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THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
make them we are convinced,—just as large as they can be 
made from the wood in hand. They must not be allowed to 
wilt before or after planting in the frame, which may be with 
or without bottom heat. On this point there is a difference 
of opinion. From our observation we don’t believe bottom 
heat necessary. We know one firm which is very successful 
propagators and think they strongly advocate bottom heat, 
such as may be had by putting fresh horse manure in the 
frame pit under the sand. We also know another equally 
successful propagator who never uses bottom heat and says 
it is not necessary. His product is just as good as is that of 
the other firm. When the doctors disagree what are we to 
do? Judge each man for himself and act accordingly. We 
are now at the critical point in soft wood propagation; when 
cuttings have been well made and properly set in the frames. 
An even temperature of warm humid air must be main¬ 
tained. Here the genius of the propagator comes into play. 
Rules only in the most general way can be made. There 
must be water enough and not too much, sun enough but 
not too much. And when the rooting process is well under¬ 
way they must be hardened off by letting in some air, but 
not too much at first. The eggs in this basket must be care¬ 
fully watched or the whole will be a failure. We are con¬ 
vinced that this is the point where the genius of the plants- 
man is tested as nowhere else in the whole round of propaga¬ 
tion. 
Not every man can be a successful propagator is my firm 
conviction. A good propagator is a born propagator. 
Experience perfects him but he is not purely a manufactured 
product. 
It may be necessary to note in passing that certain plants 
can be most successfully propagated by soft cuttings grown 
from forced plants under glass. This applies to a few 
deciduous shrubs and to many herbaceous plants. But the 
bulk of herbaceous plants are raised from seeds or propagated 
by divisions. 
PROPAGATION BY DIVISION 
And this brings us to the simplest of all methods of 
propagation, by division. Anyone can do this. It requires 
only a few plants to start with, which can be broken up and 
planted out, to again become salable plants in three months 
time. 
Incidentally it must be said that a few ornamentals such 
as Amygdalis and a few herbaceous plants like Oriental 
Poppies and Phlox can most easily and profitably be propa¬ 
gated by root cuttings. 
GRAFTING AND BUDDING 
The last and final methods of propagation we shall men¬ 
tion are the old methods of grafting or budding. Sn 
familiar are these methods to every person present that no 
word that we can offer will be of interest. One observation 
we have made in foreign nurseries, especially in Holland, was 
this: It seemed to us that if a plant could be produced by 
grafting then grafted it must be, so fond are they of grafting 
or budding. In this country quite the opposite is true. If 
a tree can be produced successfully in any other way it is 
not done by grafting or budding. 
THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE WHITE-PINE BLIGHTS 
Circular No. 35 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. 
Dept, of Agr., on “The present status of the white-pine 
blights,” concludes that the white-pine blight is a complex 
of several different diseases. 
The leaf-blight is the disease which has persisted longest 
in many localities, and is considered the most important 
form of blight. As yet its cause is undetermined, but it was 
much less prevalent in 1908 than in 1907, and many affected 
trees have partially recovered, while no new ones became 
diseased. 
The twig-blight, caused by Lophodermium, while it may 
occur another season under specially favorable weather for 
the fungus, yet serious damage from it is not at all common. 
The other twig blights are transitory and thus far have 
caused no permanent damage. None of them may occur 
again the next ten years, or they may recur within one or 
two years, but probably not. The total damage caused is 
comparatively slight, only scattering trees having yet been 
killed. The timber owner should be careful not to confuse 
trees killed by various other causes with those killed by the 
blight. 
Trees so badly diseased that they cannot recover should 
be removed from the forest and utilized, but there is no 
reason known at present for cutting trees that are able to 
recover or that are healthy. 
Obituary 
Hermann Wild, for forty-two years a resident of Sarcoxie i 
Mo., died at his residence, Sunday, April 10, of old age. 
Born in Rosswein, Saxony, Dec. 24, 1824, he left his native 
country at the age of 20, arriving in New York, from whence 
he went to Milwaukee, Wis., and in 1848 was married to Miss 
Maria Haase, who survives him. 
One of the early settlers at Sarcoxie, he purchased a tract ] I 
of land and commenced farming, later establishing a florist 
business. He was a man of kindly nature and benevolent 
disposition. Recently he and his wife presented the city 
with land for a park. 
Besides the widow, one brother and six children survive ! 
him. He was a member of the Odd Fellows Order for forty 
years, the body being laid to rest with Odd Fellow honors. 
TO THE TRADE 
■ it 
The U. S. Post Office Department has established a 
Post Office or Nursery, appointing our Mr. S. W. Crowell, ! , 
Post Master. All future mail should be addressed to us at 
Roseacres, Coahoma County, Mississippi. We shall be 
pleased to quote on our usual line of Products—for deliv¬ 
ery Fall, 1910—Spring 1911. 
1 1 
Thanking you for past favors, we are 
Very truly yours, 
The United States Nursery Co., 
Roseacres, Coahoma County, Miss. 
