THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
9 
OUTLOOK IN THE WEST. 
Fort Scott, Kan., Jan. 25. —The whole region 
west of the Mississippi river has experienced a remark¬ 
ably mild and very dry winter, up to the i8th inst.; so 
dry in fact, that in many places stock had to be driven 
to the large streams and feed hauled to them, simply 
because it was too far to drive to water and back 
again the same day. This was the case, even in Central 
Missouri, which is almost unprecedented, but on the 19th 
inst. the whole trans-Mississippi country was visited by 
a splendid rain, thoroughly soaking the ground, not only 
giving stock much needed water and filling the wells for 
domestic use, but saving the wheat crop from ruin. It 
has changed the outlook from a gloomy to a favorable 
one. You may ask, what this has to do with the nur¬ 
sery business. My reply is, that it has everything, for 
our welfare is closely connected with the farmers. If 
the crops fail, they cannot buy trees, especially in this 
new country, and hence no class of people watch the 
conditions of horticulture and agriculture closer than 
we do. 
The weather has been so mild that, but for the fact 
of the ground being extremely dry, the fruit buds would 
have started so as to jeopardize next season’s fruit crop; 
but in consequence of the dry condition of the ground, 
the buds have not started, and the outlook for a large 
crop of fruit of all kinds is exceedingly promising. 
At the meeting of the Mississippi Valley Horticul¬ 
tural Society at Kansas City a few days ago, it was gen¬ 
erally agreed that unless some disaster happens, the fruit 
crop will be immense next season. Last year there was 
no good fruit crop west of the Mississippi (outside of 
the grape crop), except in some localities. A small sec¬ 
tion in Colorado produced some fine apples and this has 
stimulated planting there the coming spring to a won¬ 
derful degree. The outcome of the nursery business 
last fall, as near as can be learned, is that collections 
were generally fair and the demand for nursery stock is 
much better than it was feared the conditions would 
admit. 
At a meeting of the Western Association of Whole¬ 
sale Nurserymen at Kansas City, December i8th, it was 
found that there was no large surplus of any class of 
stock outside of apple and grape vines, and these two 
articles were not in such large surplus as to jeopardize 
the final marketing. 
It is difficult to estimate the magnitude of the plant 
this year, but from all that can be learned, it will not 
exceed the plant of spring ’93, and probably will be 
less. The planting of commercial orchards continues 
unabated in Missouri, Arkansas, Eastern Kansas, Colo¬ 
rado, and New Mexico, and with a good fruit crop next 
year, the demand for fruit trees will be greatly increased. 
U. B. Pearsall. 
Ctmong (Broilers anb Dealers. 
Robert Douglas of Waukegan, Ill., is passing the win¬ 
ter at Mannville, Putnam Co., Fla. 
Henri de Vilmorin has been re-elected first vice-presi¬ 
dent of the French Horticultural Society. 
P. H. Foster, Babylon, N. Y., and Alexander N. Kay, 
Churchville, O., are going out of business. 
George Gleason, representing Irving Rouse, returned last 
month from France, where he ordered fifty car-loads of 
stocks. 
C. L. Watrous read a paper on “ Apple Growing,” at 
the recent meeting of the Iowa Producers’ Association in 
Des Moines. 
Nelson Bogue, of Batavia, has been appointed by Gov¬ 
ernor Flower a trustee of the New York State Institution 
for the Blind at Batavia. 
A. L. Brooke of North Topeka, Kan., had shipped, up 
to January 6th, 150,000 trees and 1,000,000 seedlings on 
this season’s business. 
In the January issue of The National Nurseryman 
the names of S. M. Bayles, St. Louis, and B P. Hanan, 
Arlington, Kan., appeared incorrectly in their adver¬ 
tisements as “ L. M. Bayles” and B F. Hanan.” 
W. A Manda has withdrawn from personal manage¬ 
ment of the business of the firm of Pitcher & Manda. He 
retains an interest therein. James R. Pitcher will manage 
the business. The name “ Pitcher & Manda” will be re¬ 
tained. 
The Western Trade Journal and Trade Review, of Chi¬ 
cago, pays a high compliment to J. Frank Norris, proprie¬ 
tor of the Brighton Central Nurseries at Brighton, N. Y. 
It refers to the establishment as entirely trustworthy, whose 
goods hav'e been found identically as represented. 
The Greeley (Colo.) Nursery will be under the foreman- 
ship of Richard Olson. Mr. Olson has had nine years’ 
experience in Denmark and as many more in America. He 
has been six years in Colorado, being with C. R. Gallup 
and J. R. Russell most of the time while in that state. 
Lewis Roesch, of P'redonia, N. Y., is especially grati¬ 
fied by the praise which the Chautauqua gooseberry received 
at the World’s Fair, and at the State I^xperiment station at 
Geneva, N. Y. It is declared to be the largest gooseberry 
ever produced in this country and of excellent quality. 
The Ricker National Nursery Co., has been incorpo¬ 
rated at Elgin, III., with a capital stock of $50,000. It 
has purchased the Pdgin Nurseries which were established 
in 1854, and were formerly owned by PC H. Ricker & Co. 
The officers of the new company are : President. PC V. 
Stephens, Crete, Neb.; Manager, PC PI. Ricker, PCgin, Ill.; 
secretary and treasurer, J. G. McGregor, Chicago; directors, 
E. F. Stephens, PC H. Ricker, J. C. Wiltsie, Pi G. Minnick, 
A. McCallum. 
