THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
T.'i? 
MEETING OF THE NEW ENGLAND NURSERYMEN’S 
ASSOCIATION. 
'J’lie second annual meeting of the Xew England 
Nurserymen’s Association was lield at Jlotel J^ond, 
JIartford, Conn., Eehrnary 2-J-th and 25tli. 
The following officers were elected to serve for the 
ensiling year. President—John li. Barnes, YTdesville; 
ATce-IT*esident—C. II. Greaton, Providence, P. 1.; 
Secretary—Charles Adams, Si)ringtield, Mass.; 
Treasurer—AT A. Vanicek, of Newport, K. I.; Execu¬ 
tive Committee—Harlan I\ Kelsey, Salem, Mass., A. 
P. Horne, IManchester, N. IT, E. AV. Breed, Clinton, 
Alass. 
The date of the animal meeting was changed to the 
last Tuesday in January of each year instead of the 
l)resent date. 
Past President Kelsey appointed W. H. AA^yman of 
North Abington, Alass., John K. Barnes of Yalesville, 
and AT A. ATinicek, of Newport, R. I., as the legisla¬ 
tive committee. 
President Barnes announced the following com¬ 
mittee: Publicity, A. E. Robinson, Lexington, Alass.; 
C. R. Burr, East Alanchester; Theodore Borst, Bos¬ 
ton, Alass.; membership committee: Winthrop Thn- 
low, AA est Newbury; Paul Hubbard, Bristol; Daniel 
A. Clark, ETskeville, R. I. Upon the invitation of C. 
H. Greaton, the association voted to hold the next an¬ 
nual meeting in Providence, R. I. 
A very interesting program had been arranged 
covering the following subjects: 
“The Bug Question” State Inspector John Britton 
opened the discussion and was ably supported by the 
Chief inspectors of the NeAV England States and the 
Department of Agriculture, AA^ashington. 
“Forestry and its relation to the Nurserymen” 
was the theme of the address by Professor -I.AV. 
Toomey, Director of Yale Forestry School and AA . O. 
ETlley, Connecticut State Forester. 
“Local Retail Nurserv and Sales Grounds” E. F. 
Coe, New Haven, Conn. 
“The Nurserymen and Public Parks” George A. 
Parker, Superintendent of Parks, Hartford, ConiL 
“Evergreens for New England” Henry Kelly, New 
Haven, Conn. 
“Proper Alethods of Growing Herbaceous Stock 
in the Nursery” was the subject of a discussion led 
bv A. E. Robinson. 
“Imported Nurseiy Stock” A\ . H. AA yman, North 
Abington, Alass. 
T. E. Burroughs, of Deep River, president of the 
Connecticut Nurserymen’s Association, was the last 
S])eaker, and gave a I’esume of the “hairly Histoi} of 
the Nursery Business.” He s})oke in ])art as follovs: 
FIRST COMMERCIAL NURSERY IN AMERICA. 
“It is.impossible to fix a date for the beginning of 
the nursery business in America. Trees were at fii'st 
grown in small (piantities as a mere ailjunct to gen¬ 
eral farm operations. Governor John Fhidicott of the 
Aiassachnsetts Colony, was one of the best fruit grow¬ 
ers in his time, and he grew many trees. In KHT, he 
wrote to John Winthrop as follows: ‘Aly children 
burnt iiiee at least 500 trees this spring by setting the 
ground on fire neere them.’ In 1048 he traded 500 
apple trees three years old, for 250 acres of land. 
“But the first independent, or commercial nursery 
in the New AAMrld, in the sense in which we now un¬ 
derstand the term, seems to have been that establish¬ 
ed by AVilliam Prince at Flushing, Long Island, and 
which was continued under four generations of the 
same family. The founder was Robert Prince, father 
of AATlliam. 
“About this time Ave find trees selling, at Avhole- 
sale, for 33 1-3 cents each. AATth relatWely cheaper 
money and with much better trees, Ave noAV buy for 
oneTliird this price. It is (piite certain tluit this nur¬ 
sery Avas founded about the year 1730, and for over a 
century it remained the most prominent one in Amer¬ 
ica. For nearly four generations the nurseries of 
F’lushing sent forth more beautiful stock than Avent 
from any other single spot in our land.” 
The Prince nurseries had attained such public im¬ 
portance that when the British took possession of 
Flushing, August 29, 1770, after their Auctory at the 
battle of Long Island, the commanding officer. Gen¬ 
eral lIoAA'e, placed a guard oA^er the nursery to pro¬ 
tect it from depredations, and this aauis continued un- 
:il all danger was past. 
Not only Avas e\^erything of merit imported, but the 
nlgination of neAV Auirieties by careful selection of 
seedlings Avas enthusiastically carried on. Tavo })lunis, 
dill AA^ell known, date from tliis period, Prince’s Ael- 
OAA" Gage being originated in 1783 and the lni})erial 
lage in 1794. AATlliam Prince, third proprietor of 
lie Prince Nurseries at F^lushing, Avas born Noaxuii- 
)er 10, 17G(i, and died April 9, 1842. During his life¬ 
line, the Prince Nursery Avas one of the centers ol 
lorticultural and botanic interest in America, and 
‘eaclied the height oi its tame. One of the trees in- 
roduced to great })opularity in the younger days ot 
William Prince, the second, aauis the Lombardy po])- 
ur, of Avliich he adA^ertised in 1798 no less than 10,000 
u-ees, 10 to 17 feet in height. For several years the 
Tombardy iioplar was the fashionalJe shade tree. In 
180(), the tide turned, oAving to a belief that they har- 
)ored a poisonous Avoi-ni, and thousands Avere cut 
loAAUi and burned. 
AATien the great Northwest Avas explored by LeAvis 
uid Clark, many of the botanical treasures found a 
