Proceedings Library

Philosophy — "The study of the causes and relations of things and ideas." This first dictionary concept will allow us to reflect upon the beginning of the International Plant Propagators Society and some thoughts shared during the founding of the Western Region As we look back in history, we learn that our Society is traceable to the existence of a previous and somewhat similar group. An organization known as, "The National Association of Propagating Nurserymen," was formed in 1919 and survived until 1931, at which time it succumbed due to the severe economy of the period. At the Eighth Annual Meeting

Placement and Design. A complete turnabout in thinking has occurred in the orientation and construction of greenhouses. It has been found that for maximum solar energy entry, the single-span building should be positioned in an east-west direction. The north wall should be opaque, well-insulated and at an angle of about 60°. The south wall or roof performs best if built at an angle of 35° to 45° (1).

Heat Delivery. Space heating may soon be replaced by bench or floor heating. Don Dillon's Four Winds Nursery in Fremont, California, is one of many that have had success with the use of the hot water circulated inside the bench. Whitcomb

MODERATOR ALEXANDER: Our first speaker today is Dr. Richard Jaynes.

DICK JAYNES: Kalmia latifolia 'Pink Charm' was selected from the progeny of a controlled cross (x1078) made in 1970 between two unnamed pink-flowered selections obtained from Weston Nurseries, Hopkinton, Massachusetts. The plant first flowered in the fourth growing season, 1974, and has flowered every year, except one, since then. The flower buds are red in color (RHS Colour Chart 53C), but less brilliant than the redbuds: 'Nipmuck', 'Ostbo Red', and 'Quinnipiac'. The open flowers are a rich pink being more deeply pigmented than the earlier named 'Pink Surprise'. The inside of the corolla is a relatively uniform pink (RHS 54B but a bit lighter and towards 55B, or 67D). A narrow and deeply red pigmented ring occurs on the inside and near the base of the corolla.

In addition to floral traits, 'Pink Charm' was selected for the relative ease by which the cuttings root. Small numbers of cuttings have been

Tasmania landscape is very mountainous with some spectacular scenery. The west coast with its mountain ranges receives up to 180 inches of rain yearly, while in the eastern part the rainfall is down to about 20 inches.

In the 1800's Tasmania was an English penal colony. It is now a busy commercial state. Hobart, the capital, is famous for its yachting Copper is mined around Queenstown, and the sulfuric acid associated with the mining activity has killed much of the vegetation in the vicinity of the mines.

Our own nursery occupies about 20 acres. Two of our

Because of the extremely wide range of Australia flowering trees, I will consider only a small selection found in my state of Queensland and give you some idea of the climatic range in which they can be grown.

Acacia longifolia, Mimosaceae Flowering Bright yellow racemes in spring Height Approx 3–5 m, variable Habitat Dry

In North America and on the Continental mainland of Europe, it is most necessary to avoid the closed season by placing plants in store. However, the British Isles, with their maritime climate is usually open for most of the lifting season and the necessity to lift in the autumn and hold throughout the season seldom arises. However, where stock is required for grading and dispatch of plants to more favorable climates or stock for bench grafting is required, there is no alternative to the early lift. The main problems in the storage of

At Mountain Creek Nursery we have attempted to develop a system whereby we can efficiently process dormant stock and still maintain plants in such as a way as to insure maximum survival after transplanting. Our bare-root stock is dug soon after it becomes dormant and immediately transferred to our grading, baleing and packaging building. Here the stock is graded and, depending on our needs, packaged, baled or boxed for shipment — or in the case of our lining-out stock, moved to our heeling area until planting time.

We also buy a quantity of bare-root plants from other growers. We maintain a cold-storage facility for storage of some of this stock, especially if we anticipate delays in spring planting. Inside the building this

The proper storage of bare-root deciduous plants enables the nurseryman to keep them in a viable, dormant condition through the fall, winter, and spring in such a manner that they are readily available for order-filling and shipment when and as needed.

There are three basic storage methods which accomplish this goal with varying degrees of success They are;

We are in-ground or field growers. Therefore, we do not have the over-wintering problems facing northern container growers. However, we do grow several million deciduous seedlings, liners, and other trees and shrubs harvested bare-root. These are mostly dug in the late fall or early winter when they are dormant and just before the ground freezes. This material requires most careful and attentive storage to retain its viability until it is ultimately planted by the customer the following spring.

In addition to this bare-root stock, we grow trees, shrubs, and evergreens, which are harvested balled and burlapped (B&B) or, mostly, balled and potted in fiber pots (B&P). A considerable portion of this balled material is harvested

Today most of the propagators take cuttings from stockplants that are growing under normal conditions. Usually this is done in the beginning of June after the plants have flowered and developed new shoots. Our method was developed by Adrian Knuttel about 1965, now operating as Knuttel Nursery in Windsor Locks, Connecticut

Our operation is different from the usual in that we do everything in the open. Our main reason for choosing this method of operation is that plants do not require the constant attention that is necessary if they are either in the greenhouse or in containers outside. Even our rooting of cuttings is done outside. Although we have been very happy about this system, we may in the future expand to include greenhouse and container production as well.

Our soil is a well-drained Norfolk sandy loam. We are, therefore, able to put our propagation beds right on top of the native soil. We have used a 1:1 peat:sand medium and have found it quite satisfactory. We have experimented with

Interactions were noted between iron and copper, iron and manganese, and copper and boron. Plant growth and quality increased or decreased as the micronutrient ratios shifted. This study revealed that the ratio among the micronutrients was a more important consideration than the rate of a particular micronutrient.

Infrared energy is as old as the sun and its principles have been applied for many years in heating. The cave man used it when he heated the rocks around his campfire. The sun itself is the source of infrared energy which heats the earth's surface. Infrared radiation is energy in the form of electromagnetic waves and has some similar properties to visible light waves. Light, radio waves, x-rays are all electromagnetic waves with different wave lengths and physical properties. Infrared energy travels in a straight line until it strikes and is absorbed by the object to be heated. The energy is then converted into

The objectives of this study were: 1) to determine the optimum rate of a micronutrient fertilizer for container nursery stock, and 2) to determine if the level of micronutrients provided to the parent plant influences the rooting and subsequent

Motherhood, apple pie, and mist propagation — guess which isn't sacred? Since misting revolutionized the propagation of softwood and semi-hardwood cuttings, innovators have devised many types of control systems trying to perfect misting cycles to fit virtually every situation. Seldom do we see any two propagators using exactly the same system, nor should they, because water sources, media differences, geographic location, plant species and many, many other variables dictate unique systems.

After many years of trying to help growers perfect their misting systems, we finally decided that mist wasn't sacred. As a result we stumbled onto a system without mist that you may want to try. It eliminates the major problem propagators encounter when using many misting systems; i.e., too much water. Also, concerns about power failure, clogged nozzles, iron and/or other solids deposits on leaves, nutrient leaching, and variable weather are eliminated.

Preventing moisture loss from the

Gilbert's Nursery is located in northwestern South Carolina in USDA Hardiness Zone 7. We propagate and grow about 275,000 1–, 2–, 3–, and 5-gallon plants annually. Forty-five percent are conifers and 55% are broadleaved evergreens. All cuttings are stuck directly in Lerio SR325 plastic pots in flats in a medium of 70% pine bark (½" or less) and 30% coarse perlite. All cultivars are treated with Hormodin #2 or #3 and placed in greenhouses under intermittent mist. After rooting the liners remain in place until canning in April.

