FOR GROWERS AND DEALERS IN NURSERY STOCK' 
The National Nurseryman Publishing Co., Incorporated. 
Vol. XX. ROCHESTER, N. Y., APRIL, 1912 No. 4 
GENEVA AND NEWARK NURSERIES IN MIDWINTER AS 
DISCOVERED BY AN AMATEUR 
Stocks and Storage. Prominent Nurseries in the Geneva District. 
E. L. BERNAYS 
Geneva seems to be fitted for the growing of nursery stock 
by both advantageous climatic and soil conditions. And so 
we find that the nursery business has developed to a great 
extent in that section, and that following the pioneer firms, 
other men have come in and their businesses have grown to 
large proportions with the increasing trade in nursery stock. 
The people in Geneva take a 
justifiable pride in their nur¬ 
sery industry, and rightly, 
since the facts seem to bear 
out the case. The nursery¬ 
men have added greatly to 
the city’s beauty; for we find 
the streets well planted and 
the private grounds of some of 
the growers are spots of 
beaut}". 
A11 h o the clin'ate of 
Geneva is favorable to the 
growing of trees, the winters 
are so extreme that the stock 
has to be stored, and it was 
with the purpose of making a 
survey of general storage conditions and the status of the 
business in winter that the present trip was undertaken. 
W. & T. vSmith Co., Prominent Wholesalers of Geneva 
The grounds of W. & T. Smith are situated on a residence 
avenue a few minutes ride out of Geneva. The executive 
building and the packing and storage houses are scattered 
over a four acre plot. The planting grounds are over 700 
acres in extent. This firm specializes in roses and ornament¬ 
als, and carries besides a full line of all the standard varieties 
of fruits and shrubs. In the large packing shed men were 
engaged in building boxes, and from the large amount of 
lumber on hand, it looked as if they were going to be kept 
busy all winter. 
Storage Facilities 
In the storage room, a frost proof building, kept quite 
dark, the various kinds of stock were stacked on supports 
according to their kind, variety, and grade. Their arrange¬ 
ment was very methodical and their labeling enabled one to 
easily find them at any time. A great number of apples were 
noted, and concerning them Mr. Smith said that at present 
people are crazy on the subject of apples, and that apples 
are now so scarce in the East that prices are very high. 
Many of the apples are being shipped to Montana, and other 
western points, althothe com¬ 
petition of the western 
nurseries is being felt at 
present. Cherries were also 
noted in good lots, and here 
the same difficulty in securing 
Mazzard stock was noted as at 
the Chase nursery, as the seed 
did not germinate well, said 
Mr. Smith. 
A special feature of the 
Smith plant is the propaga¬ 
ting houses for the roses and 
the five other rose green¬ 
houses. They are produced 
in carload quantities, and pre¬ 
sen t a beautiful sight to 
the observer. The rose stocks are grown in these houses, 
and are healthy, vigorous specimens of the different 
varieties. Cuttings of these are made and put into sand in 
the propagating houses to form their roots. Into the two 
propagating houses 35,000 cuttings are placed, and during 
the winter the houses are filled three or four times. Every 
four weeks, therefore, the houses are entirely refilled. The 
vSmiths’ handle as many as half a million roses a year. The 
Killarney is a popular variety, but there are many new kinds 
originated every year. After the hardy roses have rooted in 
the propagating frames they are transplanted into pots and 
in the spring they are planted out in the field to remain there 
two years, after which they are placed in storage over the 
winter. Those in storage were in a special rose cellar. The 
roses were placed in sand because Mr. Smith believes that 
they keep better in this way. The temperature of this cellar 
was about 28 degrees. The small fruits were kept in a 
separate cellar. It was noticed that more excelsior was 
wrapped around the roots of these than on the larger fruits. 
R. G. Chase Company’s Establishment 
