THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
t 70 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES IN ENGLAND. 
A meeting of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society took 
place in the Royal British Hotel, Edinburgh, Tuesday, February 2m 
The attendance was small but representative. A token of esteem 
was presented to Mr. P. Murray Thompson who leaves Edinburgh to 
become estate agent to Mrs. Perkin Movis in Cumberland. 
The exhibition held March 3d by the Royal Horticultural Society 
was the best held so far this year. The exhibits were many and of 
high grade. 
vestigations of the date palm, in order to ascertain its exact soil, 
climatic and cultural requirements. Similar work is also being ap¬ 
plied to the fig, pistachio and other crops, with promise of valuable 
results. 
One of the introductions to which particular attention has been 
given is the Japanese salad plant, udo, which grows well in many sec¬ 
tions of this country and is handled and served much like celery. To 
secure the extensive use of the }Mant, however, will probably take 
considerable time, as the taste for it is a cultivated one, like that for 
the olive, mango, etc. It is a promising introduction, however, and 
is already being widely disseminated and distributed. 
HOW TO ACCOMPLISH A DOUBLE PURPOSE THROUGH 
FUMIGATION. 
The investigation recently undertaken by Mr. W. B. Cole con¬ 
cerning the attitude of various state officials in regard to fumigation 
has suggested that perhaps a similar inquiry might be made to good 
advantage, among representative nurserymen concerning their 
practices and opinions as practical men, regarding the efficacy and 
desirability of fumigation. 
It. has been well established in an experimental way that fumiga¬ 
tion with Potassium Cyanide, if properly carried on, is effective; 
also, that if not carefully carried on results will not be satisfactory. 
Perhaps the best treatment of the subject is found in the book of the 
late Prof. W. G. Johnson, “Fumigation Methods." Too much at¬ 
tention cannot be given to thoroughness in preparation and the use 
of high grade Potassium Cyanide. Xot only is the quantity of gas 
liberated materially lessened by goods carrying less than 98% 
purity, but there is a possibility of undesirable sulphurous fumes 
which are not at all beneficial to the accomplishment of the object 
of fumigation. 
It would also be interesting to know how' many nurserymen 
recognize the value of the residue after treatment of the Cyanide of 
Potash with Sulphuric Acid. It may not be a large item, but to 
those who purchase commercial plant-food, it should be known that 
this residue is Sulphate of Potash and w r orth almost $3.00 per cwt. 
in their fertilizer. The value of potash in the development of young 
stock is recognized to consist largely in the stiffening of the plant 
tissues, a process which probably effects the later fruitfulness of the 
tree. In the growth of field crops the value of potash is recognized 
also as a nitrogen restrainer, enabling the plant to resist disease. 
Too little attention is given by most nurserymen to the soil on which 
unusual demands are made through close planting Why not con¬ 
sider more the feeding of young nursery stock? At least, kill two 
birds with one stone and use the valuable residue from Cyanide fumi¬ 
gation, preferably using along with it however, a double quantity of 
Bone or Acid Phosphate. 
Walter Patterson. 
PISTACHIO AND DATE. 
In connection with its foreign exploration w r ork the United St .tes 
Department of Agriculture maintains field testing gardens where the 
seeds and plants so secured may be propagated wdth a view to their 
dissemination if found valuable. The principal one of these gardens, 
located at Chico, Cal., is more than eighty acres in extent and is 
actively engaged in the testing and distribution of numerous things 
received through the explorers. A total of 53,270 plants were 
distributed from this garden during the last year. 
Much attention is being given to the introduction and .culture of 
the pistachio nut, says Dr. B. T. Galloway, chief of the Bureau of 
Plant Industry. Xew hardy stocks of this promising dry land nut 
crop have been secured from Turkestan, China and the dryest 
deserts of the Old World. About 16,000 seedling pistachio trees were 
propagated at the Chico garden last year for distribution through¬ 
out California, Texas, Arizona and adjacent localities. 
Another promising horticultural crop which is being introduced is 
the date palm. The palms which have been introduced by the de¬ 
partment into southern California and Arizona have borne hundreds 
of pounds of delicious fruit, indicating that the work on this unique 
desert culture will pass from the stage of a pure experiment to that of 
a new' industry. We are now conducting extensive life-history in¬ 
SAN JOSE SCALE RAMPANT. 
Kendrick, Idaho. —B. C. DowM, deputy inspector for this sec¬ 
tion, has returned from a trip in the American ridge, Little Potlatch, 
Julietta and Kendrick sections, examining the orchards and fruit 
trees for San Jose scale on Potlatch creek, at the Snyder farm he 
found the lessee had dug up his orchard in an effort to stamp out the 
scale, which had practically covered the farm. 
In Juliaetta most every tree was found to be infected, and for a 
radius of four miles up the canyon to Kendrick and two miles up the 
Little Potlatch the scale w^as abundant. The Adams place had re¬ 
ceived earnest attention," and through constant spraying the or¬ 
chard w'as clean, although entirely surrounded by trees infested with 
the pest. Mr. Dowd also said that a batch of trees just received 
from a nursery in Oregon was found to be covered with the scale, 
and he had taken the proper steps for their destruction. 
To those places or farms where the scale w^as found the inspector 
gave the proprietors 30 days to either spray or dig up the trees. 
ORONDO GROWERS ORGANIZE CLUB. 
The fruit-growers of the Orondo, Washington, have organized an 
association wdth the following officers: William Edmund, president 
C. Ross, vice-president; A. E. Swan, secretary. The new associa¬ 
tion is independent of the Chelan county organization and -is the 
only one of its kind in Douglas county. 
It is the intention, when more organizations have been formed to 
perfect a Douglas county organization. 
The Orondo organization will partake of the nature of a commer¬ 
cial club and also of a social body. 
The new potato, Solanum commersoni violet, about which much 
has been written, has not in all cases realized the expectations of its 
friends. Some French grow r ers claim for it considerable disease- 
resisting and frost-resisting powers. In Ireland, however, a series 
of experiments, conducted by the Department of Agriculture, go to 
show that this potato has not established any claim for special con¬ 
sideration, and that there are many superior varieties. 
VISITORS TO KEW. 
The number of visitors at the Royal Gardens, Kew, speaks for the 
interest which the English people take in gardening. The visitors 
during 1907 numbered 2,962,714. It is interesting to notice that 
this shows an increase of 623,222 upon the visitors during 1906. 
The average number of visitors for the ten years 1893 to 1902 was 
1,352,425, so that the record for 1907 was more than double that 
average. The average attendance for 1903 to 1907 was 2,011,748, 
the figures for the several years being, respectively, 1,352,548, 
1,579,666. 1,824.319, 2,339,492, and 2,962,714. The total Sunday 
attendance for the same years amounted to 568,726 in 1903, 675,225 
in 1904, 853,631 in 1905, 867,148 in 1906, and 1,268,501 in 1907. 
These figures prove how increasingly popular these national gardens 
have become. 
McKinney, Texas, March 7, 1908. 
The N’ational Xurseryman, 
Rochester, X. Y. 
Find enclosed $1.00 and push my figures up again. 
Can’t miss a number of The Nurseryman. 
Hope to meet you and all that happy host of Flora’s agents at 
the city made famous. E. W. Kirkpatrick. 
