92 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
a grandfather on his mother’s side. Col. Wingate, who 
also fought in the Revolutionary War. 
Lloyd C. Stark, vice president of the company, is 
largely responsible for the arrival of the new member. 
While John Wingate only weighs 9 pounds at present, he 
comes from lighting stock and may be expected to run 
tilings, and we hope in the future, to the benelit of the 
nursery interests at large as well as his own particular 
firm. 
Mr. P. L. Phelps, Scientific Forester and Landscape 
Artist, Rockford, Illinois, is opening up a nursery and 
sales yard at Ottumwa, Iowa, for ornamental shrubs and 
trees grown exclusively for landscape planting. 
WOOD RROS. ORNAMENTAL NURSERY CO. 
The nursery department of the Griswold Seed Co., of 
Lincoln, Neb., who recently went into the hands of a re¬ 
ceiver, has been purchased by the Wood brothers Silo 
under the name of the Wood Brothers Ornamental Nur¬ 
sery Co., at Lincoln, Neb. 
CAPT. CHARLES L. WATROUS. 
Capt. Charles L. Watrous, who was the president of 
the Watrous Nursery Company, of Des Moines, Iowa, 
died February 9th, at the age of 77 years. Capt. Wat¬ 
rous up until the time of his death was in good health. 
His death came rather suddenly from an attack of pneu¬ 
monia. 
Born at Freetown, N. Y., he was educated at the 
Homer Academy, Homer, N. Y., taking his college course 
at the University of Michigan. 
When the Civil war broke out he came home and or¬ 
ganized an infantry company. He was severely wounded 
at the Battle of Bull Run, being mustered out of service 
as he was unfit physically to again enter the war. When 
the war was over Capt. Watrous returned to Michigan, 
where he graduated in law, but due to ill health it was 
necessary for him to seek an outdoor life. With this 
idea in view he went to Des Moines in 1869 and started 
the Des Moines Nursery Company. 
Many of the older nurserymen will remember the in¬ 
terest that Capt. Watrous took in the American Associa¬ 
tion of Nurserymen, of which he was president in 1886-7. 
During the time when the advent of the San Jose scale 
into the country caused so much consternation among 
the nurserymen and fruit growers, Federal legislation 
was proposed, but California wanted to make the law so 
drastic that the Nurserymen’s Association opposed the 
bill. Mr. Watrous was one of the committee that went 
to Washington to try to prevent its passage. He stayed 
there six weeks and was largely instrumental in prevent¬ 
ing the passage of the bill. 
For the last five years he has not been active in the 
Association, due to his advancing age. 
BERNARD SCHRAMM. 
Bernard Schramm, Toledo, Ohio, died at his home, 
January 17th, at the age of 78 years. Of late years Mr. 
Schramm was connected with the florist business, but at 
one time was well known in nursery circles as the pro¬ 
prietor of the Humboldt Nursery, Ohio. He was a 
nephew of Peter Kieffer, the originator of the Kieffer 
Pear and resided with him when he first came to the 
country from Stotzheim, Alsace-Lorraine, in 1853. 
THE PRAIRIE SPIRIT IN LANDSCAPE GARDENING 
Through the writings of Wilhelm Miller we can begin 
to see the formation of American Landscape Gardening, 
a style that is truly American, to whom the lamps of 
Sacrifice, Truth, Power, Beauty, Life, Memory and 
Obedience can be applied to landscape gardening as 
John Ruskin did to architecture. 
The same inspiration that brought forth “My country 
’tis of thee” evidently dominates his work in and for 
landscape gardening. 
The note sounded so plainly in “The Prairie Spirit in 
Landscape Gardening” is in harmony with the best that 
is American. It is sweet, clear and honest, simple and 
good. It encourages no false notes of foreign origin or 
ostentation of wealth, but a full realization of the beau¬ 
ties of American plants, arranged with art and with the 
inspiration born of our own prairies and woods. 
“The Prairie Spirit in Landscape Gardening” is really 
circular No. 184 of the Illinois Agricultural Experiment 
Station, and is free to anyone in Illinois who will sign a 
promise to do some permanent ornamental planting 
within a year. 
The people of Illinois are to be congratulated. We 
could hardly expect anything but the best in the way of 
printing and illustrations from a former editor of “Coun¬ 
try Life” and it should convey the Prairie Spirit to the 
people. 
Chapter IX gives a list of native plants and should re¬ 
ceive the attention of all nurserymen who grow ornamen¬ 
tal plants. A partial list of nurserymen who grow them is 
also given. It is unfortunate the latter is not more com¬ 
plete or omitted entirely. 
