Gbe IRational IRurseryman. 
FOR GROWERS AND DEALERS IN NURSERY STOCK 
National Nurseryman Publishing Co., Incorporated. 
Vol. XVIII. ROCHESTER, N. Y., FEBRUARY, 1910 No. 2 
THE HIGHLANDS NURSERY 
Situated in the Mountains of North Carolina with Branch at 
Salem, Massachussetts 
Whose Motto is “American Plants for American Planters” 
Proprietor, Harlan P. Kelsey, Salem, Massachussetts 
While not discouraging the importation 
of the best plants which foreign coun¬ 
tries offer, the National Nurseryman 
has frequently advocated and con¬ 
sistently stands for the relatively 
greater value of American plants as a 
whole for American conditions than 
any exotics that may be introduced. 
Critics of this statement may cite some impor¬ 
tant exceptions and point to the remarkable 
Rhododendron catawbiense at 5,000 feet elevation western North Carolina. 
the highest point east of the Rockies in the distance. 
examples of 
the immedi¬ 
ate adapta¬ 
tion of a few 
oriental 
plants, to 
American 
soil and cli¬ 
mate, and 
we shall ac- 
c e p t the 
amendment 
without demur. But when the whole situation is care¬ 
fully considered we cannot fail to see that these 
are the exceptions and that they by no means rise to 
the dignity and importance of the rule. We are to remem¬ 
ber also that not all plants imported from Europe are of 
European origin. Many of our valuable conifers for in¬ 
stance are of American origin but simply propagated in 
Europe owing to the enabling economic conditions. For 
these reasons we have great pleasure in presenting a descrip¬ 
tive sketch of a nursery that for a quarter of a century has 
labored consistently and intelligently for the spread of in¬ 
terest in purely native plants. The story of the growth of 
this nursery is exceedingly interesting. It is in effect the 
story of the life work of a man convinced that North America 
has a wealth of native plants unsurpassed by that of any 
other country and that these as a whole are better adapted 
to our own soil and climatic conditions than any which can 
be introduced. 
The proprietor of the Highlands Nursery, Harlan P. 
Kelsey, was at one time the youngest nurseryman in the 
country for he issued his first catalogue when but twelve 
years old ! 
His interest 
in plant cul¬ 
ture arose 
with the 
earliest 
awak enin g 
of interest in 
the organic 
kingdom. 
This High¬ 
lands Nur¬ 
sery with its 
headquar¬ 
ters in the 
Mt. Mitchell 6,600 feet, 
mountains of North Carolina at an 
elevation of 3800 feet, and with all 
that such an elevation means in the 
way of developing hardiness in the 
stock grown, began with an area of 
about half an acre in extent some 
twenty-five years ago. The Nursery 
made its debut, its bow to the pub¬ 
lic, by introducing the then newly 
discovered and exquisitely beautiful 
native plant, Azalia Vaseyi, named 
Harlan P. Kelsey, i9oo 
