12 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
ter 
December 1, 1919. 
The National Nurseryman, 
llatboro, Pennsylvania. 
Gentlemen:— 
We have heard quite a bit about Cotoneaster acutifolia 
and would like to learn more about this variety, its hard¬ 
iness, etc. 
Very truly yours, 
Vaughan’s Nursery, 
Carl V. Croggs. 
Bailey’s Cyclopedia gives the Cotoneaster acutifolia as 
being a native of North China but makes no reference to 
its hardiness. 
It is described as a shrub attaining a height of about 
12 feet with spreading slender branches, flowering in 
May and June, the fruit, oval black berries half inch long 
in September and October. 
Possibly some of our readers have grown it and have 
had some practical experience with it. If so we should 
like to bear from them.— Editor. 
Dear Sir:— 
Do you know if the seedlings from Ligustrum var 
Regelianum, come true? 
C. B. T. 
Ligustrum Regelianum is a variety of Ligustrum Ibota 
and does not come true to type from seed. The seedlings 
are liable to show considerable variation, some being 
much more upright than others and not having the grace¬ 
ful spreading habit of the Ligustrum Regelianum. To 
raise a stock of plants true to type it is necessary to pro¬ 
pagate by cuttings. 
BILLBOARDS 
Our associated trade the Florists are having quite a 
controversy among themselves as to the fitness of the bill¬ 
board as an advertising vehicle for their slogan “Say it 
with Flowers.” 
The florist business is supposed to be one that caters 
especially to sentiment, art, and the finer things of life 
and it should be the last one to offend against the 
ethics of good taste. 
A billboard may be not unpleasing in itself and when 
properly used need not offend against good taste. 
It will be largely a matter of how and where the bill¬ 
boards are placed. 
If they are used as indiscriminately as others we see 
marring the beauty of the country side, it will not matter 
how artistic they may be in themselves they will adver¬ 
tise the fact that the dollar comes first, sentiment and 
ether things “can go bang” when they interfere with the 
dollars coming the florist’s way. 
Marshall Bros. Co., Arlington. Nebraska, have amended 
the articles of their incorporation, changing the name 
from Marshall Bros. Co., to Marshall Bros. 
PRUNING EXPERIMENTS WITH PEACHES 
Experimental orchards were established both at Vineland and 
New Brunswick in 1912, with the view of comparing different 
systems of pruning as applied to varieties showing varying 
habits of growth such as the spreading, open habit; the com¬ 
pact spreading habit; and the upright habit of growth. The fol¬ 
lowing five general forms of pruning were studied: Pruning out 
only such twigs as may have died or branches that may have 
been broken by accident; winter pruning to remove dead twigs, 
interfering and crossed branches and twigs, with a little top¬ 
thinning to prevent the formation of weak crotches and to ad¬ 
mit sufficient light for the coloring of the fruit; winter pruning 
similar to the above, accompanied by cutting back the leading 
branches and twigs from one-third to one-half of the previous 
season’s growth; summer pruning in which any suckers or un¬ 
desirable shoots are removed during the growing season, and all 
leading shoots are pinched back during June or July to encour¬ 
age a compact growth of the tree; and combined winter pruning 
and cutting back with summer pruning. All of the trees were 
cut back to a height of 18 in. when set, and the experiments in 
both orchards also included a comparative test of planting in 
dug holes as compared with holes made with dynamite. Measure¬ 
ments were made of the total linear twig growth and the cir¬ 
cumference growth of the trees during the first season prior to 
the assignment of various pruning treatments. These measure¬ 
ments, together with growth data secured by different systems 
of pruning during the first two seasons after planting, are here 
presented in tabular form and discussed. No definite conclu¬ 
sions as to the actual effect of the various pruning treatments 
are drawn at this time. 
Generally speaking, during the first season the trees at Vine- 
land, where the soil is a sandy loam, averaged from about 200 
to 350 in. more growth according to the variety than at New 
Brunswick, where the soil is gravelly red shale loam. Consider¬ 
able variation in total twig growth was found to occur between 
individual trees at the close of the first season. This apparent¬ 
ly had no influence upon the growth of the trees in the second 
season, for whereas between some groups an average difference 
of 50 in. the first season was appreciable in the second season, 
between other groups an average difference of 100 in the first 
season was not noticeable the second season. In both the Vine- 
land and New Brunswick experiments the smaller the circum¬ 
ference in 1912 the greater the percentage increase in circum¬ 
ference in 1913. 
The data already secured indicate that permitting the develop¬ 
ment of branches, shoots, or suckers on the lower part of the 
trunk during the growing season tends to increase the girth of 
the trunk more rapidly than where such growth is removed and 
where the trunk is longer and the branches higher above the 
ground. In the summer pruned treatments the shoots are re¬ 
moved from the trunk, giving in almost every case a greater twig 
growth to each inch increase in trunk circumference. In the no 
pruning and winter pruning treatments the twigs were allowed 
to remain on the trunks, resulting in a narrow ratio of increase 
in trunk circumference to increase in twig growth. Where most 
of the growth is made at the very top of the tree it will have 
proportionally less influence upon the circumference of the trunk 
near the ground. 
Summer pruning reduces the amount of the necessary thinning 
of twig growth in winter, but increases the amount of clipping 
back due to the increase in vigor of the secondary twigs on the 
leaders. The summer pruning of the combined winter and sum¬ 
mer treatment reduced the pruning required in winter to about 
one-half at Vineland and from one-third to one-half at New 
Brunswick as compared with the winter and cut back treatment. 
Pinching back the main twigs increases the number of second¬ 
ary or side twigs. 
The summer pruning only treatment at Vineland made the 
greatest average total growth and the winter cut back treatment 
was second. At New Brunswick the no pruning treatment made 
the best total growth and the summer pruning only treatment 
was second. Summer pruning apparently did not affect or re¬ 
duce the amount of twig growth made by the trees during the 
second season. Of the various treatments the winter pruning 
without cutting back was the cheapest and the combined winter 
and summer pruning the most expensive. The data thus far 
secured indicate that varieties having an upright habit with nu¬ 
merous twigs and branches are more expensive to prune than 
varieties with spreading, open habit growth. 
