igo 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



July, 



The Nurserymen In Convention. 



The American Association of Nursery- 

 men held their sixteenth annual meeting in 

 Minneapolis, Minn., during the first week 

 of June. 



President's Address. President Emery 

 reports a most gratifying condition of the 

 society's membership and finances, the for- 

 mer having grown W) over four hundred, 

 being constantly increasing, and with 

 money in the treasury ample for all reason- 

 able needs. 



Nurserymen may congratulate them- 

 selves upon the improved tone of the 

 nursery business, nursery stock now being 

 worth 35 to 40 per cent more at wholesale 

 than a year ago, and prices have been 

 raised to a point where it pays the grower 

 to produce stock. 



The president condemns the habit of buy- 

 ing on speculation as an unsafe plan, and 

 operating against the grower, but is in favor 

 of growing and selling one's own stock. 



In regard to the coming World's Fair 

 President Emery says the fact is patent 

 that California is determined, by fair means 

 or foul, to control the Horticultural Departs 

 ment. The work of the Classification 

 Committee of which a member from Cali- 

 fornia is chairman, is pathetic in Its ludi- 

 crousness. That they assign four classes to 

 horticulture, and fourteen to viticulture, 

 shows the animus. A Califomian has been 

 appointed chief of the Horticultural Depart- 

 ment. His appointment has not been con- 

 firmed, the principle opposition coming first 

 from his own state, and next from the hor- 

 ticultulturists of the country at large. 

 Under his management and dictation we 

 can expect the wines, brandies and Citrus 

 fruits of CaUfomia to head the procession, 

 and her dried fruits and fiavorless orchard 

 products to occupy space that rightfully 

 should belong to a class of fruits that are 

 the bone and sinew, so to speak, of the 

 business. A vigorous protest of such folly 

 is in order. Nurserymen should decline to 

 be used as cat's paw's to bolster up the 

 pomp and circumstance of bursted booms 

 and departed glory. 



Selling Nqrsert Stock. Mr. G. L. 

 Grant, in his essay entitled, " One Good 

 Way to SeU Nursery Stock." suggests that 

 the local fiorist would be a first-rate man to 

 sell trees and plants, especially those of an 

 ornamental character, for the nurseryman, 

 either on commission, or as a retailer. He 

 might plant a plat of sample specimens to 

 show, and could otherwise aid the purcha- 

 ser in proper selection and proper manage- 

 ment of stock. This would be a good thing 

 both for the nurseryman and the fiorist. 



Mr. Albaugh of Ohio, in the discussion 

 following this paper, says the idea is all 

 right theoretically, but is not practical. 

 Nurserymen, for the disposal of their wares, 

 must rely on traveling agents, energetic, 

 honest, upright and intelligent business 

 men, who for a fair compensation are 

 willing to devote their whole time to the 

 business which can be made just as legiti- 

 mate a business as any other. In 33 years' 

 experience he has tried five or six plans, 

 and abandoned one after another imtil the 

 last one, which is to stay with him, wherein 

 the firm is responsible for all that their 

 men do, and gives them certificates which 

 makes the firm responsible for all their acts. 



Mr. Grant replies that he meant the 

 florist to be an ;accessory in the business, 

 not a substitute for the traveling salesman. 

 Many people do not like to trade with the 

 latter, having become shy from earlier ex- 

 periences with that class of men. 



Mr. Harris believes florists might do flrst- 

 rate for handling ornamental shrubbery 

 and flowers, but would not be worth a red 

 cent to sell fruit trees. Mr. Harris also be- 

 lieves in the integrity of nurserymen who 



grow their own stock. It is these fellows 

 that are not nurserymen, and who do not 

 know whether Pumpldns grow on trees or 

 not, who sometimes swindle you. 



ftir. Hale thinks Mr. Grant's idea valuable, 

 as showing a new outlet for the sale of nur- 

 sery products, and simply an addition to 

 the business. From knowledge gained 

 from his public work during the last year, 

 it seems to him that florists are keeping 

 pretty near the head of the procession, and 

 the nurserymen have got to hurry up to 

 get ahead of them. The florists have re- 

 mained right in touch with the people, and 

 perhaps could sell a great deal of the nur- 

 seryman's stock. 



Mr. HUl calls attention to the fact that 

 the two trades come right in together, and 

 during the time of the sale of the trees, the 

 florist has all he possibly can do if he is in 

 the least a success. The months of April 

 and May when the bulk of the tree trade re- 

 quires attention is the very time that the 

 florist Is in the midst of his extremely busy 

 season, and which allows no let up untU the 

 end of June. 



HOBTICDLTDRE AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



The Society recommends to the classiflca- 

 tion Committee of the World's Fair the 

 following classification in the Horticultural 

 Department (B), viz: 



Group I. Pomology, including all fruits. 



Group II. Floriculture, including flowers, 

 fiowering plants, shrubs, cut^fiowers, etc. 



Group HI. Arboriculture, nurseries and 

 their products. 



Group IV. Kitchen and market garden- 

 ing and their products. 



Group V. Horticultural appliances, 

 methods and tools. 



Group VI. Seeds used by nurserymen, 

 fiorists and gardeners. 



The following resolution was then adopt- 

 ed: Resolved, That we most earnestly pro- 

 test against the appointment of Mr. Walter 

 S. Maxwell of California as Chief of the 

 Division of Horticulture of the World's 

 Columbian Exposition, believing as we do 

 that there should be a man at the head of 

 this great work, who by taste, knowledge, 

 experience and acquaintance, is in full 

 touch and sympathy with every horticul- 

 tural interest of this great country. 



