58 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
entrust the eolleetion of slow aeeounts to on a fair per- 
eeiitage basis? If you know of any sueh firm or ean 
recoininend to whom we might write for information we 
wu'll very mueh ai)preeiate having the infoianation and 
thank you very kindly for it. 
Would a storage eellar pay for a small retailer? Often 
in fall or early spring one gets in shipments of plants 
when the ground is frozen and I j)resume a cellar would 
be the thing in sueh a ease. But for that alone it would 
hardly pay. 
IIow" mueh help is a storage eellar in holding hack the 
stuff. Often people call for Spiraea, ete., about Decora¬ 
tion day or even later, when the shrubs are in foliage and 
have to transplant. Will a cold eellar hold them back 
any length of time? 
When one has a eellar do you put the shrubs you ex¬ 
pect to use in spring in the eellar in the fall? 
What size cellar would be advisable for one that 
handles mostly ornamental stock, say about 5000 to 6000 
shrubs, what would be about the cost, and how is such <i 
cellar made? 
Would it be practical and advisable as space is limited, 
ot build a packing shed, also to be used for garage, above 
the cellar? Soil here is sand. M. 
Answer—While no figures are available to prove that 
a storage cellar wmuld be a profitable investment for a 
small retailer, the opinions and evidence of nurserymen 
are very much in its favor. The planting season is so 
very short that anything that will facilitate the handling 
of the stock, or of lengthening the season during which 
it may be handled is worth serious consideration. 
It is safe to say that shrubs such as Spiraeas, Weigelas, 
Roses, Hydrangeas, etc., if dug when the wood is thor¬ 
oughly ripe in the fall and properly put away in the stor¬ 
age cellar, can be kept dormant until Decoration day. 
The plants should be dug in the fall after the first 
sharp frost causes the leaves to fall, properly graded, 
tied in bundles, and stored aw'^ay wdien they will come out 
in the spring in fine shape. 
Many of the large nurseries w^here fruit trees and 
shrubs are stored in large quantities, merely use excelsior 
or moss to cover the roots, depending on the temperature 
and atmospheric conditions to bring the stock through in 
good condition, but for a small storage house such as 
you have in mind it would be better to figure on the use 
of sand in which to bed the stored stock. 
It would be feasible and practical to put up a building 
comprising a storage cellar, packing shed and garage but 
the arrangement and size wmuld have to be worked out on 
the ground. Our advice would be to build your storage 
house as large as space or finances will permit, you will 
find profitable use for it. If the finances do not permit 
a very large one to start w ith. plan it so if may be en¬ 
larged wiien required.— Editor. 
Perhaps some of our readers ivill kindly advise in re¬ 
lation to the above query. 
National Nursery Publishing Company —“Do you 
know^ of any collection agency used by nurserymen, a 
firm known to be trustworthy and in every way safe 
Answer:—The best collection agency and the one now^ 
mostly used by nurserymen is the Collection Bureau con¬ 
ducted by the American Association of Nurserymen, this 
is in charge of the Secretary of the Association, Mr. Cur¬ 
tis Nye Smith, 19 Congress street, Boston, Massachusetts. 
Of course, to get the henefits of this collection bureau 
you must be a member of the American Association of 
Nurserymen, but w e have no doubt but what you are a 
member of that Association, and if so you can write to 
Mr. Smith who will send you full information concern¬ 
ing this collection bureau. 
Should it be jiossible that you are not a member of the 
American Association of Nurserymen, w^e wmuld certainly 
advise you to make application to Mr. Smith for member¬ 
ship, then when you become a member you will have the 
advantage of not only this collection bureau, but also will 
be helping, through your membership fees, to support 
an organization wiiich is doing a vast amount of wmrk 
for the benefit of every nurseryman in the country, and 
will be helping to bear the expenses of the Association 
in conducting this work. Every nurseryman in the 
United States should be a member of this organization 
so that he may help along the good wmrk the Association 
is doing and not allow a few^ men to pay the expenses of 
work wiiicli is benefiting all nurserymen in the country. 
S. 
bituary. 
SWAIN NELSON 
Swain Nelson, head of the firm of Swain Nelson & Sons 
Company, and the designer of Lincoln Park, Chicago, Ill., 
died on January 18, at the home of his son, Seymour G. 
Nelson, in Glenview, Ill., at the age of 89. 
Mr. Nelson came to Chicago in 1855 and engaged in the 
landscape gardening profession, having jireviously pre¬ 
pared himself for it in Sw^eden, his native land. He 
founded the firm of Swain Nelson & Sons Company, one 
of the leading nursery and landscape gardening firms in 
the West, with offices at 941 Marquette Building, Chicago, 
and extensive nurseries at Glenview'^, III. 
In 1865 Mr. Nelson submitted plans to the City Council 
of Chicago, for the laying out of Lincoln Park. These 
were accepted and during the following fifteen years he 
directed the work of developing that park as w ell as sev¬ 
eral others, including Ilumholdt, Garfield, Douglas and 
Union parks. He laid out Graceland cemetery and also 
the Waller estate now known as Buena jiark. 
Mr. Nelson was an active member of the firm he 
founded until the time of his death. He is survived by 
two sons, Seymour G. and Alvin E. Nelson, and three 
daughters, Mrs. A. L. Gyllenhall and Miss Emelia and 
Miss Adah Nelson. 