Our first two mist houses were equipped with stationary ¾ inch pipes with Flora-mist nozzles placed every 3 ft. This system has worked well in the past, but there were a few problems. These houses were not level, so when the pipes were leveled to prevent excessive dripping, they were closer to the ground on one end of the

Although we did not dislike what we were doing, we felt we could do better. Our present method gives us nicely-rooted liners in August, and we usually get a fall flush of growth. The following April the liners are potted 3 to a 3-gallon bucket and moved to the field. We cannot economically compete in the 1-gallon market with growers in the 3-gallon market, and we want our product to be the best available. Since we then get 3 flushes of growth — one in June, one in July, and one in August — we are pleased with our field operation. The plants are 12 to 15 in high and

Fungus propagules may be disseminated in water used for irrigation, in soil used in containers, and with soil particles splashed, blown, or otherwise moved to susceptible plants. Soil insects may also transmit pathogenic soil-borne fungi. Soil-borne fungi commonly invade plants at or below the soil line and disease development begins before top symptoms are detected. During prolonged periods of high humidity accompanied by splashing water, fungi such as Phytopthora, Rhizoctonia, Cylindrocladium, Sclerotium and Pythium infect and colonize stems, petioles and occasionally leaf tissue. The youngest tissues are

The possibility of its use with container-grown woody ornamentals was first considered by us several years ago as we pondered the full range of possible fertilization methods. Incorporation into the growing medium of all nutrients needed for a year's growth was envisioned as one extreme of this range and the supply of all nutrients in the irrigation water as the other extreme. There are considerable advantages to the use of one of these extremes or the other.

One of the advantages of hydroponic fertilization is that it eliminates the necessity for mixing the medium. If an economical material is available that has the physical and chemical properties needed, plants can be potted in this material without additives. In our area the obvious choice is pine bark.

In

Out stock plants are grown in 1-gal plastic containers, on approximately 1 A of treated ground covered with 1 to 2 inches of slag gravel, 1/8 to ¼ inch in size. We use #25 impulse-type sprinkles on 30-ft centers with 160 lb city water pressure. This area is treated twice a year with Ronstar (oxadiazone, Rhone-Poulenc) at the recommended rate.

Our spraying program consists of Spectracide (diazinon, Ciba-Geigy) and Docide 101 (copper hydroxide, Kennecot Copper), alternating with Daconil 2787 (chlorothalonil, Diamond-Shamrock) and Orthene 75% WP (acephate,Chevron). We spray about every 30 days, using a 100 gal Mighty Mac trailer-type sprayer with 40 to 50 lb pressure.

In order to maintain weed-free plants we utilize Ronstar at

In recent years, plants which could be used in special locations or to take the place of grass have been in demand due to a desire to reduce maintenance costs. Landscape architects are specifying groundcovers for problem areas such as banks, dense shade, or other unusual areas.

As the nursery is a small one and has no full time workers other than myself, any labor-saving techniques that can be used in a small scale operation must be used. Perhaps the best example of such a labor-saving device is a machine which cuts vine-like plants such as ivy and euonymus into cuttings of 3 ¼inch long. This machine has 2 electric motors. One powers 11 saws

This nursery was first certified by the state in 1934. At that time I didn't see anything like a mist system around. We watered with a 3– or 4-inch sprinkler heads on a regular hose and still do. A mist system is not appropriate as the beds would soon have to mush water. Since our frames are partly in the ground there is no way for the water to drain.

Interior tree production on a massive commercial scale is a relatively new industry when contrasted to the landscape tree business. Most interior tree nurseries in Florida have developed

LES CLAY: We are working with tissue culture of rhododendron and kalmia using IAA (3-indoleacetic acid). Has anyone tried using 2,4-D or 2,4,5-T in tissue culture preparations? We have a problem getting a complete plant when tissue culturing kalmia.

FRANK BLAZICH: The usual auxin is NAA (1-naphthalene-acetic acid).

HENRY VAN DER STAAY: You can use IAA or NAA, depending on what results you want and what species you are using: 2,4-D induces callus formation, and you may then have trouble getting a complete plant.

LES CLAY: We are using IAA in agar with kalmia and rhododendron and are then taking the explants from agar to the medium. We use sand, soil, peat and perlite for the rhododendron. However, this mix is not satisfactory for the kalmia, but instead we have found that a mix of peat and sand is better. We make no further hormone application, as there seems to be a carry-over effect. The cuttings

Our Oklahoma division is growing 50 cultivars of junipers, offered for sale in 1–, 2–, 5–, and 7-gallon containers. Our juniper crop comprises 58% of our total production.

Growth manipulation of any crop, in this instance, junipers simply means to operate, manage and control this growth to one's; advantage. Thus, the growth manipulation of junipers is done to achieve a quality, salable product at a price that is favorable to both the seller and the buyer.

The

Manual removal is a labor-consuming and costly process. The use of shears to speed up the process often results in neglecting to pinch apical tips occurring below the shearing level. These shoots then grow, and the result is a poorly shaped plant.

Various chemical pinching agents have been developed to replace manual methods this paper compares two of these chemicals.

Off-Shoot-O Off-Shoot-O (2) (methyl) ester of fatty acids, Proctor & Gamble) was the first commercial pinching agent for azaleas. It was originally used in tobacco production. When the chemical is sprayed in azaleas, it selectively destroys unexpanded leaves and shoot tips. Branching occurs since lower buds then develop. There must be physical contact between the chemical spray and the shoot tips because the chemical is

Following the discovery that IAA promoted adventitious root initiation, the search began for other naturally-occurring auxins .Also, chemicals with structures similar and dissimilar to IAA were examined for root-promoting properties. The former studies, conducted for many years, were unsuccessful. Currently, it is generally agreed that IAA is the only naturally-occurring auxin found in plants. The latter studies were more successful and, in 1935, appeared the first report indicating the synthetic auxins, indolebutyric acid (IBA) and naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), had strong root-promoting properties (14). Reports

Rhododendron production at Kinsey Gardens accounts for about one-third of our nursery sales. Our other major crops are azaleas and conifers. We are presently growing about 25 large-leaved rhododendron cultivars and several dwarf or small-leaved ones. Most of these are of H-1 or H-2 hardiness. The majority of the plants are marketed in 2- and 3-gallon containers; and some are sold in half-bushel baskets. We strive for one to two year turnover Knoxville, Tennessee, is in hardiness zone 7 and is about 800 feet in elevation. We feel that we are in

Although most of the woody ornamentals grown here require little or no cold protection, some species do require special handling because of the prolonged periods of high humidity and warm temperatures that are common in the summer months. There are several cultivars of rhododendron among this group.

At the southern division of Imperial Nurseries the cultivars of rhodondendron receiving special handling are Rhododendron ‘Nova Zembla’, R. ‘Roseum Elegans’, R., ‘English Roseum’, R. ‘Pink Treasurer’ and three catawbiense cultivars —

I believe that better and more uniform cuttings can be produced by sawing; this is practicable even for small growers, especially for those who grow hardwooded plants, such as plane trees. Sawing of hardwood cuttings is clean and fast and leaves no bruising of the ends of the cutting.

The experience I have had with hardwood cuttings includes the following plants:

I would like to point out some of the normal methods where each cutting is made individually with secateurs.

First — time is, of course, the first disadvantage (time is money)

Second — the hard work involved. It is

Some of the faster "ground-bound" operations, such as planting and digging can be done by tractor-mounted rigs, but the slowest of all operations, that of budding, seems to have defied all efforts to make the job tolerably comfortable. And a comfortable working position, by its nature, makes for greater efficiency and higher morale.

