THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
These gigantic signs rubbing Omega oil into you with one 
hand and holding up a recent brand of whiskey, as it were, 
with the other, represent blotches on a landscape that 
should not be allowed to exist. It is an easy way to secure 
th'e painting of a barn, but in doing this it seems to us that 
the owner has little regard for public feeling and little 
regard for the use to which he is putting his own farm 
buildings. Public sentiment should rise against it and 
should drive out the custom.. We believe in legitimate 
advertising, but we also believe in allowing those who 
appreciate a peaceful and pleasant landscape the oppor¬ 
tunity of enjoying it without having it diluted with large 
doses of much that is purely artificial and certainly in bad 
taste. The Civic Improvement societies, national and 
local, have been hammering on this subject for a long time, 
but little progress has been accomplished. It seems to us a 
very legitimate subject for agitation by the state horticul¬ 
tural societies. 
There comes to our attention quite 
MAINTAIN frequently the evidence that some whole- 
LIVING salers, in their eagerness to capture an 
PRICES. attractive sale, overlook certain import¬ 
ant and fundamental business principles. 
They forget that the retailer and the dealer must be pro¬ 
tected. The wholesaler cannot afford to ignore this. If he 
does, circumstances soon put him into the retail class. 
While the possibility of a large order from a grower is an 
excuse for offering a reasonable rebate, the average order 
from a planter which the wholesaler may not care to turn 
down is no excuse for slashing. This practice of wholesalers 
forgetting to discriminate between the planter, and the 
dealer and retailer, is demoralizing. Not only is it demoral¬ 
izing in general, but it usually and finally reacts upon the 
firm in question. Nurserymen have been able to maintain 
reasonable prices during the panic, and there is less argu¬ 
ment at the present moment for cutting prices than there 
has been for the past eighteen months. Good stock at liv¬ 
ing prices should be the motto. 
i II 
( 
A NEW 
ENGLAND 
FRUIT SHOW. 
Last year we had our two great apple 
shows in the west, the National Apple 
Show in Spokane, Wash., and the 
National Apple Congress in Council 
Bluffs, Iowa. Both were most successful 
in illustrating the apple growing possibilities of the regions 
tributary to the cities where the respective exhibitions were 
held. 
This year New England is going to demonstrate what 
can be grown within her borders. It has been decided by a 
conference of representatives of the New England states 
that a grand exhibition will be held in Boston in October, 
1909, at which the fruits then in season and grown in New 
England will be exhibited. 
After all, this is but a return to the events of early days, 
for if we examine the reports of the Massachusetts Horti¬ 
cultural Society we shall find that half a century ago, won¬ 
derful collections of apples, pears and other fruits were 
11 5 
shown in Boston. These, however, were largely grown by 
amateurs. At the coming exhibition the fruits displayed 
will be grown in part by amateurs, but to a considerable 
degree by commercial growers. This represents the change 
in the fruit growing industry which has occurred during the 
intervening period. We have passed the amateur stage. 
Some parts of the country are well into the commercial era, 
but New England has hardly got a fair start. The purpose 
of this exhibition is to emphasize the fruit growing possi¬ 
bilities in a land which has eminently well adapted soil and 
climate and the greatest markets of the world near at hand, 
for fruit growing^ Undoubtedly the purpose of the exhibi¬ 
tion will be achieved, and this notice is to express our entire 
sympathy with the project and to urge upon all fruit 
growers of the region to begin now the making of plans for 
the exhibition of fruit which will eclipse anything that has 
ever been shown in the east. Information and details 
regarding this matter may be secured by applying to 
Secretary J. Lewis Ellsworth, of the Massachusetts Board 
of Agriculture, State House, Boston. 
The interest in planting waste and rough 
INTEREST lands of the east to useful forest trees is 
IN increasing. Nurserymen should know 
FORESTRY. that farmers are not only planning to 
plant but are actually planting trees on 
untillable lands and in places which should never have 
been cleared. In other words the waste places are now 
attracting their attention. The propaganda of the Bureau 
of Forestry is beginning to have its effect. The cry for 
trees to replace the waning supply is going out. All this 
v means that there will be an increasing demand for forest 
tree seedlings for some years to 'come. 
Interest in this field is evidenced by the increasing num¬ 
ber of letters received by experiment station officers asking 
for advice regarding species, methods of planting and 
management. There is now and certainly will be a growing 
demand for forest trees. The question is, are nurserymen 
prepared to meet this new condition? Certain it is that 
trees ought to be supplied and at reasonable rates. There 
is complaint on the part of nurserymen that certain states 
are providing these trees, are maintaining nurseries and 
supplying planters. It is a fact that Vermont is doing 
this to a considerable extent and that the Forest and Game 
Commissioner of New York is also supplying seedlings to 
persons interested in forest planting. 
In our judgment,this is not a fair deal to the nurseryman. 
It is hardly legitimate that the state should compete with a 
class of producers who under the most favorable conditions 
have serious natural conditions to meet. This is a type of 
paternalism not in harmony with the independent spirit of 
democracy. 
Probably it will do no serious harm, and may act as a 
stimulus to more general f tree planting. If such is the case, 
well and good, but in the meantime the nurserymen of 
the country ought to make it as easy as possible for intending 
planters to secure all the forest tree seedlings they desire 
and of suitable varieties. 
