130 
THU NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
REFERENCE BOOKS ON HORTICULTURE. 
Editor The National Nurseryman: 
Dear Sir:— As a subscriber to The National Nursery¬ 
man I would ask you to kindly give me the name of what 
you consider a standard book of horticulture for the nursery¬ 
man. Kindly take our latitude into consideration. I would 
also like to get better posted on citrus fruits. 
Very truly, 
J. G. Hegele. * 
Beaumont, Texas, Aug. 12, 1904 
Answer—We do not think that there is a single horticultural manual 
at the present time that covers the whole horticultural field in a satis¬ 
factory manner. We have so called horticultural manuals but they 
are usually written from local standpoints and are therefore, not suf¬ 
ficiently comprehensive in their scope and treatment, to cover the 
varying conditions which prevail in the United States. The tendency at 
the present time is for pomological writers to specialize. We have, there¬ 
fore, our pear book (although nothing recent); we have a book on apples; 
we have a recent book on plums; on bush fruits and so on. These 
have all come within a comparatively recent time and the trend of 
writing is in this direction. Jlf you insist on purchasing a volume 
which is supposed to include the entire field, then we would recommend 
the “American Fruit Culturist” by Thomas. The 21st edition of this 
manual appeared a few years ago and at that time the book was thor¬ 
oughly overhauled and may be said now, to be well up-to-date. For 
citrous fruits, we would depend upon a volume entitled “Citrus Fruits 
and Their Culture” by Professor H. Harold Hume of the Experiment 
Station of North Carolina at Raleigh. (See review in Sept, issue of 
National Nurseryman.) 
In addition to these two volumes, it would be well to secure from 
the United States Department of Agriculture, as many bulletins bear¬ 
ing upon fruit culture as you can obtain. You should also apply to your 
state experiment station for the publications of its horticultural de¬ 
partment. With these bulletins and the two text books mentioned, 
you will have quite a satisfactory beginning in the way of a horticul¬ 
tural library. [Ed.] 
THE NURSERY TREE AS A CROP.—Concluded. 
NEW YORK EVIDENCE. 
I. 
Question 1—Does the growing of nursery stock exhaust land more 
than the growing of farm crops? 
Answer—Yes. 
Ques. 2—Can orchards be grown successfully on land which has 
produced two consecutive crops of nursery trees? 
Ans.—Yes. 
Ques. 3—What is your opinion about growing a cover crop in the 
nursery? 
Ans.—Have had no experience. 
Ques. 4—What do you consider a fair rental per acre, for land for 
the growing of nursery stock? 
Ans.—Eight to ten dollars. 
Ellwanger & Barry, Rochester, N. Y 
IT. 
Ans. 1—I think not. 
Ans. 2—Yes, but would prefer land that had not produced trees. 
Ans. 3—-It might, and probably would be advantageous, have never 
tried it. 
Ans. 4—Ten to twenty dollars per acre about Rochester. 
Chase Bros., Rochester, N. Y. 
III. 
Ans. 1—We have rented land, tile drained, manured it, grown tree 
crops on it and returned it to the owner in such condition that it grew 
far better farm crops then before we worked it. 
Ans. 2—Would question advisabilityof apple orchard following two 
blocks of nursery apple—but apple orchard after peach or plum block 
we think would be satisfactory. 
Ans. 3—Have had no experience. 
Ans. 4—Probably from 8 to 12 dollars per acre. 
C. W. StuarUCo., Newark, N. Y. 
IV. 
DANSVILLE HEARD FROM. 
Ans. 1—We do not think that the growing of Nursery stock exhausts 
the land more than farm crops and know that it is a benefit to the 
land where farm crops follow the nursery. We have lands that have 
been treed for 30 years and we expect to continue to repeat this crop 
for years to come. 
Ans. 2—We are unable to make you an answer to this question but 
we have found by experience that nursery stock will not grow as well 
if planted on lands that have been cleared of a growing orchard, as the 
material in the ground which goes to make a strong nursery tree seems 
to have been exhausted by the orchard. 
Ans. 3—The only cover crop that we have ever grown in the nursery 
has been crimson clover and we did not find that, that did much, 
if any good. Stable manure seems to be the best fertilizer that w r e 
can have. 
Ans. 4—Localities differ widely as to the charge per acre for land. 
In our immediate vicinity we pay from $15.00 to $20.00 per acre an¬ 
nually, but only desirable land is leased for nursery purposes, conse¬ 
quently we have to pay a greater rate than those who rent an entire 
farm. Our judgment is that land should not rent for more than $10.00 
an acre and anything above that price is excessive. 
Morey & Son, Dansville, N. Y. 
MICHIGAN EXPERIENCE. 
Ans. 1—Yes. 
Ans. 2—Not unless fertilizer (manure) is applied in liberal quantity. 
Ans. 3—A cover crop would absorb the moisture often needed late 
in summer and also retard growth of Nursery stock. 
Ans. 4—$10.00 to $15.00 per acre according to condition and location. 
Chas. E. Greening, Monroe, Mich. 
IOWA OPINIONS. 
I. 
Ans. 1—Not for growing farm crops, especially corn. 
Ans. 2—-Yes, on Iowa land. 
Ans. 3—Always sow buckwheat in apple grafts first year, not after¬ 
wards. 
Ans. 4—Depends entirely upon value of land and amount of taxes. 
C. L. Watrous, Des Moines, la. 
II. 
Ans. 1—No. 
Ans. 2—Yes. 
Ans. 3—Don’t need a cover crop. 
Ans. 4—$6.00 to $10.00 here. 
D. S. Lake, Shenandoah, la. 
OHIO. 
Ans. 1—Not for the future farm crops, benefits the land. We grow 
better farm crops after trees than before. 
Ans. 2—Depends on land. We should want to work it and get 
green crops turned under before planting orchard. 
Ans. 3—Always try to grow one in young stock especially on land 
that is liable to heave in spring. 
Ans. 4—Depends altogether on land, location, local conditions, etc. 
Some land cheaper at $20 than other lots at $5. 
J. H. Dayton, Painesville, Ohio. 
(Continued on next page.) 
THE BEAN HARVEST. 
The season has been unfavorable on the whole in New York and 
in the New England bean growing sections. The Michigan harvest 
is later than usua,l. The acreage in New York and Michigan is as 
large as usual but the crop will be somewhat under the average owing 
to excessive wetness and the development of rust. The bean crop is 
annually occupying a'’more and more important position in rounding 
out the returns of the farmer. 
EXCHANGES. 
We have much pleasure in calling attention to the quality, charac¬ 
ter and general make-up of our esteemed contemporary, the Western 
Fruit Grower. This is one of the most progressive horticultural papers 
of the country. Its pages are constantly packed full of practical in¬ 
formation, and it is up-to-date and alive in every particular. As an 
advertising medium, the Western Fruit Grower occupies an enviable 
position. The progressiveness of the management is well shown by 
the way in which the management has pushed its peculiar advertis¬ 
ing mascot “Brother Jonathan.” This “Brother Jonathan” idea is 
an excellent one. We wish our co-workers continued success. - , 