In order to beat the ever increasing weed situation in nurseries, Casuron granules, Roundup, Tenoran and Gesatop (Simazine) were used in weed control experiments during 1980 with the following results.

The Problem. Viruses and virus-like diseases can affect members of both plant and animal kingdoms. They are considered to be parasitic entities but they are so small they can be seen only through the electron microscope.

Symptoms in virus infected plants vary widely. They can occur on any part of the plant although most often are seen on leaves and flowers. Sometimes they are symptomless or nearly so and not seen at all. On leaves, viruses can cause changes in colour, shape and size. On stems they may shorten internodes or cause flattening or swelling or defoliation of terminal growth or pitting of the wood under the bark. Flowers may be variegated or transformed into leafy structures. The fruit may be deformed, show colour changes, be russetted, or marked in other ways. Roots may be killed or

The idea of breeding grape cultivars specifically for Australia is almost as old as Australian viticulture itself. The Macarthurs, more famous for their activities with sheep, also grew grapes and believed that they should raise vines from seed to allow selection of types suited to local conditions. Busby (3) records that William Macarthur had, 250 such seedlings, out of a much larger number raised from seed in 1824, under trial. None of these appear to have survived and this may be because they were not the result of deliberate crosses but raised from open-pollinated seed. We now know that most of this would be self pollinated and the seedlings would lose much of the heterotic vigour of the parent. Busby himself (2,3) advocated a deliberate breeding program as the surest means of obtaining grapes suitable to the climate.

Busby went to Europe and made as complete a collection of grape cultivars as he could to establish in Australia with the intention of systematically testing them (4). Unfortunately he left Australia soon

Libraries as avenues of information. Library services at local, state and national government level are one of the most important — and often one of the most overlooked — avenues of assistance open to the private citizen seeking information. Some I.P.P.S. members are connected with institutions or bodies which maintain research libraries, so that they have access to the library and information services supportive of their needs. For those without direct access to such services, the first point of

I am impatient. When I employ someone, whether it be a gardener a clark or a lecturer, I don't want to wait 20 years for him to get experience. I want him to be able to do the job NOW. I can hear some of you saying that there is no substitute for experience. Think of the most difficult technique that you can do. How did you learn it? My guess is that for most of you, you may have read about it somewhere and then by trial and error, by a lot of experience, you have mastered the technique. Now looking back, couldn't you teach it to someone else a lot quicker? You could tell him what he needs to know, show him the little short cuts that you can take and the ones you can't. Sure it will take experience —

The basic aim of an irrigation system designer is to design a system capable of applying equal and even amounts of water in a controlled fashion to every plant within the system as required by the plant.

This aim is common to every system whether large or small. Such a system allows application of the optimum water requirement to each plant, thus optimizing production. The plant or plants depending on this system are usually of high value, when taken in terms of crop loss, lack of seed germination, reduced growth or replacement of the plants. Hence there needs to be a greater appreciation of system costs in relation to possible losses incurred by poor system performance.

In the practice of plant propagation the system becomes a part of the environmental control rather than solely an irrigation system. However many of the same principles of hydraulic design apply and the requirement for correct performance becomes of even greater importance.

Engineering technology today is

In our climate, the transfer of temperature through the chassis and vehicle floor frequently raises the floor temperature above tolerable levels. It has been found that a false floor of pressed packs available for seedlings, is excellent insulation.

The plant propagator of today is not only a craftsmen but also a technician. The environment in which cuttings or seeds is placed, is now equally important as the techniques used in preparing them. In the past decade, advances in technology have become as much a part of the nursery industry as any other enterprise. There is a greater understanding of HOW a plant functions. WHY it develops, and WHAT is required to make it grow. With improved growing systems and sound business management, there is now greater potential for efficient plant production than ever before.

There are various methods currently being investigated to control tree size in citrus. A simple method is the use of bud transmissible factor which can produce dwarf trees on certain rootstocks. This follows from work done in New South Wales which showed that citrus on Poncirus trifoliata rootstock inoculated with exocortis or scaly butt virus produced pronounced dwarfing, while trees on Troyer and Carrizo citrange and Rangpur rootstocks were less dwarfed. Most other citrus rootstocks did not respond.

Different inoculants produced varying levels of dwarfing on P. trifoliata. From these, two dwarfing budlines have been selected as future sources for inoculations. They are classed "mild" dwarfing budlines and produce moderately dwarf tress with no symptoms of scaly butt, periodic leaf drop or unthriftiness which

Sand and husks increased macadamia seedling height by 73% after one year in 10 containers while sand and sawdust depressed growth by 39% compared to soil and sand.

Dry weight of leaves, stems, tap roots and fibre roots at the end of the experiment showed high dry matter in the leaves (61%) compared to Pinus radiata (49%) The shoot to root ratio was 4.6 compared to 21 recorded for avocados.

The sand and husks treatment (11 v/v) would reduce the time for macadamia seedlings to reach graftable size by 9 months compared to sand and soil( 11 v/v).

Producing rootstocks of ‘Okinawa’ (100 hours chilling required) and ‘Nemaguard’ (resistant to certain species of nematodes) from cuttings during spring, summer and autumn, is more economical and reduces the production time to a few months.

Rootstock tip cuttings are taken in the autumn (second week in April), disinfected with 1% sodium hypochlorite for 4 minutes, cut to 10 cm in length and slightly wounded at the base of the cutting by removing a small slither about 1 cm long by 2 mm wide. They are dipped in a

The cuttings are collected in winter, from early June to late July, once the autumn growth has firmed. The current season's growth is collected from the stock bushes in the early morning with the aid of secateurs and placed into disposable polythene bags.

The cuttings are placed in a Captan dip and are prepared with sharpened surgical scissors. These are very light and easy to use; you are not pushing against a spring so they are less tiring than secateurs and they are easier to keep sharp. Bottom leaves are pulled off and a basal cut is made below a node, where last season's growth matured. A wound approximately 2cm long is made on either side of the bud

In our second trial, about a month later, we used an application rate of 4 ml per litre. About 2 weeks after spraying, side branching could be seen from every leaf axil. After 4 weeks all plants were branching well while our control plants had a single stem approximately 10 cm higher than those sprayed. So we

The Woodiness virus, also known as "Bullet", because of the effect it had on the fruit, was sometimes present to a minor extent, especially during cooler weather, but did not cause any great concern. However, during the late 1940's it became so bad that production suffered severely.

Breeding Programme. A selection and breeding programme was begun at Redlands Horticultural Research Station, Ormiston. By the late 1950's several unfixed hybrids were produced, two of which were to become the mainstay of production, ‘Redlands Triangular’ (Selection 3–1) and Selection E–23. Selection 3–1 became the basis for the fresh fruit trade until the mid 1970's. Vines of this cultivar are not as vigorous as those of Hybrid E-23, and are less tolerant to Woodiness virus. In fact by

This species is usually grown from seed and takes several years to flower. There is no way of guaranteeing the colour of the flower as a tray of seedlings will vary from white to several shades of pink and red, also orange and maroon. Gardeners buy what they believe to be a red or orange coloured E. ficifolia, and after waiting for years find that it eventually flowers an entirely different colour and could be white.

I have attempted to propagate these both from cuttings and by grafting. By selecting matured softwood cuttings I have rooted a small percentage.

