33 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
TURISING DOWN ORDERS . 
Jackson & Perkins Company Could Have Sold Much More Stock 
Had It Been Available—Heavy Sales Throughout the Year 
Are Expected—J. G. Harrison <ff Sons Break Their Record 
—Cannot Fill Orders Fast Enough—At Geneva. 
Newark, N. Y., April 14 —Jackson & Perkins Co.: “Spring 
sales with us have not been quite up to those of a year ago* 
but chiefly for the reason that we have not had the stock to 
sell. Our shipments last fall were fully thirty per cent, 
heavier than usual and this together with the somewhat un¬ 
favorable growing season of last summer quite depleted our 
stock so that we had not our usual quantity of goods to offer. 
We think the general experience has been that sales this spring 
have, on the whole, been very much heavier than for some 
years past and we know that we have been turning down 
orders to an amount that would have brought our own ship¬ 
ments up to far more than the usual amount. Some few lines 
of stock for which there seemed to be quite good demand 
early in the season have been moving rather slowly for the 
last few weeks. We find standard pears, plums and peaches 
to be especially dull, although peaches seemed to be in quite 
strong demand early in the winter. We do not grow so much 
of this class of stock, however, as we do of roses, clematis and 
ornamental plants and are not in a position authoritatively to 
state the situation in regard to them. So far as we can judge, 
the outlook the coming year is a very favorable one and we 
expect a heavy trade throughout the year." 
Berlin, Md., April 13. —J. G. Harrison & Sons: “We 
have more orders than in any year since we have been in 
business. We are digging from 50,000 to 125,000 strawberry 
plants per day, according to weather, and can’t fill orders fast 
enough. Peach nearly cleaned up, except early varieties! 
This has been a season for late yellow peaches. Apples have 
sold freely of late sorts ; plum in fair demand ; Eeiffer pears 
are bloomers, fair supply and profits on right side. Asparagus 
roots sell faster than we can dig them. There is room for 
increase in price to cover expense of growing same, as there is 
considerable expense on them. There will be but little sur¬ 
plus.’’ 
Geneva, N. Y., April 15.—R. G. Chase Company: “We 
are now in the midst of our shipping. Sales for the past year 
have been better than the previous year. This, together with 
better prices, makes the nursery business a bit more encourag¬ 
ing. We do not expect to make such heavy sales in the future, 
on account of the advance in prices on all lines of nursery 
stock. We are still planting about 50 acres a year, and have 
a general line of first-class stock coming on.” 
Syracuse, N. Y., April 12 .—Smiths & Powell Co.: “Our 
sales have been and are good for spring, and we do not expect 
to have much salable stock left over. Prices are very much 
better and the outlook is favorable for the future of the nur¬ 
seryman, provided too much stock is not planted and thus 
overdo the business.” 
Bridgeville, Del., April 16 .—Myer & Son : “It is very 
gratifying to us to report on our spring sales as being larger 
than ever this season ; also, with prices ruling higher than 
other seasons on most lines of stock and payment more prompt, 
we see a general improvement all around. 
“ We have a very small surplus of peach trees and straw¬ 
berry plants left at this time ; all other stock about cleaned 
up. Our prospects for a peach crop are fine ; raspberries and 
blackberries a little damaged.” 
ARBORICULTURE AND POMOLOGY. 
An international congress of Arboriculture and Pomology 
will be held in Paris, September 13 and 14 , 1900 . The pro¬ 
gramme of the points to be discussed at this congress contains 
questions of great interest, and of a nature to produce fruitful 
results. 
It is advisable that the United States be represented at this 
congress Already upon the patronage committee may be 
seen the names of the following gentlemen : The chief of the 
Division of Pomology of the United States Ministry of Agri¬ 
culture ; Charles L. Watrous, president of the American 
Pomological Society ; P. J. Berckmans, president of the 
Horticultural Society of the State of Georgia, at Augusta. 
Communications and applications for membership should be 
addressed to M. Nomblot, Secretarie General, a Bourg-la- 
Reine (Seine). 
BUSH APPLE TREES. 
In a recent issue of the Gardeners’ Magazine of London, A. 
Pettigrew of the Castle Gardens, at Cardiff, Wales, writes : 
The apple and pear trees here have been much admired by 
professionol gardeners and nurserymen from all parts when 
visiting this place, and perhaps it would interest some of the 
readers of the Gardeners’ Magazine were I to give a short 
account of how they have been cultivated—with some 
measure of success—during the last quarter of a century. 
Our apple trees are trained in bush form, and were planted 
when maidens of one year’s growth from the bud (on the free 
stock) at the distance of twelve feet apart in the row, by the 
side of the garden walks. As soon as the trees were planted 
the maiden growth was cut back to within a foot of the 
ground, leaving from three to four good plump buds to form 
a leader and framework for building up the tree. They have 
grown remarkably well, and in some quarters of the garden 
every other tree has been taken out, and the permanent trees 
are now standing at the distance of twenty-four feet apart, 
and still meet each other in the row. The trees are from 
fifteen to twenty feet high, and furnished to the ground with 
healthy fruit-bearing branches, which seldom fail to yield good 
crops. They are pruned regularly every year as soon as the 
leaves fall, leaving from eighteen inches to two feet of young 
wood on the permanent branches, according to their strength. 
Hard pruning of young trees is a great mistake and should not 
be practiced at any time. The trees are then thoroughly washed 
with soft soap and hot water with a spoke brush, and afterwards 
syringed all over with a mixture of one wineglassful of petro¬ 
leum to a gallon of water, which kills any insect pests that may 
be left on the trees. After this the ground over the roots is 
heavily mulched with good rotten stable manure, which induces 
the roots to keep near the surface, and also prevents them from 
being injured by drought during the hot summer months. 
As a matter of fact I may say that none of the fruit trees in 
the garden have ever been lifted or root pruned at any time 
since they were planted with the idea of inducing fruitfulness. 
Richard Layritz, Victoria, B. C.—“Enclosed please find $2 sub¬ 
scription for your esteemed paper in 1900 and 1901.” 
