THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
5i 
Ifn Common Council. 
Editor National Nurseryman : 
After our cold winter we gave up all hopes of peaches and 
turned our attention to saving the trees. We sawed off all 
large limbs and followed with shears cutting out the small 
ones. A part of our orchard was only sawed. Among the 
latter is a tree that has been set four years, and borne full 
the three last years. It attracted no attention, as' most other 
trees had done the same. The fiuit is of medium size, light 
color, long and inclined to be flat ; ripens with or before 
Mt. Rose, and is a free-stone of good quality. 
You may imagine my surprise on going to the tree yester¬ 
day to find every limb upon the tree covered with bloom. 
Whether this is a new peach that is not affected by 30° below 
zero or some well-known variety affected by an unknown 
cause, time alone will tell. It was planted for a budded tree, 
stands in an exposed spot, and is surrounded by Crosby and 
Champion and Crawford, which do not average a bloom to 
the tree. W. Cutter & Son. 
Junction City, Kan., May 1, 1899. 
CONSERVATIVE PLANTING COUNSELED. 
Editor National Nurseryman : 
Enclosed find $1 to renew our subscription. As to our aid 
and support you can rely on it, as your journal is the only 
one that just seems to fill the wants of the trade Stock in 
the West is well cleaned up Brush piles were the exception, 
instead of a regular feature. We judge from present indica¬ 
tions that there will be a sharp advance over last season’s 
prices, which are sure to be maintained for three to four years, 
or until production is again above the demand. One would 
think after the experience of the past years that growers 
would have the good sense to keep on middle ground rather 
than to rush in and plant every stock they can buy and 
immediately force prices down again A. C. Griesa & Bro. 
Lawrence, Kas., May 8, 1899. 
FIELD FOR A GOOD FOREMAN. 
Editor National Nurseryman : 
We are pleased to say that from the amount of inquit y we 
have had from our advertisement the last month asking for a 
foreman, we are surely convinced that your paper circulates 
with the nursery people. While we have always tried to give 
employment to our home people, we are anxious to secure a 
first-class man who is thoroughly familiar with the handling of 
peach trees principally. We would like our grading to be 
done a little more correct and we would prefer a man from 
New York state who has had a thorough training in this line. 
While each of our firm take a good share of the work for the 
past year, by increasing our growing of peach, apple and 
pear we find it necessary that we have a first-class man to 
assist us. 
Our budded list of peach the last season aggregated 
1,038,022 and our planting last fall was over sixty acres, 
which should give us at least a million and a half of peach 
this season. Our planting of pear was a hundred thousand 
grafts and a little more than fifty thousand seedlings We 
have not been growing apple in large quantities before, but 
for the past two years we have planted more than 200,000. 
Our planting of asparagus roots this season is more than 
twenty acres and of strawberries sixty acres. While the 
strawberry plant business is conducted on a separate farm 
from the other work by G. A. Harrison, the assistance we 
need is in the tree line, and I hope that applicants for the 
position will take into consideration just what we have before 
us, as most of us know that the nursery business is no easy 
life, for it means long days and sometimes a good part of the 
night. J. G. Harrison & Sons. 
Berlin, Md , May 16, 1899. 
OUTLOOK FOR GRAPEVINES. 
Editor National Nurseryman : 
Previous to the past season, for three or four years, there 
has been an overstock of grapevines, and prices ruled much 
below the cost of production. Many buyers, no doubt, have 
inferred that first-class vines of varieties like Concord, Niagara, 
etc., could be profitably grown and sold at $6 or $7 per M for 
one year and $9 or $10 per M for two year, but such prices 
have driven many out of the business and caused serious losses 
to all propagators. The grade of vines we supply cannot in an 
average season be grown or sold at any such figures, except at 
loss, consequently propagation has been checked and the sur¬ 
plus stock worked off, so that, although 1899 was an unusually 
favorable season for growth, the stock of salable vines in the 
country has been cleaned out very closely, and there are not 
sufficient of two year vines growing to produce two-thirds the 
number that were sold the past season. For one year stock 
about the average number of cuttings have been planted, but 
not nearly as many as in former years. For the coming year 
prices of two year grapevines must rule higher than in the 
year just closed. While price of one year will largely depend 
upon the season, yet we think they must be higher than last 
fall, and on most varieties as high or higher than this spring. 
The year just closed with us has been a successful and 
profitable one, our sales being 35 per cent, to 50 percent, larger 
than in either of the three preceeding years ; nearly all varie¬ 
ties are sold out closely. Collections are fully as good as last 
year. 
Letters from Iowa, Wisconsin, Northern Missouri and other 
portions of the West report a large proportion of the grape¬ 
vines as well as peaches as having been killed the past winter, 
which will cause an unusual demand for replacing them. On 
the whole we consider the outlook very hopeful. 
T. S. Hubbard. 
Fredonia, N. Y., May 19, 1899. 
AGENTS’ OUTFITS. 
Editor National Nurseryman: 
I am at this time and have been for several years past a sub¬ 
scriber to the National Nurseryman. I cannot get along 
without it. I have several times noticed that correspondence 
of interest to nurserymen is solicited. 
As you no doubt are aware the retail nurserymen to conduct 
their business require the services of large forces of canvassing 
agents. Now I am sure that the nurserymen make a -great 
mistake in not requiring the agent to make a small deposit, say 
$1, as a guarantee of good faith. This plan has long been fol¬ 
lowed by book, silverware, clothing and other concerns em¬ 
ploying agents, and why should not the nurserymen do the 
same ? 
The nurserymen will get hold of a lot of names of parties 
interested in agency business and will mail their circulars stat- 
