THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
403 
SEASON DRY IN IOWA 
Our season here was characterized by very dry weather 
from the 15th of May until about the ist of August, accom¬ 
panied by very hot weather and much hot wind. This did 
not seem to affect seriously the growth of the stock that was 
well established, but small things and cuttings were badly 
injured by weather conditions. The above weather condition 
covered a great deal of the territory over which we operate 
and, of necessity, damaged trade to quite an extent. We 
would say, however, that we think our trade is, notwithstand¬ 
ing the climatic conditions, fully up to the average at the 
present writing. 
We have added somewhat to our general planting this 
season, and at present writing have about 800 acres covered 
with growing stock. 
We do not think, however, that the outlook for general 
nursery business throughout the country is as bright as it has 
been for a few years past; and if we are not mistaken, there 
will be a curtailing of planting along many lines. 
Charles City, la. E. M. Sherman. 
Our growing season, with the exception of the latter part, 
has been dry. We had enough moisture during April and 
May to start the spring planting in good shape, and secured 
fair stands on most of our spring planting. June and July 
were very dry, and hot. Rains set in the first of August, and 
it has been more seasonable since then. 
With thoro methods of cultivation, we managed to secure 
a very good growth, as foliage was good, and there was less 
fungus trouble than usual. 
We are having very nice fall trade, but not as heavy as 
some seasons. Indications for winter and spring trade are 
very favorable. 
In fruit trees, apple are still in most active demand with 
us, and in ornamentals, roses. 
In the way of storage equipment during the summer, we 
tore down a frame building of 102 x 125 ft., with walls thir¬ 
teen feet high, and replaced it with a structure of brick and 
hollow block walls and a gravel roof, making the addition 
115 X 155 ft., with walls twenty feet high, almost doubling 
capacity of building. This gives us a main storage building 
of three hundred feet, with an average of one hundred eight 
and a half feet in width, with side track the entire length of 
the building. This with our other buildings completes our 
equipment very nicely for handling our business. 
Shenandoah, la. E. S. Welch. 
The season of 19 ii has been a favorable one with us. 
Early spring was favorable for planting, and we got a good 
stand in everything, with exception of evergreen seed. We 
had very dry weather during the early summer but by dry 
farming hard we succeeded in keeping up an active growth 
through it all. Our apple blocks came through in fine shape 
with little or no trouble with insects or diseases. 
It is hard to tell as yet just what effect the severe drouth 
and general business unrest will have on spring’s business, but 
we look for quite a slump in retail sales, especially from the 
parts of the country most affected by the unfavorable weather 
conditions. 
We are growing small fruits heavily and are doing special 
work in breeding new varieties of Everbearing Strawberries. 
From over 200,000 seedlings, we have at this very minute 
some 3,000 to 5,000 new varieties loaded with fruit in all 
stages of development, and covering the entire range in size, 
shape, and flavor of the common once-a-year fruiters. They 
* bear a larger crop of fruit at regular strawberry time than do 
the common sorts and then commence again about the first of 
August and continue fruiting heavily until stopped by severe 
freezing in fall. The early frosts that kill tomatoes, etc., do 
not hurt them. Under separate cover we are mailing you a 
few samples of some of these new seedlings. 
Osage, la. The Gardner Nursery Co. 
We never had one good rain during this whole season 
until about Sept. ist. Some things lived and grew a little, 
but tens of thousands of things were killed outright, because 
they could not live through so many months of i)inching 
drouth. 
One effect over all this region is that large quantities of 
stock, which should have been fit for market this fall, will be 
undersize and carried over for another year. The shortage of 
crops in this big inland region will make trade a little less 
active than usual, but as we are having such abundant rains 
since September ist, everything looks green and many men 
will buy and plant in hopes that next year the good Lord 
may look with a kinder face upon us. 
The kind of stock most in demand is apple trees. There 
is no doubt about that. There are some old varieties that 
deserve to be discarded. Some of them we are compelled to 
tolerate a little longer while the men of genius, like Patten 
and others, are creating something better to take their place. 
Des Moines, la. C. L. Watrous. 
Our season has been exceedingly dry with a great deal of 
extremely warm weather. Stock that was well established 
has made a good, vigorous growth, but young transplanted 
stock has not done so well. Apple grafts especially are a poor 
stand, due to inferior growth. In regard to trade conditions, 
I believe they are up to the usual standard. There is a great 
demand for fruit tree stocks of all kinds. In trees, the 
demand is very brisk for apple. Prices generally are held 
quite firm, and I believe the demand will be equal to the 
supply of stock in nearly all lines. 
Shenandoah, la. D. S. Lake. 
The past season has been one of great extremes, both of 
heat and drought. The season opened very early in Iowa 
with a water shortage all over the country. By the last of 
May, large portions of the state were experiencing drought 
with a very high temperature. The drought continued until 
about September ist, but since that time copious rains have 
fallen. The effect on growing stock in the nursery has been 
marked. 
We had nearly a complete loss of our apple grafts. We 
do not believe that at the present there is over fifteen per 
cent, of the stand out of a graftage of 350,000. Cherry trees 
grew well and seemed to enjoy the drought and apples coming 
two and three years old made a very fair growth, but not as 
heavy as during a more humid summer. There seems to be 
at present a very brisk demand for apples, but cherries seem 
to be a slow sale. While there are no large growers of cherry 
in Iowa, yet there are many who have very large plantings 
and more than they are able to sell at retail. 
The best demands are for forest tree seedlings, pltuns and 
standard varieties of apples. 
At the commencement of this season, we began the build¬ 
ing, of a very large storage plant. We believe that this is one 
of the requisites that every first-class nursery should have— 
storage room for at least from ten to fifteen cars of stock, so 
they can take up their stock at the proper time and have it 
stored ready for spring delivery, or well prepared to take care 
of stock to be shipped in. 
While it is said we have passed through one of the most 
trying seasons, owing to the drought, yet we have found that 
by constant cultivation we have been able to get a very good 
growth on most kinds of stock. We tended om nursery up 
to and including the 15th of August. 
We are having a very large demand for Wragg Cherry. It 
seems to be one of the most promising cherries for western 
planting. This is one of the varieties that seems to be in 
