THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
77 
SEASON IN MARYLAND. HART NURSERIES SOLD . 
State Vice-President Joseph Davis, President of the Franklin 
Davis Company, Reports Heavy Demand lor Peach 
Stock — Other Stock, Too — Little Surplus 
Stock, and Prospect Is Bright for 
Maintenance of 1900 Prices — 
Young Stock Pre¬ 
ferred. 
Fort Scott, Kansas, Plant Purchased By A. B. Combs, W. E. 
Brooks and George Combs—Company Now Has Eight 
Hundred Acres—Two Hundred Acres of Bottom 
Land Planted to Young Nursery Stock — 
Officers of the Company. 
Baltimore, May 20 .—The spring season of 1902 , just 
closing, taken all together, has been a very satisfactory one for 
the nurserymen of Maryland. 
As far as we can learn all grades of stock have been cleaned 
up. In fact, the demand for nursery stock has been so great 
that many of us were compelled to go into our one-year blocks 
of cherry, apple and pear to supply 
the demand and furnish varieties 
wanted. The demand for young, 
thrifty stock, either one or two years, 
seems to be preferred to the older 
and larger trees three or four years 
old. 
Maryland, we suppose, furnishes 
to the trade, and also planters, as 
many, if not more, peach trees than 
any other state, and under ordinary 
conditions can usually supply the 
demand ; but the past season was 
an unusual one, and we were 
unable to supply anything like the 
demand called for. 
The nurserymen of Maryland 
turned down order after order for 
carloads of peach, apple and other 
stock. 
The “ locust scare ” prevented a 
great many planters from putting 
out orchards this spring, and no 
doubt this will add to the business 
for fall. 
Prices for fall of 1902 should be 
as good if not beter than they were 
for spring of 1902 . 
We believe there is very little surplus stock in this state and 
prices should be kept up at a paying basis, especially to the 
planter. 
The prospects for a fruit crop in Maryland, as far as we can 
learn, is good'; and if good prices are realized we can look 
forward to good sales this fall. 
Young stock put out this spring is looking fairly good, but 
just at this time we need rain, and need it badly. 
Joseph Davis, 
State Vice-President American Association. 
JosEPn Davis, Baltimore, Md. 
Vice-President American Association. 
The Hart Pioneer Nurseries has been sold to a newly organ¬ 
ized company composed of A. B. Combs, W. E. Brooks and 
George Combs. The Hart Pioneer nurseries, which were 
owned by C. F. Drake, was one of the largest businesses in the 
West. It was organized in 1867 and has enjoyed a large trade. 
The new company will occupy the same offices and with the 
exception of a few changes the business will be conducted as 
it has been for years. 
W. E Brooks will be the presi¬ 
dent of the new company. George 
W. Combs, sr., will be vice-president. 
He has been in the nursery business 
for years and is thoroughly familiar 
with all the finer points of the busi¬ 
ness. A. B. Combs will be secre¬ 
tary and general manager of the 
new concern. He will devote his 
entire time to the interests of the 
nursery, as he has during his 
identification with the Hart 
nurseries. 
The new company will assume 
the name of the old one and is, in 
fact, the old company, as Mr. 
Brooks was for eighteen years the 
superintendent of the Hart nur¬ 
series, while A. B. Combs has been 
for the last eight years the secre¬ 
tary of the company, though he 
has been in the business for sixteen 
years. 
The new company will have more 
than 800 acres of nursery grounds 
and will ship to Old Mexico, 
Canada, Nova Scotia, New Bruns¬ 
G. II. Watson, 50 years old, a salesman for the Lawrence Nursery 
Co., Lawrence, Kans., died suddenly of asthma at the V inwood hotel, 
Kansas City, last month. His relatives had not been located at last 
accounts by the Lawrence company, which says: “We understand 
that at one time he worked for some firm at Geneva or Rochester and 
later had some sort of a deal at Bloomington.” The body was buried 
at Kansas City. 
wick and to every state in the Union. 
A. B. Combs will have his office at the nurseries, while the 
office over the Bank of Fort Scott will be in charge of Major 
Combs. 
The consideration was reported to be in the neighborhood 
of $35>°°°- 
By this consolidation 200 acres of valuable bottom land has 
been acquired. This has been planted solid to choice young 
nursery stock, so that by next season it is expected that the 
company will have a large stock to open to the trade. 
Fruit growers of Western New York, while admitting much damage 
to the coming crop from the frosts of May 9lh and 10th, are hopeful 
that the injury will not be as serious as feared, as trees were two weeks 
later than usual in blossoming. 8. D. Willard of Geneva reports that 
early varieties are seriously hurt, and in many cases destroyed. He 
remembers nothing like it in that section at that time of year. 
