THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
75 
A. L. BROOKE. 
The president of the American Association of Nurserymen, 
A. L. Brooke, was born on a farm near Lancaster, Fairfield 
county, Ohio, November 29, 1847. He is descended from the 
Brooke family so numerous in and about Philadelphia, his 
grandfather having gone from the New Jersey side at an early 
date, first to Canada and afterwards to Ohio. His father was 
born and lived and died in the same township, Greenfield, 
Fairfield county. He was a sober, sturdy, economical gentle¬ 
man of the old abolition school of politics. His mother was a 
Brandt, from a family that emigrated from Cumberland 
county, Penn. 
The subject of this sketch made his own way through the 
Fairfield Union Academy at Pleasantville, and afterward 
received the classical degree with the class of ’72 at Witten¬ 
berg College, Springfield, Ohio. After he graduated, several 
years were spent teaching in Indiana. 
Then he returned to his native state 
and spent two years as principal of 
the Groveport public schools. 
Mr. Brooke moved West in 1886 
and settled at Topeka, Kansas. 
Desiring a more healthy vocation 
than teaching, he chose the nursery 
and farm. In fact he married into 
the business, his wife’s family, that of 
William Taylor, Adams county, 
Penn., having engaged in the busi¬ 
ness for generations back. 
He has grown steadily along until 
he has at the present time over 300 
acres under his control. In the last 
few years he has become quite prom¬ 
inent in horticultural and nursery 
pursuits. He served his county as 
president of its horticultural society 
in 1897. He has been president of 
the Western Wholesale Nurserymen’s 
Association for several years. He is 
a member of the American Nursery¬ 
men’s Protective Association, and at 
the meeting at Omaha this year was 
elected president of the American 
Association of Nurserymen. 
Mr. Brooke is at present a member of the Kansas legislature 
and will stand for re-election in a district that is strongly 
republican, which insures his return. 
• - w V’.'. 
for many subsequent years. The big apple crop of 1896 was 
sold in great numbers abroad and this year there is a great 
demand for American apples. The less perishable the product 
the less is the danger of over-production in any year; but on 
the other hand, the accumulation of the product may tend to 
restrict production. The greater the ease in raising a crop the 
greater the danger for over-production. Staples should be 
grown on cheap lands in large quantities and with the aid of 
labor-saving machinery. In proportion to the skill required 
in growing a crop, do the products fail or succeed on the gen¬ 
eral market. Special products are coming more and more in 
demand with the progress of civilization, especially in the 
cities. We must grow those things which can be shipped 
cheaply to a market. One man’s labor can raise wheat to 
support too persons, but he can’t raise more than five bushels 
of hot-house strawberries. Co-operative societies are success¬ 
ful only for the staples or the large area products, not for 
specialties. The grower should be 
paid only for the final product, not 
for the goods he delivers. Just the 
same as the dairyman is paid for the 
quality, and not the quantity of milk 
sold to creameries. The time is 
probably coming when the govern¬ 
ment will have officers to give definite 
advice in regard to markets. While 
we deplore the depopulation of rural 
communities, we forget that every 
person who leaves the farm ceases to 
be a producer and becomes a con¬ 
sumer, thereby extending the market 
for agricultural produce. 
ORDER SHEETS. 
A. L. BROOKE 
A recent decision of the postoffice 
department is to the effect that 
blank order sheets may be trans¬ 
mitted with catalogues, providing the 
sheets are permanently affixed to the 
book ; that is, made a part of the 
catalogue. But they may be perfor¬ 
ated or otherwise arranged so as to be 
readily removed. In this instance 
the catalogues may be sent through the mails as third class 
matter, at two ounces for one cent. If, however, the order 
sheets are placed loosely between the leaves, the matter will 
be charged nostape at fourth-class rates, one cent per ounce. 
OVER-PRODUCTION IN FRUIT. 
Professor L. B. Bailey, of Cornell University, made an 
address at the New Jersey Horticultural Society meeting, 
Trenton, N. J., on “The Problem of Over-Production of 
Fruit.” He said that over-production was producing more of 
any product than the people within the range of its distribu¬ 
tion can consume. Statistics can t indicate over-production 
unless they also consider the matter of transportation. That 
is, over-production as an economic fact is relative, not abso¬ 
lute. Among the remedies is increased consumption. The 
cheaper the product, however, the greater is the consumption, 
but an over-production in one year may increase the demand 
R. C. Berckmans is a member of the National Guard of 
Georgia. A special dispensation enabled him to attend the 
Omaha convention. 
J. McHutchinson, who represented August Rhotert, the 
New York importer, at the Omaha convention, called on 
Rochester nurserymen on his way East. 
Leslie & Son, 1164 Queen street, T oronto, have secured the 
contract for trees at Island park at the following prices : 200 
Lombardy poplars, at 15 cents ; 200 Balsam poplars, 20 cents; 
1,000 assorted willows, 15 cents; 250 Manitoba maples, 20 
cents ; 500 Scotch elms, 25 cents ; 250 European ash, 25 cents 
