STATE P05IOLOGICAL fcOCIETY. 53 



to bear it bore Rhode Island Greenings. Mr. B., another, ordered a 

 grape vine that was to be three feet and tbirty-six inches long when 

 delivtred. And when it reached him only the root and two shoots 

 came, with about eight or ten inches of wood on each, much to his 

 disappointment. Mr. C. ordered trees that were to be every way 

 superior to those growing in his neighbor's yard, with roots by the 

 bushel. When ihey came th re were roots, but to use his own 

 language, there were no '-vipers" on them, and he believed that all 

 tree agents were cheats and swindlers. Another man, who lives in 

 Massachusetts, ordered some shrubs that were to be delivered early 

 in October, and when they came, it was the first of November, when, 

 in his opinion, everything in Massachusetts is frozen solid, except 

 the cheek of the tree drummer, which is always intact. 



There are between 4,000 and 5,000 nurseries in the Uuited 

 States, giving employment to some fifty thousand persons, 

 and Laving an invested capital of over fift}^ millions of dollars. 

 The area covered by these nurseries is said to be something like 

 173,000 acres. This business has within the last tenor fiftten 

 years grown enormously, and is now one of the largest euterpiises 

 in the country, with every indication of still greater expansion and 

 ramification in years to come. The reasons for this conclusion are 

 apparent to any who will take the pains fo look into its history, and 

 the causes that have made the industry whit it is to-day. The 

 large, unoccupied territory in the West, the increased demand for 

 fruit, the growmg interest in out-door adornment, with the fact that 

 much of the nursery stock that is sold never matures, are some of 

 the reasons adduced for its still greater future growth. 



But as to present results, — those who own homes, whether modest 

 ones in villages, large farms in the country, or attractive estates in 

 town or city, have become deeply interested in the cultivation of 

 trees and plants, — fruit trees taking a large share of their atten- 

 tion. That this is valuable to any state or territory, goes without 

 the saying. Thousands of farms to-day depend upon their orchards 

 for their principal year's income, where ten or fifteen 3'ears ago 

 the yield was scarcely sufficient for home uses. Take a drive 

 through town or country — beautiful lawns with shrubs and roses 

 meet your gaze. You notice here and there the large flowering 

 clematis, in various shades of color, climbing the trellis of the 

 veranda, or covering some bare fence or wall, — charming in i:s 

 masses of flowers. Then aiaiu the lawn will be smooth and vacant 



