El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-06-08

HHE S5th annual convention of the
American Association of Nur-
serymen meets today in Denver.
Delegates will be in attendance from
all parts of the United States and many
important practical questions will be
discussed. There also win be an in
teresting collection of exhibits of nur-
Sery stock, of mechanical devices used
in nurseries. and of systems for the
protection of plants from insect enem-
les, from disease and from frost. The
intensely practical nature OF the bus
iness of the association is indicated
by the fact that its program aIlOts the
greater portion of the time, not to the
making of speeches, but to hearing re-
ports from it's working committees.
Progressive, Have Many Interests.
How nearly the interests of the
nurserymen coincide with the general
interests of the whole people as eX-
pressed in current politics, is indicated
by the fact that the committees will
report IN this order. Tariff, TranspOr-
tation. Legislation, Publicity and Elk
hi5its. Then will follow report from
the National Council of Horticulture,
to be succeeded by papers on technical
and trade subjects. Lantern lectures
Will show the part taken by nursery
men in the growth of the nation. Sew
eral discussions will be devoted to soils
and fertilizers, with a special refer
ence to the production of nursery stock
The nurserymen of the United States
have proved to be very progressive, al
though as yet they depend upon Euro
pean producers for nursery stock to
the valued of 100000 a year, only
one-fourtH Of which is made up of
bulbs and flowers. The nurSerylnan,
as the Inspiration Of the fruit grower,
has contributed largely to the horti-
cultural development of the country.
While sometimes issues arise between
the nurseryman as the producer of the
raw material, and the horticulturist,
as the producer of marketable fruit,
in the main their two industries are
closely allied. Thousands of orchards
are producing today which never would
have existed had it not been for the
combined missionary work and sales
manship Of the travelling representa-
tives of the nurseries Nurserymen
have put such TOWNS as gainesville,
Ohio. and Louisiana, Missouri, ION the
map"
Small Nurseries Have Influence.
The modest small nursery of three
or four decades ago has been replaced
to large extent by the greater organ
izations which can afford TO keep
horticulture science. But their fnfIu-
ence yet lives and any community which
was blessed with the presence of a
small nursery 80 or 40 years ago. is
reasonably certain now to be well in
advance Of less favored sections in the
matter of fruit culture ornamental for
estry. landscape gardening and flori-
culture Those were the days when
there was unlimited competition, a free
-n11s 10 ~
men had not yet had the fear of bugs
implanted in their hearts
The nursery business shared the fate
OF most other businesses, in the era of
rapid development following the Civil
war, in that it was corrupted and vic
timfzed from within. Thrifty but I'M
scrupulous sales agents sold worthless
seedlings at high prices. as the firest
procurable nursery stock. Amateurs
dug up wild blackberries from road
side brambles and palmed them off on
innocent farmers as imported Russian
plants for a dollar apiece. Even more
INSCRIPTIONS men deliberately sold and
delivered diseased stock which spread
horticultural pests broadcast through
the land.
Cooperation Became Necessary
The natural result of this condition
was that the honest and reputable
nurSerymen sought the cooperation of
the horticulturists and obtained the en-
actment Of state laws providing for
inspection of nursery stock and fixing
heavy penalties for receptions and
frauds in the sale and delivery Of nur-
sery plants These were followed by a
federal law which prohibits the i'm
portation, from foreign countries, or
the transportation from state to state.
Of any VIGOROUSLY injurious" insects.
AS the word knowingly" is used in
the law, it has not proved to be as eff
fective as might be wished.
The state laws and the activity of
the reputable nurserymen, as we'll as
the wider dissemination of horticulture
al knowledge among the people, operat-
ed to put a stop to the grosser frauds
practiced by the now dead and FORGOT
ten generation of INSCRIPTIONS nur-
serymen. The same agencies operated
to eliminate the small nursery and TO
encourage the growth of large concerns
which were able to take the necessary
measures and precautions to insure the
production Of healthy stock, and which
were morally and financiaIly respon-
sible.
Federal Inspection Needed
But the nursery business. as most
other businesses. has felt the effects
Of the broadened scope of American
activity. State laws no longer are able
to cope with problems which involve.
in a single transaction, the entire
country from coast to coast, from
SCHUMACHER GETS BIG
JOB WITH THE s. p