The National Nurseryman. 
FOR GROWERS AND DEALERS IN NURSERY STOCK. 
Copyrighted 1903 by The National Nurseryman Publishing Co.. Incorporated. 
Vol. XII. ROCHESTER, N. Y., DECEMBER, 1904. No. IS 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE NURSERY BUSINESS 
IN IOWA. 
Wesley J. Green, 
Secretary Iowa State Horticultural Society. 
Who planted the first orchard in Iowa is not definitely 
known. The first authentic record of a settlement within the 
borders of the State was made by Julien Dubuque, who in 
1788 had gained the confidence of the Indians and established 
a mining camp and trading post, at, or near the mouth of Catfish 
Creek, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 
1810. It is not definitely known that fruit trees were planted 
by Mr. Dubuque, or his associates, during the twenty-two 
years he resided in that vicinity, though it has been affirmed 
that old fruit trees were found in bearing at a deserted Indian 
village in that locality when occupied by the settlers in 1833. 
J. L. and L. H. Langworthy planted orchards there soon after 
the land was opened for settlement. We have, however no 
record showing that there was a nursery in Dubuque, before 
1850, though it is possible that- trees were grown and dis¬ 
tributed there long before that date. 
In 1799 Louis Lesson established a trading post at Montrose, 
in Lee County and planted near his cabin, a small orchard of 
about 100 trees that he brought from St. Charles, Missouri. 
This is the first authentic record of fruit culture in Iowa. 
The next orchard was planted by Antoine Le Claire at 
Davenport, in Scott County, 1833. Mr. Le Claire had lived 
in that vicinity since 1818, in the employ of Col. Davenport as 
an interpreter of the Indian languages, in which he was an ex¬ 
pert. This orchard contained about 400 trees which were 
brought by boat from Cincinnati, Ohio. There was no com¬ 
mercial nursery at Davenport until 1841, when H. D. Findley 
planted about five acres which he afterward extended to 160 
acres before the business was discontinued. 
In 1837 Henderson Lewelling started a nursery near Salem, 
in Henry County, which was continued by his brother John 
until 1850, when he closed out the stock and went to Oregon to 
join his brother, Henderson, who had gone there in 1848 to 
engage in the nursery business. 
In 1841, Reuben Brackett brought apple seed from Cin¬ 
cinnati,Ohio, and started a nursey at Denmark, in Lee County. 
It was in the management of this nursery that his son, G. B. 
Brackett, acquired a knowledge of fruits and methods of culti¬ 
vation that soon brought him prominently before the public 
as an expert in pomology. In this capacity he has rendered 
valuable service to the country at the international exhibitions 
and as United States pomologist. 
In 1836 or ’37, Robert Avery and his son, Henry, planted an 
orchard and nursery at Burlington, in Des Moines County, and 
continued in business there for a number of years. 
From 1836 to 1850 many of the settlers brought seeds and 
nursery stock with them to plant about their new homes in 
what was then considered the “far West.” In this manner a 
great many varieties were planted. 
Mr. Weed’s nursery in Muscatine at an early period con¬ 
tained 300 varieties of apples, 150 of pears, 90 of peaches and 
nectarines, 70 of plums and 50 of cherries; but many of these 
were not hardy enough to withstand the test of hard winters 
and soon died. The winters which proved most destructive to 
trees in orchard and nursery in Iowa were 1842-3, 1848-9 
1855-6 1863-4, 1872-3, 1884-5, and 1899. 
The first trees planted in orchard by my father, in Scott 
County, were budded about two feet above the ground. Many 
of the orchards planted before that contained a large number 
of seedlings; since that time it has been the practice among 
nurserymen to use a long scion in root-grafting the apple so as 
to eliminate as much of the tender stock as possible in order to 
secure a thrifty tree on its own roots. The methods of culture 
followed are those which tend to produce a strong, continuous 
growth in the young trees in summer and to ripen the wood 
before the weather is cold enough to injure it. Improved 
implements for cultivating and digging the trees have reduced 
the cost of production; and storage cellars and have lengthened 
the time for distribution and prevent loss from unfavorable 
weather conditions after the trees have been grown. 
Nursery stock is so easily and quickly distributed throughout 
the country that the nurserymen is no longer dependent on 
the territory adjacent for his support. Rapid transportation 
has been an important factor in the development of the modern 
commercial nursery. When the first nursery was planted in 
Iowa, it required more than six weeks to get an answer from 
a letter to New York, now it can be had in as many days. 
Some data have been collected of the nursery business in 
this State but they are not sufficient to show, by comparison, 
the progress of the business from year to year since 1840 to 
date, but it has kept pace with the increase in population and 
the orchard industries. There are now more than a hundred 
nurseries doing business in the State with capital involved 
exceeding several million dollars. 
[Among the nurserymen of comparatively of recent years who 
were closely identified with the progress of fruit growing in the 
state were R. P. Speer, Cedar halls and Bardwell & Havi- 
lancl, Ft. Dodge. The nurserymen of to-day are well known 
and among the most progressive in the country.— Ed.] 
The apple situation has cleared up very considerably during the past 
month. The cold weather has been a prime factor in clearing the atmos¬ 
phere. Belated apple pickers lost heavily. It is altogether too bad to 
see thousands of bushels of apples on the ground as one drives through 
certain parts of the country. The greatest losses have occurred in 
regions where the small orchards exist. Here the apple crop is of sec¬ 
ondary importance and was left to the last minute. Jack Frost arrived 
before the “last minute” and the apples came down in showers. Some 
of them were afterwards sold as dry house stock at a low price or went 
into vinegar. 
