134 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
Obituary. 
ROBERT H. BLAIR. 
Robert H. Blair is dead. He died on the 29th of August, at 
the age of 67 years. His death comes to his many friends in 
the west and elsewhere as a personal loss. We all loved to 
hear that hearty welcome and feel the thrill of that warm 
handshake wherever we might chance to meet him. He never 
married and being without a family he seemed A 0 hold all his 
friends with a feeling of brotherly love. It was the fortune of the writer 
to be closely associated with him in an official way, in the Western 
Wholesale Association, for a number of years. I think I never met a 
more modest man, nor one more loyal. He had been a soldier of the 
Republic and participated in many of its battles for the saving 
of the Union. He never forgot the schooling of his early manhood, 
and always and to all persons loyalty to his country, seemed to be a 
cardinal virtue with him. He was one of the leading nurserymen of 
the west and proprietor of the Lee Summit Nurseries of Kansas 
City. Since the organization of The Western Wholesale Asso¬ 
ciation he has been one of its most active members. I think its min¬ 
utes will show that he has never missed a meeting. He will be sadly 
missed. 
The deceased leaves two brothers and five sisters. One of 
the brothers, J. C. Blair, is a member of the nursery firm of Blair & 
Kauffman. To his immediate friends and relatives we gladly extend 
the hand of sympathy knowing full well the measure of their loss. [We 
have also received a sympathetic and appreciative note from Col. U. 
B. Pearsall, Leavenworth, Kas.— Ed.] 
A. L. Brooke. 
Sir William Henderson.—The gardening World of July 2 mentions 
the death of Sir William Henderson, L. L. D., of Aberdeen. Sir 
William was a great supporter of horticulture and had one of the 
finest ranges of glass houses in the surrounding country. R. S. N. 
Ritchie Brown.—A wide circle of friends will learn with much re¬ 
gret of the decease of Mr. Ritchie Brown on the 9th of July. He was 
a man of untiring energy and an ardent supporter of everything apper¬ 
taining to forestry. Mr. Brown was one of the founders of the Eng¬ 
lish Arboricultural Society and had held many important positions 
in various horticultural and forestry societies 
Gardeners' Chronicle, July 16, 1904. R. S. N. 
Edmund Hyde.—The death of Mr. Edmund Hyde is recorded in 
the Gardeners’ Chronicle of July 23. This gentleman demands notice 
from having been the first to suggest the use of cocoanut fibre for 
horticultural purposes. R. S. N. 
The passing of John Rock, the pioneer nurseryman of Santa Clara 
county, removes one who has exerted a greater influence upon horti¬ 
culture in California, perhaps, than any other one man. He came to 
California in 1866, and shortly thereafter established the John Rock 
Nursery. He introduced many of the best varieties of fruit trees, and 
was prominently identified with the industry in many ways. In late r 
years he has been at the head of the John Rock Nursery Company, 
into which his business was merged.— Pacific Fruit Woreld. 
Grove P. Rawson, a prominent florist of Elmira, N. Y., died suddenly 
while engaged in decorative work at Binghamton on Sept. 8. Mr. 
Rawson stood high as a practical florist and was well known as a writer 
on horticultural topics. 
JACOB WARREN MANNING. 
Jacob Warren Manning, of Reading, Mass., who died at that place 
on Sept. 16, 1904, aged 78 yrs., 7 mos., 24 days, was one of the lead¬ 
ing horticulturists and nursermen in the state. He was born at 
Bedford, N. H., on Feb. 20, 1826, of old New England stock. In 1849 
Mr. Manning began to attend the meetings of the Massachusetts Hor¬ 
ticultural Society, and was on the fruit committee for many years. 
He was also a member of the old Middlesex Agricultural Society, 
The North Middlesex Society, the American Nurserymen’s Associ¬ 
ation and the American Pomological Society. He served on the com¬ 
mittees of the latter with Charles Downing, author of “ Fruits of 
America.” Several times he was the recipient of the Wilder medals, 
instituted by the late Marshall P. Wilder, as prizes for superior 
exhibits in horticulture. 
But Mr. Manning’s activities did not end here. He was a moving 
force in the Massachusetts Fruit Growers’ Association and in the Agri¬ 
cultural Society, and was one of the earliest members of the American 
Forestry Association. He was an active member of the Association 
of American Nurserymen and a regular attendant of the meetings. He 
achieved a wide reputation as importer, raiser and introducer of large 
and small fruits and ornamental shrubs and trees. The Cutter seed¬ 
ling strawberry was introduced by him; also the Dracut amber grape. 
Mr. Manning was married in 1858 to Miss Lydia Brooks Chandler of 
Concord, N. H. She survives him, with five sons. Two of his sons 
J. Woodward and Warren H., are among the prominent American 
landscape architects. FoX over forty years Mr. Manning never missed 
a meeting of the American Pomological Society. His loss will be 
mourned by friends from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
THE NUT GROWING INDUSTRY. 
By J. F. Wilson, Sec’y National Nut Growers’ Association. 
The value of Nut bearing trees, both as crop-producers and for timber, 
has long been recognized. Individual efforts have frequently been made 
in times past to encourage planting, but with indifferent success. 
Public sentiment however gradually acknowledged the money making 
qualities of nut trees, and particularly the pecan in the Gulf States. 
Wonderful profits were predicted, and many bought nuts and trees, 
which often went the way of the transgressor. No reliable informa¬ 
tion was accessible to the public, and the most extravagant claims 
went unchallenged. 
The situation was such, that the fraudulent dealer was abroad in 
the land, and his victims were numerous. During the past three 
years a great change has been wrought. The National Nut Growers 
Association was formed, and came to the rescue of the struggling 
industry. Its purpose is to give reliable information, expose frauds, 
exploit the superiority of grafted and budded trees and bring choice 
varieties into public notice. These beneficial and far reaching re¬ 
sults are being accomplished largely, through the instrumentality 
of The Nut-Grower, the official organ of this Association. 
There is no agricultural pursuit which promises more certain, and 
profitable crops. No industry embodies to a greater degree, the ele¬ 
ments of safety, profit and permanence, as an investment. Thous¬ 
ands of people all over the South can make their homes and farms, 
places of increased pleasure and profit by planting nut trees best suited 
to their locality. 
There appears to be no danger of overproduction of edible nuts. 
Increase in demand is greater than the increase in planting, while 
increase in population w T ill regularly enlarge the market. Large 
quantities are now imported each year and importations are on the 
increase, as many new uses are spirnging up, and only await lower 
prices in order to be extensively used. Then the recognition of nuts 
as a most valuable food product cannot fail to create a new and large¬ 
ly increased consumption. 
Another consideration gives assurance of success, and that is the 
popular aversion to what is known as “Long time Investments.” 
This will effectually prevent any overproduction, as most men are 
prone to want early returns on their labor and capital. The wise and 
thoughtful, however, will look begond the present; they plant, and 
labor while they wait, and as time passed surely and swiftly, to those 
who are diligent, they soon come into a rich inheritance. While this 
presentation of the subject may seem roseate or overdrawn, the fact 
remains, and will be attested by those of experience, that Nut grow¬ 
ing is a most pleasant and profitable occupation. Any one of intelli¬ 
gence and industry can safely and profitably plant for domestic use, 
still the commercial growing of this crop, requires ability and skill, with a 
thorough knowledge of the business, just as surely as those elements 
are needed in other ooptins cuca. 
