154 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
......in...mi...............inmimum^ 
OUR 30TH ANNIVERSARY 
The Oldest Nursery Trade Journal in the World 
Rochester, New York, May 1, 1923. 
The National Nurseryman, 
Hatboro, Pennsylvania. 
Dear National Nurseryman: 
May I not offer my warm congratulations on this an¬ 
niversary? The date reminds me that today the Nation¬ 
al Nurseryman completes its thirtieth year, the first num¬ 
ber having appeared May 1, 1893. I read that number 
and I have read every number since then. You will be 
startled to know that I was old enough to read thirty 
years ago, but it is a fact. Thirty years is a long time as 
years are counted, but it seems only a very short time 
ago. In moving about, I shed some of my impedimenta, 
including a complete file of The National Nurseryman, 
so I write from memory. 
At first, the journal was covered with heavy white 
enameled paper, the title being printed in gold on a blue 
shield. There was no advertising on the cover. The 
first picture used was a portrait of Thomas Smith, father 
of Theodore J. Smith, of Geneva, N. Y. Mr. Smith and 
my father were both English and good friends. I remem¬ 
ber veiy distinctly the arrival of the first number, the 
first issue of a nursery trade journal ever printed in any 
country, and our interest in the novelty of it. My father 
was especially pleased to find the picture of his old friend 
in it and at once sat down and subscribed for the paper 
with a letter of appreciation and good wishes that ap¬ 
peared in the following issue. It doesn’t seem so long 
ago. 
You started in another generation. Most of the names 
that appeared in your earlier issues have disappeared. 
To me, it is interesting to note that contributed articles 
and editorial comment then touched upon precisely the 
same subjects that remain today’s problems; with this 
difference: that 30 years ago much more was written 
about varieties and their propagation, while today the 
more important question is recognized as that of sales 
and distribution. 
And so, having rounded out 30 years of chronicling 
nursery history, may I not, as a genuine “Old Subscrib¬ 
er'’ and “Constant Reader,” congratulate you upon the 
record and wish you many more years of happiness and 
prosperity and at the same time, wish for the trade a 
continuance of your constructive support? And I do 
that, with all good wishes. 
Sincerely yours, 
John Watson. 
