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THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
TREE SEED REVIEW 
By Arthur Ii. Powell 
I N looking back over the past season and considering 
the subject of tree, shrub and evergreen seeds, we 
find the season has not been a good one, when com¬ 
pared with past season’s crops. I believe I can say that 
this has been the poorest season for acorns during the 
last ten years. There was not a good crop of any variety. 
A few Red Oak acorns were collected in various sections, 
but they were of such poor quality that the planting of 
them would have been waste of time. 
From the sections where Pin Oaks are collected, re¬ 
ports came in to the effect that the crop was a failure this 
season. Similar reports came in from oilier sections re¬ 
garding Quercus tinctoria, macrocarpa, robur, prims, 
cerris and numerous other varieties. 
Other varieties of deciduous trees and shrubs fruited 
fairly well, and sufficient quantities are obtainable to 
supply the demands, which are somewhat light this sea¬ 
son on account of the European conflict. 
Seeds of coniferous trees were not so plentiful. Early 
in the season reports from the New England States fore¬ 
casted the scarcity of Abies balsamea and when time 
came to harvest, no seed could he had. The crop of Tsuga 
Canadensis Hemlock was also a total failure. 
In the southern states shortages in the crops of Pinus 
palustris (Yellow Broom Pine) and Pinas taeda (Loblolly 
Pine) were reported. These varieties, however, were ob¬ 
tainable in quantities sufficient to fill orders. They were, 
however, late in being harvested, as the cones could not 
he opened on account of wet weather prevalent in the 
north the past fall. 
Reports from Europe this season are not the most sat¬ 
isfactory. The chief trouble there is the difficulty in ob¬ 
taining labor to collect the seeds. 
Only a few days ago I received a recommendation from 
a leading collector of French Grab seed, advising that 
they would he forced to cut all orders for French Crab 
seed 50 per cent. Regarding French Pear they were in 
hopes of obtaining sufficient quantities to fill all orders in 
full. 
I also received only yesterday a report as to crop from 
one of the leading German seed merchants, and it em¬ 
bodies considerable information. 
In the first place the crop of acorns was practically a 
failure, there being no crop of either the common or red 
oaks, the two varieties prevalent in Europe. 
The crop of Norway Spruce is also reported short, hut 
seed of the 1914 crop is procurable in small quantities. 
It is reported to be of good germinating quality. 
Reports regarding Larch are also similar to that of 
Noway Spruce, namely a short crop with year-old seed 
procurable in small quantities. 
An odd report regarding the supply of Beech and Lin¬ 
den seed is received. The entire crop of these varieties 
has been confiscated for oil production, and no seeds of 
these trees are procurable. It states that no law lias been 
passd prohibiting the exportation, hut conditions at pres¬ 
ent do not point to any prospects of our being able to im¬ 
port seeds from that country. 
The seed business in general this season has been 
light, as foreign orders are very scarce. 
ter 
PRUNING SHRUBS 
Please tell me the proper seasons for trimming up 
Spiraea, Symphoricarpos, Berberis, Azalea, Deutzia, 
Crape Myrtle, Forsythia, Hydrangea paniculata, Vibur¬ 
num, and Weigela. These shrubs were set out in March 
last. Should they he cut hack severely or only 
trimmed? Your advice will he appreciated. C. B. II. 
It is just a little difficult, without knowing the condi¬ 
tion of the plants. With well-established plants one 
can easily judge of the condition, hut in this case re¬ 
cently transplanted stock might vary very much and re¬ 
quire different treatment. 
General principles will he the safest for us to give you. 
The best season for trimming any of these shrubs is af¬ 
ter they have flowered, removing some or all of the canes 
or branches that have just flowered, assuming the num¬ 
ber of branches remaining are, say, two-thirds of the 
original number. It is not usually safe to remove more 
wood and foliage than this during the summer, when 
plants of course need foliage for existence. If the re¬ 
duction under such a plan seems too great, do just a 
little of it to encourage a vigorous growth on the part of 
the remaining wood, and finish it in the winter, being 
careful not to remove at the latter period any growth that 
has just been made, which seems important for the pro¬ 
duction of flowers the following season, unless flowers 
may he sacrificed for the good of the plant. 
The Hydrangea paniculata and the Spiraea, if any of 
them he summer-flowering varieties, may he very se¬ 
verely pruned in the winter, as flowers will be produced 
next season on the growth of that season, and you can 
safely prune away any of the wood during the winter, 
being assured flowering wood will follow in the spring. 
Assuming you received good, bushy plants, it would 
have been best to have pruned them very severely at the 
time of planting, in order to get entirely new wood, 
though sometimes the condition of the plants will neces¬ 
sitate retaining a good portion of the strong, vigorous, 
young growth. In such event, pruning at this time 
would he little required, simply thinning out where the 
branches have grown too thick and bushy and overload 
the plant. - 
LLOYD C. STARK ON PREPAREDNESS 
Mr. Lloyd C. Stark, vice president of the Stark Bros. 
Nurseries and Orchards Co., is a former officer of 
the U. S. Navy, being a graduate of Annapolis and served 
from 1904 to 1911. lie made a study during extensive 
travels of naval and military conditions and he is em¬ 
phatic in the belief the United States must prepare at 
once for the emergency of war. 
“A war at this time would he the test of our republican 
form of government,” lie said, “and we must prepare at 
once as a matter of national life insurance. 
“We have wasted a year in discussing the possibility 
of maintaining peaceful relations with other countries. 
The time seems close at hand when we shall have to pro¬ 
tect ourselves.” 
The Western farmers are not only patriotic hut the best 
