THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
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for a time, first purchasing nine town lots on which he erected thirteen 
houses from lumber he had made from the timber on a forty acre 
tract of land that he had purchased. Rents were high then and 
accordingly the investment was a profitable one. He soon accumulated 
money to buy from the Illinois Central railroad two hundred and forty 
acres, now the south side of Elpaso, and eighty acres on which the city 
of Gilman has been built. He named the place Schroederville, laid it 
out in town lots, and in 1856 sold it. He then commenced grape 
culture, probably establishing the first vineyards in the west. He was 
particularly successful in the propagation of grape vines, sold many 
million plants all over this country and even shiped to France and 
Germany. He continued in that line until a short time ago, and is 
even now engaged in horticultural pursuits upon his valuable land, 
comprising 100 acres which adjoins the city. 
In 1866 he erected the Grand Opera House, the first in the city. In 
1869 he aided in building Minerva Block,—for some years the finest in 
the city—and still owns the store at No. 316, in that block. Coal had 
been found along the creeks and in the hillsides in some sections of 
Illinois, but the Doctor thought it must surely underlie the prairies 
also. Accordingly he secured scientific experts to make examinations, 
and coal was found. He became the owner of nearly one-fifth of the 
stock of the Bloomington Coal Mine Company, and was twice its 
president, but sold out in order to devote his time to the nursery 
business. He also established a vinegar and cider factory, and devel¬ 
oped a large and profitable business, but eventually disposed of the 
plant. 
In 1875 Dr. Schroeder went abroad with his family and traveled all 
over Europe, where he first partook of the noted summer sausage, 
which sold for seventy-five cents per pound. After his return he 
began the manufacture of sausage, in 1878 erecting his steam sausage 
and meat pressing factory on South Main street, Bloomington. 
EUROPEAN NURSERIES. 
Professor Samuel B. Green, St. Anthony Park Minn., who 
recently visited European countries writes as follows in the 
Minnesota Horticulturist : 
There are many scenes in European nurseries which strike 
the American nurseryman as peculiar. Among these there is 
perhaps no way in which they differ so much from us as in the 
use of hand labor, which in the European nurseries almost 
entirely takes the place of horse labor. This is undoubtedly 
due to the fact that hand labor is so very cheap there. It is a 
common sight, too, to see women at work hoeing and in the 
general work of keeping down weeds. The great demand for 
trees trained in espalier and fan-shaped forms necessitates the 
growing of these in the nurseries, and they are generally 
trained flat against several, perhaps six stakes to each tree. 
Thus an apple tree, instead of growing as with us, is very 
likely trained in fan-shaped form, extending from one row 
nearly to the other. Such plants must be handled with great 
care and occupy so much of the land that it is out of the ques¬ 
tion to get in amongst them with a horse. 
The growing of gooseberries in tree form is also an object 
of interest, and in this section the gooseberry is a very import¬ 
ant fruit and is eaten in a raw state in large quantities. Occa¬ 
sionally one will see both the currant and gooseberry on the 
same stock, and each worked about three feet from the 
ground. 
In response for a demand for trees for setting out during the 
growing season, the larger nurserymen grow apple, pear and 
other trees in pots, tubs or willow baskets, in which they may 
be moved at any season of the year. This is a feature that in 
s ome sections of this country might perhaps be adopted to 
some advantage, at least in a small way. It frequently hap 
pens that in some of the retail nurseries in this country, where 
a good retail business is done in high priced ornamentals, a 
customer comes around just after the season is past, or even 
late in June, and is willing to pay a good price if he can have 
his planting work done that season. It is under such condi¬ 
tions that it might be well here to grow some plants in pots or 
tubs. I noted that it was a common practice to grow ever¬ 
greens in beds, even after they were, perhaps, a foot or more 
high. I inquired the reason for this and asked why it would 
not be just as well to plant in long rows and to cultivate with 
some hand cultivator, and was informed that it would not do 
to walk between the rows of seedlings, as it would interfere 
with their growth, and at the same time I was given a sort of 
look as though I was not quite on to such matters and had 
simply displayed my ignorance. 
Among the few cases in which I saw a four-footed animal 
assisting in nursery work was where a small burro was used 
for drawing a spraying apparatus through the rows in a nursery 
near Berlin. This spraying apparatus, by the way, was of 
much interest to me from the fact that the power for forcing 
the spray came from carbonic acid, which was generated in 
the receiver by the use of acid and marble dust in the machine 
itself. It was too heavy and clumsy, however, to be practical; 
but it may possibly indicate the direction in which improve¬ 
ments should work in this country. It is certainly a novel 
idea. 
It seemed to me that the nurserymen and seedsmen in 
Europe lay special stress on getting some land that lies along 
a railway track, and then making it beautiful with a succession 
of flowering and foliage plants. Near by, of course, they will 
have a large but neat sign indicating whose establishment it is. 
This form of advertising seemed to be a special feature among 
English nurserymen, and a very pleasant feature it is. There 
is a dignity and high standard and truthfulness about such 
advertising which no printing will take the place of. When 
such places are by the side of some suburban line that is 
patronized by hundreds of thousands of people daily, many of 
whom come to note the frequent changes in landscape effects 
produced during the season, I am inclined to think it a very 
desirable form of advertising. 
COMMERCIAL ORCHARDING IN TEXAS. 
An association of fifty orchardists will be organized in 
Denison, Texas, said an exchange last month. Extensive 
tracts of land have been purchased near that city; 18,000 
peach trees will be planted this month. Early next month the 
Denison association will meet and select officers, and will 
probably take the first steps towards the establishment of a 
canning factory, an evaporating plant and a crate and box 
factory. The association expects to have 50,000 trees in the 
ground within the next two years. I he fruit raised by the 
members of the association will be uniform in quality and 
limited in variety to three of the best peaches now on the 
market. ___ 
W. T. Gough, Abile..e. Kan., July 8, 1901.—“ The National 
Nurseryman is 6. K. in every respect, and should have a good sup¬ 
port.” 
M. J. Graham, Adeu, Iowa, July 13, 1901.-“ Herewith find 
one dollar, for which please extend my subscription for one year. 
Your journal is indispensable to one who would keep in sight of the 
procession.” 
