24 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
HAIL INSURANCE 
The following letter has been mailed to approximately 
2000 nurserymen and tlorists, together with a question 
blank to be tilled out. 
It is strongly urged that everyone promptly comply 
with the request as it is only by getting together this es¬ 
sential data will the committee be able to decide if the 
movement is feasible and that it will receive support to 
insure success. 
Committee on Hail Insurance American Association 
OF Nurserymen. 
Nursery, Missouri, December 7, 1916. 
Dear Sir:— 
The undersigned Committee has been appointed by the 
President of the American Association of Nurserymen to 
look into the question of organizing a Nursery Mutual 
Hail Insurance Association along the lines of the Florists 
Hail Association. 
Hail storms occur annually in various sections 
throughout the United States and where they strike a 
nursery plant, they usually play havoc with nursery pro¬ 
ducts. The past year has produced a number of these 
disastrous storms and the losses sustained by the nur¬ 
serymen so unfortunate in having such storms strike 
them, suffer an irreparable loss. 
The Florists Hail Association is a mutual organization. 
The}^ help each other in their losses and if it were not for 
this Association many of the florists to-day would be 
hopelessly ruined. 
The Committee desires to have you answer the ques¬ 
tions asked on the accompanying report blank to the best 
of your ability and return it to the undersigned Chairman 
at the earliest possible moment before Januaiy 1st. This 
Committee will meet together in Kansas City previous to 
the Western Association meeting and will report our 
findings at that meeting as instructed by the American 
Association. If the reports indicate it will be feasible, 
we will at once take the necessary steps to incorporate 
and try to get the Association in working order by March 
1st, so that the year 1917 may see the Nursery Fraternity 
protected from these unavoidable losses. 
It will depend upon you and your report and the num¬ 
ber found interested as to the success or failure of this 
Hail Association, so it is very important that you make a 
prompt reply of some kind, on or before January 1st. 
Awaiting your early reply, we are. 
Yours very truly, 
Frank A. eber. Nursery, Mo., Chairman, 
F. H. Stannard, Ottawa, Kansas, 
E. P. Bernardin^ Parsons, Kansas, 
M. Moss^ Huntsville, Alabama, 
H. A. Simpson, Y'incennes, Indiana. 
E. W. Townsend, President of the Square Deal Nur- 
serv, Salisburv. Marvland, writes us:— 
We have had the best fall business in many 
years or probably ever had. Many of our cus¬ 
tomers began to draw on us early in September, and the 
business has increased every month. December finds us 
loaded with orders and loading cars of plants now for 
California trade. 
It now looks indeed like there will be a famine in nur¬ 
sery stock this season, especially is this true with straw¬ 
berry and other small fruit plants. The season 1916, 
was not a very favorable one for the nurseryman as 
a whole and especially so on small fruit plants. Hence 
many growers cut their plantings. Dry weather in 
many sections cut the crop short, and all together there 
is the shortest crop of small fruit plants for years, in 
this locality. 
We feel sure at this writing that we shall be able to 
clean up well this season, and get a fair price for our 
stock. We have been blessed with a fine growing sea¬ 
son here on the ‘‘Eastern Sho” of Maryland, and we set 
an extra large acreage to strawberries, and have as fine 
a crop as we have ever grown. 
While we do not claim any fore knowledge in this 
preparedness of ours, we certainly do feel proud of our 
this season’s crop of plants, and also in the way that we 
are selling them. We also sympathize with the fellows 
who are not so well prepared. 
Scarcity of help, in the way of common labor, is the 
greatest draw back with us. Many of our citizens have 
left our locality and gone north to work in the munition 
plants, where they can get much more money than we 
have been able to pay them on the farms. However, 
we expect to be able with the help of the women, to get 
along just the same. While we have been able to 
keep war on the other side we have all learned something 
from this great war, and something which we shall not 
soon forget. Many of us have learned to live and do 
without things that we did not think a year ago we could 
get along without. And the end is not yet in sight. 
P riV HSERI nEK 
'J, 
N 
Bvsiness Movements. 
Several of the Dansville nurserymen have combined 
and are doing business under the name of the Dansville 
Associated Wholesale Nurserymen. 
By consolidating their lists they expect to greatly fac¬ 
ilitate buying as they will be able to supply a very com¬ 
plete assortment of fruit trees. 
The personel of the Association is composed of C. W. 
McNair, president; F. H. Y'oung, vice president; F. M, 
Hartman, secretary; H. G. Hartman, treasurer; N. W. 
Uhl, E. H. Maloney. 
A plantation of nut-bearing trees has been made by the 
State College of Forestry at the Chittenango Forest Sta¬ 
tion 20 miles east of Syracuse. The results of the plan¬ 
tation show that many species of nut trees will thrive 
well in Central New Y^ork. Small English Walnut trees 
have withstood the severe drought of the past summer 
and have made remarkable height growth. The English 
Filbert, which is being tested in comparison with the 
native Hazel, has also made good growth and doubtless 
will prove valuable for general planting, especially 
where hedges and low-growing windbreaks are desired 
which at the same time will give fair returns in edible 
nuts. Some of the improved chestnuts have grown 
fairly well, but on account of the danger of the chestnut 
Blight these species do not seem to have a good future in 
Central New York. 