The low percentage didn't worry me as I have found from experience that the few odd plants from a difficult-to-strike species can be grown on in containers and the cuttings from these will give a better percentage. Cuttings from their progeny will give an even better

Types of devices currently used include time control with light sensing. This device has a misting duration period in seconds and an interval between misting periods in minutes. Also included is a light sensing cell (UV sensitive). The light sensor enables the cycle period between misting to be increased up to two hours during darkness. Timing equipment is normally used in controlled environment propagation houses and multi-station controllers are available.

Carbon leaf devices sense moisture level at the cuttings. Fine

Stock Field Management: All of our mahonia stock plants are field grown in the full sun, in an acid loam, soil. The climate of the northern California coast, with foggy summers and mild rainy winters, favors the growth of our cutting wood. In other climates, stock plants might benefit from shading. We take ‘Compacta’ cuttings from a ½ acre stock field which is over 15 years old. Because ‘Compacta’ is a slow-growing cultivar, reaching only about two feet in height, we find it especially important to maintain a stock field to produce enough cuttings.

I prune the stock fields hard during their winter dormancy, in order to keep the plants in a "juvenile" state, and to produce more uniform

In our tissue culture laboratory we have spent a great deal of time and expense endeavouring to mass produce this plant, but its very slow and erratic behavior in flasks has so far excluded it from satisfactory tissue culture propagation.

The method described here is the most successful approach we have developed for this difficult subject. Many well advanced stock plants, preferably about six feet high and well branched, are required. At no stage should the stock plants or young plants be allowed to drop below 25°C minimum temperature, and high humidity must be maintained.

First, the terminal shoots on all branches are pruned off. In four to six weeks time, on each branch the first axillary shoot back down the branch will emerge and root will develop from axillary shoot. When this root is at least ¼ long the cutting can

However, on the other hand, we grow a number of banksias, approximately 25 species, and we can manage to do them very well. Our soil mix is

There are three horticultural races of avocados, namely Mexican, Guatemalan, and west Indian. There are also hybrids derived from crosses between these races.

Avocado trees can be propagated either by seed or vegetatively by grafting, budding, cuttings or marcottage. The avocado, in common with many other species of plants, is cross pollinated and seedlings rarely, if

We felt we were very clever, using these inhabitants of our state that were already adapted to low water availability. Yet many gardens in the west planted 20, 30 and even 50 years ago reveal examples of these natives in well established situations. Even more surprising — Kew Gardens in England has some of the finest examples of California native plants being grown in a man-made

His professional career started as a plant breeder for the Grant Merrill Orchards, Red Bluff, California, shortly after he attained the Ph.D. degree. He was involved with this organization in the breeding of new peach and nectarine cultivars.

After 3 years of this work he returned to the University of California in 1953 where he became a staff member in the Department of Viticulture and Enology. In his early studies he was involved in virus problems with grapes, working with plant pathologists at the University of California. He soon became interested in the propagation of grapes and conducted many studies dealing with propagation by cuttings, budding, and grafting and in studying grape rootstocks. He also worked with his colleagues in the Department of Viticulture and Enology on the evaluation of wine

The dollar ornamental plant production figures for each county went over the 100 million dollar mark in 1979. Several major types of ornamental production are included in the 100 million figures, however, the major part of the production is outdoor container?grown woody ornamentals. This production in the two counties represents a major share of the container-grown woody ornamentals in California.

Both local use and out-of-state sales are important in the marketing of these products. The continued strong urban development in California and superior climate for outdoor production in comparison with many other areas in the United States has been a factor in the expansion of the industry. The ready availability of transportation, an adequate supply of labor and materials

Many people are familiar with this spectacular California endemic. It is grown widely in Europe and this country as an ornamental. The species is native in modern times only to the west slope of the Sierras, but we know that in earlier geologic periods its ancestors grew in Europe, Greenland, and Spitzbergen. Changing

1. The use of pre-germination chambers to prepare materials for fluid drilling. This interesting technique is now used by growers of high value vegetable crops in many countries and is the result of recent research work at The National Vegetable Research Station in England (12). The method is also suitable for small scale use (7). It seems highly likely that this technique will prove useful for woody ornamental plants as well as other ornamentals. Indeed,

Current commercial micropropagation practice involves the use of shoot culturing techniques, with subcultures taken regularly (perhaps every 4 to 6 weeks). Sometimes we are advised to obtain fresh culture material regularly and yet it is much easier to repeatedly work with our already cultured, and therefore, sterile material. Our work has shown some interesting changes in shoots of Rosaceous plants after repeated subculture.

The test plants were species from the genera Chaenomeles,

Commercial nurseries have been established in Oregon and British Columbia to produce both rootstocks and scions. A number of advantages of micropropagation have been suggested:

1. to assist the passage of new plants through quarantine
.
2. to build-up plant numbers rapidly following quarantine
.
3. to respond more quickly to orchardists' demands for specific types of trees
.
4. to enable hard-to-root cultivars to be grown on their own roots
.

Despite the enthusiasm for micropropagation of tree fruits, very few plants have been grown in the field to check for uniformity of fruit. Furthermore, the economics of production have yet to be compared with the costs of conventional procedures. The research and development costs incurred to date have largely been born by government research stations or by universities. Operating costs

As early as the turn of the century the Department of Agriculture was training four young orchard instructors at the State Horticultural station, Waerenga (now Te Kauwhata). Because this station began supplying fruit trees, trees, shrubs and hedge plants to growers, the nurserymen of the time banded together to protest this movement by the State. The outcome was the formation in 1904 of the New Zealand Nurserymen's and Seedsmen's Association.

It was at the conference of the Nurserymen's Association in Wellington in 1916 that Mr. A.H. Shrubshall gave a paper on the subject of "Education in Horticulture." From this beginning the idea of horticultural training began and the need evolved for an organisation to put the idea into action.

Between 1916 and 1922 further forays into

So too, with plant propagation. Too often we go about our work as it has been done for years previous seemingly apathetic of the fact that we too are very much part of the cost-price squeeze. Maybe it would do us good to have a "fallow" — to stand back, look at ourselves and inject a new stimulus into our operation.

At this stage it would be useful for us to bear in mind the concept that an individual plant has an inherent capacity to grow, flower or fruit, which is limited by its genetical make-up. We do not know what this limit is, because almost certainly we have never realized it. There are indications, however, that growth rates far above

My whole career has been in the horticultural field, including, two years at an agricultural school on Long Island, New York, student gardener training at the New York Botanical garden, plus some work at Kew Gardens in England; therefore tissue culture seemed like the next logical step

Therefore, after a year's study of literature at the California Polytechnic University, Pomona, California, we took a three-day intensive tissue culture course at the University

First of all the budwood from selected cultivars must be first grade. Second cause loss and in order to obtain first grade material one either has to chase the countryside or provide a stock bed for the required needs. Healthy stock plants must be selected and planted out in prepared site with:

1. Sound drainage system.
2. Excellent windbreak, preferably disease-free.
3. Adequate irrigation, either trickle or automatic.

A high standard is a must in order to produce the first grade scion or budwood required. Maintenance is essential, e.g.:

1. Pruning programme — promotion of new growth and removal of dead or old wood.
2. Routine spray programme — a must.
3. Routine fertiliser programme — granule

Archontophoenix. A comparatively fast growing palm of which both species are fairly hardy. This genus bears some broad resemblance to Veitchia, Ptychosperma, and Dictyosperma. A. alexandrae has leaflets which will help to distinguish it from these genera; A. cunninghamiana does not have this distinguishing feature.

