38 



THE STORKS 6- HARRISON NURSERIES. 



how the nurseryman must cater to public opinion. Of 

 the 205,000 pear trees now being grown upon this place, 

 80,000 are dwarfs and 125,000 standards. Last year 

 there were 50,000 of the former and 100,000 of the 



Fig. 2. A Block of Junipers. 



latter, A few years ago the proportion of dwarfs was 

 almost insignificant. Among the dwarfs the Duchess 

 takes first place, numbering nearly one-half of the 

 whole amount. Among the other items which it was a 

 surprise to see in such large amounts were the weeping 

 willows. A block of 10,000 of these testified the hold 

 which these somewhat doleful trees have upon the 

 popular fancy. Their extensive use in cemetery dec- 

 oration helps to explain ihe demand. 



A rose block of six acres, containing a hundred thou- 

 sand plants, was a noticeable feature, although my visit 

 was so late that but slight bloom remained upon them. 

 Earlier in the season, I was assured, they would have 

 presented a sight worth coming a long way to see. A 

 fact worth noting is the condition of the soil in which 

 these roses were propagated. It is heavily enriched 

 every year with a good dressing of composted stable 

 manure, and after every second crop is taken off it is 

 sub-soiled to the depth of eighteen inches. Prior to 

 being set to roses, it had yielded three tons of hay per 

 acre. 



Other points of interest about the grounds were : A 

 block of some three thousand young strawberry trees 

 {^Euonymus Europcviis), with their scarlet fruits glowing 

 brightly, suggesting what a contrast they would afford 

 when the ground should be covered with snow beneath 



them ; long rows of Hovey's Golden arbor-vitse, the 

 most beautiful hedge plant we have, but as yet too ex- 

 pensive for general use for this purpose ; a beautiful 

 block of Irish junipers (Fig. 2) ; a tract of thirty acres 

 of rich black soil, occupied wholly with small fruit 

 plants, ten acres being given to strawberries; four acres 

 of osiers, cultivated in single stools which are kept cut 

 close to the ground and which throw up each season 

 long slender sprouts which are used for tying ; and lastly 

 the beds of blooming plants — dahlias, hardy hydran- 

 geas, altheas, wigelias, etc. — making bright relief 

 against the prevailing brown or green of the nursery 

 rows. 



Among the specialties of this company are the Idaho 

 pear and the Crawford strawberry, of the latter of 

 which they were the introducers ; and Yellow Globe 

 onion seed, of which they produce this season about one 

 and a half tons. A tract of land immediately about the 

 offices is given up to greenhouses (Fig. i ), packing grounds, 

 cold storage rooms, etc. The sale of greenhouse plants 

 is a most important part of the business, and to them are 

 devoted twenty-four houses, each nearly one hundred feet 

 in length, and a large amount of supplemental hot-bed 

 sash. The cold storage cellars (Fig. 3) have a capacity 

 of 12,000 cubic feet, and here trees, vines and plants are 

 stored during the winter to protect them from freezing 

 and to have them ready for early spring shipment. 



In packing for shipment, six car loads of sphagnum 

 moss are used annually, and sixty thousand feet of lum- 

 ber for boxing. To keep up the fertility of the land, 

 five thousand dollars are expended annually for fertil- 

 izers. Stable manure is used almost exclusively, being 

 bought at the uniform price of fi.25 per ton delivered 

 upon the ground. Labor is an important item of the 

 expense account, some forty men being employed nearly 

 the whole year. On the whole, a large nursery which 

 has been built up by years of careful and honorable 

 effort is impressive ; not only because of the suggestion 

 of wide-spread and long-continued fruitfulness, as it^ 

 products are dispersed upon the land, but as an example 

 of what may be done in building up an occupation which 

 has for a basis the cultivation of the soil. 



Jas. K. Reeve. 



Fig. 3. Cold Storage Houses. 



