THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
7 
when such a project will be announced. Once formed, 
the stock company would have, besides the nurseries of 
its members, a large tract of land in some desirable 
locality where the business could be extended to an 
almost indefinite point.” 
One of the best known nurserymen of Geneva 
heartily endorses the project of a consolidation. “It 
should be brought about by all means,” said he to 
a representative of The Nurseryman who called upon 
him last week. “ I am too busy to-day to talk at length 
on the subject, but you may say that the idea has my 
cordial endorsement. I have been thinking of it some 
time and I hope soon to see it brought into operation. 
The leading nurserymen of this section should assemble 
at Rochester, where the necessity for such an organization 
could be talked over, and if not at that meeting, certainly 
within a short time the consolidation could be effected. 
The plan would cause a great saving of expense. One 
man, for instance, could do all the buying and another 
all the selling. It would simplify matters greatly. I 
would be in favor of a forfeit to be paid by any member 
of the stock company who should violate the under¬ 
standing arrived at regarding the planting of certain 
kinds of stock. I am glad to sce the subject discussed 
in a trade paper which will undoubtedly do much good 
in matters of this kind among the nurserymen of the 
country.” 
FERTILIZERS FOR TREES IN NURSERY ROW. 
For some years I have been trying to find out if com¬ 
mercial fertilizers are of any use to the grower of trees 
in the nursery. Many of the leading farmers and gard¬ 
eners in this country are using them with great success, but 
I fail to find a nurseryman who has made a success of 
them, although there may be many who would be 
glad to praise them if they had the opportunity. The 
fertilizer problem is a very grave one for us to solve. 
The cost of barn-yard manure and the trouble and ex¬ 
pense of applying it is something alarming to con¬ 
template, in view of the low price of trees, and then to 
think that 70 percent, of all barn-yard manure is nothing 
but water. 
The coming season I propose to make a thorough 
test of the fertilizer question on plums and standard 
pears and see if I can’t carry as much real fertilizing 
value in a bushel basket as I have heretofore drawn on 
a two-horse-wagon. I wish, Mr. Editor, that you 
would get the nurserymen to relate their experiences and 
mode of applying different forms of concentrated plant 
food. 
I shall take pleasure in telling you what I find out 
next season. E. O. Terry. 
Weedsport, N. Y. 
THE OUTLOOK AT GENEVA. 
The general outlook for business at Geneva during the 
coming season is very fair, much better than it was at 
early winter, especially just before the presidential elec¬ 
tion. Dealers in general report good sales, larger than 
last year. Occasionally the familiar tune “ hard selling ” 
is heard, but not so often from those who are- “pushers.” 
Geneva growers would like to have the bottom placed in 
wholesale prices, which seems to have been so completely 
knocked out by people who evidently think that there is 
a large surplus of stock in the market. just where to lay 
the blame for the present condition of affairs is hard to 
tell. It certainly was not brought about by Geneva nur¬ 
serymen, or there would be less stock for sale there. 
While the demand seems to be good, sales at wholesale 
are slow at present. 
Geneva is full of splendid stock, far better in quality 
than the previous years’ production, because of the favor¬ 
able growing season of 1892. Prices of course are very 
low. There is a good supply of apples, pears, plums, 
peaches and other larger fruits, as well as a full line of 
small fruits. Ornamental trees and shrubs, roses, vines, 
etc., are plenty. There have also been large importations 
of English gooseberries, Erench and Holland roses and 
clematis, tree roses, rhododendrons, azalias, and other 
plants not grown largely in this country. 
A pomological meeting and exhibition of great inter¬ 
est was held recently by the Geneva Grange. This grange 
is made up largely of nurserymen, fruit growers and pro¬ 
fessional men from the Experimental Station. In addition 
on this occasion, many of the prominent nurserymen were 
present by invitation. 
There was interesting discussion on various topics re¬ 
lating to fruit growing. The first subject introduced was 
‘ ‘ What kind of fruit growing pays best in this locality V' 
D. H. Patty put in a strong plea favoring Reine Claude 
plums. Mr. Willard \vas decidedly in favor of Keiffer 
pears. E. A. Brown favored a variety of fruits. It 
seems to be the opinion of the largest orchardists in this 
section that apples and plums are the most profitable. 
The subject of commercial fertilizers, including wood 
ashes and stable manure, was discussed and various opin¬ 
ions were expressed. Prof. Beach, of the State P'ann, 
spoke on the question of spraying fruit trees with metallic 
poisons, and said it would take many generations to pro¬ 
duce any injury to the plant, taking 1100 years to satu¬ 
rate the soil with a five per cent, solution one foot deep, 
not allowing for any leaching. The question, “ Is it bet¬ 
ter to plant orchards by varieties separately, or to mix 
the varieties brought forth considerable debate. Sev¬ 
eral leading men advocated separate planting. Mr. 
Hammond held that it made no difference. The major¬ 
ity of those present favored the plan of mixing the varie¬ 
ties. Mr. Willard said there were varieties of straw¬ 
berries and grapes that will not produce fruit unless near 
other varieties, and favored intermingling varieties. 