In 1971 trials were made producing them from softwood and hardwood cuttings. For softwood cuttings half-ripe tips and firmer stems were used dipped in various hormones. The results were: with 0.37% NAA, 60% rooting; 0.6% IBA, 70% rooting; a 50/50 mixture of 0.37% NAA and 0.8% IBA, 75% rooting;

Our first efforts to propagate these trees from seeds were totally unsuccessful. All seed obtained from our local trees or the Forest Service proved to be sterile. We then decided to try vegetative propagation. Cuttings were obtained in mid-winter from a young tree approximately 15 ft. high. All cuttings were obtained from the lower branches as I had no desire to destroy the natural character of this tree by removing the upper terminal shoots. Most cuttings were between 5"

1. The rhizomes that can be used as:
1. One to two node cuttings inserted vertically in the rooting medium.
2. Cut into lengths to suit a seed tray, and laid on the rooting medium or just covered. Bud growth is rapid (2 to 3 days) and root initials show after about 5 to 7 days; development is quite rapid and well-rooted cuttings can be potted in 14 to 18 days. The longer sections of rhizome laid horizontally produce shoots from nearly every node; the shoot

In America we visited some nurseries in Miami, Florida, Phoenix, Arizona, and one in Texas, plus had an opportunity of setting up a booth at the Pacific Horticultural Trade Show, Long Beach, California.

The Pacific Horticultural Trade Show was staged at Long Beach Convention Centre, about an hour's drive from Los Angeles airport. There are 677 booths representing over 365 exhibitors. The displays of horticultural products range from nursery supplies, flowers, seed and fertilizer through to lawn and garden equipment, tractors and garden lightning, so it would take many hours to go through and see everything. During the show we found most people loved New Zealand plants because of the different types of foliage and the colours we have to offer.

In all nurseries they try to produce a plant with the minimal amount of effort and cost.

With my interest in the broad area of plant propagation, we decided to gradually supplement our bought-in liner requirements with our own stock.

Initially we began with quick seed lines plus autumn-set cuttings but in 1979 we set up a primitive yet effective mist facility at the end of one of our polythene growing houses. A partition wall was built and covered with plastic and access to the mist room was through this.

The existing base of drainage metal was overlaid with pumice sand to a depth of about 5 cm. Mains water was ducted along an outside fence by 12 mm alkathene pipe and connected to a 12 mm solenoid valve, on the inside wall, above the mist line level.

The mist lines are 12 mm rigid PVC and the mist nozzles

Until the last few years, the Chatham Island forget-me-not (Myosotidium hortensia) has been a plant that has almost driven me to despair. We purchased numerous plants from other growers but no matter what we did with them they failed. We then obtained seed and tried to grow our own. The seeds germinated then came to nothing with most plants collapsing six months after germination.

The Chatham Island forget-me-not is an herbaceous plant that grows naturally only in the Chatham Islands. It was once abundant around the foreshore of these islands but

These two factors are well illustrated by the genus Clematis ‘N.Z.’ Of the ten species, two have white flowers and the rest have green-yellowish ones; all are evergreen. Bearing this in mind, we come to the reason for producing them from cuttings. The species most commonly grown is the showy Clematis paniculata, bush clematis, or Pua-whananga. In spring the bush is lit with festoons of starry white flowers on woody vines climbing over the trees and shrubs; the large 10 cm. flowers in panicles of one hundred or more.

For years it has been the practice to dig seedlings from the bush; these do not always grow and then, more often than not, very slowly. Over the past seven years I have been selecting cutting material from the wild to produce a small number of large flowered-plants. The male plants have the largest flowers, often twice the size of the female.

The plant

The foreign countries are working on mostly vegetative crops, such as those grown for paper pulp and number, especially in the smaller countries, while in the United States it seems we are producing mostly ornamentals commercially, although much research is going on in tissue culture of herbaceous crops So it will not be very long before many of the important herbaceous plants will be produced through tissue culture

Many nurserymen do not understand propagation by tissue culture although many articles have been written and talks have been given by speakers on this subject. Many people think tissue culture is as simple as mixing some media formula for all cultures, then placing shoot tips in a test tube and culturing it in an ideal room temperature and in a few weeks

Glasshouse food crops have reached fantastic levels in input costs. To counterbalance this the cultural parameters, such as temperature regimes, nutrition, and so on are quite clearly defined so that culture can proceed to blueprint specifications. The propagator of hardy nursery stock,

Shelter is provided to protect the plants against excesses of cold, heat, wetness, desiccation, and to a lesser extent, light. It is obvious that these factors interact; light, for instance, when provided by sunshine is normally associated with an increase in temperature but there are occasions when absence of light might be beneficial.

In fruit trees the importance of each virus complex differs considerably, depending on the sensitivity of the scions and the rootstocks, the severity of each strain and the number of viruses involved. The same virus can be present in a range of fruit trees but

1. What is the Scheme? It is a voluntary system whereby growers and other interested parties are invited to contribute to the Scheme material of certain selected plants. The material is then propagated and grown on at certain specific independent Centres. When appropriate, assessments are made by a panel of growers, advisors and specialists. The assessors, over a period, try to appraise the plants from the different sources to ascertain whether: —
1. They are true to name (untrue plants are removed from further appraisal.)
2. There is sufficient variation among the true plants to warrant further appraisal.
3. If there is sufficient variation, the Panel then tries to decide if one plant is superior to the rest when judged over a number of specified factors.
4. If an individual plant is judged superior, it is then given an identity code L.A. (after Long Ashton who are responsible for the Scheme) and further identified by a number representing the year of identification, e.g. L.A. 79

When in their company one is naturally encouraged by their enthusiasm to obtain plant material. One subsequently realized that this was not plant collecting in its

Cold frames were used then for any type of propagation where protection was required, and I can honestly say this is still our only requirement. In stating this I have one reservation. Here at Blooms Nurseries during the last two years we have used a 50'×10' polythene tunnel, fitted with mist without any form of artificial heat. This has proved successful with late-spring soft-type cuttings which wilt badly in frames, where although shaded — and the cuttings damped as often as possible — the higher temperatures proved too much. They soon lost their turgidity, finally giving only a

Until then, stocks of most of the clones had been produced by grafting, since propagation by other techniques, including hardwood cutting methods, had proved difficult or impossible. The trials provided hopeful signs that many trees which hitherto had not been easily raised by conventional means might be readily reproduced in future by the softwood cutting method using a mist system of watering. Thus, many trees could now be grown on their own roots for the first time, an advantage to foresters and arboriculturists.

Several species and cultivars included in the trials were then in short supply in the nursery trade or were not produced at all. Some of them, such as gray poplar, Populus

In Northern Ireland in 1974 serious losses of hardy nursery stock caused concern and a survey was carried out on all nurseries where the disease had been isolated. The results were disconcerting, indicating that as much as 10% of

On our pre-conference visit to Boulton Brothers nursery we had seen a full frame of conifers rooted under double glass, cuttings inserted in August and now ready for moving on.

Several members were using combinations of polythene and lights on their frames. Lila Dick favoured the polythene over the frame lights, thus sealing the lights and preventing pools of water accumulating on the polythene laid over the cuttings.

It was agreed that cuttings were often inserted at too great a density, and that better results were achieved by giving more space, this being particularly true of larger-leaved species such as hydrangeas. Roger Platts favoured potting these on in later summer, but care must be taken with many subjects due to overwintering problems.

