THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
170 
ROCHESTER NURSERIES IN MIDWINTER AS 
DISCOVERED BY AN AMATEUR 
Large Stock in Storage. Evolution of Storage Methods. 
Fashion in Varieties. 
ALFRED C. HOTTES 
[SPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE OF THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN.] 
The fact that the western nurseries, when they were 
acquiring a trade, could not get their stock, particularly 
pears and plums, early enough when these were shipped, in 
the spring, as was then the custom, led. these firms to work 
out some way of storing their stock. At first they merely 
dug stock in the fall and heeled it in near the nursery packing 
house, out-of-doors, but because the trees thus treated made 
a compact mass, the soil retained its frost longer and the 
purpose of the heeling in was defeated. They then built 
cellars, often underground, heeling-in the trees in sand, and 
imitating natural conditions by standing them up. 
In 1879, Mr. Irving Rouse attempted the keeping of forty 
thousand Mahaleb cherry trees in cold storage. It must be 
noted that cold storage at this time was little used for any 
purpose. The cherries were left from the spring planting, 
and were allowed to remain in the boxes in cold storage till 
the following spring, when he planted about ten thousand; 
they grew nicely. 
Storage Facilities of the Various Nurseries 
Glen Brothers, Frederic E. Grover & Co., Hooker, Wyman 
and Company, and The Hawkes Nursery Company store 
their stock merely by heeling it in in sand or soil in storage 
sheds. In some cases what they do not have room for they 
dig in the spring or ship in the fall. 
John Charlton and Sons store bush fruits, ornamentals, 
and roses principally. Their house is the gable type, having 
three roofs, giving two air spaces. The sides of the roof are 
even with the soil, and the walls are of solid stone, two feet 
thick, and sunken in the soil. Their house is quite well 
insulated, and they use heat only in most severe weather. 
Ellwanger & Barry’s Method 
Ellwanger and Barry store as much of their stock as 
possible by heeling-in in sand, placing the trees and shrubs 
close together in large blocks, with wide rows between for 
gathering the stock. Specimens of all stock in the nursery 
are stored in proportion to the demand for the particular 
variety. Comparatively few ornamentals are stored, about 
100,000 shrubs, 100,000 roses, and 75,000 fruit trees. All 
peaches and roses are dug in the fall and stored, while only a 
percentage of the bush and tree fruits are removed from the 
soil. The trees are graded when brought from the field, 
and stored under their proper headings as to variety and 
grade. Their storage house is of frame construction with 
air spaces, the roof being of wood covered with tar paper. 
There are really four houses; a rose, and a shrub house, a 
house for general stock, and one for the small fruits. These 
are connected in such a way as to be handy to the packing 
room, into which wagons can be driven and loaded. 
Cement Storage House at Woodlawn Nurseries 
Mr. Allen L. Wood of the Woodlawn Nurseries has a fine 
storage house 336 feet long by 130 feet broad, constructed of 
cement blocks (24"x3"x8"), arranged so that there are 
three walls, making two 1^2" air spaces. The three walls 
are tied together by V-shaped wires attached to every block. 
In the manufacture of the comer block, three wires are used 
for reinforcement. The roof is covered with roofing paper. 
All wood used in construction of the building was soaked in 
kerosene, and all posts used had holes bored in them 18" deep, 
filled with kerosene and plugged. Each year the posts are 
tapped and holes filled again. Mr. Wood thinks this a 
thoroly practical method of keeping his timbers from decay. 
The rafters of the cellar are covered with matched boards, 
thus enclosing the area between roof and ceiling. That the 
lack of air may not cause a decay of rafters, there is an out¬ 
side board door allowing a free passage of air thm between 
them, drying them out and preventing decay. Mr. Wood 
maintains no heat in his house, believing that he approaches 
outdoor conditions, since he covers the roots of all stock with 
excelsior, moss, or sand. He maintains that the absence of 
heat does not cause them to dry out, and that his peaches 
weigh three to eight pounds more per bunch, if they have not 
dried out. In labeling his stacks, he uses a label which can 
be hooked upon a projecting arm, and he may thus readily 
change his labels as the contents of the bin are changed. A 
railroad baggage truck is used to carry trees from the main 
stock room to the packing room. This is very economical, 
in that it carries at one load about rooo XXX trees or 1800 
XX trees. The trees are now labeled and placed in smaller 
stacks, of which there are 494, where small orders are put up. 
In the main stacks the trees are in bundles of ten, tied together 
with tarred string. At the beginning of each series of apples, 
pears, and so forth, large labels are placed. At one side of 
the packing house is a large bin holding two carloads of arctic 
moss used in packing. The level of the floor of the packing 
room is such that the driveway leading into it is at a height 
convenient for loading the boxed stock without lifting. 
Shipping Business of Charlton Nursery Company 
The Charlton Nursery Company, of which Mr. J. M. 
