THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
6i 
The variety Charles Dix has a very fine lavender color but 
if forced wrong turns to a dirty white, which is neither 
wanted nor desirable. To insure this variety its beautiful 
color it is necessary to place the plants cooler after the 
second week of forcing and in a place where it is possible to 
give them fresh air from the outside through the ventilation. 
This should not be done when it freezes. Charles Dix 
when flowering outdoors is always blue. Even those plants 
whieh do not show good color in forcing get the right color 
outside. This gave us the conclusion that forced plants 
that were exposed to outside air the last week of forcing 
would regain their natural color. And by doing so we were 
successful. 
Mary Legraye, single white, is the easiest to force, con¬ 
sequently the earliest. After this variety comes Charles 
Dix, single lavender, and Souvenir de Louis Spath, single 
purple. Mad. Lemoine, double white, and President Grevy, 
double lavender. These are the varieties that give best 
satisfaction. Experiments in forcing a number of other 
varieties, some of which are beautiful out of doors, generally 
proved to be of no value for forcing. Neither did they make 
enough buds when grown in pots. 
If in forcing Lilacs the above rules are carefully observed, 
a well grown Lilac plant is sure to give satisfaction and will 
prove a profitable plant to force. Many a good prepared 
Lilac is spoiled by wrong treatment, and the plants (or the 
firm who sold them) are generally blamed for the bad results. 
If these lines may contribute to your success in forcing 
Lilacs we may, probably, all be benefited by it. 
OUR MAILING LISTS—WHO ARE ENTITLED 
TO TRADE LISTS 
The Trade List of the responsible nurseryman should 
go to responsible dealers only. Planters can afford to pay 
more profitable prices to the nurseryman than can the dealer. 
Nurserymen, under a ruinous system of competition, sell 
their stock at bankrupt prices—the result is cheap methods, 
cheap trees, and cheap men. 
The scientifie originator, the skillful propagator, and 
grower, the careful handler and honest distributor, should 
receive due reward for his service. The careless, unreliable 
grower or dealer in nursery stock should not be recognized 
by the legitimate grower. A large amount of nursery stock 
is sold to these irresponsible dealers, who by making little 
or no payment for same, are able to cut prices and demoralize 
the trade by giving the planters a low estimate of the cost 
of a tree and a poor opinion of the nursery business. A 
partial remedy against this hurtful abuse may be had by 
requiring cash with the order from all dealers who are not 
s 
rated strictly A i. 
The laborer is worthy of his hire, and since the honest, 
efficient nurseryman is the most strenuous of all laborers, 
he should have his reward. 
The dealer or retail merchant under prevailing conditions 
is a most important factor and should receive consideration. 
The planter is the ultimate consumer for whose convenience 
the trade is established and maintained, and who should 
be willing to support the trade by paying profitable prices. 
The nurseryman as a producer, and the retailer as a 
distributor, are able to give valuable and efficient service 
to the planter in proportion to remuneration they receive 
from the planter for their service. 
The issuance of trade lists indiscriminately to planters 
and to unworthy dealers is not only a menace to the business, 
but it has done much harm to horticulture and to all parties 
concerned. 
E. W. Kirkpatrick. 
HIGH FARMING AND LOW PRICES 
The Rural New-Yorker does not accept Professor Holden’s 
advice recently offered to a group of New York capitalists in 
New York City, that high farming is to be a remedy for 
low prices. The Rural New-Yorker thinks that the more 
the farmers produce on a given area, the lower will be the 
price. “The pretty scheme for doubling crops without 
giving farmers a fair share is like the pleasant babble of a 
summer brook.” The Rural New-Yorker believes that 
larger prices are to come from decreased expenses in market¬ 
ing the farmer’s products. 
INTEREST IN STREET TREES 
How difficult it is for towns and villages to maintain a 
sufficient interest in their street trees to keep these in healthy, 
growing condition and free from severe injury caused by 
attacks of insect and fungous enemies. At the present time, 
there are many firms and individuals practicing tree surgery, 
whose services are available. In addition, the villages and 
towns have equal rights^ in commanding the services of 
experiment station officials with the men living in the country. 
This fact is frequently overlooked, however. Many of the 
picturesque villages and small towns of New England and 
New York owe a great share of their beauty to the fine old 
trees,- elms and maples and other forms, which were planted 
in early days. These trees frequently have passed their 
meridian and are deteriorating because of neglect in the 
matter of checking fungous and insect invasion. Depart¬ 
ments of Horticulture in the state colleges are usually only 
too glad to cooperate in cases of this kind. Their services 
should be solicited. 
ELECTRICITY FOR TREE PESTS 
It is reported that certain progressive fruit growers in 
the State of Washington are attempting to electrocute 
their orchard insect enemies. One enterprising orchardist 
expects to wire his ten acre orchard and equip it with a 
storage battery and incandescent light globes of six candle 
power. These are netted with fine steel wire, coated with 
copper and tin alternately. The moths and night flying 
insects are killed as they come in contact with the electric 
circuit. This method raises the question as to whether the 
electrocuting agent will discriminate between beneficial 
and injurious insects. 
Los Angeles holds a land and product exposition March 
12-28, 1912. A feature of this exhibition will be a display of 
two million oranges, representing every citrus growing sec¬ 
tion of California, and other citrus producing states which 
may feel disposed to cooperate in assisting the exhibition. 