John Ward and others spoke of their experience in using large tunnels as cover protection over low "inner" tunnels in which were rooted a

Acer platanoides. Stocks were potted into 4 in. whalehides the year before grafting took place and put into frames. The following autumn they were brought inside the greenhouse to dry out before grafting. Grafting took place in January and February, a side graft being used, and tied with ½ in. polythene tape. The grafts were then placed inside a cold tunnel house. The take was about 50% in both cultivars. They will be close lined out in mid-summer following grating.

Japanese cherries. Stocks of Prunus avium were potted into 4 in. whalehides the year before grafting took place and put into cold frames. They were brought inside the greenhouse the following autumn to dry out before grafting. Grafting took place in January and February, a side graft being used and tied with ½ in polythene tape, then placed inside a cold tunnel house. Five cultivars were grafted —

Of all the recently introduced subtropical crops, none has caught fire like the kiwifruit or Chinese gooseberry, Actinidia chinensis. Not an old warmed-over crop, or one that's been hidden in the corner, this one is a real newcomer. Since its commercial introduction by New Zealand, it has been grown commercially in the Western and Eastern United States, other American countries, Israel, Greece, Italy, France, South Africa, and Japan.

Actinidia chinensis is native to borders of the Yangtze Valley of China where it is not subject to serious frosts, but receives enough winter chill to stimulate profuse blossoms. The wild plant of these regions is a large vine that may climb to a height of 30 feet (10 m). Until recently, its popular name was Chinese gooseberry.

The Chinese gooseberry was brought to New Zealand about 1900, and planted as a curiosity. It remained in obscurity for years, until the New Zealanders developed certain prolific cultivars which bore abundant

I. CAMPBELL: I did say, in fact, that the majority of the viruses in woody plants would not transfer by knife.

D. CLARK: We still T-bud Acer ‘Royal Red’ and ‘Goldsworth Crimson’. It may be worth just going back to why we T-bud. For a number of years we tried T and chip buds in parallel and we found we got better takes with T-budding.

J. CLAYTON: When do you do your budding?

D. CLARK: We are budding a lot later this year, as the wood is so soft; in fact, it will probably be next week (August 1). Normally we would aim to have completed the job by now. I would persevere with field propagation. I think the cost of production of ‘Crimson King’ from pot-grown stocks would be very high. It is interesting that we have had little comment at this conference on the cost of labour. We have talked about saving energy but I'm sure our major costs in the

During the whole period since the formation of the G.B.&I. Region in 1968, P. McMillan Browse has been a regular attender at Area and One-Day Meetings, almost without fail participating in the discussion sessions at these meetings. Recently has he written two books: "Hardy Woody Plants from Seed" (Grower Books) and "Plant Propagation" (Mitchell Beazley).

On a worldwide basis the principal micropropagation units are found in close proximity to Pieriks' laboratory in The Netherlands, to that of Boxus in Belgium, the late Professor Morel, Beauchesne, Tran Than Van and Nitsch in France, Zuccherelli and Rosati in Italy, and Murashige in the United states. These units have naturally concentrated on crops of local or national importance — lilies and gerberas (11) in

At the West of Scotland College it is taught to all Ordinary National Diploma students in their first year in a laboratory class and, in the third year, students from time to time have chosen some aspect of micropropagation for their third year individual projects. It also comes into the crop option of the M.I. Biology course, the B.Sc. students have a laboratory class to introduce the subject to them and as a group may tackle a micropropagation problem. When it comes to the Honours year thesis, two students have chosen some aspect of micropropagation as their remit.

At universities and polytechnics, where post-graduate courses are available, micropropagation can be part, if not all, of the investigations carried out. Under these circumstances more time is available to devote to the culture and the problems

I was interested in their system of plant handling because of the vast area covered with container plants. Approximately 80% of the staff of up to 200 were employed to move plants, and this meant that a very efficient handling system was necessary.

The plants were potted into rigid pots in a large potting shed housing four large potting benches for 16 people. During the winter the potting was done by hand; in the summer a potting machine was used.

As the plants were potted they were placed in small wooden boxes; eight 3½ litre pots were put in each box and the boxes were then loaded onto four-wheeled trailers, 33 boxes per trailer.

The trailers were then towed to the standing ground which comprised beds two metres wide,

Firstly, I would like to give a brief history of the nursery for those who are not familiar with it. Jim Wells left England for the U.S.A. at the end of the last war and, after spending a few years on other nurseries, he took 20 acres near the coast in New Jersey in the late 1950's. After a few years of growing quite a wide range of nursery stock the range was cut down to mainly rhododendrons and azaleas.

In 1967 the English Student Programme was started when two students from Pershore College went over to New Jersey. And so it was in 1976 that David Hill and I, having both completed our N.C.H. at Hadlow College, applied for a job at Wells Nursery. After an interview at Pershore we were selected, together with two Pershore students to go over there for a year. The flight over and back was paid for by Jim Wells and this was repaid during our 12 month

1. When growing holly cuttings in double glass frames, would leaf drop be caused by a) too high a temperature, b) too high a light intensity, or c) any other factor? The cuttings were taken in late September and dipped in Seradix 3.

VOICE: I got leaf fall when the cuttings were too close in the bed.

DOUG HARRIS: I always assumed it was the high temperatures.

B. MACDONALD: Could it be too high an air temperature? My experience particularly with Ilex aquifolium types is that they are prone to this, taken in late August or early September.

2. Have any members tried the new range Vitax Q.S fertilizers? If so with what results?

VOICE: We have just completed a small trial but it is still too early for the results?

3. Have any members evidence of a build up of Specific Replant Disease in older layer or stool beds?

D. HARRIS: There is no evidence of this in rhododendron layer beds that have been used for 40 years now. I thought there was a replant problem on roses at

It has been known for many years that auxin (IAA) or one of its derivatives is a major controlling factor, but we still do not know specifically how auxin exerts this control over cell function. We know it stimulates root initiation in a manner similar to cytokinin, polyphenols, gibberellins, carbohydrate, boron, nitrogen and a host of other compounds. We know also that it is not the absolute amount of plant hormone that exerts this action rather the relative amounts of each in proportion to the other. Most recently it has been suggested auxin may be just another cofactor

Beginning with miniatures in a small way, as a side line to our general nursery some forty years ago, we changed to the production of miniatures exclusively about 23 years ago. Since then our production has increased to the point where we now grow some 600,000 to 700,000 plants annually.

All of this production is from cuttings. We grow around a hundred different cultivars in all colors. In addition we produce around 10,000 miniature tree roses. For the trees we use an understock of our own, developed at the nursery. I will discuss the tree rose production in detail later.

But before we get into the propagation of miniatures as such, I wish to state that I am very much of the opinion that successful and

Rapid development of the country's agriculture led to full usage of the available irrigation water by 1960. In the last 20 years (1960–1980), agricultural production has tripled without increasing the amount of water and land used (2). This intensification of agriculture was brought about by active endeavor through research and development as well as by the dynamic farming community.

Floriculture plays a leading role in the country's intensive horticulture. In 1979/80, 5800 farming families produced about 80 million dollars worth of flowers for export to Europe and the United States.

Although the main kinds of flowers produced are miniature carnations and roses, there has been a large increase in the last few years in the production of other floriculture crops (Table 1).

The vacuum system is of most value to early summer softwood cuttings of deciduous shrubs and trees, plus certain broadleaf evergreens. It may be efficiently employed for all types of plants at all times of the year.

