THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
196 
workers and experienced growers rather than educated 
workers. 
The boy who goes through the grammar school and 
then to college reaches the age of 18 to 20 years before 
beginning real work, misses something the indentured 
apprentice gets, which cannot be gained in any other 
way. 
The ideal plan would be for the boy upon leaving the 
grammar school to work in a nursery for three or four 
years and then take a course at a seat of botanical or 
horticultural learning. 
We may camouflage it as we will, be who would be 
a successful grower must w ork in the soil and with the 
soil. 
If nurserymen want skilled workers they must train 
them themselves. The schools and colleges train the 
mind in an academic way rather than along business 
lines. What is needed is a body trained to work with a 
mind educated enough to know why it does things. 
The indentured apprentice is too foreign to American 
ideas of freedom, but similar results might be obtained 
by putting a premium on nursery experience. 
Possibly the National Association can work out some 
scheme to encourage nursery training as well as college 
training. 
MICHAEL IL CAS1IMAN 
The success of any organization depends largely on the 
personnel of its officers and the kind of men it draws to 
its employ. The National Association has been very for¬ 
tunate in selecting capable business men to manage its 
affairs. Men who have given generously of their brains, 
Michael II. Cashman, Owatonna, Minn. 
A ewly elected 1 7 lee President of the American Association 
time and experience. The selection ot Mr. Cashman tor 
vice-president promises a continuation of the ag¬ 
gressive policy and the efficient carrying out ot the plans 
of this organization. Mr. Cashman goes to tile office of 
the vice chairmanship with an established reputation as 
an organizer and an efficient executive. He has made 
an enviable record in building up the business ot the 
Clinton Falls Nursery Co., Owatonna, Minn., and there is 
not the slightest doubt that he will use his characteristic 
push and good judgment in carrying out the policies ol 
the National Association. 
AN ATTRACTIVE TREE 
The most attractive tree in the nursery at this writing, 
is a sour-wood or Oxydendrum arboreum. It is now cov¬ 
ered with its beautiful flowers. This interesting tree be¬ 
longs to the Heath family and therefore is partial to acid 
soils, although it does not seem to be so impatient of 
lime-stone soils as are plants of the same family, such as 
Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Heaths, etc., but like them, it 
cannot be said to be a vigorous grower. Like most 
other things that are good, it is not particularly easy to 
grow and propagate and the nurseryman has to carry 
them in the nursery very much longer than the average 
tree or shrub before they are suitable for market. It is 
another of those things which finds ready purchase 
among those who know the plant, but by those who select 
their plants in the nursery during the dormant season, 
it is very likely to be overlooked, but when in leaf and 
flower, it is one of the richest things possible to imagine. 
The leaves are oblong, green and very lustrous. The 
white flowers are huge and flowers are erect on the 
branches of a terminal having a slightly drooping habit, 
the clusters being seven or eight inches long. They re¬ 
tain their beauty for a very long time. The fall coloring 
of this tree is unexcelled by any being a brilliant scar¬ 
let. Although a slow grower, it is free from the attack 
of insects and is not subject to disease. It is a splendid 
subject to plant along with Rhododendrons, and calmeas, 
where a larger growing subject is wanted to give height 
to the plant. 
SOME 
OF THE 
EFFECTS OF THE WAR UPON 
FERTILIZERS. 
L. L. Van Sly he, New York Experimented Station, 
Geneva, N. Y. 
Summary and Extract from Rulletin No. 471. 
A study ot data regarding commercial fertilizers, col¬ 
lected during the years 1914 to 1919 inclusive, reveal 
facts showing some of the effects of the war upon com¬ 
mercial fertilizers. 
1. Effect upon kinds. The number of complete fer¬ 
tilizers decreased each year, going from 614 in 1914 to 
171 in 1919. The mixtures of phosphoric acid and pot¬ 
ash practically disappeared by 1919, while mixtures of 
nitrogen and phosphoric acid appeared in relatively large 
numbers in 1916 and the following years. Acid phos¬ 
phate brands increased while nitrate of soda decreased, 
and potash salts entirely disappeared. Rone, blood and 
tankage decreased. 
2. Effect upon composition. In complete fertilizers 
