THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
19 
time.” Whatever basis lie had lor the statement the 
point is well taken, we cannot upset the balance of na¬ 
ture without great risk. Our knowledge of life is a little 
too superficial, a little more knowledge would make us 
more fearful. 
It may he all right to destroy all the cedars because it 
is a host for the apple rust, hut what other destruction 
does it entail? 
Years ago 1 read of the relation of cats to clover seed, 
which read somewhat as follows:— 
The destruction of cats in a neighborhood allowed the 
field mice to increase and these destroyed the nests and 
ate the honey of the bumble bee upon which the clover 
depended for fertilization. This may or may not he so 
hut it illustrates the point that all nature is interdepen¬ 
dent and to upset its balance is likely to be disastrous in a 
way we do not expect. 
W e are just beginning to realize what the destruction 
of forests means to the fertility of Ihe country and the 
life history of most of the bacteria, insects and insignifi¬ 
cant plants is still a closed book. 
We can destroy, quarantine all we wish to but nature 
has a way of punishing ignorance of her laws very se¬ 
verely and she actively resents man trying to impose ar¬ 
tificial ones upon her. 
We are fast eliminating all plants and insects that have 
apparently no economic value without very much thought 
as to how important they are in the plan of creation and 
our troubles are likely to multiply accordingly. 
We become hysterical upon the advent of a San Jose 
scale, Chestnut Blight or a Boll Weevil and issue quaran¬ 
tines. May be we have brought them on ourselves and 
a little more knowledge would give us a little more wis¬ 
dom. 
DON’T NAG 
The American Association of Railroad Superinten¬ 
dents recently adopted the following “Don’ts for Officers” 
which is good enough to apply to every kind of business. 
“Don’t nag. Many a good man has been nagged into 
inefficiency. 
“Don’t humiliate a man by advertising his shortcom¬ 
ings from the housetops, but quietly point them out to 
him. He will lose an arm for you. 
“Don’t treat your men as if they belonged to the kin¬ 
dergarten class. Chances are they are better posted 
than you are. 
“Don’t be afraid to compliment an employe for some 
commendable service. 
“Don’t forget that where some of your men are making 
mistakes that cost dollars, you may, by pursuing a mis¬ 
taken policy, cost the company thousands. 
“Don’t forget that a man who is made out of the right 
kind of stuff will resent a brutal call-down, and you 
should not complain if he knocks you down. 
“Don’t forget that a man who will stand for a ‘cussing - 
because of some mistake or oversight is not the kind of 
a man who is able to help your administration. Me 
should be fired. 
“Don’t forget that while you are checking everybody 
else up it might be a good thing for you to make a care¬ 
ful inventory of yourself. 
“Finally: Let each action be sweetened by a little of 
the milk of human kindness. It will cause you to have 
pleasant recollections after you have been laid on the 
shelf and enable you to look your old associates in tin; 
eyes.” 
SEQUOIAS 
There are but few people interested in plants that hav • 
not heard of the Redwood trees of California, that giant 
race of trees that somehow escaped tin' general destruc¬ 
tion of the glacial age and are the only known suvivors 
that connect us with prehistoric times. Some of tin* 
present living specimens are estimated to be as old as 
5000 years and judging from fossil and geological evi¬ 
dence this type of tree once dominated the forests of the 
northern hemisphere but are now fast approaching ex¬ 
tinction. 
There are several species of which the botanists do 
not seem to be able to agree on the correct names, the 
two most important being Sequois gigantea or Welling- 
tonia gigantea, Mammoth Tree of California and Se¬ 
quoia or Wellingtonia sempervirens or Redwood Tree. 
According to Bailey’s Encyclopedia, the Sequoia gi¬ 
gantea is the one that is hardiest and thrives best away 
from the ocean fogs of the Pacific Coast. 
In England they make most beautiful lawn specimens. 
The cool moist climate of England evidently suiting them 
much better than the Eastern States of America. Several 
specimens planted in the vicinity of Philadelphia suc¬ 
cumbed before attaining 50 years. A tree is still growing 
on the Meehan nurseries that is perhaps 40 years old. It is 
about 25 feet high and 12 inches or so in diameter at 
base. 
It is in fair health but suffers severely each winter, 
the foliage becoming almost brown from the dry frosty 
winds in February and March, but puts on a new growth 
of three or four inches every summer. 
The late Thomas Meehan selected the position for it to 
be planted near a stream, as he decided from observation 
that the position where the large trees he saw r growing 
in California had originally been a swamp, subsequently 
becoming drained. 
There is every evidence in a study of this group of 
trees that they did grow under very moist conditions. 
The Bald Cypress of the Southern swamps, Taxodium 
distichium is a near relative. 
The Cryptomeria Japonica is apt to be mistaken for 
the Sequoia by the casual observer. In fact it is a near 
relative, belonging to the same tribe of Coniferae and no 
doubt was co-existant in the forests ol the Orient with 
the Sequoia of the Occident in the dim and distant past. 
We think the National Nurseryman leaves but little 
room for criticism, and is a journal 
in (‘very sense what 
it should be to the personal interest of all nurserymen. 
Wishing you success. 
Yours very truly, 
J. E. Stoner, Westminster Nursery. 
