Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-09-16

FARMERS and fruit-growers need q
word OF caution now and then with refer
ence to seductive advertisements of new
nursery stock. 1t is the special desire
OF some nurserymen to deal in new va
rieties, and the inexperienced are apt to
suffer in purse and temper by supposing
that in their hands these marvels in po-
mOlogy or horticulture will do exactly
as advertised-or half as well. Hun
dreds of thousands of dollars have been
sunk in this way by those who could ILL
afford to lose anything, and it may be
worth while to point out to the readers
of The Examiner and Chronicle where
the danger lies in purchasing these new
varieties.
New varieties of vegetables or fruits
which really excel all existing varieties
are difficult to produce, and hence when
man claims to have superior sort,
the strongest kind of proof should be
required respecting it. His own inter-
ested declaration is not sufficient. Be-
sides, these new varieties are almost
always pushed upon the market before
they are sufficiently tested. A nursery
man of New Jersey or New York may
tell the truth about his bantling's sue
cess on his own grounds for year or
so, but that does not prove that it will
succeed in less careful hands, nor in the
differing climates of Maine, South Caro-
lima, Texas, Illinois, Oregon, or Canada.
The Wilson strawberry among small
fruits, and the Norway spruce among
evergreens, do succeed in almost all soils
and climates; but they are exceptional.
The propagation who thinks he has some
thing remarkable naturally desires to
push its sale, and if people will take his
word as to its merits and buy, he is not
always particular to prove that it will
succeed in other localities than his own.
He wants to sell, also, before the stock
gets into the hands of rivals.
There is another point to be remem-
bered. 1t does not pay the ordinary
purchaser to buy nursery-stock at high
prices, with a view to the propagation
and sale Of plants at high prices also,
because before he can put them on the
market the professional nurseryman,
with his appliances of hot-houses, bot
tom heat, propagation from root and
green cuttings, etc., can beat him ten to
one in the competition, The purchaser
at high prices will very soon hear of re-
duced prices, and that SO very low as to
discourage him. In the case of a new
fruit, if really of superior quality. early
and prolific, a crop from it pushed into
market year or two in advance of To-
cal competition may be very important,
and may really pay, but the risk is great
too great for any but amateurs, or
those farming on capital accumulated
in business. The man of small means
should be patient, and wait. If the new
variety is really an acquisition, superior
to most or all of the other sorts, the
proof will rapidly accumulate, the price
will 90 down rapidly as its propagation
enlarges, and he can soon buy at living
rates. The worth of new berry, a
new pear, or q new cereal, if really ex-
ceiling all kindred varieties now grown,
will soon WIN its way to fame and posi-
ton.
The writer has been himself so often
victimized, and has seen so many in
stances among his acquaintances, that a
word in season to the uninitiated may
be of great value to them. These inn
positions are among the most serious
drawbacks in fruit culture, as the dam
age incurred in testing over-puffed va
rieties is not measured by the first cost
alone. It is chiefly felt in the loss OF
time, labor and fertilizers, through the
testing period, which often requires half
a dozen years or more.-COr. Examiner
and Chronicle.