THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
79 
SILAS WILSON. 
Silas Wilson was born at Moundsville, Marshall County, 
W. Va., May i6, 1846. He served his country in Co. A , 
7th W. Virginia Infantry, second army corps, commanded 
by the gallant Hancock; is a member of Gen. Sam Rice 
Post, No. 6, Department of Iowa, Grand Army of the Re¬ 
public. He received a gunshot wound at the battle of 
Hatcher’s Run in the seige of Petersburg, from which he 
has never fully recovered. At the close of the civil war 
Mr. Wilson took Horace Greeley’s advice, went West and 
grew up with the country. He located at Winterset, Iowa, 
after which in a few years he moved to Atlantic la., his 
present home. 
Mr. Wilson began the nursery business on four acres of 
land. By industry and well directed efforts his business 
has grown until now he has one 
of the largest and best nurseries 
west of the Mississippi river. He 
is one of the largest grape pro¬ 
pagators in the United States, 
having grown in a single year as 
high as 2,750,000 vines by actual 
count. The Silas Wilson Co. was 
incorporated June 13, 1893. Silas 
Wilson is president and general 
manager. Mr. Wilson has, per¬ 
haps, the largest personal ac¬ 
quaintance of any nurseryman 
west of New York State. He was 
president of the Iowa State 
Horticultural Society four years 
also treasurer of the same 
society for a number of years. He 
was called upon to represent his 
district in the twenty-first general 
assembly of Iowa, and so dis¬ 
tinguished himself that he was 
renominated without opposition 
and re-elected by increased ma¬ 
jority. He was made chairman 
of the railway committee of the SILAS 
twenty-second general assembly. His committee in¬ 
troduced and secured the passage of the great rail¬ 
way law of Iowa, known as House file 373, perhaps 
the best railway law of any state in the Union, in 
which the great question of state control was involved. 
The contest in the assembly was long and bitter, lasting 
about seven weeks. For this faithful and efficient ser¬ 
vice Mr. Wilson was the third time renominated by ac¬ 
clamation and re-elected by increased majority. This 
action of the people of his district gave him such prom¬ 
inence that he was the unanimous choice of the Repub¬ 
licans for speaker of the twenty-third general assembly. 
His selection of committees gave such general satisfac¬ 
tion that it made him the leading candidate for representa¬ 
tive in the fifty-second congress from the ninth congress¬ 
ional district of Iowa. After having a decided majority 
in the convention the postmasters and politicians com¬ 
bined together and defeated his nomination after one 
hundred or more ballots had been taken, he receivine 
within one and one-third enough votes to nominate. Such 
action resulted in the loss by the Republicans of the con¬ 
gressman in the ninth district, which is a strong Repub¬ 
lican district. Mr. Wilson married Miss Edna Ayle.s- 
worth of Cass County, Iowa, in September, 1875. '\ hey 
have two boys, aged 16 and 12 years. 
THE SEASON AT WESLEY, MD. 
Wesley, Md., June 18.— William M. Peters’ Sons: 
“The season just closed has been a very satisfactory one 
to us, in all respects. While it has been a very cool, wet 
spring, we never had a better per¬ 
centage of buds to start, and they 
are now looking vigorous. We 
have been growing peach here for 
25 years; one block containing 
300,000 is as handsome a sight as 
the writer ever beheld, at this 
season of the year. Other smaller 
blocks look equally as good, but 
the size of the former naturally 
attracts attention. The straw¬ 
berry crop is now drawing to a 
close; it has not been a very sat¬ 
isfactory one, late frosts in con¬ 
nection with the wet cool weather 
being very much against them. 
Young patches planted this 
spring are now starting off very 
nicely on our grounds. Lady 
Thompson is showing the best 
growth at this time. Grape and 
plum cuttings, of which we 
planted 150,000 this spring, are 
starting reasonably well. In fact 
up to the present time I see no 
reason why the stock for this fall 
and next spring trade with us, should not be equally as 
good in quality of growth, and as far as quantity is con¬ 
cerned, it will be more than double that of last season. 
'1 he prospect for a large crop of peaches and apples in 
this county is very poor. There will be some pears if 
nothing comes to destroy them from now on.” 
WILSON 
Secretary Samuel Reynolds of the Douglas County, 
Kan., Horticultural Society, in a plea for the planting of 
apple trees, says: “Trees are cheaper now than they 
may be for many years to come, and the Kansas soil is 
now in excellent condition for planting and we have 
good, honest nurserymen all around us, who strive to 
maintain a good reputation, therefore plant more apple 
trees.” 
