74 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
IRecent l|>ublicattons. 
U. S. Department of Agriculture publications.: ‘‘Economic 
Grasses,” F. Lamson Scribner ; “ Practical Tree Planting in Operation,” 
.T. W. Tourney ; “ Experiment Station Record, Nos. 9 and 10 of Yol. XI. 
The Year Book of the U. S. Department of Agriculture for 1899 has 
been issued. It is in style uniform with the Year Books of 1897 and 
1898 and the contents are of great value to all who are interested in 
any branch of agriculture. There are 26 articles by special writers 
who had made the subjects treated a life work. George William Hill, 
the editor of the Year Book has compiled a volume of 880 pages which 
will be valued every time it is referred to and which is a credit to the 
Department. 
“Modern House Plans for Everybody,” for village and country resi¬ 
dences, costing from $250 to $8000, including full descriptions and 
estimates in detail of materials, labor, cost, and many practical sug¬ 
gestions, is a recent work by S. B. Reed, architect. The plans com¬ 
prise almost every variety of arrangement and style; each one is 
accompanied by a detailed description of its convenience and construct- 
tion; and its cost is shown by careful estimates, made to correspond 
with a uniform standard of prices at present rates. Illustrated, 12mo, 
pp 243. Price, postpaid, $1. New York : T*iie Orange Judd CO¬ 
IN CUBA AND PORTO RICO. 
The following paper was read at the Chicago Convention 
by Robert C. Berckmans, Augusta, Ga.: 
Mr. President and Gentlemen:—How easy to promise and how hard 
to perform. To a person from the temperate zone who enters the 
tropics in midwinter, the transition is like a dream of fairy land ; from 
snow and ice to vernal sunshine, from heavy wrajps to the thinnest of 
cotton fabrics, from the howling of wintry blasts to the ripple of 
summer seas, and a perpetual spring. 
Landing on the coast of Cuba, as the writer did one Sabbath morn¬ 
ing by chance, when our vessel ran her bows on the beach at Piscadora, 
the consequent delay of twenty-four hours enabled us to make a short 
tour ashore to a fishing hamlet. Sanitary reforms had not yet reached 
this place, but the women in their simple Sunday fineries, and the 
ever restless fan, the children like Godiva, “clothed in chastity,” 
seemed healthful and content. A sugar planter living near, extended 
the hospitalities of his home ; a courtesy we accepted, for here we 
found much to interest one engaged in horticultural pursuits, though 
the class of trees and plants is somewhat different from what the nur. 
seryman comes in contact here in the States. 
I will try to give, as well as I can, a synopsis of the conditions and 
prospects of the nursery business in this island, gathered from personal 
observations and correspondence with some of our patrons, who have 
planted fruits purchased from us from time to time. 
Will these new possessions offer a new field for the nurseryman ? Yes. 
we might answer, but it will be out of the question to do justice to the 
varied possibilities of this enormous scope of territory, and no attempt 
will be made to speak of any, except Cuba, and that in a very general 
way. This island, as we well know, is composed of various soils, all 
of which are rich in plant food ; and fertilizers are seldom used, in 
fact almost unknown. The mountains are of coral formation, and the 
lowlands are extremely rich in lime and phosphates. You will see the 
wealth of this island lies in the great fertility of her soil. 
The principal industry of Cuba has been for many years the cultiva¬ 
tion of sugar cane. Cattle raising has been an important industry in 
the past ; but has never been developed to the extent which the nat. 
ural conditions would seem to warrant. Besides, sugar, tobacco and 
coffee, Cuba produces all the fruits known to the tropics, and many 
belonging to the temperate zone. Among these are the pineapple, 
banana, mango, guava, lime and orange. This latter fruit might be 
greatly improved by growing the more improved varieties, and also 
the great advantage to be derived from the crossing with some of the 
native varieties. But few of these fruits find their way to our markets, 
except the orange, lime, banana, pineapple and cocoanut. There are 
but two seasons in Cuba, the dry and rainy. The rainy season begins 
in May and ends in October, and two-thirds of the annual rainfall 
occurs during the months from June to October. Now here might be a 
difficulty that would confront the growing of fruits not native to the 
country ; but this could be overcome by irrigation, as the country is 
well watered with rivers, creeks and other natural reservoirs, which 
could be used to great advantage in the dry season. 
