The National Nurseryman. 
FOR GROWERS AND DEALERS IN NURSERY STOCK. 
Copyright, 1899, by the National Nurseryman Publishing Co. 
“ Without novelties progress in varieties is impossible —Professor L. H. Bailey. 
-. a. ■ • 
VOL. VII. ROCHESTER, N. Y., JUNE, 1899. No. 5. 
SITUATION IN THE WEST . 
President Brooke Reviews Conditions—Spirit of Trade Firm — 
Stock More Nearly Exhausted Than for Years —Prices Have 
Advanced One Hundred Per Cent.—Still Going Up-Effect 
of the Winter Almost Closed Out Some Nurseries. 
President Brooke of the American Association of Nursery¬ 
men and of the Western Association of Wholesale Nursery¬ 
men has reviewed the prosperous conditions in the West for 
the National Nurseryman as follows : 
Editor National Nurseryman : 
The season, contrary to the expectation of “ the oldest 
citizen,” came in unusually late—a full month behind. This 
reduced the demand quite a good deal. Trade, however, 
came wtll into May. Some trees were sold as late as the 13th 
inst. This is especially true of apple. The situation was not 
very encouraging in the latter part of the winter owing to the 
very severe weather, yet the outcome has been better than 
even the most sanguine could expect. 
The spirit of the trade has been firm, though somewhat 
wavering at first. It grew more steady as the season ad¬ 
vanced. The stock is more nearly exhausted in the West 
than it has been for years, in my judgment. The effect of 
the winter has been almost to close out some of the smaller 
nurseries and greatly curtail the stock of the larger ones. 
Prices have advanced more than 100 per cent, on almost 
all lines since a year ago, and I predict th t they have not 
touched the top yet. The next few years will see the reac¬ 
tion from the effects of a hard winter, and will give us several 
of the most prosperous years of a decade. It seems to me to 
be in the air, and I hope the good times may visit all of the 
fraternity. A. L. Brooke. 
N. Topeka, Kan., May 15, 1899. 
FLORIDA HORTICULTURISTS. 
Stephen Powers, secretary of the Florida Horticultural 
Society, writing to the Country Gentleman, says : After a 
second winter of “United States weather,” the country may 
have a little curiosity to hear from Florida, and Florida now 
makes answer. On May 2-5, the State Horticultural Society 
held its 12th annual session in Jacksonville, with an actual 
attendance of about 175 and a paid-up membership of 352, 
living in eighteen states and six foreign countries. Fully 
ninety per cent, of these are northern men, and practically all 
are orange growers—that, is, we are raising orange trees. 
Even here in Jacksonville we have the roots left. 
There is not in all the annals of horticulture a record of a 
more gallant struggle than that of the Florida orange growers. 
The uncomplaining patience with which they, the second time 
and with some the third time within five years, address them¬ 
selves to the task of restoring their ruined or mutilated trees 
is a splendid illustration of American courage, energy and 
genius. And they will win, too, if not entirely in the old 
latitudes, at least by dropping a little lower down the peninsula. 
The recital of experience by practical growers as to pro¬ 
tection of the trees was intensely interesting and complete. I 
can only mention the principal methods and devices employed. 
First, all agree on the value and efficacy of banking with 
earth, the higher up the better, but it should be done late in 
fall after all growth has ceased and hardened, and only with 
pure, clean, dry sand. All humus or vegetable matter should 
be excluded, if possible, as that has a tendency to smother, 
scald or sour the bark, especially young bark. Cylinders, 
barrels, boxes or cribs were used to hold the sand up three 
or four feet high. The difficulty in banking is that the best 
habit of growth is found to be a low tree branching from the 
ground, and after the tree acquires some size it is almost 
impossible to erect a bank around it. 
All kinds of structures were erected over the trees ; sheds 
from a few square rods to twenty acres in extent, from four¬ 
teen to twenty-five feet high. They were covered with tents 
heated with kerosene lamps or small sheet iron heaters ; with 
galvanized wire and Spanish moss, with palmetto thatch, with 
strawboard, boards, slats (half shade or tight) nailed together 
into panels or woven with wire. The groves were “ fired ” 
with open pine fires, in strings across the north and west sides, 
or all through the grove, one in every square, or every fourth 
square, etc. Coke and soft coal in baskets or small heaters 
were tried. 
It is too early to decide yet which is the best of these many 
methods. The slat shed for those who have the means to 
spare, and the tent with a small heater for those less able, 
seem to be most in favor. 
STARTING A NURSERY. 
A young man asks whether I would advise him to buy a lot 
of root grafts and start a nursery says Samuel Miller, Bluffton, 
Mo. It depends upon one thing ; that is, if he is in a 
region where tree agents never enter, it may be a paying 
business. But if the neighborhood has been canvassed, I 
would advise him to let this business alone. A few years ago 
great piles of No. 1 trees were burned here, because not sold, 
yet all around tree agents furnished trees at double the price I 
would have charged for the same kind of trees. I did not 
attribute this to lack of friendship for, or confidence in me, 
but simply because the agent could persuade them to buy 
trees, even if they did not need them. That is why I quit 
raising trees for awhile. 
