202 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
an ordinary lead seal is inserted. This is sealed with a 
hand seal press which stamps on the lead slug the words 
“Certified to he Baldwin,” or whatever the variety may 
be and on the reverse side the letters “M. F. G. A. and 
the year in which the work is done. This seal cannot be 
again attached if removed from the tree and may remain 
until the tree comes in bearing. Thus the variety name 
goes with the tree until bearing age, preventing any later 
errors or at least rendering them easily corrected if made. 
The actual cost of the work is collected by the associa¬ 
tion from the nurseryman, who in turn may pass it on to 
the purchaser of the certified trees. It has in the past 
amounted to between two and three cents per tree. Car¬ 
ried out on a larger scale the cost should approximate 
two cents per tree. 
Thus far the work has been limited to about a dozen 
varieties of apples, including those most commonly plant¬ 
ed in commercial orchards. One year trees have not been 
certified for three reasons; they are somewhat more dif¬ 
ficult to identify; there are fewer of them sold and there 
is more risk of damaging the tree owing to the fact that 
I he seal would have to he inserted in the trunk of the 
tree. 
The question may he asked if it may he extended to 
fruits other than the apple. The answer is yes. Pears 
and cherries should present no great difficulty, peaches 
present a more difficult problem but with some study it 
may be done. 
Bush fruit plants present the difficult problem of where 
and how to attach the seal. Moreover the value of these 
is so low that the cost of certification would be relatively 
much larger. Some modification of the plan will be 
necessary for bush fruits. 
As long as this scheme is confined to Massachusetts it 
will not amount to much. Probably less than 10,000 
apple trees are grown each year in our state and most of 
the trees planted are purchased in small lots from nur¬ 
serymen in neighboring states, so that certification is im¬ 
practicable. If it is to be extended to other states the 
question of supervision arises. Shall it be left to each 
state to handle the matter in its own way or is a regional 
or country-wide supervision more desirable? The facts 
that the nursery business is largely an interstate affair 
and that some states would do it well and others poorly 
or not at all convinces me that there should be an inter¬ 
state control. It should be voluntary on the part of the 
nurserymen and fruit growers and not imposed by state 
or Federal law. Thus it may stand or fall on its own 
merits and not because of legislative enactment. The 
supervising agency must be one that lias the confidence 
of both nurserymen and fruit growers. The machinery 
should he as simple as possible and the costs kept as low 
as possible. 
At the present time the Massachusetts Fruit Growers’ 
Association stands ready to sponsor certification in other 
states as a temporary expedient pending such time as it 
may be taken over by a more appropriate organization. 
What organization this should be is a problem. There 
are several that may be mentioned which stand in more 
or less the same relation to the fruit interests of the 
country at large as the Massachusetts Fruit Growers’ 
Association does to those of its state. The American Pom- 
ological Society. The Farm Bureau Federation, and this 
organization may be mentioned. The objection to this 
organization would of course be that it is composed of the 
men whose work is to he passed upon, possibly a fatal 
objection in the eyes of some people. 
Whatever the supervising organization it would seem 
that the expert service would be rendered by men on the 
staffs of our agricultural colleges. The actual field work 
of certification must necessarily be done during July, 
August and Septeir/ber, which coincides with the college 
vacation period. I do not know where trained men could 
he obtained at the present time to handle any large pro¬ 
portion of the nursery fruit trees grown in the country 
but they could he trained in a short time if the need 
should arise. 
The foregoing discussion is based on he assumption 
that the Massachusetts plan of variety certification is 
worth while and will solve he problem of misnamed 
trees. So far as solving the problem is concerned I am 
convinced that it can he made effective. Perhaps mistak¬ 
es would be made but they would be few and far be¬ 
tween. I believe that it is worth while and that the slight 
expense of two or three cents per tree would he more 
than offset by preventing the losses to nurseryman and 
fruit grower due to selling and planting misnamed trees. 
Wm. F. Miller, Gloucester City, New Jersey, writes 
that he nearly sold out everything he had to offer at the 
Convention. 
The New Jersey Nurserymen are already planning to 
make next year’s Convention at Atlantic City the best 
ever. 
SOUTHERN NURSERYMEN’S ASSOCIATION 
The Southern Nurserymen’s Association is slated to 
meet September the 5th and 6th. The place of meeting 
will be Atlanta, Georgia, with headquarters at the Pied¬ 
mont Hotel. 
The Officers of the Association are: O. Joe Howard, 
President, Hickory, N. C.; W. W. Hillenmeyer, Vice Pres. 
Lexington, Ky.; O. W. Fraser, Secretary and Treasurer, 
Birmingham, Ala. 
