The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-07-15

us that this subject is one for the
consideration of the legislature. A
severe penalty should be provided by
the law for selling fruit trees by
means of misrepre sensations of this
kind"
1t seems to me that in justice to
the innocent nurserymen in that val
ley. the name of the firm selling these
trees should be given. | am not ready
to believe that all the nurseries in
that county are guilty OF such con-
duct l know a good many nursery
men in the Northwest, and l know
many of them to be honest men and
would Just as soon trust them as any
other class of men with whom | am
acquainted. AS there is generally a
black sheep in every flock, so per-
haps there is now and then a dishon-
est nurseryman, but such black sheep
are rare 1t does not follow that
when a mistake of this kind occurs
the nurseryman is dishonest. Often
times it is not an intentional wrong,
but a mistake. 1t is true that man
should in such cases be responsible
for his mistakes. The inexperienced
person may think that such mistakes
can be easily avoided, but that is
mistake. A mistake may be made by
the man who cuts and labels the
scions; by the man who does the
grating and labels the punches; by
the man who plants the gratis in the
nursery and places the guide stakes;
and by the man who digs the trees
and labels them as they are sold. The
man who buys the trees may lose
some of the labels. and the man set
ting the trees in the orchard may get
varieties mixed. A mistake made by
one in this line of work will not be
known in many cases till the trees
come into bearing An experienced
nurseryman can tell some trees by
the color of the bark and the shape
of the top, but in many cases this is
out of the question. Some men who
are honest and would scOrn the i'm
plication that they misrepresent their
stock are too careless to carry on the
nursery business. Much of their
work is done by hired men who have
no interest in the work they are do
ing beyond getting their pay. Such
hired men should never be trusted in
any one of the operations without the
careful oversight of a boss who is
perfectly reliable.
While | would not exculpate the
nurseryman who, through dishonesty
or oversight, sold these trees not true
to name, yet if that was my orchard
| would not consider myself damaged
by the mistake. do you prefer
Ben Davis to a Spitzenburg?" some
one may ask. No, by no means, but
| would prefer a Spitzenburg tree
70 Douic in Dad Of
the Spitzenburg tree as it comes from
the nursery. From my own expert
ence, and from what I have learned
otherwise, l would never grow Spit
zenburg unless top-worked onto some
vigorous variety like the Ben Davis,
Northern Spy, Wolf River or the Mann
apple This is not guesswork with
me. Many of the Spitzenburg trees
in the Lower Yakima Valley are dy-
ing. There is a weakness in the tree
that causes it, in many cases, to nave
dead spots on the body, and these
spread till the tree succumbs. All OF
my Spitzenburg trees are top-Worked
onto various varieties except three,
and one of them is dying. Will the
tree come into bearing as soon II top
worked as when taken direct from the
nursery? There will scarcely be any
perceptible difference, but suppose II
should be year longer in con- zig
into bearing; that difference will more
than be made up by bearing bigger
and better crops and by the tree liv-
ing many years longer.
E. l.. Smith of Hood River, Ore,
is the President of the Northwest
Fruitgrowers' Association. 1t was that
organization that adopted the size OF
the STANDARD" apple box, now in use
in the Pacific Northwest. | wrote
procidnnt Smith relative to the pro-