62 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
Doings of Societies 
CALIFORNIA STATE FRUIT GROWERS 
The fortieth annual meeting of the California State Fruit 
Growers’ Association was held in Santa Rosa, December 
ig-2 2, 1911. The program was spread over four days, and 
was filled with matter of practical interest to orchardists 
and nurserymen. The relation of the county commissioner 
to the nurseryman was discussed by Mr. George C. Roeding, 
Fresno. Many other features of interest to fruit producers 
were presented. 
TEXAS 
The aim of the Texas State Horticultural Society is to 
secure enough new members to bring the membership up to 
one thousand. As a beginning, each member was urged to 
secure at least one new name before the mid-winter meeting 
of the Society, which was to take place in Houston on the 
18th and 19th of January but was cancelled owing to the 
epidemic of meningitis. 
ALABAMA 
The ninth annual meeting of the Alabama State Horti¬ 
cultural Society took place at Jasper late in January. The 
program occupied three days. The practical side of horti¬ 
culture was included in the form of demonstrations during the 
last session. Following an address on “The Use of Dynamite 
for Tree Planting,” by A. L. Crowe of Atlanta, the members 
of the Society had an opportunity to see this method put into 
practice, and also to witness demonstrations of spraying, 
pruning, and planting. 
PACIFIC COAST ASSOCIATION OF NURSERYMEN 
An attractive looking volume which has recently come to 
the editor’s desk is the report of the 1911 meetings of the 
Pacific Coast Association of Nurserymen held at San Jose, 
California, June 21-23. These proceedings fill 125 pages, 
and the list of members shows a thriving organization, as 
far as numbers are concerned. 
Pres. George C. Roeding of Fresno, California, in his 
address noted the influence which the nurseryman has 
exerted, especially in the rural communities, upon the prog¬ 
ress of things material and esthetic. He stated that he 
believes each of the far western states should have its associa¬ 
tion to affiliate with the larger association. In discussing 
transportation difficulties, Mr. Roeding said that he thought 
oftentimes relief could be obtained by merely calling the 
attention of the railroad company—a business organization 
open to reason—to the abuses existing in its system. The 
following quotation from Mr. Roeding’s address will add 
the opinion of another experienced nurseryman on a subject 
discussed in the last issue of The National Nouseryman: 
“What are, after all, the essentials to success? Briefly as 
follows: 
“Trees must be true to name. 
“They must be well grown. 
“They must be free from all pests. 
“They must be well packed to insure their safe arrvial at 
destination. 
“Is this all? No! A discriminating public must be 
called upon to buy the stock on which you have bestowed 
so much care and attention, either through catalogues and 
advertising, or through agents. All of this means a vast 
expenditure of money. No one present here will deny that 
this is an actual statement of facts. Then why is it that the 
purchaser of nursery stock should have the general impres¬ 
sion that it costs nothing to grow trees, and why should the 
nurseryman further promulgate this idea by the reprehen¬ 
sible practice of agreeing to replace stock—free of charge— 
that fails to grow ? I hope that the members of this associa¬ 
tion will continue to bear in mind that such practices not 
only cheapen them in the eyes of the public, but detract 
from the general tone of the business. Never forget this 
fact in determining the prices of your product to the planter, 
that the prices are not regulated by the cost of production, 
but by whatever stocks are in demand. You all know that 
such trees as you fail to sell are valueless and serve no other 
purpose than so much brush for firewood.” 
After the President’s address, the convention listened 
to a group of four papers relating to legislation and inspec¬ 
tion. Mr. M. McDonald of Orenco, Oregon, noted the 
influence which the Pacific Coast Association of Nursery¬ 
men has had in creating good feeling between the nursery¬ 
men and horticultural inspectors. In discussing destructive 
diseases of nursery stock, so many of which have been 
brought into the United States from foreign countries, Mr. 
John S. Armstrong of Ontario, California, declared himself 
in favor of “absolute prohibition of entry of stock into the 
United States, excepting under the careful supervision of 
experts of the Federal Agricultural Departments, and even 
then it might be limited to new or little known fruits and 
plants, thus stimulating the production of all plants to 
American soil.” 
The Commissioner of Horticulture for California, Mr. 
J. W. Jeffrey, suggested that nurserymen as a body are not 
doing what they might to influence legislation in their own 
favor. Mr.-S. A. Miller of Milton, Oregon, speaking from 
the nurseryman’s standpoint, expressed a similar opinion, 
and was not inclined to lay the blame entirely upon the 
legislators for the laws which frequently allow nursery stock 
to perish on account of being held a long time awaiting 
inspection. At the last session, a resolution presented by 
Mr. McDonald was unanimously adopted to the effect that 
a committee be appointed to consider the advisability of 
securing the services of experts in entomology and plant 
pathology to assist in solving some of the problems confront¬ 
ing nurserymen. 
The remainder of the report discusses a variety of sub¬ 
jects, among which are “Pedigreed Stock, Does It Pay?” 
“The Value of Cleaning Seedlings Before Planting,” and 
“Why the Nurseryman Should Stand in the Position of an 
Educator to the Fruit Growers.” Included in the list of 
speakers, were Prof. E. J. Wickson of the University of 
California, P. A. Dix, Salt Lake City, and Leonard Coates, 
Morganhill, California. 
The National Nurseryman Pub. Co., 
Enclosed find $ i .00 which please place to my credit for subscription 
I appreciate your journal. Yours very truly, 
California, Mo. E. Habegger. 
