76 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
Mr. Johnson, Ivesdale, Ill.: “ In Central Illinois we 
have found the Japanese plums tender. They rarely fruit 
there. We have several varieties in orchard. We have 
no Japan in fruit, but plenty of Wild Goose and Potta¬ 
wattamie.” 
Mr. Heikes: “Mr. Johnson may have varieties of 
J apr n plums not suited to his section.” 
GOVERNOR MATTHEWS’ WELCOME. 
At this point Governor Claude Matthews arrived and 
was introduced to the convention. Governor Matthews 
extended a cordial welcome to the nurserymen, whom as a 
farmer he had frequently patronized. “ No class of gen¬ 
tlemen,” said he, “are entitled to receive a warmer wel¬ 
come in any state in which you may be pleased to hold 
your meetings. I am particularly interested in the sub¬ 
ject of forestry. In my last message to the legislature I 
referred to this subject. The magnificent forests, which 
at one time covered our own state have been destroyed 
to make homes for our citizens. To-day it is almost 
equally important that these forests be replaced. Such 
an assembly as this is a proper one to give this subject 
attention. The result might be attained by the exemp¬ 
tion of taxes for a few years to those who will use efforts 
to replace the forest trees. At least no additional tax 
should be imposed by reason of increased valuation of 
forest planted lands. I extend to you all a Hoosier wel¬ 
come, and especially to those who have honored your 
convention by crossing the water to attend.” 
Vice-President Albaugh responded to Governor Mat¬ 
thews remarks, and then announced the following paper 
by Professor Liberty H. Bailey : 
REFLECTIVE IMPRESSIONS OF THE NURSERY BUSINESS. 
It often liap])ens that one who is not actively engaged in any given 
business or profes.sion, hut wiio has ojiportunities to observe the methods 
and the men concerned in it, may form im])ressions of certain features 
oi it wliich may possess quite as much value as those opinions which 
are lield by men who are constantly absorbed in its details. At all 
events, this is my excuse for coming before this body of nurserymen ; 
and if the impres.sions which I present to you are wholly irrelevant or 
even unfounded, you may still be interested to know how' certain phases 
of the niu'sery business strike an outsider. 
In the first place, 1 look upon the nursery business as the foundation 
of our fruit-grow'ing ; and if my remarks seem to have a fruit-grower’s 
bias, it is because I am most fully conscious of the great importance of 
nursery-culture to the evolution of our agriculture. The old type of 
I arming is gradually crumbling away, and new and special industries 
are growing u}>on its ruins. The dcnninant type in this newer move¬ 
ment in the older states is fruit-culture. At the present rate of tree 
planting, the northern half of Western New York, for example, wdll be 
a continuous orchard by the middle of the coming century. Now, all 
Ihese trees come from nurseries of one kind or another, and the variety 
ot fruit which the pomologist plants is determined very largely l)y what 
I he nurserymen can supply. The buyer, of course, makes a choice of 
varieties, but his range is limited, for the number of varieties which the 
nurserymen of any locality sell is really very small as compared with 
the number of known meritorious kinds. If so much of the merit or 
demerit of our fruit-growing depends upon the nurseryman, we must 
first ask what it is that determines the selection of the varieties which 
he grows. 
The nurseryman contends that he grows the varieties which the 
planters Avant,—those for Avhich there is a demand. As a matter of 
tact, he largely lorces the demand by magnifying the value of those 
varieties which are good growers in the nursery. The nurseryman’s 
business ends Avith the groAving of the young tree, and the tree which 
makes the straightest, most rapid and cleanest groAvth is the one Avhich 
finds the readiest sale. Now, it by no means follows that the variety 
which is cheapest and best for the nurseryman to grow is the best for 
the fruit-groAver. Probably every apple-grower is now ready to admit 
that the BaldAAun has been too much planted, Avhilst Canada lied and 
various other varieties Avhich are poor growers in the nursery roAV have 
been too little planted. 
