the national nurseryman 
140 
This was followed by an interesting talk by Ernest Hemming 
on the parentage of the new hybrid Hibiscus. He spoke of the 
difficulty of getting the plants to make their first break, in 
comparison with the ease with which they hybridize when 
once this had been done. 
The Secretary. 
THE APPLE SITUATION IN THE EAST. 
A striking feature in the marketing phases of the apple 
business this year, is the cautionness of the buyer and con¬ 
servativeness of the seller. The growers appear to have de¬ 
cided to secure a fair price, while on the other hand the buyers, 
it is asserted, have reached an understanding that no high 
prices are to be paid. This condition has resulted in some¬ 
thing of a deadlock between agent and orchardist in the apple 
growing counties of Western New York. In certain sections, 
apple buyers have camped in considerable numbers but have 
done little business for the past two or three weeks. Here and 
there a small orchard has been sold at a low price but up to 
October 20th, practically no movement had taken place in 
the purchasing market. The growers as well as the buyers 
were non-committal. Undoubtedly something will be doing 
before very long, because the storage facilities are quite in¬ 
adequate to care for the crop which is now in evidence in 
Wayne, Monroe, Orleans and Niagara counties; and the danger¬ 
ous frost period is not very far distant. 
One of the things quite evident in going through this im¬ 
portant orchard section, is that the man who sprays, is the 
man who has raised a salable crop this year. There is no 
disguising the fact that a good deal of apple stock is injured 
by scab and fungus. Single sprayings have not been satis¬ 
factory and efficient protection has only been secured where 
two or more applications of the fungicide have been made. 
A HORTICULTURIST AT THE WORLD’S FAIR. 
A very pleasant week in the fore part of October was 
spent by the writer at the World’s Fair, St. Louis. He 
ventures to record for the edification of the readers of the 
National Nurseryman some of the impressions gathered 
at the time of his visit. 
The general question of what is worth while to the fruit 
men rises first. The Palace of Horticulture is the mecca 
to which all fruit men turn and it is natural that they 
should, because here is gathered a tremendous aggrega¬ 
tion of the fruit products of the states of the Union. We 
have known fruit men who were content to divide their 
time between the halls of horticulture and the attractions 
on the “pike” and we must confess to a cetain feeling of 
sympathy for those who had inclinations “pikewards.” 
In no exhibition in this age of expositions has horticul¬ 
ture had such sumptuous quarters; in no exhibition has 
the subject been systematized to the same extent. Po¬ 
mology has been dignified by making it a division and 
placing a superintendent at its head. Floriculture has 
had the same attention given to it. When we consider 
that the fruit products cover a surface area of four acres, 
flanked on one side by a conservatory of an acre in extent, 
and the other side by a wing for horticultural machinery, 
of the same area, we gather some idea of the immensity 
of the building. Six acres enclosed and devoted to hor¬ 
ticulture! 
The display of fruits on the whole is extensive but the 
individual exhibits are full of contrast. In one state we 
find a large expenditure and much stress laid upon instal¬ 
lation ; in another, the plainest kind of tables in strong 
contrast to the ornamental exhibits. Missouri may be 
taken as representing the former class, while Indiana and 
Iowa belong to the latter. The month of October brings 
the fall and winter apples of 1904 on the tables. So that 
the hall is resplendent with the vivid tints of the apples of 
Colorado, of Northern Mississippi and Northern New Eng¬ 
land. Among the particularly striking displays are those 
made by Missouri, New York, Colorado, California, Michi¬ 
gan, Iowa and Nebraska. Pennsylvania, North Carolina 
and Ohio, although distinctively apple growing states are 
not represented. These failures are in some cases due to 
lack of appropriation and in other cases to diversion of 
appropriation. Canada is the only foreign country repre¬ 
sented in the Horticultural Building. One of the fea¬ 
tures of the latter part of September and the early part of 
October was the grape exhibit by New York State. It 
was a most creditable one considering the perishable charac¬ 
ter of the fruit and the distance it had to be transported. 
Personnel of superintendants: The visitor who spends 
some time in the Palace of Horticulture recognizes that 
certain of the striking characteristics of the exhibits are 
but illustrations of the type of men in charge. He will 
not fail to notice that the success of the Missourians is 
largely due to the indefatigable qualities of Superintend¬ 
ent Goodman; that the failures of certain other states will 
be ascribed to lack of interest on the part of their repre¬ 
sentatives, and of course in some degree, lack of support 
by the growers. Nurserymen will see some of their old 
iriends among the superintendents of the various exhibits. 
Silas Wilson, of Atlantic, a prominent grape grower, 
genial and suave, stands ready to enlighten and guide the 
seeker of information through the pathways of the Iowa 
exhibit. 
Some interesting things have occurred during the sum¬ 
mer season. For instance we have been informed that 
the superintendents of California and Kansas (repre¬ 
senting both sexes) concluded to go into a life partner¬ 
ship and henceforth will be associated wieh a home exhibit 
on the Western coast. It is rumored that other combina¬ 
tions are on the tapis. 
There is much of fraternal good-will shown between the 
superintendents of the various exhibits. They have 
organized and still maintain an association which has met 
periodically during the summer and which has been of 
great service in securing transportation and various other 
facilities within and without the building. 
The Plant House: The hothouse was planned upon a 
magnificent scale but has unfortunately not been patron¬ 
ized to that extent its facilities deserve. Dreer of Phila¬ 
delphia has a large and creditable collection of plants. 
Louisiana as a state, has put in a good collection. Aside 
from these the showing is mediocre. Again, in the ma¬ 
chinery end of the building, the visitor is impressed by the 
apparent lack of enterprise on the part of firms, who supply 
