THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
181 
Quiz Column. 
CLASSIFICATION OF DECIDUOUS CONIFERS. 
How should deciduous conifers like Larix Europea and 
Taxodium distichum be classified? Importer. 
Ans. 1. Larix Europea would not be correctly classified as an ever¬ 
green seedling, as the Larch is not an evergreen. It would be properl}# 
classified as a deciduous seedling, or might be placed among ornamental 
trees but, as a rule, it is used more for forest planting than for orna¬ 
mental work. 
Philadelphia, Pa. Wm. Warner Harper. 
Ans. 2. As Larix Europea is a deciduous Conifer, its seedlings could 
not be consistently classed under the head of evergreens. The same 
opinion would hold good for Taxodium Distichum or Southern Cypress, 
as well a.s Gingko Biloba or Salisburia, also Glyptostrobus; all of these 
being deciduous Conifers. 
Augusta, Ga. P. J. Berckmans. 
Ans. 3. There seems to be no question in my mind but Larix Europ a 
seedlings and the Southern Cypress (Taxodium distichum) should be 
properly classed under the Dingley Tariff Bill as deciduous nursery 
stock, and should be dutiable at the rate of 25 per cent, ad valorem. 
I base my opinion on the fact that the word evergreen is accepted 
botanically as a plant holding its leaves throughout the winter, or in 
other w T ords, a tree or shrub plant that does not shed its foliage after the 
summer’s growth is completed and the wood ripened up. If the Ding- 
ley Tariff Bill had specified Coniferae instead of using the word Evergreen 
that would have made these two plants dutiable at $1.00 per thousand, 
because they are Conifers without being evergreen. 
I do not see that there is the slightest opportunity for difference of 
opinion in this manner. The Tariff schedule expressly states evergreens. 
Dreshertown, Pa. Thomas Meehan. 
SALESMEN’S COMMISSIONS. 
How do nurserymen ordinarily pay their agents? Do they 
give them a commission or salary, or both? What is the usual 
commission and salary paid? Subscriber. 
Very few nurserymen at the present time pay salaries. 
Possibly an exception is made now and then in the case of old 
employees, but this is rare. The usual commission is 25 per 
cent. C. L. Yates. 
SUGGESTIONS REGARDING THE HANDLING AND PACKING 
OF NURSERY STOCK—A MINNESOTA CONTRIBUTION—A 
REMINDER. 
(continued FROM OCTOBER ISSUE.) 
1. In the course of handling stock, when does it receive the most in¬ 
jury, and what are some of the commoner causes of injury? 
First, in the hands of the nurseryman himself; second, in transpor¬ 
tation; third, in the hands of the customer after it has been received . 
It is probable that more than 75 per cent, of the injury suffered by all 
nursery stock occurs after it has reached the customer’s hands. At 
least this would be the conclusion anyone familar with delivery time 
might draw. Ignorance of the first principles of plant life and the 
natural carelessness of tree planters in general undoubtedly cause a large 
amount of failures. 
Yet there are, of course, many places in the routine of digging and 
packing, where unnecessary exposure may partly or wholly destroy the 
vitality of the trees. The same carelessness which is exhibited by the 
purchaser is found in the employee who handles the stock in the nursery 
and packing house. 
2. What classes of stock require most care in handling? 
First of. all we would name the coniferous trees. Undoubtedly 
the evergreen is the most difficult of all the problems we have to contend 
with. Next and almost equal to it we would name the strawberry, and 
it is probable there is more fatality in these two branches than all others 
put together. 
3. Wliat influence has careless handling and packing upon the nur¬ 
sery business? 
Our answer to this would be that next to carelessness in mixing 
varieties, the careless handling of stock on the packing grounds is the 
cause ol more dissatisfaction and general distrust of nurserymen than 
any other element in the business. The nurserymen who take every 
care in this particular, suffer constantly from the improper methods of 
those who willfully or ignorantly allow their stock to be badly treated 
before shipping, as well as from the carelessness of their own help. 
4. What general suggestions have you to offer for the good of the 
trade, on the digging, handling and packing of nursery stock? 
During the rush of the packing season it easily pays to have one com¬ 
petent man watch over the stock in all departments and see that undue 
exposure is not allowed. We have found this the only way to insure 
proper treatment. The custom with most wholesale merchandise 
houses is to put a very close check system upon their billers and packers 
and carelessness in packing, grading and digging is thus brought directly 
back upon the man who is responsible for the work. 
It would be difficult to employ a too exact system in this business, 
but we believe things could be systemized so that the management of 
a nursery might see where poor work was being done. 
Lake City, Minn. Jewell Nursery Co. 
HINTS FROM LONG ISLAND. 
1. In the course of handling nursery stock where does it receive most 
injury, and what are some of the commoner causes of injury? 
Nursery stock receives the most injury at either of two points, that is, 
if it is dug and allowed to lie around on top of the ground in the nursery 
until the fibrous roots are dried out and destroyed, and a large portion 
of the moisture dried out of the heavy roots. As soon as dug, nursery 
stock should be either taken into a protected moist shed or have the 
roots plunged at once into liquid mud. If the roots are plunged into the 
liquid mud and immediately put into a moist shed out of drying winds 
and bright sunshine, it will receive much less damage. Again, when it is 
received for planting it is damaged greatly if allowed to lie around in dry 
winds or bright sunshine before planting. If it is again dipped in liquid 
mud so that the roots go into the ground plump and damp, it will re¬ 
ceive the less injury. 
Another cause of injury is stock heating owing to improper packing. 
The third-cause of injury is improper planting, that is, the soil not being 
properly firmed around the roots. 
2. What classes of stock require most care in handling? 
The class of stock that requires the most care in handling is evergreens 
and other plants that have fine fibrous roots, but all nursery stock should 
be handled with especial care to preserving the moisture in the plants 
and root. 
3. What influence has careless handling and packing upon the nur- 
serry business? 
Careless handling and packing is decidedly detrimental to the nursery 
business, and has a tendency to reduce sales. 
4. What general suggestions have you to offer for the good of the 
trade on the digging, handling and packing of nursery stock? 
The only general suggestions I would have to offer for the good of 
the trade in handling nursery stock is to dig carefully preserving the 
maximum amount of roots, to handle and pack carefully always with a 
view of keeping the root system of all plants plump, moist and fresh, and 
in evergreens to prevent the foliage from drying out. 
5. Another cause of injury in handling nursery stock is improper 
digging. I have received plants that have been grown in the same 
section of the country in the nurseries adjoining each other, being the 
same identical variety, of the same size and in the same condition when 
I looked at them in the nursery. Yet from those received from one 
nursery we lost but one or two per cent, from the other nursery we lost 
50 to 60 per cent. The w’hole trouble was in the digging and packing 
One nurseryman dug large balls and gave sufficient roots to support the 
top, the other dug one very small balls, crammed his stock into the 
cases in order to save room, the result being that we lost both from the 
lack of sufficient root system to maintain the plants as well as from heat¬ 
ing due to improper packing. 
Queens, N. Y. Cottage Gardens Co. 
