prices, let’s do it through the wholesale 
channels and not through agents. On the other hand, if we 
are going to employ salesmen and meet the heavy expense 
(saying nothing of the risk) that the business so conducted 
carries, let us get a fair price for our stock. This is another 
“change” we hope to see the business undergo. 
Lawrence, Kan. Mount Hope Nurseries. 
We are pleased to receive at our business office all 
copies of hew editions of catalogues. Kindly put us on 
your mailing list. We publish from time to time lists of 
those received.— The National Nurseryman. 