Which of our fruits do well in Cuba ? This may be somewhat diffi¬ 
cult to arrive at, as nearly all experiments which were being carried 
on previous to the war were abandoned, and suffered from neglect. 
In Santa Clara province there were quite a number of planters who 
were growing, on a small scale, Japanese plums, persimmons, pears, 
peaches and apricots, all of which were fruiting and doing well, but 
our correspondent says they were abai-doned during the insurrection, 
and but few varieties have survived, but he has no dcubt that these 
fruits would be a success if properly cared for. Blackberries have 
been repeatedly tested but seem to be a failure as the varieties were 
not adapted to the climate. Strawberries do well and yield most 
abundantly. On the highlands about Trinidad in this province, apples 
have been grown without any especial care, large and fine looking 
fruit, but of poor quality, owing to the variety planted. Pears, also, 
do well in this locality, but those tested were of poor quality. I 
learned that these plantings were from seed brought from Spain. 
There seems to be no doubt that many of our fruits would do well on 
the Trinidad hills, as the climate is more temperate than on the lower 
plains. But where one culivator succeeds, another fails. Why? Not 
because Providence does not fulfill the promise “ that seed time and 
harvest shall not fail,” but because in instances of failure, the condi¬ 
tions of success have not been complied with. Perhaps there was the 
want of judicious selection of varieties best suited to the soil or climate. 
Some varieties are constitutionally delicate and feeble and are of course 
more subject than others to climatic influence. Peaches of the Chinese, 
type should be given the preference in planting, as they seem more 
suited to the extreme southern latitudes, but many of the early ripen, 
ing varieties of the Persian type, would no doubt succeed equally as 
well. 
What an inviting field of labor does this country offer for horticul¬ 
ture in its vast extent Qf rich soils of every variety and its varying 
altitudes ranging from the sea to the mountains, a country fast filling 
up with a new and enterprising population and it will doubtless sustain 
a corresponding superiority in the cultivation of fruits. Owing to 
the unsettled condition of the country, there is little yet being done in 
the line of horticulture, but with all government affairs finally settled, 
as they promise to be, it seems as if there might be a future for the nur. 
seryman in Cuba and Porto Rico, in the line of citrous fruits more 
especially than in pomaceous and stone fruits. 
The cause we seek to advance will ere long, I trust, adorn her hills 
and vales with the choicest fruits of earth, with their enamelled blos¬ 
soms unfolding their bosoms to the warm embrace of vernal air, be¬ 
spangling the orchards with starry spray and rainbow hues, sweet 
harbinger of a bountiful harvest. The velvet peach mantled with 
beauty’s softer blush, grapes clustering beneath its bower of green 
foliage, plums veiled with silvery bloom, apples tempting the human 
taste, from the mother of our race to her last fair daughter. 
Hono anb Short. 
Apple seedlings are a specialty with Youngers & Co., Geneva, Neb. 
Tree seeds may be had at the Pinehurst Nurseries, Pinehurst, N. C. 
Benjamin Chase, Derry, N. H., is a synonym for tree labels that are 
right. 
Cherry and peach are wanted at the Titus Nursery, Nemaha, Neb. 
They have apple seedlings by the million. 
Tree labels that are perfectly wired and smooth are offered by the 
Dayton Fruit Tree Label Company, Dayton, O. 
Peach, apple, grape vines, Sugar and Norway maples, asparagus 
roots, strawberry plants and peach buds at W. M. Peters’ Sons, Berlin, 
Md. _ 
BEST NURSERY PAPER PUBLISHED. 
J. L. Buchan, Sturgeon Bay, Wis.—“E nclosed find $1 in pay¬ 
ment for The National Nurseryman for one year. I consider it the 
best nursery paper published,” 