Officers Elected. The election of 

 ofiicers resulted as follows : Pres. , J. Van 

 Lindley; Vice-Pres., W. J. Peters; Sec, C. 

 A. Green; Treas., J. A. Whiting; Ex. Com- 

 mittee: W. F. Heikes, W. C. Barry, C. J. 

 Carpenter. Atlantic, Ga., was chosen for 

 the place of next meeting. 



Pomology in North West. Mr. J. S. 

 Harris tells in his essay of the struggles 

 made in the Great Northwest for the home 

 production of tree fruits. Trees from New 

 York State, then from the Prairie nurseries 

 of Illinois, then from Canada, were tried in 

 quick succession, and failed. Of the millions 

 planted, to-day not a tree remains that is in 

 a sound or even hopeful condition, that had 

 been planted and was old enough to bear 

 fruit before the winter of 1884-8.5, except it 

 be a Dutchess of Oldenburg, or other va- 

 riety of Russian origin, or a descendent of 

 the Siberian species, or an unpropagated 

 seedling. 



Yet the outlook for the future of Pom- 

 ology Is hopeful, even encouraging. Small 

 fruits can be produced here over the whole 

 region in unlimited quantities. In favor- 

 able locations abounding in the northwest 

 many of the improved varieties of native 

 Grapes thrive admirably. There are va- 

 rieties of the vpild native Plum that produce 

 fruit of large size and good quality. The 

 pomologist of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture at Washington and the horticulturists 

 of experiment stations have been interested 

 In their improvement, and it is probable 



that our Plum will take its place in pom- 

 ology as another fruit for the million. 



The Sand Cherry is another fruit that 

 presents great possibilities. Like the Plum 

 it is absolutely hardy. The Buffalo berry, 

 too, may yet become one of the standard 

 fruits of this country. 



Among Apples we have Gideons' Wealthy 

 and a number of descendents of the Crab 

 Apples. There is a seedling tree in Hous- 

 ton County now thirty-four years old, that 

 is doing apparently as well as the Olden- 

 burg, and has matured eight barrels of 

 Apples In a single seasen. The Oakobena 

 and Daisy of Nobles County, Minn., show 

 great promise. The first excels the Olden- 

 burg in beauty and quality, and Is a longer 

 keeper. The other is a Daisey. Then we 

 have the Peerless, doubtless a seedling of 

 Oldenburg; the North Star of Olmstead 

 County of same parentage and several 

 other Oldenburg seedlings in Fillmore 

 County, also Pattens' Duchess No. 3, etc. 



Propagation of the Apple for West 

 AND North. Mr. J. V. Cotta's paper on 

 this subject says that there is one way by 

 which varieties too tender when grown by 

 root-grafting or budding may be produced, 

 that will endure climatic adversities some 

 two or three hundred miles further north 

 than they could if grown by any other 

 mode, and that is top- grafting them stand- 

 ard-high upon perfectly hardy,free-growing, 

 congenial stocks previously grown by root- 

 grafting, or in other words, by double work- 

 ing. Has grown trees by this method for 

 nine years with entirely satisfactory results. 

 Double-working, of course, means double 

 expense and often more. The northern 

 grower of these trees can not expect to com- 

 pete in the price of his trees with the pro- 

 ducts of the more favored latitudes to se- 

 cure a share of the dealer's trade, until he 

 has educated his customers sufficiently well 

 that they will plant none other but such 

 trees as have proved themselves worthy of 

 the increased price he charges. 



After the test winter of 1883-S3 he found 

 his root-grafted trees almost ruined, while 

 his top-grafted trees of the same sorts, and 

 In the same blocks, came out sound to the 

 tip without a branch injured. 



This experiment was repeated after the 

 winter of 1884-85. Mr. Cotta would no 

 more think of planting an orchard of root> 

 grafted or budded trees, of a less hardiness 

 than the Duchess, even in Northern Illinois, 

 than to attempt to grow Figs or Oranges 

 there as a commercial venture. 



Discussion on Russian Apples. After 

 the reading of Mr. Green's paper on Russian 

 Apples Mr. W. C. Barry said, the eastern 

 nurseryman years ago imported the Russian 

 varieties, and endeavored to determine their 

 value, but very few, if any, were found 

 equal to the Oldenburg. These trials re- 

 sulted in a good deal of discouragement. 

 What varieties have proved of value? We 

 are all anxious to know. Anyone who has 

 varieties equal in value to the Oldenburg, 

 will find a ready market for stock at the 

 east as well as at the west. 



Mr. Albaugh says that his experience in 

 the central and southern part of Ohio is 

 that with the exception of Oldenburg we 

 have found none tliat has proved of any 

 real value to him. Out of 37 varieties of 

 grafts obtained from the horticultural 

 station at Ames, Iowa, and placed upon his 

 grounds, there is, with one exception, the 

 Longfleld, but one that made a healthy 

 tree at three years old in Ohio. Every one 

 of the other varieties were frozen and in- 

 jured by the winters there within the last 

 four or five years, winters which have not 

 hurt the Ben Davis nor the Yellow Bell. 

 He thinks a great deal of the Wealthy 

 Apple, which ripens in August with him, 

 but in the large city markets Is found quite 



