Sherman Nursery Company, Charles City, Iowa 
i 
Why Our Stock is Better 
The first or purchase price of a tree or shrub 
is the smallest part of cost; if it fails to survive, 
the customer loses not only its purchase price 
but in addition his planting labor and the time 
required to mature. Naturally, he is dissatisfied 
and disappointed. Therefore, it is well for you 
to be able to inform your prospective purchaser 
why Sherman stock is better and a wiser in¬ 
vestment than ordinary stock offered him for a 
few cents less. 
Starting at the source of all plant life, the 
seed, root or cutting from which it is produced; 
the ancestry of such seed, root or cutting, is the 
first important factor, the same as the ancestry 
and environment of a human being has a bear¬ 
ing on what that individual may develop into 
and how many hard knocks he or she will 
stand. 
In the early history of our firm, we com¬ 
menced to choose and select the most thrifty 
and hardy specimens of individual varieties of 
trees and plants from which to propagate or 
produce the thousands of their children that 
were to follow. 
Various sections of the United States, such 
as the cold, severe climates of our northern 
latitudes, the rugged slopes of the Rocky Moun¬ 
tains, the great semi-arid sections of our West¬ 
ern plains, the mountainous coast range of the 
Northeastern states, the most trying sections of 
Europe, the great expanses of the plains and 
mountains of Japan, China, Russia, Siberia and 
Scandinavian countries, have all furnished their 
quota of trees and plants of vigor and hardiness 
that you, Mr. Salesman, might have the most 
complete assortment of hardy trees and plants 
to offer your customers that have ever been 
assembled by any one firm. 
The names and descriptions in this catalog 
will give you many hints as to the source of the 
original plants of many varieties; for instance. 
Black Hills Spruce from the Black Hills of 
South Dakota; Colorado Blue Spruce fram the 
Rocky Mountains of Colorado; Japan Tree 
Lilac from Japan; Siberian Arbor Vitae from 
the plains of Siberia. Norway Poplar and Rus¬ 
sian Olive also show their source; Patten Pear, 
one of its original parents was the Chinese 
Sand Pear, a wild thorny type which laid the 
foundation for more than thirty years’ work 
and study in the crossing of this variety with 
our highly flavored but more tender varieties. 
The results are worth the effort; fine pears can 
now be grown three hundred miles farther 
north. These are only a few of the instances 
of the source of the original supply which after 
years of choosing, selecting and adapting to the 
climatic conditions of the Middle West, enable 
us to give your customer this varied selection 
of types and varieties of trees and plants to 
beautify his home. 
Northern Grown Seed 
Some time ago we put the following question 
to a professor of one of our Middle Western 
Agricultural Colleges: “In your opinion is the 
saving of hardy Northern grown seed for the 
growing of seedling apple trees, on which our 
different varieties are grafted, of any special 
value to the planter?” He replied, “Most cer¬ 
tainly. In 1924 we planted at the college farm, 
plots of one-year-old seedlings of French Crab, 
Vermont Crab, and Northern grown seedlings. 
The seed for the latter was saved from such 
hardy varieties as Patten Greening, Wealthy, 
Hybernal, etc. The freeze of October, 1925, 
caught all of these under equal conditions of 
soil, culture, etc. An examination of the trees 
in the spring of 19 26 after growth had started 
showed that practically all of the trees from 
French Crab seedlings were killed back to the 
ground line. The Eastern or Vermont Crab 
seedlings were killed back about fifty per cent, 
while the trees from Northern grown seed came 
through in excellent shape. Some of the latter 
were entirely free from injury, and practically 
none were killed back for more than three or 
four inches.” 
The freeze of October, 1925, referred to 
above, killed thousands of trees even as far 
south as Texas. Most nurseries use French 
Crab or Vermont seed to grow the seedlings 
on which they graft the different varieties. Our 
trees are grafted only on seedlings grown from 
Northern Iowa grown seed, saved here at the 
nursery from such varieties as Duchess, 
Wealthy, Hybernal, and the Patten Greening, 
all of which are among the hardiest varieties. 
The above is one reason why our apple trees 
are better. The same practice holds true in 
Plums, Cherries, Pears, etc. Not only are the 
toots from Northern grown seed but the scions 
are Northern grown and the young trees them¬ 
selves are grown to maturity on the open, wind¬ 
swept prairies of Northern Iowa. This makes 
our trees hardy, for none but hardy trees en¬ 
dure. A tree or shrub that stands this test will 
succeed most anywhere. 
A study of the table below will show you that 
Charles City is really “up north” as far as 
weather conditions are concerned—the average 
annual temperature is the same as St. Paul, 
Minnesota. 
Years of 
Av. Temp. 
Av. Annual 
Place 
Record 
Dec.-Jan. 
Temperature 
Altitudes 
Charles City. 
.25 
20 ° 
45° 
1075 ft. 
Huron, S. Dak.... 
....23 
17.5 0 
44" 
1287 ft. 
Helena, Mont. ... 
.24 
24.4 ° 
43“ 
4109 ft. 
Havre, Mont. 
.23 
16 ° 
41° 
2183 ft. 
Kansas City. 
.15 
33.4 ° 
54" 
909 ft. 
LaCrosse, Wis.... 
.31 
2214° 
4 6° 
67 3 ft. 
Omaha, Nebr. ... 
.33 
27%° 
50° 
1105 ft. 
Pierre, S. Dak.... 
.16 
20 ° 
47° 
1455 ft. 
St. Paul, Minn.... 
.31 
19%° 
45° 
7 58 ft. 
The above is no comparison of “freak years.” 
It covers the weather conditions for a genera¬ 
tion. Latitude taken into consideration, Charles 
City has the reputation at the Weather Bureau 
of being the COLDEST SPOT ON THE MAP. 
Our trees are better because they bear early. 
Expert g-rowing and fertilization as well as 
growing each class on soil adapted to it devel¬ 
ops a root system which can be equaled in but 
few nurseries. For this reason our trees trans¬ 
plant well. It is no unusual thing for our trees 
to bear fruit the second year out. 
Our trees are better because they are true to 
name. We grow them ourselves. The buyer of 
nursery stock cannot be sure of getting what 
he orders when dealing with firms who grow 
little or nothing themselves, but buy it wher¬ 
ever they can get it the cheapest. 
Our trees are better because they are packed 
and delivered to the customer better. The ex- 
