THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
7- 
D. HILL. 
D. Hill was born in Hertfordshire, England, in 1852, almost 
in the very heart of the largest and most prosperous nursery 
center of the world, 30 miles from the city of London. He 
came to the United States in 1873. After spending one sum¬ 
mer in a small nursery and fruit farm owned at that time by 
George VV. Spaulding in South Woodstock, Windham county. 
Conn., he went west to Dundee, Ill., his present home. He 
engaged with his uncle, William Hill, in the nursery business, 
principally in the growing of evergreens. Owing to the failing 
health of his uncle, Mr. Hill in 1875 took possession of the 
small evergreen nursery, which at that time did not exceed two 
acres and with a debt of ^2,000, started out as an evergreen 
specialist with a determination to establish a nursery that would 
be a credit to the state of Illinois. Those who have visited 
Mr. Hill’s home nursery within the last few years can judge 
whether his great undertaking has 
been a success. In the summer of 
1878 Mr. Hill married Miss Maggie 
Grant, who was an active assistant, 
having been born and educated in 
the nursery business, near Aberdeen, 
Scotland. Mr. and Mrs. Hill now 
have a family of three boys and three 
girls. 
The Dundee Hawkeye says : 
“Through the kindness of Mr. Hill, 
the evergreen specialist, we were to¬ 
day shown through his nurseries 
adjoining the city. It is not gen¬ 
erally known, even in this vicinity, 
that Dundee has the largest ever¬ 
green nursery in the United States, 
if not in the world ; this, however, 
is true. Mr. Hill being very con¬ 
servative as to his own personal 
prosperity, would not talk freely on 
that subject. We succeeded in 
learning that at the present time his 
nursery contained seventy-five to 
one hundred millions of evergreens 
of all ages and sies, representing a 
value of $200,000. Mr. Hill gives 
employment at the present time to 
sixty-five men. Dundee may well feel proud of such an in¬ 
dustry that has grown from a very small institution to its 
present prosperous condition. There are about one hundred 
acres, every foot of which is owned by Mr. Hill and covered 
with evergreens of all colors, shades and tints, from the beauti¬ 
ful Blue Spruce that Mr. Hill tells us is a native of the Rocky 
Mountains of Colorado, at the sight of which the writer was 
struck with amazement, down to the glossy dark green of the 
mountain pines. 
“Evergreens in all stages of growth are seen, from the tiny 
plants which are grown in beds and shaded with frames. Many 
of these beds contain hundreds of thousand little trees, repre¬ 
senting an annual seed investment of several thousand dollars, 
“On these grounds are several tenant houses, large packing 
sheds, besides his large, handsome residence. 
“Personally, Mr. Hill is a genial gentleman, as well as a 
keen and progressive business man; is popular in the com 
munity and greatly respected by all who have business deal¬ 
ings with him. We attribute much of his success to the fact 
that he never does things by halves. He loves the occupation 
in which he is engaged. He knows how to advertise his goods 
and studies well what is for the best interest of his patrons, as 
well as himself. One other special feature in Mr. Hill’s busi¬ 
ness is his method of packing his evergreens for distant ship¬ 
ment, many being sent to foreign countries, especially of the 
new and better varieties. Dundee has great reasons for con¬ 
gratulation in possessing Hill’s evergreen nursery with the 
many benefits occurring therefrom.” 
A COMPREHENSIVE TITLE. 
The recently formed American Gardeners’ Society has taken 
a new name, the American Horticultural Society. It was 
formed at Mott Memorial hall. New 
York city on January iith. Sixty 
persons were present. Those who 
participated in the discussion of a 
constitution and by-laws were dele¬ 
gates from Pittsfield, Mass., Morris 
county and Monmouth county, N. 
J., and Dutchess county, N. Y. 
The society bears a compre- 
ensive name. It is doubtful that 
its scope will merit it. The officers 
are : President, John M. Hunter ; 
vice-president, WaUace G. Gomer- 
sall ; secretary, James I. Donlan ; 
treasurer, Nicholas Butterbach. 
A National Horticultural Society 
is needed, but it will hardly lesult 
from the mere application of the 
name to a local gardeners’ society. 
IN AFRICA. 
A well known Cape Colony 
nurseryman has recently written a 
letter, says the Fruit Grorver, Lon¬ 
don, stating that in the season of 
1894 he sold 2,000 young trees ; in 
1895, 25,000, and in 1896, 70,000. 
He expects to dispose of quite 200,000 during the next 
season and will have nearly half a million for sale the 
season after. No less than 25,000 trees were bought by bona 
fide Afrikander orchardists, orders coming even from such 
distant places as Blantyre, British Central Africa and Bul¬ 
awayo. Another nurseryman sold 3,000 young trees in 1894 ; 
4,000 in 1895, and 4,200 in 1896. It is estimated that fully 
200,000 young trees were bought and planted by orchardists 
in South Africa during the last three years. 
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D. HILL. 
