132 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
IN CENTRAL STATES . 
Unusually Large Demand for Stock—Outlook Is for Shortage In 
Nearly All Lines In Spring—General Increase In Prices 
Is Looked for—Wholesale and Retail 
Sales Ahead of Last Year. 
Kalamazoo, Mich., Oct. 15 .—Charles A. Maxson, general 
manager Michigan Nurseries: “ Our wholesale trade for fall 
shipment has been far in excess of previous years, while the 
result of our retail efforts shows a tendency on the part of the 
planters in favor of spring planting, compelling us to carry 
over thousands of dollars in orders already taken for spring 
delivery. We still have a good general stock, our largest 
surplus being in apple, raspberries, blackberries and straw¬ 
berries. 
“ We believe there will be a general increase in the prices 
for the spring delivery as we see many evidences of a strong 
demand, especially for apple and peach.” 
Bloomington, Ill., Oct. 17 .—Phoenix Nursery Co.: “The 
fall season has opened up with an unusually large demand 
for stock. It would seem to us that from present prospects we 
would do more business this fall than we have since ’ 93 , in the 
fall. 
“With us the demand is general, both in fruit and orna¬ 
mental stock. There is a big demand for apple, peach, plum 
and cherry, and a fair demand for pear trees. In apple, of 
course, the demand is largely for commercial varieties, and 
from the North for hardy kinds. In peach the demand is 
largely Elberta, but orders are coming in for all the leading 
kinds. It seems that we will be sold out of peach this fall. 
“ If the present demand keeps up for a general assortment 
of stock it would seem there would be a big shortage in all 
lines for spring. We believe that all kinds of stock are scarcer 
than in the past twenty years, and there is no reason why 
nurserymen should not realize handsome prices for stock this 
fall and the coming spring season. The time that nurserymen 
have been praying for has apparently arrived.” 
Bridgeport, Ind., Oct. x 6 .—Albertson & Hobbs: “We 
are just now right in the midst of our packing, and hardly 
know how the business is going to balance up. We are having 
all the trade we can handle, as there is a shortage in help, and 
the early part of the season was so wet we could not do much, 
but we are having very nice weather now, and we hope in a 
few days to be up in good shape. 
“ Many kinds of stock are running very low, and the supply 
seems to be very nearly exhausted. We anticipate some pretty 
heavy shortages in the spring, as many kinds of stock in sec¬ 
tions where weather was wet this season did not make up as 
well as usual, and this reduced the supply. But we think alto¬ 
gether this is going to prove one of the best years for the 
nurserymen they have ever had, and in the end there will be 
little surplus stock to carry over, or little to be offered cheap 
on the market next spring. 
“ Agents’ sales are forty per cent, ahead of last year, and all 
reporting prospects of heavy sales for the winter, and this is a 
pretty good indication of the condition of the general trade. 
“ Blum and peach seem to be shorter than other lines of 
stock, though there is a good demand for all kinds, and espec¬ 
ially heavy in ornamental lines. 
Vincennes, Ind., Oct. 20 .—W. C. Reed, Vincennes Nurse¬ 
ries : “ We are enjoying the heaviest trade we have ever had 
by fifty per cent, and are still very busy with our wholesale 
orders, not having touched our retail business yet. There 
seems to be a very great shortage in peach and all kinds of 
plum, and prices are bound to go higher for spring. 
“Apple are in very heavy demand and the medium grades 
seem to be rather scarce in this section as we had a splendid 
growing season. There is still a good assortment of ^ grades 
except in some of the leaders, such as Ben Davis, Rome Beauty 
and Wine Sap. 
“ Prices have been very satisfactory all through and there 
will be no surplus in ar.y line. We look for a sharp advance 
on most everything for spring. Sales of one and two year 
cherry, of which we grow very heavy, are beyond all expecta¬ 
tions, selling close on all grades. 
“I see no reason why the coming season should not also be 
good, as there will be a great many one year trees used and 
this will make a shortage for the following season.” 
PLANT BREEDING CONFERENCE. 
Seventy-five persons attended the international conference 
on plant breeding and hybridization called by the Horticul¬ 
tural Society of New York. Notes on Mendel’s methods of 
cross-breeding were presented by Professor Bateson of Cam¬ 
bridge University, England, representing the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society of England, and by Captain C. C. Hurst, also a 
delegate from England, Professor W. M. Hays emphasized 
the necessity of breeding for better economic qualities rather 
than for more fanciful peculiarities. 
Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa, Cal., who was not at the con¬ 
ference, contributed a paper in which he drew attention to the 
fact that plant breeding to-day is yet in its infancy, and indi¬ 
cated the immense possibilities which lay before plant breeders 
in every line of work. Reducing the matter to statistics, he 
presented figures showing the enormous yield of corn, wheat, 
oats, barley and potatoes that would arise by the increase of 
one grain or tuber, as the case may be, to each head or plant. 
Professor S. A. Beach, horticulturist, New York State Ex¬ 
periment Station, Geneva, speaking on the “ Correlation Be¬ 
tween the Different Parts of the Plant in Form, Color and 
Other Characteristics,” showed how there was a definite rela¬ 
tionship between the size of the leaf, the size of the fruit, and 
of the pit in the peach ; how in the grape the large-leaved 
varieties were most likely to bear large fruits ; Delaware, for 
instance, with small fruit had a small leaf. He was aiming to 
arrive at a definite method of deciding in the early stage of 
the plant life whether it would be profitable to grow it or not. 
If some basis could be found it would save an immense 
amount of unnecessary labor. It was true that the chance of 
originating an improved variety was in some degree propor¬ 
tionate to the number of seedlings produced ; therefore the 
greater necessity of getting rid of the undesirable form in as 
young a stage of growth as possible. 
In raspberries, the color of the fruit could clearly be fore¬ 
told by the foliage of the cane being lighter or darker as the 
case may be ; so with roses. Numerous other instances of a 
like nature were cited. 
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