6o 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
“THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.” 
Breezy Budget of News from the Land of the World’s Fair — 
Freight Tonnage of Twelve Million Pounds Shipped by Stark 
Bros. This Spring — 85,000 Salesmen’s Plate Books 
Ordered—620 Employees in Packing House and Office 
—Branches In Four States. 
Louisiana, Mo., May 4.—C. M. Stark, president Stark Bros.’ 
Nurseries and Orchards Co. : “We have closed spring busi¬ 
ness and for the year it has been all that we hoped for or could 
desire—in fact, we have handled one of the largest year’s busi¬ 
nesses in the history of our nurseries. Doubtless we have shipped 
out more stock than has ever been handled at our home pack¬ 
ing houses, a freight tonnage of over 12,580,000 pounds. 
While this is rather large, yet we are making plans to sell fully 
50 per cent, more stock the coming season ; and in doing so 
we shall only be keeping pace with our increased producing 
facilities. In this connection our salesmen’s department has 
placed an order for 85,000 salesmen’s plate books. 
Employees Directly Interested. 
“Visitors who are nurserymen, hence appreciative of the 
nursery business and all of its many details, have often won¬ 
dered how it was possible to sell and pack so many trees in so 
short a time. There can be but one answer—system—organ¬ 
ization—with interested employees in every department ; in 
short, co-operation. Looking to the future, we began interest¬ 
ing little fellows who are growing up in the business, teaching 
them that the easiest way to make money is to save it. They 
are the ones who are to continue the work, so we are doubly 
glad to have them interested as stock-holders ; then each one 
feels he is a business man—a proprietor. The boys’ interest 
in looking after little things helps as well as the big things. It 
is to their interest in filling orders to do their very best so that 
every customer may be pleased. Working along this line, giv¬ 
ing all the value possible, depending for profit in the volume 
of the business done, plays no small part in the wide distribu¬ 
tion of Stark trees, not only throughout the United States, but 
in foreign countries. 
No Dread of Packing Season. 
“The foundation of the Stark Nurseries was laid some three 
generations ago and we are still building. Year by year our 
business has grown, until now everything moves like clock 
work ; there is no dread of packing season. We are always 
on time. We have greatly enlarged our packing houses and 
buildings, more than doubling their capacity within the last 
year. We have put in another side track, so that cars go 
directly from our packing houses in every direction. Our 
freight rates are on St. Louis basis ; in fact, we might consider 
Louisiana a suburb of St. Louis. But come to the Louisiana 
Purchase World’s Fair and gain a full appreciation of St. 
Louis, the ‘ Future Great,’ the next center of population. 
“Nurserymen everywhere feel the scarcity of skilled labor ; 
there has been even a great shortage of unskilled labor. We 
employed this spring in our packing houses more than 500 
people ; and an additional 120 in the office. 
All Good Trees Are Needed. 
“Another question is, ‘Should plants continue to be in¬ 
creased or should they be decreased ?’ Overproduction and, 
oftener, under-selling for lack of facilities, etc., are injurious ; 
low prices follow good prices. Perhaps it is the lack of dis¬ 
tributing or selling facilities, the growing of stock on chances, 
depending on some other nursery to make the market, etc., 
that gives us so many of the ruinous ‘ surplus ’ lists. (The 
word surplus should be eliminated from the nurseryman’s 
vocabulary.) All the good trees that are produced are needed, 
and the only thing to do is to put them where they are needed. 
Peach trees were scarce and in great demand last fall and 
the supply appeared to be short compared with the demand, 
especially for Elberta, but as spring came along peach came 
on the market from various sources, chiefly because many self- 
appointed horticulturists, together with the newspapers, were 
busy, as bulletin boards, reporting the peach crop killed. If 
some of these ‘ wise ones’ could be exterminated along with 
other pests, nurserymen would sell more peach, and in due 
time our people would have fine peaches in greater abundance. 
Six Branch Nurseries. 
“ With this spring’s plant, we increased our home plant and 
opened additional plants, seeking such soil and climate as give 
best results, not only for growing, but distributing. We have 
here our home plant as usual, our general plants at Starkdale, 
Mo., and we are also growing some stock at Huntsville, Ala., 
and apple seedlings and a general list of northern sorts at 
Atlantic, la., where we are successors to the Silas Wilson 
Nursery. The Dansville, N. Y., plant has been enlarged and 
a fine nursery farm purchased, and the plants of the F. E. 
Williams Nursery Co. and Kelly Bros, consolidated with ours. 
At Portland, N. Y., we have increased our plant greatly, 
grapes, gooseberries, currants, etc.; and just here we might say 
that Missouri mules from the ‘ State of Pike ’ are something of 
a novelty in New York, but are undoubtedly the best animal 
known for nursery work and for pulling the Stark Tree Dig¬ 
gers. 
In Arkansas. 
“But perhaps one of the most interesting nursery plants we 
have is at Fayetteville, Washington Co., Ark., in the heart of 
the great “American Apple Orchard.’ This famous region is 
renowned for originating several new apples destined to play 
no small part in apple orchards of the future. Some of the 
most valuable sorts have not yet been introduced ; we have 
found one sort in particular that we value more highly than 
any variety that has ever come to our attention. It is in our 
judgment the best apple known, a variety which we firmly be¬ 
lieve will still be largely grown in the apple orchards of a cen¬ 
tury hence. And it is in this same Arkansas region that the 
skill and knowledge of a modest Swiss professor has evolved 
the Stark Star Grape. 
“The condition of growing stock is favorable. Locally, 
planting is some later than usual, but while we have been 
planting here, we have been cultivating in Alabama and 
Arkansas. Fall sales are even better than a year ago.’’ 
Louisiana, Mo., May 2 , 1903 —Stark Brothers Nurseries and Or. 
chardsCo.: “ Enclosed please find $1 for renewal for another year. 
We could hardly get along without the National Nurseryman.” 
Pulaski, N. Y., May 4 , 1903 .—L. J. Farmer : “ I inclose $1 to pay 
for subscription to the National Nurseryman. You are getting out 
a fine journal and it ought to be taken and paid for by every nursery¬ 
man. It is the only paper that I subscribe for and I would feel at sea 
without it Its beautiful appearance might suggest for it the name of 
the ‘ Ladies’ Home Journal Among Horticultural Trade Publications.’ ” 
