THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
9 
REVIEW OF THE SEASON CONTINUED BY PROMINENT 
NURSERYMEN OF THE COUNTRY. 
VIRGINIA. 
PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE FROM A VIRGINIA NURSERYMAN. 
Dear Sir:— 
We cannot tell at this date how the business of 1907 
will turn out, as our business has been mostly through 
agents. We have had a larger sale than usual, but as we 
had a bad season in budding (1906) we have been short of 
more stock than usual. Stock we have bought has been 
generally very satisfactory with a few exceptions; but some 
varieties we have been unable to secure. In apples we think 
some of the varieties we have bought are not correct as 
we have been growing them for a number of years: We 
sell mostly fruits and more apple than any other, though 
this season have sold much more of small fruits and orna¬ 
mentals than usual. We think the time is coming when 
more ornamentals will be called for. The new or spe¬ 
cial varieties are only sold by the men who can push them. 
DISEASES AND INSECTS. 
We are not very much encouraged with our experi¬ 
mental work with insects. While we have spent a great 
deal of time trying remedies, do not know that we have had 
very much success. Our worst trouble is with the apple 
aphis and what is called crown gall. We have more aphis 
on buds than grafts. We think the cause is-that we have to 
grow them one year longer, and that they breed - about the 
season we are budding, and about the cuts made by bud¬ 
ding. I .do not think we can expect any remedy at reason¬ 
able cost. The past season I limed very heavy with slacked 
lime, also washed bodies with soap where we could see 
them, and one of the professors from Blacksburg put 
kerosene emulsions on two rows and we could not detect 
any difference. It may not have been used early enough, 
being applied early in July. In two-year apple, when we 
commenced to dig this fall I thought we were going to 
lose very heavy from the aphis. One block that had some 
very fine 2 year trees of Ben Davis, Wine Sap and York 
Imperial on one side of the block, the other side in about 
one-half of block the trees did not grow so well, the side 
where they grew well I think we lost about three-fifths of 
the Wine Sap, and the other half lost very few trees. We 
had another block that showed a great deal of aphis on 
the bodies the growing season and very few trees were 
affected on the roots when we dug them. Do not think we 
have had as much crown gall as usual this fall though 
did not count when dug. 
GRAFTING. 
We wrapped all Grafts with waxed cloth when they 
were grafted. 
New Implements:—We bought a graft and stock- 
planter and firmer for planting last spring. Did not use the 
stock planter but very little, we have always been planting 
by lines and do not like to see crooked rows. We could 
not get them straight with the machine, and the stock planter 
was made of very poor material—from such light pine wood 
—that when when we commenced we broke a piece of the 
frame and then had to make a new piece, and hardly 
commenced when we broke a casting, and then I threw 
it to one side. The firmer we used for firming most of the 
grafts and stocks and think it a very good tool. We also 
bought a two-horse fertilizer drill, which we think a very 
good tool for putting fertilizer and lime on small stocks 
or trees not over 2^4 feet high. It is made by the B. F. 
Avery Co., Louisville, Ivy., for the sugar planters South 
to fertilize the sugar cane. It is made for two horses and 
straddles the rows- distributing the fertilizer along the sides 
of rows. It cost $60. 
In our packing we try to make good boxes and paper 
line all of them and use plenty of excelsior or moss and try 
to have all packing done well, as we ship long distances 
and have to allow so much time for stock to reach destina¬ 
tion. Our stock is nearly all shipped by freight and we 
prepay all charges on stock sold by agents when we ship. 
We think the outlook is better for the business, and 
while the demand has been more for trees for several years 
the labor has been so high and so indifferent it has been 
very hard to keep expenses below cost. We have 
had plenty of labor this fall but it has not been good as we 
would like to see, and have had to pay high prices for 
what we got out of them. We do not look for the labor 
trouble to be as serious hereafter as it has been for the 
past two years. Respectfully, 
W. T. Hood & Co. 
Richmond, Va. 
INDIANA I. 
A FRUIT TREE AND ORNAMENTAL GROWER OF INDIANA. 
Editor National Nurseryman: 
The demand for fruit trees of all kinds has been very 
heavy with the exception of Plum, and we have sold more 
Plums than expected and think with the shortage of other 
stock for spring, that Plums will be pretty well cleaned up 
at advanced prices. 
' The demand for shade trees has been unusually heavy 
with us, with a slight falling off in Roses and Shrubs. 
Insect pests have not been as numerous the past season 
as in former years. The Cherry and Pear slug made its 
appearance during the summer and a dose of Paris Green 
added to the Bordeaux soon put him out of commission. 
Yellow Leaf, Mildew and other fungous diseases have 
been very common, owing to the cold, wet summer, and 
were not as easily controlled as usual. 
