THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
649 
year. It goes without saying that they will need to be in 
the confidence of the nurserymen if they are to render the 
most efficient service. 
The next innings on this sub-surface 
THAT ROOT problem belongs to the scientists. The 
KNOT nurserymen have been “producing the 
QUESTION goods” by showing examples of apple 
trees badly infested with root galls when 
planted, now in healthy growing, still more, productive 
condition. Nurserymen’s experiments have shown that 
galls or root knots on apples tend to disappear in Minnesota 
and Nebraska when the trees are set in orchard This is 
good as far as it goes, anyhow. It was a matter of con¬ 
siderable disappointment that the United States patholo¬ 
gist of the Bureau of Plant Industry had nothing to offer on 
the subject, though it had been rumored before the meeting 
that certain important discoveries in the life history of the 
causal agent were about to be announced. The nursery¬ 
men need the information at the earliest moment and noth¬ 
ing but the necessity of carrying the investigation to a satis¬ 
factory stage of completeness should delay the publication 
of the resulst. Later we shall present Mr, Hedgecock’s 
•report recently received.— Editor. 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY 
This month August Rolker & Sons celebrate the seventy- 
fifth year of their establishment as a firm of Importers and 
Exporters of Horticultural Goods. At present two sons of 
August Roelker who died in 1871 shortly after the present 
style of firm was formed, carry on the business at 31 Barclay 
Street. Winfried Roelker and Joseph E. Rolker are the 
active members. 
August Rolker, the founder came to America in 1835 and 
engaged at once in the importing business as it related to 
horticultural products. It was sometime in July, 1835, that 
he started in business taking offices on Platt Street. His 
first unpleasant experience was the great fire of 1835 which 
destroyed a great number of business houses in New York, 
among them his own. However, the insurance company 
that covered his risks proved solvent so that after all the 
fire amounted only to a clean sale. 
In the course of years, August Rolker entered into several 
partnerships, the most important being that known as A. 
Rolker & Mollman. This partnership lasted until the 
death of Mr. Mollman in i860. In 1871, the present style 
of firm was formed by taking into partnership his two oldest 
sons, August Rolker, Jr., and Winfried Roelker. Soon after 
arranging this partnership and three days before it was to 
take effect, August Rolker died but his will provided for the 
continuance of the present style of firm. Two younger 
brothers were admitted in later years. 
At present only Winfried and Joseph remain to carry on 
the business established by August Roelker seventy-five 
years ago under his own name. The firm is well known, 
either in a business way or by reputation, to most nursery¬ 
men of the country and we are sure they will join with us in 
wishing the Rolkers all success and happiness in the years to 
come. 
IT PAYS 
“Our space with you has been a paying proposition for 
us.” Arcadia Nurseries, Monticello, Fla. 
VALDESIAN NURSERIES, BOSTIC, N. C. 
So far we have had a fine growing season, occasional 
showers, with everything starting off nicely. Many in¬ 
quiries for quotations have come from all over the country 
and the indications are now that we will do a bigger fall 
business than ever before. 
NINETY-SIX PERCENT. 
Of the 356 Nurserymen whose names appear in the 1910 
Badge Book, ninety-six per cent. (96%) are subscribers to 
the National Nurseryman. Doesn’t this give you an 
inkling of how we cover the nursery field? We reach all 
the Nurserymen of America who are worth reaching and if 
you have any business message for them you will come to us. 
Obituary 
THE WORK OF J. L. NORMAND 
Fruit culture and especially scientific plant breeding has lost a 
most valuable man in the death of J. L. Normand of Marksville, La. 
Without scientific training but with an inborn love of plants, Mr. 
Normand worked along original and distinct lines in the creation of 
new types of fruits, paying little attention to the commercial side, 
until he won a recognition among men who realize the value of such 
work. He lived and worked in a region where his achievements 
were little appreciated because they were little known and under¬ 
stood, content to live among his own creations in the plant world, 
studying them and caring for them as his own children. 
Mr. Normand’s most notable work in recent years was the 
development of the “Carnegie orange,” a true hybrid, remarkable in 
its frost resistent powers, which he obtained by crossing the com¬ 
mon Louisiana Sweet orange with the citrus trifoliata. The crea¬ 
tion of a new type by hybridization, to preserve the edible qualities 
of the orange and the hardy qualities of the stock was a great achieve¬ 
ment. Along this line the national department of agriculture has 
worked for many years, developing a number of types, none of which 
are equal to the Carnegie of Mr. Normand. 
Another line of valuable work in which Mr. Noimand was also 
successful was the testing of figs. He found a type that has, in 
addition to size, saccharine matter and general qualities, remarkable 
keeping and shipping qualities. This “New French Fig,” as he 
named it, he selected as the most desirable after testing some seventy 
varieties. 
He also developed a new type of ornamental, an umbrella 
shrubbery, a distinct and beautiful type. Pears and many other 
fruits received his attention and study, and he made some distinct 
crosses with apples and developed some fruits unlike any types in 
existence. The original lines along which he worked attracted the 
notice of students of plant breeding all over the LMited States. 
DEATH OF AN APPLE KING 
Conrad Schopp, president of the Conrad Schopp Fruit Company, 
St. Louis, known as “The Apple King,” is dead. He came to 
St. Louis forty years ago from Germany and started at once in the 
produce business. From a small beginning he developed into the 
largest operator in fruit in the country and was the first man in the 
West to invade the markets of Europe with apples —American 
Fruits. 
