California Nursery Company

John Rock of San Jose and the California Nursery Company
Workers at California Nursery Company, Fremont, California, 1890s

The California Nursery Company is a nursery in California that has been in operation for over a hundred and fifty years.[1] It was responsible for introducing new hybrids created by such important West Coast breeders as Luther Burbank and Albert Etter.

History

The California Nursery Company (CNC) was founded in 1865 by John Rock, who was born Johann Fels in Lauterbach, Germany, on August 19, 1836. He immigrated to the United States in 1852 and fought on the Union side in the Civil War before settling in California in 1863.[2]

Rock's Nursery (as it was originally named) was first located at Wayne Station in San Jose, California. After it became cramped for space, it relocated in 1884 to a larger plot of land in Niles (a district of Fremont) and was renamed the California Nursery Company.[1][2][3] After Rock's death in 1904, the nursery was run by William J. Landers. In 1917, it was bought by George C. Roeding of Fresno and today remains a family business.[1]

At first, the nursery was a wholesaler providing grape vines and fruit trees to California's growing agricultural industry, although early on it also supplied plants for the Palo Alto estate of California tycoon Leland Stanford. Later, in addition to its wholesale business, the nursery started a retail operation with ornamental trees and plants for homes and gardens. John Rock was interested in creating new plant hybrids and worked with West Coast plant breeders like Luther Burbank. His 1888 catalog featured some 500 varieties of fruit trees, 700 ornamental shrubs, and 270 roses. By the time Rock died, his nursery had introduced more new plant varieties to California than any other.[2]

In 1940, the northern California plant breeder Albert Etter began a partnership with the CNC with the goal of patenting and then marketing Etter's best apple varieties. The CNC introduced six Etter varieties in its 1945 catalog, including Pink Pearl.[4]

The CNC ultimately became the largest firm of its kind west of the Rockies.[1] It was located close enough to the San Francisco Bay Area that it became a destination for gardeners and horticulturists. From the early 1930s to the mid-1960s, the CNC hosted annual bulb shows in spring that could draw up to 5000 visitors over a weekend.[1]

After 1972, some of the former nursery grounds were turned into a Fremont city park, the California Nursery Historic Park, although the family continued to lease out some land to other nurseries.[2] Currently, the Roeding family operates the nursery as a mail-order business.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 California Nursery Company, company website
  2. 1 2 3 4 Cain, Julie. "History: California Nursery under John Rock". California Nursery Historical Park website.
  3. ↑ California Nursery: a forgotten part of Fremont History by Tri-City Voice Newspaper
  4. ↑ "The Ettersburg Apple Legacies". Greenmantle Nursery website

External links

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