By Ken Schultz

I found this 1964 edition book and thought it would be interesting to compare it to the newer books in my collection. How has bonsai in America changed in the past 42 years? Infact this book was written before John Naka’s Bonsai Techniques I. I had trouble getting into the book, lets face it color pictures do help and these were black and white. A majority of the photos show material that had not been in training very long, with the exception of trees from the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and the Lars Anderson Collection in Boston.

Once I got beyond the uninspiring photos, I discovered the text presented information on how to select nursery stock and develop it into bonsai. Hull notes that bonsai in America in 1964 was limited to California and the east coast with a blip of interest in Denver. I felt frustrated again though in chapter three when he discussed “collections for color” illustrated with black and white photos. The caption said the foliage turns a brilliant Orange-scarlet in autumn. Maybe our imaginations were better back then.

In chapter 4, Hull advocates training your own stock into bonsai due to the high cost of specimen bonsai. He notes costs from $1,000 to $7,000. In 2006 dollars this would be over ten times as much, remember gasoline sold for under twenty cents a gallon then and new car could be purchased for $2,000. Hull discusses nursery purchases and collecting. The list of appropriate material is divided into general, south, southwest America and Hawaii. I found it interesting that Japanese Black Pine was on the general list and the Hawaian list! He lists Redbud, Sweet gum and Sparkleberry on his Eastern United States list. I was more familiar with the other listings, but these seemed unusual to me.

The formulas for bonsai soil were also of interest. Consistent with our current thoughts on this subject are particle size and drainage. Hull notes that the small stuff is not used for bonsai soil and the ingredients are a combination of loam, sand and humus. Fertilizer included cottonseed meal, dried manure, bone meal, blood meal and wood ash.

Unlike today’s books where pruning and wiring are discussed by the third chapter or the fifth, Hull discusses them in chapter 13, then styles in chapter 14. Root pruning is presented in Chapter 16, the chapter is called “Keeping Them Small- and Healthy”; watering is also presented in chapter 16 and continues in chapter 17.