THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
145 
JAMES A. THAYER. 
sible position of secretary and treasurer. He is also one 
of its directors, and his strong personal efforts in its be¬ 
half, have been instrumental in bringing it to the success¬ 
ful permanency it now enjoys. Mr. Thayer is also a 
director and secretary and treasurer of the Farmers’ Reli¬ 
ance Mutual Fire Insurance ' company of Chemung, 
Schuyler and Yates counties, and his thorough knowledge 
of matters pertaining to agriculture, particularly qualifies 
him for'this important position His selection was a wise 
one and he has been successful, during his term of office, 
in placing many thousands of dollars of insurance in Yates 
and adjoining counties. Mr. Thayer has also been secre¬ 
tary of the Yates County Agricultural society for a large 
portion of the time 
for the last fourteen 
years. He has been 
a lifelong Republi¬ 
can and is a power 
in local politics. 
Mr. Thayer is what 
may be termed a 
successful man. He 
comes from the best 
pioneer stock and is 
a direct descendant 
on his mother’s side, 
of Roger Williams. 
His success in life 
is accredited to his 
thoroughness and 
tenacity of purpose. 
Honorable, upright 
and a man of in¬ 
tegrity, Mr. Thayer 
enjoys the respect 
a n d confidence of 
all. 
Professor Man¬ 
ning, of the Royal 
Botanical Society 
of England, alleges 
that more than one 
thousand varieties 
of pears are known 
to European horticulture, notwithstanding the blight. 
The peach crop of Georgia, in a good year, amounts to 
6,500,000 bushels. The actual statistics in 1889, a com¬ 
paratively good year, showed 5,525,119 bushels. The 
standard variety for markets is the Elberta, while the 
Alexander, Beatrice, Foster and Crawford’s Early are 
grown for the very early market. For the local market 
and home use a large number of varieties are grown. The 
peaches in a fresh state are shipped to almost every large 
market in the North and East. Georgia is now the largest 
peach growing state in the Union. 
JAMES A. THAYER. 
To James A. Thayer as much as to any other man in 
Yates county is due the credit of putting on a substantial 
footing the many organizations pertaining to agriculture, 
with which he has been more or less prominently identi¬ 
fied. Mr. Thayer is what may be termed a scientific 
farmer, and, although a young man yet, has given such 
close attention, and made his favorite occupation such a 
thorough study, as to make his opinions valued by all who 
have had occasion to seek them. Mr. Thayer owns and 
occupies one of the finest farms in the state of New York, 
a short distance south of Penn Yan, and under his careful 
management i t s 
high state of culti¬ 
vation has made its 
productiveness pro¬ 
verbial. On it is one 
of the finest vine¬ 
yards in the Lake 
Keuka region, and 
the cultivation of 
the vine has led Mr. 
Thayer into deeper 
researches in the 
matter of viticul¬ 
ture, until now the 
many articles he has 
contributed to the 
press from time to 
time on the subject 
of grape culture are 
quoted as authority. 
Mr. Thayer was 
born on the farm on 
which he now re¬ 
sides. At the age 
of sixteen he com¬ 
menced teaching 
school, thus occupy¬ 
ing his time during 
the winter and at¬ 
tending school in 
the summer. He 
taught in Dresden, 
Milo center, Crosby and other places, and also several 
terms at Sunbury, Pa. He became clerk of the board of 
supervisors and held the office during the years i882--’83. 
In 1884 he was elected school commissioner of Yates 
county, and held the office for six years and during that 
period by his special fitness for the position, elevated the 
grade of district schools to such an extent, as to receive 
special commendation from the superintendent of public 
instruction. On his retirement from that office, he be¬ 
came identified with various enterprises, and on the forma¬ 
tion of the Central New York Grape Growers’ union, he 
was the unanimous choice of the directors for the respon¬ 