This is a low cost installation consisting of a thermostatic controlled input louver for the admission of outside ambient air into a large diameter punched plastic tube for the entire length of the structure. The flow of air into the louver and tube is created by a vacuum made by a thermostatic controlled large slow speed exhaust fan on the same end of the structure as the input louver.

Many structures ventilated by vacuum systems use fans of

How many times over the years have we been guilty of this little trick? Kinking the hose single or in a double kink. This is This is not only a waste of natural energy because we will have to replace the hose before its time, but also a human energy waste in that we will have to use it to repair or replace the hose. For the past several years we have eliminated this waste by simply using a ¼ turn valve attached to the end of the hose. This conserves on human energy by not having to walk back and forth to the faucet to adjust the water flow, but also by extending the life of the hose. When a person can make the necessary water adjustment where he is watering, it not only conserves on water, but we find that the watering job is much more efficient in that the person will

We have developed an aluminum 3-deck racking system to maximize loading area and minimize damages. This system consists of 12 racks and 96 boards for a 40 foot trailer. The racking system weighs 2,322 lbs. and the cost is $3,894 (Tables 1 and 2). We will have 80 sets available for spring 1981 shipping.

Variable speed electronic conveyors are used to load plants into a truck. We presently have 16 conveyors ranging from 35 to 45 feet in length. Currently conveyors are costing about $4,000. Electronic eye counters are mounted on the conveyors to improve loading accuracy. Counters can be set for subtotals as well as totals. It takes 4 to 8 man-hours to load a full trailer and we are able to load over 1,700 spreading junipers 12 to 15 inches on a truck. The

Nurserymen have long recognized the advantages of direct sticking cuttings into individual containers. In addition to saving time, cuttings rooted by direct sticking grow faster and losses from transplanting are eliminated. Plants from direct stuck rooted cuttings develop faster because their roots are never disturbed. However, direct sticking requires 5 to 50 times more space than conventional high-density-sticking methods. The amount of additional space depends on the size of containers being used.

Nurserymen in southern regions have made extensive use of direct sticking because of their longer growing seasons and milder winters, while growers in colder regions must rely on

Intermittent mist systems require misting nozzles spaced to provide overlapping mist patterns over the propagation bed. The better quality systems operate at pressures approaching 100 lbs psi (690 kPa) and require 5 to 10 nozzles per 100 sq ft (9.3 m²) of bed area. Satisfactory nozzles must have small holes or deflectors to permit use of slightly larger holes. These nozzles require considerable vigilance for opening plugged

Angelica Nurseries took the next most logical step, which was to create raised beds of sand, while providing more than adequate subdrainage, into which cuttings are stuck for rooting from March until September, as proper timing and scheduling permits.

The ½ inch CPVC pipe was placed on 6" centers and buried halfway in 8 inches of sand. A boiler was installed midway in the house so each end could be controlled separately. Circulating pumps run continuously to give even heating throughout the house. We circulate 140°F water for bottom heat in the house. The boiler water temperature is controlled by thermostats. Details of construction are available in the 1973 Proceedings (1).

We have used the greenhouse for 6 years to root evergreen cuttings. We have always had good results. In 1979 we discontinued rooting evergreens and switched the greenhouse to perennials production. At the present time, it is full of newly dibbled perennials. These plants respond well to

Today I would like to discuss the economics of heating our pithouse. There is a choice of 5 energy sources: wood, coal, oil, gas, or electricity. Natural gas, if available, would be more economical than oil at this time; however, we don't know what the price will be in the future. Wood needs a lot of attention, especially during the night, so I do not find that practical for my propagation house.

Coal is for me the most practical heat for a propagation house. I use an upright burner, brick line of cast iron, which holds 100 lbs of coal. I use coal in combination with electric cables in the beds. I bought coal in bulk at $72.00 a ton. The price expressed in energy units is 1/3 the price of oil. I would suggest heating

Plant breeding is one of the really important aspects of agriculture having been one of the sciences contributing to the ever increasing production of food and fiber. There are many Ph.D's in universities and industry researching, teaching, and producing new products, plus all their support people. The size of individual crops is tremendous whether measured in acres, dollars, yield or any way you want to measure.

Rose breeding and rose growing are tiny parts of the agricultural industry, although one of the larger parts of the nursery industry. Rose breeding, along with other ornamental breeding departs, also, from a purely scientific

Since it would be extremely costly to remove significant amounts of heat from water of this temperature, it was not until a "closed cycle" cooling system, such as the one designed for the Sherburne Country plant (SherCo), came into the picture that the Company could seriously consider developing beneficial uses of power plant cooling water. Minimum temperature of SherCo's condenser discharge water is 85.F. Sometimes the temperature during the heating season can be as

At present time we at Greenleaf graft 16 cultivars of fruiting apples, crabapples, flowering pears, and fruiting pears. This year we will graft a little over 100,000 trees. Of these grafts, we expect 85 to 90% to be high enough quality to be planted in the field.

Our apple grafting season starts about January 2nd each year. We use the whip or tongue method of grafting on both apples and pears. Preferably, the scion and understock should be of equal diameter. The scion should contain 2 or 3 buds with the first graft cut made in the smooth internode area below the lower bud. This first cut should be a long smooth, sloping cut

As part of marketing strategy, you may decide to cover all costs on a specific product, but this is a different situation than propagators who do not recognize all costs associated with the product and consequently sell at a price which is not sufficient to cover all expenses. Even though this propagator can't survive in the long run, he can cause problems for his competitors while he is in business.

The purpose of this paper is to examine costs in the propagation business and

His love for plants and his sound basic understanding of business management made others realize the potentials of this individual. He was soon hired by another well established nursery as their propagator and also became involved in establishing

Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Gracilis’. Cuttings were taken from tips of terminal or lateral stems and were approximately 10 cm long. As this cultivar has a tendency to revert to the species, care must be taken to insure that no cuttings are taken from shoots that are reverting In order to have cuttings of workable size, the basal portion of the cutting includes older growth. A 1ndash;1½ cm wound is made on one side of the cutting, which is then treated with 0.8% IBA talc (Hormodin No. 3).

Most seedlings are slow to fruit well, approximately half are male and fruitless, and are quite variable. The named selections are vastly superior but few of these are listed in nursery catalogs or garden publications and rarely available. Few ornamental shrubs can surpass these deciduous hollies for effective fruit display. Properly promoted they could fill a need for fall and winter color in the landscape.

I have been interested because this group of plants has such great potential To date little has been done even to propagate

Propagation facilities. The facility used is a 45 feet polyethylene covered hut with unheated ground beds 8 inches deep, filled with a propagation grade of silica sand. A 62% shade cloth covers the hut at all times. Inside summer temperatures and humidity can get very high, but neither seem to have an adverse effect on rooting.

Propagating procedures. Depending upon species and stage of growth, cuttings are taken from mature to semi-mature trees in late June through late July. Cuttings are of current season's wood, usually 4 to 8 inches long with the basal cut unrelated to node location. The bottom 1/3 to ½ of the

All Leucothoe and Pieris are propagated from cuttings using a procedure developed by our propagator, John Ravenstein.

Cuttings are made in mid-October. To facilitate the taking of cuttings we usually dig up several plants from our field production. We find it more efficient to remove the cuttings at a work bench than bending down in the field. A further advantage of digging the stock plants is that, when

As plant people, are we aware of the plants the Huntington Botanical Garden has introduced to the U.S. and of the annual plant sale which attempts to make these introductions and other rarities available to the public? The remnants of the first commercial avocado orchard are still in existence at the Huntington. The Huntington is one of the West Coast quarantine center for imported bamboo. Within its 13 different gardens are collections of many genera of plants including the largest world-wide collection of mature cactus and succulent specimens grown outdoors.

