thp: national nurseryman. 
T5S 
The National Nurseryman. 
C. L. YATES, Proprietor. RALPH T. OLCOTT, Editor. 
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY 
The National Nurseryman Publishing Co., 
305 Cox Building, Rochester, N. Y. 
The only trade journal issued for Growers and Dealers in Nursery Stock of 
all kinds. It circulates throughout .the United States and Canada. 
SUBSCRIPTION RATES. 
One Year, in advance.$1.00 
Six Months.50 
Foreign Subscriptions. 1.25 
Six Months. 75 
Advertising rates will be sent upon application. Advertise¬ 
ments should reach this office by the 20 th of the month previous 
to the date of issue. 
Correspondence from all points and articles of interest to 
nurserymen and horticulturists are cordially solicited. 
Entered in the Post-Office at Rochester, N, Y,, as second class matter. 
ROCHESTER, N. Y., JANUARY, 1894. 
AFTItR A YEAR’S TEST. 
With this number The: National Nurseryman closes 
the first year of its existence. Its publishers have much 
cause for congratulation. In its wake have followed in 
increasing ratio the highest testimonials as to its character 
and worth. It has been pronounced an unequalled medium 
for the transmission of matter of interest to the trade and 
the presentation of the offers and demands of advertisers. 
It is strictly a trade journal and as such has received the 
hearty endorsement of the leading nurserymen of this 
countiy and Europe, as well as the approbation of all. It 
was found that a number of men nominally in the nursery 
business had not the .spirit of progress which leads the suc¬ 
cessful ones to embrace readily an opportunity to become 
thoroughly informed on matters of great importance to 
them, but these are few. 
The new year offers much for the nurserymen of the 
country to consider. The marked changes which have 
affected all kinds of business during the year ju.st closed 
call for earnest thought and diligent application with a view 
of meeting successfully new conditions. There is a prevail¬ 
ing opinion that with the opening of another season the 
effect of better prices will be felt ; at least that a beginning 
on the road to recovery will be made. What the new year 
may have in store cannot be foretold, but no nurseryman 
can make a mistake in procuring literature that applies di¬ 
rectly to his trade. In this way only can the widely scat¬ 
tered intere.sts of the business be brought together for the 
information of each and the benefit of all. 
A trade paper has been given to the nurserymen. It is 
the duty of each individual in the trade to support what he 
must himself admit is the right thing in the right place ; a 
declaration which has been made voluntarily by a hundred 
leading nurseiymen, and oftentimes repeated. 
THE EXPERIMENT STATIONS. . 
There has been considerable criticism of Secretary Mor¬ 
ton’s opposition to the continuance of the appropriation by 
the Department of Agriculture of 15,000 a year to each 
state in which there is an experiment station. But the posi¬ 
tion of the secretary seems to be tenable. He argues 
that the appropriations should cease, because the govern¬ 
ment can at present in no way control the expenditure of 
that money. He believes that much of it has been wasted 
by the duplication of experiments and the lack of system. 
Agricultural colleges were established during the war when 
congress apportioned i ,680,000 acres of government land 
among the states for the endowment of these institutions. 
In the West especially these colleges proved both useful 
and popular. In 1875 an agricultural experiment station 
was established in Connecticut. It was very successful. 
During the next seven years .six other .stations had been es¬ 
tablished in as many states. In 1887 congress made an 
appropriation of ^15,000 to each state owning an experi¬ 
ment station. This lead to a rapid increase in the number 
of stations and at present there are 54, some states having 
two or three. In these Are employed 500 persons and the 
cost per year is ^1,000,000. 
Undoubtedly much has been wasted by the present plan 
of managing the stations. They have been conducted in¬ 
dependently, have duplicated each other’s work and have 
devoted much time and money to that which might ha\^e 
been regarded at the outset as useless. For these reasons 
the government should control the stations and the expen¬ 
diture of the appropriations, or it should not contribute to 
them at all. 
In the interests of horticulture and, therefore, of the nur¬ 
seryman, the experiment station can do much. The station 
can do work which requires continuous investigation ex¬ 
tending over a series of years and this the nurseryman or 
the fruit grower has not time to do. The people are learn¬ 
ing that science is the only sure foundation for horticulture. 
THE MIDWINTER FAIR. 
The enterprise of the Pacific coast is well illustrated in 
the production by the Californians of a Midwinter PAir. It 
has been thought in the Plast that this would be a small 
affair, almost entirely local in character. But this opinion 
is not based upon a knowledge of the facts. Planned upon 
a liberal scale, with buildings that are architecturally and in 
extent at once imposing and adequate to a large display, the 
exhibition itself promises to be practically international 
