THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
67 
From over the sea came William Fell, Hexham, England, 
and E. T. Dickinson, Chatenay, France. 
Invitations to hold the next convention at Niagara Falls or 
at Saratoga Springs were received by the secretary. 
R. C. Berckmans, Augusta, Ga., was detained at home by 
fever contracted during his service in the United States army 
in Cuba. 
More questions and discussions and less long and formal 
papers are what is needed to enliven the sessions of the annual 
conventions. 
Henry Wallis, Wellston, Mo., was enthusiastic over the 
Hicks grape. His samples of wine made from this grape were 
pronounced excellent. 
Hon. A. L. Brooke made a good presiding officer. The 
business of the convention was handled with despatch and in 
a parliamentary manner. 
The Association honored the Eastern men by making Irving 
Rouse chairman of the executive committee and custodian of 
the funds of the Association. 
It is proposed that appropriate silver badges be prepared 
for the next convention which will be the twenty-fifth anni¬ 
versary of the organization of the Association. 
Examine the proceedings and note that the only discussion 
of the convention resulted from the operation of the question 
box which was proposed by the National Nurseryman. 
One of the jolliest of the older members of the Association 
is Alexander Pullen, Milford, Del. He has a smile and a 
pleasant word for every one and now and then a good story. 
D. Hill, Dundee, Ill., invited the members of the American 
Association to visit his 100 -acre patch of evergreens, offering 
transportation. His nurseries are but 40 miles from Chicago. 
My, O My valley was hard hit when Jacob W. Manning of 
Massachusetts popped up to answer the challenge of the sage 
of Phoneton, regarding long service in the nursery business in 
one place. 
A special effort should be made by all who attend next year’s 
convention to aid by every means in their power in procuring 
a sufficient number of railroad certificates to insure the raie of 
one fare and a third. 
The blank page in the badge book for memoranda was a 
good thing, but there ought to have been more of it. A dozen 
blank pages in the badge book would cost little or nothing 
and would be very convenient for the members. 
Several prominent members from the West told the eastern 
members that they would vote in favor of an eastern city for 
the next convention if the latter desired it; but the eastern 
men readily fell in with the suggestion that the Chicago Beach 
hotel be the place. 
“ I’m one of those Chases,” said a member of the Alabama 
Nursery Co., introducing himself to a member of the Associa¬ 
tion. Besides the four Chase;, Herbert S., Charles F., Henry 
B. and Robert C. of that company, there were present Lewis 
Chase of Rochester, the R. G. Chase Co. of Geneva and John 
C. Chase of Derry, N. H. 
There was no party made up to visit the nurseries of P. S. 
Peterson & Son, at Rose Hill, because it was thought the 
Association had too much business of importance to transact. 
It was found that nearly an entire day’s time would be required 
to make the trip. It was suggested, however, that those who 
wished to see the nurseries could do so on Friday the day 
following the close of the convention. 
ACROSS THE DIVIDE. 
Impressions of a Trip Over the Desert Which Separates the Fertile 
Eastern and Central Western States From the Great Fruit 
Country of the Pacific Coast—Almost Limitless Waste of 
Land to Be Reclaimed— Irrigation In Its Infancy. 
While some of those who attended the Chicago convention 
took time to pay brief visits to nurseries near Chicago, or to 
others on their way to their homes, a representative of this 
journal sought acquaintance with the arid plains of the great 
West and the attractions of the mountains in the heart of Co¬ 
lorado. The achievements of modern railroading make possi¬ 
ble such a trip within the limits of the brief respite from daily 
duties that is allowed in the routine of the nineteenth century. 
Boarding the Rocky Mountain Limited on the Chicago, Rock 
Island and Pacific railroad the tourist was speedily transferred 
from Chicago to Kansas City, thence across Kansas and the 
arid plains of Colorado to Denver. How thoroughly are the 
comforts of modern traveling appreciated on such a trip. The 
solid vestibuled trains of the Rock Island, provided with all 
the comforts of a traveling hotel, make such a long trip a 
pleasure. All the officials of this road, from General Passen¬ 
ger Agent Sebastian down, spare no effort to insure the com¬ 
fort of the passengers from beginning to end of their journey. 
The nurseryman seeking recreation and rest could not do bet¬ 
ter than to spend three or four weeks in the Rockies. He 
may leave Chicago on the Rock Island at 10 p. m. and awake 
the second morning in either Denver, Colorado Springs or 
Pueblo. Then he is within easy reach of any point of interest 
in the mountains, on the Denver and Rio Grande or the Colo¬ 
rado Midland railroad. Leadville, Cripple Creek, Creede, 
Silverton and other noted mining towns are within a day’s 
journey, and few hour’s ride takes him to Manitou Springs and 
Pike’s Peak. 
This is a mining rather than a fruit country, yet irrigation 
is doing much for Colorado and in the fertile valleys consider¬ 
able fruit is grown. Encouragement for the extension of horti¬ 
culture in the state is found in the well-equipped nurseries of 
Edward Hubbard, at Boulder; DeWeese & Dye and the Jewett 
Nursery, at Canon City; the Rocky Mountain Nursery and 
Colorado Nursery Co., at Denver; G. J. Carpenter and the 
Grand Valley Nursery and Orchard Co., at Fruita; George J. 
Spear, at Greeley; Edward Sharpe at Montrose and J. N. Bar¬ 
tels & Co., at Pueblo. 
Returning, one may leave either Denver, Colorado Springs 
or Pueblo on the limited express train which runs every night 
on the Rock Island, spend the next day in a Pullman coach, 
in a thoroughly equipped library and buffet car and in a dining 
car, the service of which is unsurpassed and at rates which are 
far more attractive than are those of diners east of the Missis¬ 
sippi, and arrive at Chicago the next morning in time to con¬ 
nect with any train in any direction out of that great railroad 
center of the West. 
The scenery afforded by such a trip is unsurpassed in this 
country and is but seldom equalled abroad. It includes a ride 
through the royal gorge of the Arkansas, over the famous Mar¬ 
shall pass, across the continental divide, through the Black 
canon of the Gunnison, Eagle River canon, the canon of the 
Grande and Tennessee pass. 
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