62 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 THE NURSERY BUSINESS. 



BY GEORGE JAQUES. 



The management of a nursery is a business by 

 itself. The cultivation of trees and flowers for mar- 

 ket, it is true, is a species of agriculture ; but the 

 education which a New England farmer's son com- 

 monly receives does not at all qualify him for this 

 occupation. The deep tillage and generous ma- 

 nuring, the propagation, transplanting, budding, 

 grafting and pruning of trees ; the destruction of 

 insects, the modes of treating what are called dis- 

 eases, are labors to which there is little that is 

 analogous in ordinary farming. Nor is this avoca- 

 tion by any means exempt from the' hazards to 

 which inexperience exposes itself, when engaging 

 in an untried business. Nevertheless, we see, eve- 

 ry year, individuals investing capital ami bestow- 

 ing labor in getting up new nurseries, sometimes 

 upon unsuitable soils, sometimes remote from a 

 market, and often in utter disregard of other un- 

 favorable circumstances. In a few years failure 

 ensues, and a beggarly account of trees, dead or 

 diseased, or of worthless varieties, winds up the 

 concern. 



Having had some ten years' experience in the 

 cultivation of trees, &c, for market, we venture to 

 offir a few hints by way of advice to those who 

 may be contemplating to engage in the nursery 

 business, the coming spring. 



In establishing a nursery, many important things 

 are to be taken into consideration, — the climate, 

 soil, site, location with reference to a market, &c. 



The climate has much to effect the prosperity of 

 a nursery establishment. Upon Long Island, or 

 in New Jersey, other things equal, trees make as 

 much growth in two summers as they do in the in- 

 terior of New England in three. In one climate 

 trees are peculiarly exposed to blight ; in another, 

 to being winter-killed ; in a third, to be injured or 

 destroyed by insects; in a fourth, to drought; in 

 a fifth, perhaps to something else. 



The soil is of vital importance. Some land is 

 too dry ; some too clayey ; some too sandy ; and 

 almost all soils are too poor. In the general, a 

 deeply tilled, highly enriched sandy loam is the 

 best for fruit trees, and for most plants of an orna- 

 mental character. 



The site. — A somewhat elevated, gentle slope, 

 looking toward the south or south-west, is perhaps 

 the best aspect. Cherries and peaches will grow- 

 best upon the highest and driest parts ; upon the 

 next lower ground, apples and pears; still lower 

 down, apples may be continued, and plums, quin- 

 ces and grapes added. 



The location with reference to a market is to be 

 taken into careful consideration. Land costing 

 from $500 to $1000, in the suburbs of a flourish- 

 ing town or city, is far preferable to a retired lo- 

 cality on much cheaper land; fir a nurseryman 

 must sell as avcII as cultivate trees and flowers. 



Tiie whole annual cost of conducting a New 

 England nursery for a series of years, will not fall 

 short of $200 per acre. We give in round num- 

 bers some of the items of this expense, viz.: Rent 

 or interest of land, $30; labqr, $90 ; tools, stocks 

 for grafting, seedlings, &c, $35 ; manure, $10; 

 advertising, &c, and interest on these outgoes ac- 

 cruing, before the trees are sold, say $35. Total, 

 $200. _ , 



-'<> many of the circumstances vary, that it is not 



practicable to make these estimates accurately. — 

 The expenses would sometimes overgo and some- 

 times fall considerably short of the above sum; we 

 give what we consider a fair average. 



Nursery trees are not generally sold at an aver- 

 age age of less than five years ; and about five 

 thousand saleable trees is the utmost that an acre 

 will produce. Hence but one thousand trees, 

 (meaning of the usual size,) can be sold annually 

 from a one-acre nursery ; — in favorable years more, 

 in others less. Thus it appears that by selling 

 trees of five years old at an average price of twenty 

 cents, a nurseryman will only defray his necessa- 

 ry expenses. At twenty-five cents per tree, we 

 have fifty dollars profit per acre, — which we be- 

 lieve is much more than New England nurserymen 

 have averaged during the past ten years! 



We do not wish to discourage, or, as the phrase 

 is, to cast a wet blanket over this business ; but 

 we ought to mention some of the sources of a nur- 

 seryman's losses. Many trees die from the uncon- 

 genial nature of the soil, or perish under the hands 

 of unskilful or careless laborers. Inserted buds 

 are often frozen ; grafts are dried up ; the trunks 

 are gnawed by mice ; the roots thrown out by the 

 action of the frost ; and the foliage often becomes 

 a prey to lice and other destructive insects. 



Thousands of trees are lost in some or all of 

 these several ways ; and many also from crooked- 

 ness or deformity never become saleable. This is 

 not quite all. A fruit is this year very popular, 

 and nurserymen are tempted to graft it extensive- 

 ly. By-and-by these trees become large enough 

 to be sold, when lo ! the variety has proved to be 

 worthless, and all the trees of it become at once 

 unsaleable, and their value sinks to a level with 

 that of ungrafted stocks of the same size ; or even 

 less than that ; for many of them will hardly out- 

 grow the shock sustained by another grafting. 



Most of what has been said above will apply 

 equally to the cultivation of ornamental trees and 

 flowers. 



Trees and plants of this class become unfashion- 

 able, and then Avorse than useless. Many flower- 

 ing plants are so easily multiplied by dividing their 

 roots, &c, that it is never safe to accumulate a 

 large stock of them. Again, many of them must 

 of necessity be sold during the season, on account 

 of their being of a short-lived or perishable charac- 

 ter. A nurseryman who can foresee the wants of 

 the community two years in advance, will be quite 

 likely to find his business profitable. 



Another matter is worthy of consideration. — 

 The nursery trade is not to be learned in a single 

 week. Ten years' experience might grow rich in 

 the business, when five years covdd hardly get a 

 living, and a yearling novice would certainly starve. 



Upon the whole, while we would advise an in- 

 experienced person to be cautious about plunging 

 rashly into the nursery business, we would by no 

 means discourage enterprising young men from 

 serving an apprenticeship to this trade with a view 

 of setting up fa- themselves, at some future day, 

 when thcyshall have properly qualified themselves 

 for the business. g. j. 



Worcester, Jan. 2-4, 1852. 



Who shalT; teach us ' — Agriculture is both a 

 science and an art. All other arts and sciences 

 are dependent upon it. From it, they spring, and 



