20 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
IDotnos of Societies 
TENNESSEE NURSERYMEN AND HORTICULTURISTS. 
The state meeting of nurserymen and horticulturists of Ten¬ 
nessee is to be held in Nashville, January 30th and 31st. In 
this state the fruit growers and tree growers hold their meet¬ 
ings at the same time, which is a very good idea. The secre¬ 
tary, Mr. G. M. Bentley, of Knoxville, state entomologist, 
urges all nurserymen within reach of Nashville to attend the 
meeting if possible. An attractive program has been prepared, 
and an interesting meeting is assured. Officers of the society 
are Hon. J. C. Hale, Winchester, president; secretary-treasurer, 
Prof. G. M. Bentley, Knoxville. 
INDIANA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
W. C. REED, PRESIDENT 
At the last meeting of the Indiana Horticultural Society, 
W. C. Reed, the prominent nurseryman of Vincennes, was 
elected president. The “Indianapolis Star” of December 6 
groups the officers of this society in a very striking way by 
representing each seated on an enormous apple. Mr. Reed 
tops the pyramid surrounded by the treasurer, S. A. Hazlitt; 
L, B. Custer, vice-president; W. B. Flick, secretary; with 
Messrs. Troop and E. Y. Teas at the base. This society is 
doing excellent work, and its immediate success is unquestion- 
ablv assured, when guided by the vigorous hand of Mr. Reed. 
PERSONALS CULLED FROM OUR EXCHANGES. 
Frank Teager, who has been employed at the Gateway Nur¬ 
sery, Le Mars, la., for the past eight years, has formed a partner¬ 
ship with Mr. Seecat, of Dyersville, and the two will embark in 
the nursery business in Minnesota. They will establish their 
nursery on a 100-acre farm belonging to Mr. Seecat near Oak- 
leaf, if the soil proves to be satisfactory. 
Fredonia, N. Y.—Louis Roesch, his son, Milton, and an uncle, 
Matthew Roesch, were all seriously injured recently by the pre¬ 
mature explosion of a stick of dynamite which was being lowered 
into a well to clear it out. It is feared the former may lose the 
sight of both eyes. He is now in the Dunkirk hospital, where 
Dr. Blackham, an optical specialist, has charge of his case. 
Winfield, Kans.—E. S. Moncrief, vice-president of the Win¬ 
field Nursery Company, has returned from his southern trip. 
Fire at the Government Seed Building. 
The federal government and one of its contracting firms suf¬ 
fered a serious loss by fire in the building in which the seeds for 
free distribution are stored and packed, early November 6th. 
The contractors are E. A. Cole, H. J. Westwood and H. E. 
Crissey, who have charge of packing the department seeds. At 
the time the fire occurred about $75,000 worth of seeds were in 
the building, and Dr. B. T. Galloway, chief of the Bureau of 
Plant Industry, who had charge of the seed distribution, thinks 
about one-half of them were destroyed. Contractor Cole says 
the damage to the property belonging to his firm will amount to 
about $15,000, and the damage to the building is estimated to be 
about $15,000 to $20,000, making the total damage about $75,000. 
The building and seeds were fully insured. 
• The greatest loss has been in the small seeds already put up 
in packages and prepared for distribution, but the loss will not 
hinder the annual distribution to any great extent, as there is 
already a large corps of workers busy preparing the seeds for 
that purpose. The officials expect that possibly much of the 
larger seeds can be saved, and the employees are now drying 
out such as can be saved. 
COVER CROP MULCH FOR STRAWBERRIES. 
It discourages luxuriant growth in the strawberry- 
plant towards winter, protects them from the early frosts 
and allows them to form good crowns for the spring’s 
growth. It prevents the frosts from penetrating the soil 
to any great depth, but holds frost sufficiently long in the 
ground to discourage too early a growth, and at the same 
time does not delay the early ripening of the fruit; the 
mulch is fixed, does not blow away and under this the 
ground remains mellow and moist; the fruit above keeps 
clean and will bring one to two cents more per measure 
than that over which the sand has been washed. Buyers 
recognize your packages on the market and will purchase 
without examination. It also does away with spring culti¬ 
vations thereby saving time. 
ANNUAL REPORT OF AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF 
NURSERYMEN. 
The report of the Detroit convention appeared early in Oc¬ 
tober. This forms a volume of 157 pages, not counting the ship¬ 
pers’ table or the nurserymen’s telegraphic code. It is larger 
than usual, contains more papers than the average report, and 
the discussion of these papers is considerably fuller than ordi¬ 
nary. The volume is well edited, and the press work is satisfac¬ 
tory. On the whole we believe it to be one of the most valuable 
reports that the American Association of Nurserymen has pub¬ 
lished. Credit is reflected on the editing committee and the sec¬ 
retary of the society. 
APPLE SHIPPERS’ REPORT. 
Year book of the International Apple Shippers’ Association. 
We have just received from Secretary Patch, of Boston, a copy 
of the proceedings of the last meeting of this enterprising or¬ 
ganization. It makes up a volume of 127 pages, and is interest¬ 
ing from the fact that not only shipping problems are discussed, 
but from the interesting fact that cultural questions have occu¬ 
pied a considerable portion of the time of the Atlantic City con¬ 
vention. One of the most spirited discussions which occurred 
was that on the management of apple orchards. This indicates 
that shippers are interested in these field problems as well as 
in the mere handling of the finished article. 
The apple shippers have also given some attention to the 
matter of fruit inspection. A committee was appointed a 
year ago to consider the question and it is not unlikely that 
definite action will be taken in the near future. 
Book IRevtew 
FOUR SEASONS IN THE GARDEN. Eben E. Rexford. 
8 l /4x5y 2 . 307 pages, including index, illustrated. J. B. Lippin- 
cott Co., Philadelphia. Price, $1.50. 
The volume is introduced by an attractive colored frontis¬ 
piece representing an informal herbaceous border. The book 
treats of the care of the lawn, the making and care of flower 
beds, flowers for summer, for autumn, for window gardens, for 
the home greenhouse, and closes with a couple of chapters on 
village improvement work. The whole is discussed in the pleas¬ 
ant conversational style peculiar to Mr. Rexford. His long ex¬ 
perience as a periodical writer has colored his style with the 
characteristics of a newspaper writer. The volume is sugges¬ 
tive, and contains many practical hints of great value. It is 
nicely printed, contains a number of attractive illustrations, and 
is further illuminated by selections from nature poets. The ama¬ 
teur will find the volume interesting and instruct!'" 1 . 
