The National Nurseryman. 
FOR GROWERS AND DEALERS IN NURSERY STOCK. 
Copyright, 1901, by the National Nurseryman Publishing Co, 
“So long as the planter has enthusiasm the nurseryman should have hope .”— Prof. Bailey. 
Vol. IX. ROCHESTER, N. Y., OCTOBER, 1901. No. 10. 
FRUIT GROWERS’ PLA1SS 
Rapid Growth of Membership of New York State Association — 
Won First Prize at State Fair—President Yeoman’s Address 
—Report on Fruit Statistics and Marketing — 
The First Field Meeting, 
The New York State Fruit Growers’ Association held a field 
meeting at Olcott Beach on Lake Ontario, August 14th ; 250 
were present. It was stated that 92 of the fruit growers 
present represented 4,292 acres of fruit with a cash value of 
$858,400. 
In the course of his address President L. T. Yeomans, of 
Walworth, N. Y., said : 
It is an inspiration to meet so large and enthusiastic a gathering of 
fruit growers in a locality famous for its fruit. After my ride of yes¬ 
terday through your beautiful orchards, I am convinced that you 
know how to cultivate, prune and care for your orchards, and grow 
apples famed for excellence in quality and keeping. Do you under¬ 
stand as well how to gather, pack and market them so that you may 
realize all you should for your labor ? The business end of fruit 
growing requires an entirely different kind of ability from that of 
growing the fruit. The successful grower is oftentimes the one who 
is fatally lacking in those business qualifications so necessary to an ad¬ 
vantageous sale. In fact, only a very small per cent, of growers 
realize what they should from their fruit. This is especially true of 
the smaller growers. The business end of fruit growing is one of the 
most important features for which our association is organized, and it 
is only by co-operation that we can bring about a better condition of 
affairs in this respect. 
Look at the foreign markets. Why should we not be able to export 
our surplus fruit to foreign shores and receive satisfactory prices for it as 
California does? Surely we can raise as good fruit, but we are not posted 
as well as we might be on packing and marketing in attractive pack¬ 
ages, or looking into the demands of certain markets. There is a 
chance for education along this line, and when we grasp the situation, 
we will be in position to establish our fruit on foreign shores. The 
opening up of foreign markets to our choicest fruits will be success¬ 
fully accomplished in the near future, and will be of incalculable value. 
Why may not pears be more profitably shipped from New York to 
Europe than from California? The quality of ours is far better, the 
distance 3,000 miles less, and the saving in freight about |300 per car. 
The fruit growers of California are organized through its fruit 
exchanges. We are not. Organized effort is all we lack ; everything 
else is in our favor. 
It is less than six months since the association was organized. It 
has now nearly 350 members and is steadily growing. 
Our fruit census has, in its initial trial, in a very unfavorable year, 
satisfactorily demonstrated its value and importance. It is, on all 
hands, conceded to be more accurate and reliable than any other fruit 
crop report of the year, and numerous requests have been received for 
it from parties whose interests are antagonistic to ours. These reports 
alone are worth more to every fruit grower than the membership fee 
of the association. Through our efforts the grower will be educated 
to better and greater uniformity in packing. The time should not be 
far distant when the members of this association will place the brand 
of the New York State Fruit Growers’ Association upon every pack¬ 
age of fruit sold by them. The brand must be a guaranty of choice 
fruit. There is always a demand for such, in attractive packages, at 
good prices. Some education will be necessary, and some members 
may drop out who think they are smarter than their neighbors, but as 
time goes on the number of such will grow smaller. Delaware has 
adopted such a system, and it has proved successful. Each grower is 
given a registered number, and if the packages he sends to market are 
not up to standard, the merchant knows whom to censure. On the 
label are also these words : “ Contents of this package guaranteed ~as 
good all through as on top.” The trade-mark is in the shape of a 
sticker, and is pasted on each package sent to market. 
Chairman W. T. Mann, of the committee on fruit statistics 
and marketing, reported : 
The government reports are not accepted with confidence, partly 
from lack of knowledge concerning their character and the data neces¬ 
sary to make proper use of them, and partly from an inherent fault 
which it will probably be impossible ever fully to overcome. The 
original information is furnished by a very large corps of correspond¬ 
ents selected primarily with reference to their ability to estimate the 
cereal or so-called staple crops. Primary consideration is given to that 
class of products, and only secondary to fruit. The great majority of 
these reporters are not fruit men, and are incompetent to render correct 
reports of fruit crop conditions. This fact is well illustrated by a 
comparison of the report of the statistical division and our associa¬ 
tion’s report on the apple crop in July. The former reported a crop 
of 40 per cent, of normal; ours, based on information furnished by 
members, gave an average of about 20 percent., or one-half of the 
former. Our report was fully as high as facts would warrant, the 
government’s twice as high as it should be. It was the fault of their 
system. 
The fact that the “weighted” averages are based upon the preced¬ 
ing national census admits a souree of possible wide inaccuracy. Ac¬ 
curate averages cannot be obtained until the actual yearly production 
for a term of years can be obtained, so that the real relative importance 
of the various sections can be known. Such information should be 
obtained by the Department of Agriculture through the statistical 
division, as is now done for all other crops reported in the monthly 
bulletins. That it is not done shows the secondary importance at¬ 
tached to the fruit crop, notwithstanding the fact that the leading 
fruits, especially the apple, rival most of the staple crops in com¬ 
mercial value. _ 
LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION. 
From Roswell, N. Mex., Parker Earl has written to Secre¬ 
tary Aull of the committee on agriculture, Louisiana Purchase 
Exposition, St. Louis, 1903, in part as follows : 
An important display in the line of grapes should be by planting in 
ihe spring of 1902 a complete exhibit of all known varieties of Amer¬ 
ican grapes, some 300 to 400 varieties, in well prepared ground in the 
open air, planting model vines which will make a strong growth in the 
summer of 1902, and be in full fruitage in the summer of 1903. The 
same method should be followed with the European class of grapes, 
only these should be grown in a suitable conservatory. Very large 
vines should be procured from California, which will show the pecu¬ 
liar training of this class. Something like 100 varieties of this class 
should be planted. This combined display of grapes can be made 
more complete and instructive than anything heretofore attempted. 
Our people are familiar with orchard trees and an attempt at an 
exhibit of bearing trees of these species would not have sufficient 
novelty to justify the cost, but the display of the fruits should be 
larger, and from more countries and climates than has been made be¬ 
fore. I suggest that the fruit products from all the territory em¬ 
braced in the Louisiana purchase should be shown together and along- 
