THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
139 
THE AMERICAN ROSE ANNUAL 
The Aniericaii Rose Annual, the official publication of 
the American Rose Society, for 1919, edited by J. Horace 
McEarland, has been issued. There may be some phase 
of information about roses as they are grown and known 
in this country, that may have been omitted from this 
work. If so, it will take some other than the average 
rose lover to notice it. 
As a rule “Annuals” published by societies are hooks 
that are casually glanced through and then put on the 
shelf, but anyone with the least interest in roses could 
hardly imagine such a fate for the work just published. 
Tilt fact that it is published by the Mount Pleasant Press 
is sufficient guarantee of its good workmanship. The 
fiontispiece is an excellent colored plate of E. G. Hill’s 
new American-bred Hybrid Tea, Rose Premier. 
Mr. McFarland has called to his assistance some of 
the leading authorities on the subject of roses, who have 
contributed articles. In an analysis of the supply and 
demand of roses, the author states:— “Due to the war the 
country is from three to five million roses short this year, 
and with the quarantine against imported plants going 
into effect next June, this shortage will be greatly in¬ 
creased in succeeding years unless provision is made to 
supply it.” 
The Rose Annual is becoming international in its scope 
in dealing with its subject. The author evidently recog¬ 
nizing that craftsmen belonging to the Guild of rose 
growers knows no national boundaries, interest and love 
for the Queen of Flowers being the only essential to be¬ 
come a member. 
The American Rose Annual is a publication that is 
mailed to all members of the Society. The annual dues 
of -$2.00 entitles them to a copy. Extra copies may be 
purchased by members only for $1.00. As only the re¬ 
quired number of copies are printed each year it is ne¬ 
cessary to send in orders for the extra ones early. 
NITRATE OF SODA RETTER THAN COW MANURE 
A paper, “Twenty years’ work on the availability of 
nitrogen in nitrate of soda, ammonium sulphate, dried 
blood, and farm manures,” J. G. Lipman and A. W. Rlair, 
from the New Jersey Experiment Stations, say: 
The conclusions reached may be summarized as fol¬ 
lows: In a 5-year rotation on Penn loam soil well sup¬ 
plied with phosphoric acid, potash, and lime, crop yields 
were better maintained over a period of 20 years with 
nitrate of soda at the rate of 320 lbs. per acre than with 
an equivalent amount of ammonium sulphate or dried 
blood. The latter gave results for several years about on 
a par with the nitrate, but an average of the second 10- 
year period showed a considerable falling off. This is 
thought to be due to the fact that the nitrate, being im- 
medately available, gives the plant an early start which 
tends to keep it in the lead, and to the further fact that in 
the transfonnation of the ammonium salt and the organic 
material into nitrates there is a considerable loss of 
nitrogen, possibly as ammonia gas, gaseous nitrogen, or 
both, although this loss can not all be attributed to a 
leaching out of the materials, even though the nitrifica¬ 
tion of ammonia ajid organic residues may go on through¬ 
out a large portion of the year. 
Cow manure at the rate of 16 tons per acre gave some¬ 
what larger yields than nitrate of soda, but the increased 
yields were not sufficient to justify the increase in the 
cost of nitrogen. Furthermore, the average yield with tlie 
manure was less for the second 10-year period than for 
the first, an application of 16 tons of manure per aci'c 
annually failing to maintain crop yields. 
The percentage of nitrogen recovered in the crop for 
the 20-year average was as follows: Nitrate of soda 
62.42, ammonium sulphate 47.48, dried blood 38.69, and 
cow manure 32.69 per cent. The average recovery witli 
nitrate for the second 10-year period was 64.35 per cent 
as against 60.48 per cent for the first 10-year period, 
wdiereas the average recoveries w ith ammonium sulphate, 
dried blood, and manure were all less for the second 
10-year i)eriod than for the first. 
The results are held to indicate “that wdien propeily 
used nitrate of soda alone as a source of nitrogen may be 
depended upon to maintain crop yields over a long ])eriod, 
and that a given amount of nitrogen in this form is more 
effective than an equivalent amount in the form of am¬ 
monium sulphate or organic materials. Its effect is to 
produce larger crops per unit of nitrogen, and these 
crops, in turn, leave behind in the soil larger crop resi¬ 
dues, and, with carbonate of lime to aid in their decom¬ 
position, these furnish a sufficient supply of organic mat¬ 
ter to keep the soil in good physical condition.” 
GItOWN-GALL INJURY IN THE ORCHARD 
D. B. Swingle and II. E. Morris, from Montana Sta. 
Bulletin 121 (1918) 
In order to determine the ultimate effect of crown gall 
on ajiple trees, an experment was conducted in wdiicli 
12 healthy and 12 diseased trees of each of 10 varieties 
were set in an orchard in May, 1910. The trees were 
thoroughly examined when planted, carefully set, and 
w ell cared for, and final notes were taken upon them in 
1917. 
At this time it wuis found that but few^ of the galls had 
disappeared entirely, wdiile most of them w ere still grow¬ 
ing, and some had increased very materially in size. The 
hairy root condition was very little in evidence and in 
most cases could scarcely be found. Careful observation 
showed some differences in the appearance of the healthy 
trees and that of the diseased trees, and the root sys¬ 
tems of the diseased trees were plainly inferior. With 
exception of Northwestern Greening and Wealthy, there 
w^as a dwarfing of the trees on wdiieh crow n gall w as ap¬ 
parent, the average reduction in trunk circumference 
amounting to 1.58 in. The most striking fact brought out 
by the experiment w as the greatly disturbed balance be¬ 
tween the tops and the roots of the affected trees. The 
dw^arfing is said to have been much greater in the roots 
than in the parts above ground, and the hairy root condi¬ 
tion, in so far as it develops at the expense of strong 
anchor roots, is considered very important. 
Mr. James McHutchison has returned to business af¬ 
ter an absence, due to illness, of eleven months. 
