472 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
Correspondence 
GREAT FIELD OF THE FRUIT JOBBERS 
Editor of The National Nurseryman, 
The remarks you refer to as having been made by me at 
the Western Fruit Jobbers’ Association Convention were 
made in responding to the Address of Welcome from the 
Governor and the Mayor, and of necessity were entirely 
extemporaneous, so that I am without notes, and presume 
that I know as little of what I said as anyone. 
My reference to the magnitude of the business in which 
the jobbers are engaged was not based upon actual figures 
now available, but this reference covered the entire line in 
which the Jobbers of the Association are interested, that is 
Fruits, Vegetables, the Product of the Dairy, and Poultry. 
Two years ago in December the papers published figures 
as issued by the Department of Agriculture. In this set of 
figures they named the total production of wealth for the 
year 1907 as $7,250,000,000.00. Of this they approximated 
produce at $2,500,000,000.00. I have tried to keep track 
of these figures since, but the Department refers me to so 
many different compilations that I have been unable to get 
hold of all of them, but with my knowledge of values and 
production and with a total figure given by the department 
for wealth produce this year, as being approximately 
$8,250,000,000.00, I stated that the portion of that repre¬ 
sented by the lines in which we were interested would be 
approximately just under $3,000,000,000.00. Naturally I 
have used the license permitted a speaker under all condi¬ 
tions and circumstances. 
I further called attention to the fact that no one realized 
the magnitude of the business or gave it the prominence 
that it deserved, emphasizing this with the illustration that 
even with what we term a light crop of apples, the total of 
last year only exceeding by a little over one-third the crop 
of 15 years ago, the commercial crop reduced to carloads 
would this year approximate 150,000 carloads. It is an 
easy matter to get me started on the dignity of my business. 
We are the coiners into money of these products and 
are the only element that does this coining quickly, turning 
the actual money back into trade channels, enabling the pro¬ 
ducer to meet his obligations with his country merchant, 
the country merchant in turn meeting his, with the whole¬ 
saler and the factory. I claim for the trade first place in 
the commercial world, while the commercial world itself fails 
to recognize its importance. 
I claim that we pay more to the transportation com¬ 
panies that any other line of business in existence, this 
because of the enormous magnitude of the products handled 
and high rates of freight they carry. 
You see, even you have gotten me started. I believe 
though that this is a fruitful subject for investigation for 
such publications as your own, and that if those engaged in 
the industry could be brought to a full realization of the 
importance of their occupation, every man’s chest would 
increase in measurement and a corresponding improvement 
in the general tone and ethics of the calling would follow. 
Wm. L. Wagner. 
PECAN GROWING IN NORTH FLORIDA—AN ATTRAC¬ 
TIVE INDUSTRY 
Editor National Nurseryman. 
The crop of pecan nuts this year in the region of Monti- 
cello, Fla., was very good indeed and all the young grafted 
or budded trees old enough to bear gave a fine crop. I saw 
some Vandeman nuts from a ten year old tree that was 
extra fine, even though this sort has rather a black eye in 
this locality. A number of very promising seedlings have 
also shown up. 
Yesterday on the farm of Mr. Barrows I saw three year 
old trees that had made between 5x6 feet of growth the 
past season. Some of our own two year trees made between 
2 and 3 ft. of wood. 
The ^rove planting here is not so heavy as last winter but 
there will be at least 2000 acres planted near here by the end 
of this winter. That includes all ages. I think there will 
be about 3000 acres planted near Albany, Ga., this winter. 
This added to the area already in orchards in that section 
will bring the nut orchards up to a total of nine or ten 
thousand acres. 
The nurseries in and about Monticello are practically sold 
out of trees for this winter and most of them are going to 
Dougherty County, Ga. Stone of Thomasville and Wight 
of Cario are sending a good many there also. The season 
has been dry but the growth in the nursery rows has been 
very satisfactory. 
The nurseries here are doing their best to prepare for the 
future trade and are grafting about as follows: 
The Nut Nursery .125,000 grafts 
Arcadia. 7 5,000 “ 
Jefferson Nursery. 50,000 “ 
Monticello Nursery. 40,000 “ 
Miller & Gossard .100,000 “ 
390,000 
Other nurseries are also putting in the usual numbers. 
Men are saying that a grow of grafted pecans 20 years 
old is worth $1000 per acre. This I think conservative. 
The outlook is certainly very bright and I think it is bound 
to be a great industry for this section. 
. 
H. D. Simpson. 
THE LIMITATION OF THE SATSUMA ORANGE TO TRI¬ 
FOLIATE-ORANGE STOCK 
The author of this bulletin draws attention to the salient 
and important fact that the Satsuma orange is practically 
limited to the Trifoliate stock and is a “complete failure on 
a sour orange stock when almost all other citrus fruits can 
be grown successfully.” The Trifoliate or Hardy Orange 
was introduced by the Department of Agriculture in 1869. 
Its home is in China and Japan where for many centuries it 
has been used as a stock for the propagation of citrus fruits. 
The author concludes with a warning to growers against 
purchase of Satsuma oranges on sour orange stocks. The 
Bureau of Plant Industry “will undertake temporarily to 
determine free of charge whether or not nursery stock of 
citrus fruits is grafted on Trifoliate-Orange stock.” 