In 1901 Henry E. Huntington, the founder, purchased what was then the San Marino Ranch. Huntington had by this time created and developed the clean and convenient electric streetcar system throughout Los Angeles. Huntington's

There are two major types of mycorrhizae, distinguished by the way in which the fungus attaches itself to the root (4, 6, 10). The first classification is the ectomycorrhizal group, and the second is the endomycorrhizal group. In ectomycorrhizal associations, a fungal sheath forms around the exterior of the root and is a distinctive visible feature (10). The fungal sheath consists of divided fungal hyphae, but appears superficially as though it were made of plant cells (6). From this outer sheath, hyphae extend outward into the soil, and also inward

MODERATOR SHUGERT: Does anyone have any comments to make about gel seeding? Does anyone have an address for a gel source?

GLEN LUMIS: We are doing a little work with black spruce. If anyone would like to write me I can put them on to some sources that can help them. My address is Department of Horticultural Sciences, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

MODERATOR SHUGERT: During the tour of Weston Nurseries we saw the rooting of Pinus mugo cuttings. Please explain your procedure and do you take spring cuttings?

KATHLEEN FREELAND: We have not tried spring rooting of cuttings. We take them in the winter with good success. We are going to try candles next spring. The cuttings are 3-4 inces long and from current seasons growth. We are using 1% hormone. We have also experimented with Jim Wells Synnergol from England. We will know better next year how it worked.

The seeds usually germinate very rapidly and with a little help from liquid fertilizer they grow very well all winter long. About May, when the danger of frost is over, we pick them off into 2¼" rose clay pots into our regular potting soil consisting of sand and peat moss with Osmocote, and place them outside in a growing area. By fall, they are the thickness of a pencil. Only a few weeks before grafting we bring them in the greenhouse. The greenhouse temperature is maintained at 65°F and we used a modified veneer graft. This we find is the best way to produce understock because an unestablished understock is a sure failure in grafting birches.

I never had

Interestingly enough, I can never recall quizzing any of these people, prior to their employment, on their knowledge of or expertise in seed propagation. This might be considered a lapse in our interview procedures.

But is it really? We have spent a couple score years developing our seed

The universities cannot be faulted in graduating students who are not talented, employable people, ready to assume immediately the management responsibility of general propagation, whether it be the sexual or asexual propagation of evergreen or herbaceous plant materials.

If there is a fault that prevails in preparing students for immediate takeover of a progressive propagation program, it lies in too little practical, hands-on training. At Purdue, ten weeks of summer work in industry is required to obtain the horticulture degree. There should be at least two twelve-week works summers required; even then, the student will only be partially trained for major responsibility.

Tissue culture, perhaps better titled

Plant propagation in most universities is taught at the sophomore level, with few of the students having had the benefit of a practical nursery or propagation experience. In fact, more than 60% of today's undergraduate students are from urban backgrounds and may be experiencing propagation of plants for the first time. Consequently, laboratory projects must be designed to demonstrate the simplest concepts in regard to both asexual and sexual propagation.

Initially, the students need to become acquainted not only with the plants to be propagated, but also with the equipment needed. Secondly, by conducting simple projects on the evaluation of rooting media or the effects of juvenility, wounding, or

I should point out that the avocado trees which have been planted in California during the last 20 or 30 years were produced by specialized growers who produced several hundred thousand trees annually, while only a relatively small amount of avocado trees were used for the home garden. At La Verne Nursery, we have been propagating avocado trees since 1972, primarily for the retail trade.

During the last few years avocado tree producers in California had to reduce their volume due to decline in demand for avocado trees. The reason for this is that most of the available agricultural areas in the relatively frost free coastal zones of Southern California have been planted to

In teaching plant propagation laboratories, or for that matter, teaching laboratories of any sort, the objectives of the exercise must be clearly stated. Does the exercise teach a practical propagation technique? Does the exercise teach important principles of propagation? It is important that these objectives be clearly stated and that evaluation of the results be assessed in relationship to these objectives at the conclusion of the experiment.

Another important consideration is the students' preparation prior to beginning the exercises in question. It is important that they have adequate opportunity to learn fundamentals of plant science, including plant structure and functions. They should also have a reasonable knowledge of the equipment and materials required for completion of the exercise. These fundamental concepts can be taught through the vehicle of prerequisite courses or through the preliminary parts of the propagation course that precede

The Department of Horticulture at Ohio State University has begun a program to address the nursery industry's needs for individuals who have an appreciation for and some knowledge of the techniques of plant tissue culture as a propagation tool. This teaching program encompasses courses taught at several levels. Included in the program are Horticulture 415, the undergraduate

Students who take these courses are primarily horticulture students but others come from agricultural education, forestry, plant pathology, agronomy, and other plant sciences as well as students who are just interested in the propagation of plants.

The main objectives of the baccalaureate course are to develop an understanding of the basic principles of plant propagation, to develop the ability to propagate plants, to develop the ability to evaluate experimental results and to determine and apply these techniques. Another important aspect is to encourage their

Every so often in an organization like ours we make a mistake. Instead of having some potted understock ready for grafting we find ourselves ready to graft and lacking understock. We have found with red, Scotch, Australian and white pines that understock can be fresh dug and if

Propagation of the shrub forms and some tree forms of the genus Cornus is easily done by seed, layering, and cuttings. However, cultivars of the species, Cornus florida, are more difficult. Cultivars of C. florida until now, have been propagated mostly by grafting and budding with some success by cuttings.

This paper today will be on propagating the cultivar C. florida ‘Rubra’ commercially from rooted cuttings.

Before any cuttings are taken in June and July the propagation medium is prepared by mixing perlite and peat (60:40), and wetting until

The differences between the balsam fir and the Fraser fir are subtle. The botanical separation is based primarily upon differences in the cone structure Under close observation the Fraser fir appears to have greater needle density, better color, and more wax on the buds and leaves. It is these qualities that make it a highly prized Christmas tree species. The Fraser fir also begins growth later in the spring which makes it less likely to be injured by frost. These attributes make Fraser fir a highly prized Christmas tree species which will command higher prices than good quality pine or spruce. The

In cultivation H. anomala subsp. petiolaris has a number of landscape applications. Among these are the ability to grow over boulders, stone walls, posts of any height or on tall trees. When grown on the walls of buildings the plants can cover large areas and provide spectacular displays when in flower. An 88 year old plant of H. anomala subsp. petiolaris growing on a northeast wall of Arnold Arboretum covers about 500 square feet and has trunks 8 inches in diameter 3 feet above the ground. A 60 year old specimen which has climbed 3 ½ stories on a stucco wall is depicted in figure 1. When bare of leaves and when contrasted against the light colored wall it is bizarre. An

In 1793, the Congress enacted the Patent Act, which was authored by Thomas Jefferson. The Act, which was subsequently modified in 1836, 1870, 1874, and 1952, is essentially the same today as it was written by Jefferson.

In 1930, the Plant Patent Act was enacted to afford patent protection to certain asexually reproduced plants. Before this time there were two factors which were thought to exclude plants from patent protection. First was the general belief that plants were products of nature, even though artificially bred. The second factor was that it was not thought that new varieties of plants could be adequately described by the written word. In passing the Plant Patent Act, the Senate, in its report on the