THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
r>9 
We can eliminate, at the outset, the losses from inten¬ 
tional substitution. There are a few scalawags in every 
business, and the nursery business is not an exception, 
but, as a class, nurserymen are as upright in intention as 
the men they serve. Mis-named trees may occur through 
the careless introduction of some odd variety into the 
nursery, in budding, or bench grafting. Through re¬ 
peated cuttings of bud stocks or cions from the nursery 
row, the error is carried on and multiplied. Nursery¬ 
men seldom grow all the stock they sell; they exchange 
and purchase from each other. Thus the mistake of one 
may be handed on to many. Some mixing may occur in 
digging, storing and shipping, especially in the rush of 
the shipping season, but most of it is in propagation. 
The present tendency to reduce the number of varieties 
favors fewer errors. Large nurseries grow each of the 
standard varieties in a solid block, often on separate 
farms, and they may be stored in separate cellars. It 
is not likely that any system of nursery management and 
inspection can be devised that will eliminate all chance 
for error, but there certainly is room for improvement, 
as every fruit grower will vehemently assert and every 
fair minded nurseryman will admit. 
Identifying Varieties. Varieties can be recognized 
about as readily by the tree as by the fruit, if the dis¬ 
tinguishing points of the tree are studied as carefully as 
we commonly observe the fruit. Bearing trees of differ¬ 
ent varieties have a characteristic habit of growth, color 
of bark, and leaf appearance which fruit growers readily 
recognize. The identification of varieties in the nursery 
row is more difficult, but not impracticable. There are 
hundreds of nurserymen and nursery employees who sel¬ 
dom need to look at labels; they recognize nursery trees 
of the standard varieties at a glance. Certain varie¬ 
ties so impress themselves upon the seedling roots that 
they have a characteristic root system regardless of 
the root-stocks used, and this is used as a means of iden¬ 
tification by nurserymen. Winesap trees, for example, 
have a flat and shallow root system; Northern Spy is 
deeper. Even after the trees are dug and in the storage 
cellar, the habit of growth, color of the wood, amount 
of pubescence, and the number, size and color of the 
lenticels offer a means of identification. 
The best time to verify nursery stock is in late summer, 
when the new wood is partially mature, and when the 
leaves, which are the most distinguishing feature of the 
tree, are available. Shaw, of the Massachusetts Experi¬ 
ment Station, has published a bulletin which classifies 
30 standard varieties of apples by their leaf characters, 
and gives a key for their identification. He was able to 
make a score of 96 per cent, iu identifying some hundreds 
of trees brought to him, as a test, by Massachusetts nur¬ 
serymen. It is likely that many nurserymen could have 
done equally well. Some of the most important distin¬ 
guishing points in the leaves are the length and angle of 
the petiole, the size, shape and serration of the stipules 
and the leaves. Peach varieties are more difficult to dis¬ 
tinguish, both in wood and in leaf, but the differences in 
leaf glands are quite marked. Montmorency, Early Rich¬ 
mond and English Morello cherries, the three most widely 
planted varieties, are hard to separate in the cellar, but 
are readily distinguished in leaf. 
This brings up the question id' the possibility of nur¬ 
sery inspection as an aid to variety certification. It is 
possible for our colleges to train men w ho have a good 
( 4 ye for botanical characters and a sympathetic acquaint¬ 
ance with nursery methods and problems, to serve as nur¬ 
sery inspectors, and to rogue the trees of standard varie¬ 
ties in the nursery row. I believe that variety inspec¬ 
tion of nurseries is bound to come. This work should 
be done by State inspectors, for tin 1 protection of the pub 
lie, as is the case with nursery inspection for insects and 
diseases. It could not be expected that this inspection 
would be 100 per cent, efficient, any more than nursery 
inspection for insects and diseases in perfect, but it 
would be an additional safeguard for the grower. 
Nurseryman s Liability. The question as to how far 
the nurseryman is liable for loss due to misfit trees has 
long been a sore point between nurseryman and grower. 
Many nurserymen put a disclaimer on their order blanks 
and bills of sale, to the effect that they will replace trees 
found not true to name, but are not liable beyond that. 
This, of course, is scant comfort for the disappointed 
grower. This disclaimer has not been recognized by 
courts before which suits have been tried; the nursery¬ 
men have been directed to pay damages, in spite of it. 
Other nurserymen agree to send a man to top work the 
misnamed trees. This is fair enough, so far as it goes. 
Gradually the nurserymen are coming to recognize that 
they have an obligation greater than the replacement of 
nursery stock. The Appellate Division of the New York 
courts, in the case of Lunt vs. Brown Brothers, rendered 
the following decision: ‘AVe think the measure of the 
plaintive’s damages is the difference between the value 
of the farm as it is, and as it would have been had the 
trees been Baldwin.” This is the only reasonable position 
to take and it is bound to become the generally accepted 
standard of business ethics between the nurseryman and 
his client. 
Some nurserymen now guarantee their trees to be true 
to name and if misfits occur provide for arbitration in 
case the two parties to the sale are not able to agree on 
the amount of damages. This is good business. The 
time is coming when all reputable nurserymen will guar¬ 
antee their trees and will take all possible measures, 
including variety roguing by trained men, to safeguard 
the guarantee. They may find it necessary to protect 
themselves by taking out insurance in a standard guaran¬ 
tee company. It is reasonable that the few cents that 
this may add to the cost of each tree, in premium ex¬ 
pense, should be divided between the seller and the buy¬ 
er. Nothing has done more to promote carelessness in 
nursery practice than the demand of the grower tor 
cheap trees, regardless of quality. It he wants trees 
true to name, he should be willing to pay for the pre¬ 
cautions that may make this possible. 
The National Association of Nurserymen, whose mem¬ 
bers handle three-fourths of the nursery business of the 
country, appear to be on the right track, at last. It has 
appointed a Vigilance Committee to rid the trade of firms 
that have brought discredit on tin 1 industry. It has adopt¬ 
ed a program, the goal of which is the promotion of con¬ 
fidence. The nurserymen, through their chief trade or¬ 
ganization, are making a sincere and business-like effort 