The blame for this condition of things does not rest Avholly with the 
nurseryman, although it is partly his fault. The original difticmlty lies 
in the fact, it seems to me, that our conception, and consequently our 
definition, of what constitutes a first-class tree is at variance Avith the 
truth. We conceive a first-class nursery tree to be one Avhich grows 
straight and smooth, tall and stocky, Avhilst we know that very many 
—perhaps half—the varieties of apples and pears and plums Avill not 
groAv that Avay, In order to make our conception true, we groAv those 
varieties which Avill satisfy the definition, and, as a result, there is a 
constant tendency to eliminate from our lists some of the best and most 
profitable varieties. 
All this coAild be remedied if people were to be taught that viirieties 
of finut trees'may be jirst as different and distinct in habit of groAvth as 
they are in kind of fruit, and that a first-class tree is a Avell-grown 
specimen which hm the characterutic^ of the variety. It seems to me tliat 
it is time for nurserymen to begin to enforce this conception upon the 
])ublic. Why may not a catalogue explain that a tree may be first- 
class and yet be crooked and .gnarly ? Why not place the empliasis 
upon health and vigor, and not upon mere shape and comeliness ? And 
Avhy may not a nurseryman give a list of those varieties which are 
comely groAvers and another list of those Avhich are AvayAvard growers ? 
I am by no means convinced that the time has come for the extended 
jirodAiction of many of these excellent but poor-growing varieties Avhich 
the nurseryman has practically discarded because of their unpleasant 
habit ; but I believe that a beginning should be made in this direction. 
The question really resolves itself into this: Are nurserymen noAv 
.growing and pushing the varieties which are most useful to fruit- 
groAving ? Looking at the question from my OAvn point of vieAv, I 
cannot escape the conviction that the common staple or commercial 
varieties are not ahvays the best for the fruit-grower. If this is true, 
then the remedy is education for the grower, that he may select the 
varieties Avhich are best for his purposes and conditions; but this edu¬ 
cation, it seems to me, should at least be fostered by the nurseryman, 
inasmuch as his ultimate success is determined by the success or profit¬ 
ableness of fruit-.growing. It is a common notion that we already have 
too many varieties of fruits, but I think that it is nearer the truth to 
say that Ave have too fcAv, or, at least, that Ave groAv them with too 
little discrimination as to their uses and the soils and places to which 
they are adapted. At the World’s Fair meeting of this association, I 
presented a paper upon “ Horticultural Gleography ” in which 1 tried 
to point out that the collection of fruits at the Exposition shoAved that 
every well-marked geographical region soon comes to have a tyi)e of 
varieties of its oAvn, and I endeavored to prove that the wholesale 
.growing of many ill-sorted varieties by any one nursery and the indis¬ 
criminate dissemination of them over the country is opposed to the best 
experience in older countries and to the best science. Every Avell- 
informed fruit-grower knoAvs that varieties which are Avorthless Avith 
him may be valuable to one of his neighbors, and the experiment sta¬ 
tion reports upon new varieties show a remarkable diversity of opinion. 
These facts mean that varieties have local adaptations, and that the 
best fruit-groAver, other things being the same, is the one Avho most 
clearly discerns the adaptability of varieties to his OAvn conditions. As 
countries .grow older, these local varieties become more numerous, be¬ 
cause more varieties have originated and because sufficient time has 
elapsed in which their merits, or adaptabilities, have been discovered. 
We may expect, therefore, that the future Avill see a still greater diversi¬ 
fication in varieties, and a greater attention to the selection of varieties 
for particular regions and special Aises on the part of nurserymen,—a 
condition of things which impresses the American horticulturist when 
he visits the nurseries and fruit plantations of Europe. If all this is 
true, the present standard of excellence or merit in nursery stock is 
fictitious and must gradually pass away. 
Another question Avhich I Avish to urge upon you is this ; llow' far is 
the current nursery practice responsible for the barrenness of orchards ‘i 
