Milford chronicle., 1913-08-08
THOUSANDS VISIT The
HARRISON NURSERIES


Thousands of persons interested in
fruit culture, many of whom visited the
lower part of this peninsula for the first
time. gathered at the Harrison Nurse
ries at Berlin, Maryland on Thursday
last. The gathering was the occasion of
the meeting of several horticultural So
cieties of the eastern shore and the Della
ware counties. The managers Of the
large nurseries had automobiles in wait
ing which conveyed the visitors through
the 2500 acres Of peach orchards, and
through the other interesting parts OF
their large establishment Persons from
the Vinginias, the west, north and fur-
ther south were in attendance, and their
ewes were opened to the great pOsslbih-
ties of this peninsula.
Probably the largest single body IN
attendance was the Chamber OF Com-
merce of Wilmington, many OF whom
while residents of Delaware, knew
scarcely any thing about the agrlcultu-
rial possibilities of this section. FOR
these persons the trip has ~een an edu-
cation, and also an awakening 70 the
fact that the lower part of the peninsula
is up and doing" The affair was got
ten up by the Harrisons and was on a
large scale. AS an example OF the man
ner in which it was conducted the follow
ing is given 500 chickens were killed, 4
lambs, 1000 Maryland biscuits. one car
load of peaches, 500 rusks, half carload
of cantelOupes and watemelons thirty
five gallons of ice cream, 25 hams, 10, 900
glasses of lemonade were made, while
other smaller things were consumed by
the hungry crowd. All of this was pro
vided by the Harrison Nurseries and
~,,e eovrraJ to Tboir rrt1aefe fraa
The inspection of the nurseries of }.
G. Harrison & Sons. for which automO-
biles were provided, proved at once the
most novel and one of the stinterest- |
ing features of the trip, while the hos
pitality of the Harrisons was the most
notable. While they had extended the
invitation to the Maryland, Delaware !
and Peninsula Horticultural societies and
the Wilmington Chambers of Commerce 4
to be their guests on that occasion, ithey (
had also sent out general invitation, |
and as result between 1000 and 5000
persons enjoyed their hospitality.
While several meetings were held dur (
ing the day, with one exception that of
the Delmarvia Press AssociatiOn-th (
were more in the nature of social con- /
ferences, and it was evident that nearly
everybody there, at least those who came
from Wilmington and other distant /
points, were anxious to see the nurse
ries, about which they had heard so much. I
and as soon as an opportunity presented [
itself the visitors went out to the orch 1
ards in groups, the cars being placed at
the disposal of the guests, who, after
being taken through the nurseries, COM (
prising about 2, 900 acres, were taken |
through the peach orchards, where the /
trees were found so heavily overloaded I
with fruit that many Of the trees had to (
be propped, while many limbs were hang 1
ing, having been broken by the weight .
of the fruit, to which the visitors were
asked to help themselves. The firm had .
provided small baskets, which could be
had for the asking, and there were very
few who visited the orchards who went
away without a basket of the peaches.
IF they had not thought to take the
basket with them they filled their pockets
and got the basket afterwards.
The magnitude of the nurseries is al
most beyond conception and proved a
revelation, especially to the city folks,
who were intensely interested. On the
2 600 acres there are growing 1000, 900
aDple trees of different varieties, as many
peaches, pears and other fruits, while
there are thousands of maple and other
shade trees, in addition to thousands of
plants of different kinds. The orchards
are Just outside the town of Berlin, ly
ing on 10th sides of the State road, which
is fine macadam thoroughfare, from
which each sectionsOf the plantation is
reached by a private road. The autOmo-
biles took the visitors over these roads,
and all agreed that what they saw was
well worth the effort. The scientific
manner in which the nurseries are con
Quoted created a profound impression.