THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
59 
DAVID BAIRD. 
David Baird was born and has always resided in Millstone 
township, Monmouth Co., New Jersey. In 1841 he removed 
with his parents to the farm which is still his residence. He 
received the advantages of the common schools of the town¬ 
ship, later becoming the pupil of O. R. Willis, Ph. D., at 
Hightstown, N. J., and last at the Freehold Institute, where it 
may be said he graduated. Following his marriage in 1852 he 
engaged in farming for a brief period, but having early in life 
developed a love for horticulture, he soon turned his attention 
to the growing of small fruits, being the first in this section to 
plant the Lawton, and later the Wilson Early blackberry ex¬ 
tensively, the venture proving a decided success financially. 
In 1869 he added to his small fruit business the growing of 
other nursery products. 
His establishment has been known to the trade for the last 
thirty years as “The Manalapan Fruit Farm and Nurseries.” 
The United States P. O. Depart¬ 
ment about one year ago established 
a post office at this point under the 
name of Baird, making it necessary 
to change the title to “Baird’s Nur¬ 
series.” The post office address is 
Baird, Monmouth Co., New Jersey. 
Mr. Baird still retains the manage¬ 
ment and ownership of the nurseries. 
He has long been a member of the 
American Association of Nursery¬ 
men, is a life member of the Ameri¬ 
can Pomological Society, and a char¬ 
ter member of the New Jersey 
State Horticultural Society, being 
now its vice-president. 
During the thirty years of his 
business and social relations with 
the trade, he concludes that pomol¬ 
ogy and horticulture have an in¬ 
fluence upon the lives and aspira¬ 
tions of men to develop a character 
of honesty and integrity of purpose. 
PLUM STOCKS., 
J. W. Kerr, Denton, Md., the well- 
known plum-grower and nurseryman, in speaking of plum 
culture, at the winter meeting of the Pennsylvania Horticul¬ 
tural Society, made some important observations concerning 
plum stocks. 
“ In some respects,” said he, “we are still in the alphabet of 
American plum culture. This is no less the situation scien¬ 
tifically than practically. Many puzzling problems bearing 
upon every feature of the business await solution. 
“ Take, first, the question of stocks upon which the trees are 
propagated ; as it stands at the present, there is need of great 
improvement. In this important matter no progress has been 
made. The loudly-praised Marianna is in no particular any 
better than what I believe to be its legitimate parent, the 
Myrobolan. All our Marianna stocks are propagated from 
cuttings, a method more or less pernicious, as it robs them 
noticeably of that persistent vitality which characterizes stocks 
grown from seed. Where budding is employed in propagation 
of stocks of the Myrobolan group, numerous instances of un¬ 
congeniality between them and many varieties of both native 
and Japan plum will be manifest after planting in the orchard. 
“ In my own experience, I have had hundreds of trees live 
until the extra draft incident to fruiting began ; then lacing or 
binding at the junction of the bud and stock, followed by dis¬ 
coloration and dying of the bark at this point, soon killed the 
tops. In such cases, the stocks themselves throw up sprouts 
from points below. I am fully persuaded that, for this state 
(Pennsylvania) and southward, or in any locality where the 
peach tree survives the winter, one-year peach seedlings, root- 
grafted, are decidedly preferable to Marianna or any other 
strain of Myrobolan stocks. When root-grafted on peach, it 
is only a question of a few years for plum trees to supply and 
support themselves with their own roots thrown out above the 
union. 
“This method, however, is objectionable to some extent with 
some of the native plums, notably 
the Chickasaws and Wild Goose, the 
roots of which prefer to run near the 
surface, and are more or less trouble¬ 
some on account of a tendency to 
send up suckers. As the interest in 
plums presents greater promise of 
permanency now than ever before, 
the question of stocks becomes more 
important. The ideal stock upon 
which to propagate plums for com¬ 
mercial orchards must be free from 
the annoying tendency to send up 
sprouts from the roots ; it must be 
vigorous and hardy ; and, quite as 
important, it must possess adapta¬ 
bility, so that it will conform to and 
unite freely with other buds or grafts 
inserted in it. Stocks grown from 
the seed of the Wayland group of 
native plums, if they do not entirely 
meet these requirements, approxi¬ 
mate them more nearly than any 
others with which I have experi¬ 
mented. The future of plum-grow¬ 
ing demands careful experiment and 
investigation on this line.” 
INDEED A WONDERFUL CHERRY. 
The Wisconsin Agriculturist publishes the following descrip¬ 
tion of the “Wonderful October cherry,” taken from the 
catalogue of a Wisconsin seed firm : 
One of the greatest novelties of the age. We all know what fab¬ 
ulous prices the rich pay for the fruit out of season. Strawberries 
selling at $5.00 a quart on Christmas day. Peaches $1.00 each on 
Easter. Salzer’s Christmas Watermelon $2.00 apiece for a’New Year’s 
dinner, etc. Now here we have a fruit that does not begin to bear 
until October, and holds its fruit until destroyed by frost in Novem¬ 
ber. It was originated by a great specialist in Germany. Just think 
of being able to ship twenty to thirty bushels of cherries in October, 
and receiving all the way from $8.00 to $15.00 a bushel! 1 hat s what 
you can do by planting the October cherry. It is hardy as oak, and 
will do well everywhere. 
David Baird. 
