4o8 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
As to the condition of the business, we believe the planting 
among the nurserymen in this section is on the increase. 
Personally, this season we planted heavier in apple. Grafts 
have made a good gro^vth but the stand is not satisfactory. 
As to the management of nursery work, the cultivator is 
being used more from year to year, and the hoe and rake less. 
This country is proving to be one of thC' best nursery coun¬ 
tries we have had the pleasure of visiting. 
As to new varieties of promise, I would say, speaking from 
a local standpoint, that the Windsor Apple is one of the best 
we have. It is not so new, but is just proving itself to be of 
great value. 
As to old varieties to be discarded, there are many which 
have been discarded that we formerly thought had to be 
grown here on account of their extreme hardiness and adapta¬ 
bility, such as Walbridge, Iowa Blush, Lauver, etc. We find 
we can grow a much better apple and that we can grow almost 
any variety we wish to plant. Therefore, we have some 
choice in quality. The Grimes’ Golden, Jonathan, etc., seem 
to be on the move here. 
Arlington, Neb. Marshall Brothers. 
The season with us has been rather dry and a good many 
of the small plants that were planted in nursery row last 
spring died through the summer. Still, we have a fair stand 
of almost everything. We are very short of Catalpa speciosa 
seedlings. Planted 900 pounds of seed but will not have over 
four or five hundred thousand seedlings, while we should have 
had at least three million. 
Our Black Locust seedlings are fine, also our Russian Mul¬ 
berries, and most other varieties of forest tree seedlings. 
We have bought a building joining our packing house, 50 
by 140 feet. This gives us a good deal more room and we will 
be able to get out orders after this more promptly. 
We do not employ agents, so cannot tell just how fall 
business will be. We have a good many inquiries though for 
catalogues, and think it will be as good as usual. The same 
would apply for next spring. 
We are getting out a large catalogue and will do as much 
advertising next winter as usual, rather increase it than 
decrease it. 
Beatrice, Neb. Carl Sonderegger. 
Following a very dry winter, we have had a dry spring and 
summer until August. This seriously crippled the crops of 
the state, cut them to perhaps half in com and a moderate 
crop of wheat. In nursery stock its effects were most noted 
on seedlings and grafts as the trees and plants that were well 
established were by cultivation enabled to make a fair growth. 
At the recent state fair, the general impression among the 
nurserymen was that the exceedingly dry season had not only 
crippled the farmers crop production to a serious extent but 
had alarmed them so that they were buying fewer trees than 
usual and trade was difficult to get. So far the kind of stock 
in demand is mainly apple, plum and cherry. This season 
again demonstrates the importance of more thorough prepara¬ 
tion of the soil and frequent and careful cultivation. 
[Varieties of Promise 
Some years ago I planted fifty thousand fmit trees 
in partnership branch orchards; visiting a number of these 
orchards this month I find that, following a trying spring 
like that of 1911, the late blooming apples were get¬ 
ting a fair to a full crop of fmit. Such varieties as Genet, 
Iowa Blush, Northern Spy, and Walbridge were usually bear¬ 
ing quite freel^L Since all these varieties bloom late enough 
or were sufficiently hardy to escape the very severe cold wave 
to which central and western Nebraska was subject last spring 
I do not hesitate to recommend them. The Grimes’ Golden 
was also doing particularly well in central and western 
Nebraska. Under trying conditions of frost and storm, it 
was yielding more freely than the Ben Davis or the Winesap. 
The above discussion is limited to the state of Nebraska. 
In Idaho, where we have successfully planted 370 acres of 
orchard, we note that it is the only state in the extreme 
Northwest that reports an apple crop of 100 per cent, thus 
equalling the heavy crop of the previous season. Climatic, 
soil and irrigation conditions favor southern Idaho. 
Nursery Stock in Southern Idaho 
The nurserymen of the state ot Idaho met at Emmet, 
July 18th, and conditions as to trade were regarded as fairly 
promising. The last Idaho legislature passed a very string¬ 
ent regulation regarding the sale of nursery stock, which was 
intended to be very troublesome to the outside nurseries, 
but which will also be difficult to comply with on the part of 
the local nurseries. 
The growth of nursery stock in southern Idaho is very 
good. Thirty per cent, of our apple grafts are reported as 
already attaining a height of 4-5 feet, fifty per cent. 3-4 feet, 
and about twenty per cent, under three feet—a much stronger 
growth than is attained in Nebraska. 
Crete, Neb. E. F. Stephens. 
Characteristics of the season—slow sale. Effect on growth 
of stock—caliper, good. Height below average. Kind of 
stock most in demand—Plum. ‘ Improvements in your field 
or storage equipment or enlargement of your- business— 
increase about 25%. Hints on nursery management—think 
nurserymen are too anxious to sell stock, making prices below 
cost of production. New varieties of promise—none with us. 
Fremont, Neb. B. E Fields & Son. 
We had it very dry early in the season with a very meager 
amount of rain fall until August. The effect of the dry 
weather on newly lined out stock was bad and it put our 
budding off until late. However, we have come out so much 
better than we had reason to expect that we are inclined to 
forget our drought trouble. 
Trade on the road, has had its ups and downs but we have 
managed to keep going. Sales at this time are nearly up to 
last year at the same time but we expect the year’s sales to 
fall considerably short of last season’s business. 
We find the demand for cherry, apple, and grape to lead 
the fruits, with an increasing trade for shade, ornamental and 
shrubs. 
We have the pleasure of writing our friends and patrons 
from our new office, which we completed late last season. It 
is a detached building 28 by 32 feet with a large vault and all 
modem improvements, and we think that it is one of the best 
arranged offices for its purpose in the country. We also built 
a frost-proof billing shed 20 by 100 feet along one side of our 
storage cellar. 
As to nursery management, we find that the best thing we 
have done for a long while was to incorporate our nursery into 
a Stock Company (without water), and to let our old and best 
men have some of the stock. We followed that up by putting 
more responsibility on them, and if it keeps on as well as- it 
started, we will soon find ourselves with nothing to do but go 
to the National Nurserymen’s Convention and like delightful 
outings. 
As to new varieties, the Compass Cherry has come to stay. 
It has passed the experimental stage with us, and people are 
calling for it. Another good thing is the Norway Poplar or 
Sudden Sawlog. It is fast proving its superiority and hardi¬ 
ness over the Carolina Poplar. 
We may be more optimistic than some, but we are of the 
opinion that when business is wound up all over the country 
generally, nurserymen will feel they have had a fairly satisfac¬ 
tory year. 
York, Neb. 
Harrison Nursery Co. 
