THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
469 
CONDITIONS IN CALIFORNIA 
Dear Sir: 
It is quite evident from your letter that the unfavorable 
weather conditions in California have been very much 
exaggerated, for the simple reason that as far as I know, no 
damage has resulted to fruit trees of any kind in any section 
of the State. The citrus trees in the San Joaquin Valley 
have not been injured, and as to the fruit of these trees, prac¬ 
tically all of this was shipped before the cold spell, which 
was not particularly severe, for at no time did the ther¬ 
mometer go below 25 0 above zero, Fahrenheit. 
I have been trying to learn from Mr. Wood, who is in¬ 
terested with me in the Roeding & Wood Citrus Nursery at 
Exeter, and who is now in Los Angeles, how serious the 
damage is to the citrus trees in that part of the State. I 
have delayed answering your letter, fully expecting him to 
return to Exeter, which is about fifty miles from Fresno, to 
find out how serious the damage has been south, but at this 
writing he has not returned from his trip, so, I have not been 
in the position to secure the information. All the informa¬ 
tion I have on the subject, as to the damage in the southern 
part of the State is from the newspapers, and they report 
that the citrus crop has been damaged to the extent of 
about a million dollars. Citrus nurseries in unfavorable 
locations have probably been damaged, but to what extent 
I am not in position to say. This much I do know, 
however, and that is that outside 'of citrus trees, no damage 
has been done to fruit trees in any amount. As far as the 
citrus orchards themselves are concerned, the temperature 
would have to go as low as 2o°F., to injure the trees, and 
even at this temperature, they would come out during the 
spring again, with every possibility of producing a good 
crop the following season. 
Should you desire any further information, I will be very 
much pleased to give it to you. 
Geo. C. Roeding, 
President and Manager. 
BUSINESS METHODS APPLIED TO FRUIT GROWING 
Mr. J. W. Stewart, Proprietor of the Protumna Orchards 
of West Virginia, announces an interesting experience which 
he has had in securing apple pickers and packers and 
managing his orchard force during the past season. He 
secured his pickers by advertising in the country stores in 
the surrounding counties and by announcing the fact 
through public sources that the country in which he was 
located would have a large fruit crop. This method secured 
a goodly force from which to select his picking contingent. 
He arranged sleeping and boarding quarters for his gang and 
organized them into four groups of fifteen men each, with a 
sub foreman at the head of each group. The cost of board¬ 
ing these men varied from 50 to 60c per day. The cost of 
picking the apples added to the cost of the package was 
practically 55c per bbl. 
This general plan of managing the apple harvest seemed 
to work very well, and the owners of orchards who coopera¬ 
ted this year have the promise of abundant labor next sea¬ 
son. It is another argument in favor of the cooperative 
method. 
ANNUAL MEETING OF WOLVERINE NURSERY COM¬ 
PANY 
The annual meeting of the Wolverine Co-operative Nur¬ 
sery Co. Ltd. was held at Paw-Paw, Mich., Monday, January 
10, at 1130 p. m. Many items of common interest were dis¬ 
cussed. This company spent about $125 in experimental 
work with chemical fertilizers last season and this season 
voted to use $100 for the work. It is being tried to deter¬ 
mine the proper time and amounts to use on different soils 
and on different crops; also the best ratios for compound¬ 
ing. The work the past season showed good results. 
Berlin, Md.—D. W. Babcock, who is a life-long nursery¬ 
man, graduating from the nurseries of Western New York, 
and foreman for J. G. Harrison & Sons of Berlin for the past 
ten years, has leased the Dr. Hammond property on South 
Main Street for a term of years and will plant it to nursery 
and florist stock, making a specialty of forest and fruit trees 
and shrub seedlings, florists’ bulbs, roses and bedding 
plants .—Florists Exchange. 
HOLLANDIA NURSERY CO. 
Two prominent Hollanders, Geo. C. Groenewegen and 
H. DeSchepper, have settled themselves as florists and 
nurserymen in the town of Decatur, Benton county, Ar¬ 
kansas. Shipping facilities are good from that point and such 
cities as Kansas City, Mo., St. Louis, Mo., etc., can be easily 
reached. Both have been in the business for years and have 
had a practical education in different countries of Europe. 
They have plenty of the finest land at their disposition and 
are anxious to communicate with first class growers in their 
vicinity. The name of the new concern is the Hollandia 
Nursery Company, located at Decatur, Ark. 
A CORRECTION. 
We desire to correct a statement that appeared on page 
433 of the January number of this journal. It is there 
stated that F. W. Kelsey, having severed his connection 
with the American Nursery Co., will continue in business 
under the name of F. W. Kelsey Nursery Co. and that this 
company will own and conduct the business established 
by F. W. Kelsey in 1875. The words: “The new firm 
which is really an old firm under a new name.” also 
appeared in the notice. 
After careful examination of official records of the trans¬ 
action, it develops that, by the terms of purchase recently 
made, F. W. Kelsey surrendered to the American Nursery 
Co. all the property, rights, good will, and all that belonged 
to the business established by him in 1875. He was 
allowed, however, to start in a new business, having sur¬ 
rendered for a consideration all rights to the old business. 
In justice to the party affected by the notice of last 
month, we make this explanation. 
EASTERN ASSOCIATION OF RETAIL NURSERYMEN 
This organization met in Rochester, January 27th, for 
the transaction of routine business and the election of of¬ 
ficers. The same officers were reelected. No important 
business was transacted, although the members listened 
with interest to suggestions presented by Commissioner of 
Agriculture, Pearson of New York, for the control of brown 
tail moth on imported nursery stock. 
