242 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
EXHIBITS 
An unusually large number of exhibits filled the two 
rooms set apart as Exhibition rooms. The heavier articles 
were in a large room on the ground floor at some distance 
from the lobby; the lighter and less bulky in well lighted 
rooms on the second floor. Nurserymen and inventors of 
implements for nursery work are beginning to realize the 
value of Exhibits. 
THE REED-BELL GRAFT WRAPPING MACHINE. 
Of all the problems confronting nurserymen, the one 
hardest of all to solve, is how to prevent the callous knot or 
“hard crown gall’’ on apple trees. This growth has caused 
growers more worry and financial loss than any disease or 
any insect with which they have ever had to contend. 
It has been proved by various tests that 99% of this root 
knot is nothing more than a callous thrown out by an im¬ 
perfect union improperly wrapped-—simply an overproduc¬ 
tion of the repair tissue along the cut surface of the graft. 
When properly wrapped, the percentage of trees affected 
with this callous knot is reduced to a minimum. 
The Reed-Bell Graft Wrapping Machine reduces the cost 
of wrapping to a minimum. An account carefully kept 
during several w r eeks of the grafting season of 1908 shows 
that machine-wrapped grafts cost, on an average, 5c per 
thousand for twine, 11c per thousand for wrapping, a total 
of 16c per thousand; this effects a saving of 34c per thousand 
over calico wrapping. But what is of more importance, the 
tension of the thread may be adjusted so as to wrap the 
graft so tightly that one may take it by the root, and throw 
it, shake it as he will, it cannot be loosened. In many 
tests, either root or scion has broken, rather than any 
loosening or breaking at the splice; hence in planting, 
grafts can be handled almost like cuttings without fear of 
breakage, resulting in the saving of thousands of trees; this 
one point alone will, in one planting season, more than 
cover the cost of a machine. 
As a preventative to “hard crown gall,’’ or the callous 
knot, it is necessary that the wrapping be solid the entire 
length of the splice, especially at the lower end of the scion. 
Such wrapping requires entirely too much time for applying 
by hand, but with the machine it can be applied smoothly 
and evenly in about one-half the time required for old 
fashion hand-wrapping. 
The Reed-Bell Wrapper has a record of perfectly wrapping 
30 grafts per minute on a power machine; foot power is 
nearly as rapid. It is not claimed that a green boy, nor 
in fact anyone, will hold up this record for a io-hour day, 
but any active boy should average from 6,000 to 10,000 
per day of 10 hours. 
A 1—10 H. P. electric motor will run from one to eight 
machines at a cost for power of 75c per day of 10 hours, 
with current at 10c per 1000 w r atts. But any other power 
can be used on the line shaft for gang machines. 
I. J. ILGENFRITZ SONS COMPANY. 
After several years experimenting the Ilgenfritz Co., now 
have a device in their Opener and Firmer that is one of the 
most satisfactory of the machines on the market for plant¬ 
ing stocks and grafts in all soils. 
The Opener has a double adjustment lever which will 
throw the point of the plow down where the ground is hard 
so it will take hold readily. The back and top part of the 
plow is made so that the wings press the top of the soil 
down so as to give a clean opening. 
Others who have tried to plant with Openers, report 
having had a great deal of difficulty in packing the ground 
firmly about the lower part of the stocks where it is most 
essential. This difficulty has been overcome with the 
Ilgenfritz Firmer, by so arranging the central two wheels, 
which do the packing, on a pivot. The operator controls 
these two wheels by placing his feet on pedals, thus guiding 
the machine where there are crooks and curves in the rows. 
Where the ground is heavy the machine can be loaded to 
any weight pressure desired, packing the ground solid as 
deep as the Opener works. These machines have been as 
much of a revelation in the way of planting, as the first tree 
plow diggers were in the way of digging stock. 
E. C. BROWN & CO. 
The E. C. Brown Company of Rochester, N. Y.,made an 
effective display of two of their spraying machines, the 
compressed air and horsepower sprayers. For many years 
the No. 1 compressed air has been the standard for this 
