THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
125 
LEWIS CHASE. 
Lewis Chase, the president of the Chase Brothers Company, 
whose photograph is reproduced on this page, might justly be 
termed the father of the nursery canvassing business in this 
country, as he started canvassing for the sale of trees in 1857, 
from which beginning grew the firm of Chase Brothers, later 
incorporated under the present style of Chase Brothers Com¬ 
pany. During this time the canvassing business has been 
developed to its present mammoth proportions, and in the fore 
front has always been the concern founded by him. His hand 
has guided its development and the systematizing of the many 
details of the retail nursery business. Many of the prosperous 
firms in the United States and Canada are offshoots of the 
Chase Brothers Company, and their proprietors received their 
business education under his tutelage. Many former employes 
of Chase Brothers Company are now holding responsible 
positions with other concerns, carry¬ 
ing with them its established and 
successful system and methods, thus 
psreading the influence and ex¬ 
ample of Mr. Chase through the 
length and breadth of the nursery 
business of the country. 
Born in Oxford County, Maine, 
in 1830, the earlier years of his life 
were spent on a Maine farm. In 
1856 he, with his brother Ethan, 
was induced to take up the busi¬ 
ness of canvassing for the sale of 
nursery stock as agents, and a year 
later began to operate on their own 
account. Successful from the start 
and working up a large and con¬ 
stantly increasing business, it was 
soon apparent that for its successful 
handling they could not depend on 
other parties for the growing and 
packing of the stock, and therefore 
in 1868 the brothers, with their 
families, moved to Rochester and 
began the planting and growing of 
stock on their own account. In¬ 
creasing steadily year by year, their 
plantings have now reached enor- 
mous 3 proportions, and, with the exception of ornamentals, are 
probably not now exceeded by any concern in Western New 
York. These plantings have always been under the personal 
supervision of Mr. Chase, and the steady increase in the busi¬ 
ness and the satisfaction voluntarily expressed by thousands 
of customers, wholesale and retail, are of themselves tributes 
to his careful oversight and thorough knowledge and watch¬ 
fulness. The business connection of the brothers continued 
unbroken until 1895, when Ethan A. Chase, having previously 
moved to California on account of ill-health, disposed of his 
Rochester interests, thus terminating a successful business re¬ 
lation of nearly 40 years standing. 
In 1890, Lewis Chase established with his brother and 
nephews, the Alabama Nursery Company of Huntsville, Ala., 
whose trade in a wholesale way has rapidly increased, and now 
extends over the entire United States. 
Mr. Chase was one or the incorporators and original trustees 
of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce. He is a life mem¬ 
ber of the American Horticultural Society, a member of the 
Association of American Nurserymen, Western New York 
Horticultural Society, Eastern Nurserymen’s Association, and 
other trade organizations, to whom his advice and counsel, 
founded on long experience, are always welcome. 
Physically and mentally vigorous and strong, he is yet able 
to tire out many of “ the bovs ” during packing season, and 
bids fair to add many useful and busy years to his already long 
experience. 
NOMENCLATURE. 
Mr. MacPherson, the well-known landscape gardener, of 
Trenton, N. J., is a loyal advocate of Kew methods and is ever 
ready to defend them. He takes exception to the intimation 
in the article on nomenclature on 
page 112, in the last issue of The 
National Nurseryman in which 
Meehans Monthly quotes a well- 
known professor on a comparison 
between nurserymen’s catalogues 
and the Index Kewensis. 
Mr. MacPherson says: “The 
Kew way of putting Acer is thus : 
Acer Tartaricum, var. Ginnala ; and 
Acer saccharinum, var. nigrum. No 
nurseryman’s customer need mis¬ 
take. As for the black maple I 
have been over acres of Canadian 
woods and superintended the fell¬ 
ing of large numbers by the most 
expert woodsmen while the trees 
were in foliage. I especially in¬ 
vestigated this variety. The differ¬ 
ence lies in the texture of the wood. 
There is no other difference. Hun¬ 
dreds of trees of Acer saccharinum 
may be examined with the hard and 
soft varieties mixed and passing 
into one another, and no man can 
sort them by any botanical character 
or aspect. Extreme forms of either 
may be selected for any trade char¬ 
acter desired. So with Silphium, the Kew way of putting it is 
Silphium perfoliatum, var. connatum. There are a number of 
nurserymen who will find in time that they cannot afford to 
disregard the march of events, or indulge their customers with 
that which is far from veracious. Customers who really know 
and love their gardens are apt to be better posted on names 
than some nurserymen, and better informed on statistics of the 
vegetable kingdom than some professors 
The horticultural department of the international exhibition 
at Brussels next year will comprise a permanent exhibition ex¬ 
tending from May to November, and a series of special shows. 
That in May will comprise stove, greenhouse, and other plants; 
in June the exhibition will be devoted to roses ; and in 
October to chrysanthemums. The show arranged for July 
will be of a general character. 
lewis chase. 
