THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
29 
WHY ORDERS DIMINISH. 
Neglected Orchards Form a Depressing Object Lesson to Would-Be 
Planters aud Thus Injure the Nursery Trade — Where Success¬ 
ful Growers Are Established There Is Sure To lie a De¬ 
mand for Trees—The Observations of An Orchardlst. 
It has been very noticeable, at almost all hoiticultural meet¬ 
ings for years past how earnestly successful members have 
advised further planting of apple orchards as well as proper 
care of those already planted, says a Monroe county, N. Y., 
correspondent of Country Gentleman. In view of the number 
of barren orchards to be seen everywhere, this planting advice 
would seem, at first sight, to be questionable. But, is it really 
so ? Any one, driving along the road during late summer, may 
observe an orchard in which the trees are destitute of fruit, or 
at most have a few gnarly specimens on them, and yet,a few 
rods further on he will come upon 
one, planted with the same variety, 
wherein is a large crop of apples of 
the choicest kind. Now, if one man 
can obtain good Jesuits, why not the 
other ? It is possible that a differ¬ 
ence in the soil may cause the differ¬ 
ence; but, as the two orchards are 
nearly contiguous, it is far more pro¬ 
bable that the owner of the one is 
shiftless while that of the other at¬ 
tends carefully to his business. 
List year the contrast was particu¬ 
larly apparent, for in the well-tilled 
orchards the display of fruit, both 
as to color and size, was grand, but 
in those which had been neglected, 
the apples, such as they were, had 
mostly dropped, as the trees were in 
no condition to withstand the excep¬ 
tional heat and drouth. Such object 
lessons should appeal to any man 
owning fruit trees, but so curiously 
is human nature constituted, they 
unfortunately do not to many. 
Some orchards in this neigh¬ 
few years tends to show that, until the smaller growers have 
decided to adopt better methods of fruit growing, which the 
greater number seem unwilling or unable to do, a temporary 
cessation of planting would be better for all growers alike. 
I his may appear antagonistic to the interests of the nursery¬ 
men, but in reality it is not. When the orders diminish it is 
not so often because of hard times as because would-be grow¬ 
ers see so many others making nothing out of their neglected 
fruit crops that they are afraid to invest. Wherever a few suc¬ 
cessful growers are established, there is sure to be a demand 
for trees. 
Nurserymen cannot too seriously impress upon their customers 
the absolute necessity of caring for their trees; on the latter’s 
doing so depends the future of their business. The trees may 
be the best in the world, but they will be a detriment rather 
than an advertisement if they are not properly cultured. Just 
as soon as the markets are supplied, no matter how great the 
quantity, with only good, uniform 
fruit, just so soon will the demand 
for it correspond to the supply ; 
prices will improve, and nurserymen 
will increase their trade. Until that 
time arrives, we must put up with 
things as they are, at present un¬ 
satisfactory to good and bad growers 
alike. Of all concerned I do not 
know but the public is most to be 
pitied after all. 
CHARLES A. MAXSON. 
Charles A. Maxson. 
borhood, not considered large, have paid their owners from 
$500 to $ 1,000 each. Just consider what an acreage and what 
labor must be devoted to such crops as whe?t, oats or corn to 
realize like sums ! The average yield per acre of wheat here 
this year was not above 22 bushels, which, at 70 cents per 
bushel would give $ 15 . 40 ; an acre of apple orchard, trees two 
rods apart, contains forty trees; a low estimate for this year, 
where trees are fair size, is barrels of No. 1 fruit per tree, 
which, at $2 per barrel, amounts to $ 120 . An orchard of 
seven acres of Northern Spy apples on the large farm adjoin¬ 
ing my place yielded 605 barrels. 
I have reference rather to farmers and others who wish to 
add a moderate sum to their other sources of income than to 
those who raise large quantities for shipping. In this connec¬ 
tion, it is doubtful if a more extended planting of plums, cher¬ 
ries and the earlier varieties of pears is advisable in this section 
for the present, since the quantity of these fruits of poor qual¬ 
ity offered for sale, with resulting low prices, during the past 
One of the representative nursery¬ 
men of Michigan is Charles A. Max- 
son, treasurer and general manager 
of the Central Michigan Nursery Co., 
at Kalamazoo. Like many other 
prosperous business men of the Cen¬ 
tral and Western states, he is a New 
Yorker, having been born at West 
Burlington, Otsego county, N. Y., on 
April 1 , i 860 . When he was 6 years 
of age, his father accidentally shot 
himself with fatal results, leaving 
a family of six children. At 11 years of age the subject of 
this sketch began earning his own way in the world by taking 
a position in his uncle’s dry goods store at Cooperstown, N. Y., 
and for five years worked summers to earn money to purchase 
clothes and books to attend school winters. At the age of 16 
he secured a position in the office of J. F. McCrea & Co., De¬ 
troit, a firm of jobbers, representing Ellwanger & Barry, of 
Rochester, and Smiths &: Powell Co., of Syracuse, remaining 
with them until 1881 , when he accepted a position in the 
American National Bank of Detroit, and during the ten years 
he was employed there he did a jobbing business, purchasing 
his stock in New York state and Michigan. 
In 1891 Mr. Maxson went to Kalamazoo and began to 
devote his entire attention to the nursery business. The Cen¬ 
tral Michigan Nursery Co. has 400 acres, a large part of the 
land being devoted to the growing of nursery stock in general 
assortment. Mr. Maxson has been married 17 years and has 
one daughter, 14 years old. 
Association of Nurserymen 
Association. 
He is a member of the American 
and of the American Protective 
