THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
387 
NEEDLESS JEALOUSIES AMONG NURSERYMEN 
How natural it is for men in the same line of trade to 
feel burdened with grief, fearing that some competitor 
will carry off their business, or at least will affect it ser¬ 
iously. In most instances, I regard these fears as 
largely imaginary. Business success is gained or lost 
by the enterprise and good sense of the man at the helm, 
and not by what the other fellow, the competitor is saying 
or doing. 
I was asked recently whether the reduced employment 
of fruit agents during the past summer and season would 
add to the business of the catalog men, or detract from it. 
The attitude of my interlocutor was that the catalog men 
would sell more trees since the nurseries running agents 
sold less trees. My answer was that catalog men will 
sell no more trees on account of the lessening of the so¬ 
licitation of agents. My position is that every respec¬ 
table tree agent is a missionary, teaching people to buy, 
plant and eat fruits. He goes about from house to house 
with attractive colored plates and causes a. demand, by 
his apt conversation, for fruit, plants, vines and trees. 
If he makes a sale, he is doing good work, for all who 
plant trees are helping themselves and others. But if 
this agent, does not succeed in placing his order, he im¬ 
plants in the minds of the people he visits a greater de¬ 
sire for fruit. He educates them to the point where they 
are likely to feel that their homes are not complete with¬ 
out an abundant supply of fruits and flowers. 
Why should there be continuous warfare between nur¬ 
serymen who do business through agents and another 
class of nurserymen who do business entirely through 
catalogs, and who employ no agents? I can see no good 
reason for revolution or warfare between these two 
classes of nurserymen. My opinion is that the man who 
employs agents helps the catalog man, and that the 
man who does business through catalogs helps the agent 
make sales, for the catalog man through his catalog, 
which has cost him many thousand dollars, educates the 
people in the way of fruit growing as much as the agent 
does by his conversation and his fruit plates when he 
calls upon the prospective purchaser. 
This country is bigger than many of us think. There 
is room for all in almost every line of business. There 
is no reason why nurserymen of the different classes 
should not be friendly disposed, all united in a common 
brotherhood to advance fruit growing and ornamental 
planting, which are among the most important enter¬ 
prises of the present age. 
Charles A. Green, 
Rochester, N. Y. 
SUMAC CULTIVATION IN SICILY 
There are two species of sumac grown in Sicily, the 
wild and the cultivated. The wild variety has a short 
stalk, small leaves attached two by two to a short stem, 
the leaves sparse covered with a white fuzz on both sides, 
the stem with no small leaves near its base. The cul¬ 
tivated plant (Rhus coriaria) has a longer stem than the 
wild, its leaves are larger and are covered with fuzz only 
on the lower side, and the stem of the leaf has small 
leaves along its entire length. 
Sumac requires a dry, loose soil. The best is a clay 
soil with lime and silica mixed. It does not grow well 
in damp, compact ground. The soil may he rich or poor, 
so long as it is dry. However, the best sumac is grown 
on soil of volcanic origin. This soil, together with much 
heat, produces the greatest amount of tannin. The heat 
is perhaps the most important element in the production 
of tannin. In Sicily sumac is grown at all elevations up 
to 2,000 feet. 
Cultural Methods. 
Sumac is planted in furrows 8 inches wide, 6 inches 
deep, and 27 inches apart, the plants being placed 27 
inches apart in the furrow. The sprouts should be 
taken from a full-grown plant and care exercised that 
the roots are entire. They must be a year old. The 
planting is usually done in December or January. The 
ground should be plowed twice about four to six months 
previous to the planting. The plants should be cut down 
to within 6 inches of the ground. 
During the first year the ground should be spaded six 
times, immediately after the planting, in February, April, 
May, June, and September. The first three spadings 
should be deep, the others only light. During the sec¬ 
ond year there should be three spadings, in January, 
March, and May. In December the little shoots that 
have appeared at the foot of the plant should be cut off. 
Sumac should be cultivated alone. The shade of trees 
retards development and reduces the amount of tannin. 
Harvesting the Crop. 
The gathering of the leaves takes place when they 
commence to turn yellow, usually in July and August. 
Some growers cut the twigs off near the stem and send 
them in this form to the thrashing floor, where the leaves 
are separated from the stems by beating or by thrashing 
with horses. However, this is not a desirable method, 
as it does not produce a good quality. The best method 
is to gather the crop in three periods. First the leaves 
near the stalk up to about the middle of the limb are 
gathered. Twenty or twenty-five days later half of the 
remaining leaves are gathered. A few days after this 
the ends of the twigs are cut off. This method gives 
two or three qualities of sumac, but as it requires a great 
deal of time and labor, the usual method is to cut off the 
whole plant near the ground. The twigs are piled on a 
floor and are turned three or four times a day with a 
fork. 
After the leaves are separated from the wood they are 
taken to the mill, where they are packed in bales or 
ground for shipment. There is no treatment at the mill 
which affects the amount of tannin contained in the 
sumac .—Commerce Reports. 
Rhus coriaria is a bush or low tree growing to the 
height of 13 to 20 feet, indigenous to Portugal and the 
Mediteranean region. There must be many localities 
in the United States that would grow it to perfection. 
The tannin for which it is cultivated, as described above, 
is used in the manufacture of fine grades of leather.— 
Editor. 
“We are enthusiastic readers of the ‘National Nursery¬ 
man’ and believe it is improving right along, though it 
has for many years been a valuable asset to the business.” 
R. Diehl, Overman’s Nursery, Spokane, Wash. 
