In 1961 Fred C. Darragh with the St. Tammany Tribune newspaper gave a great overview of the growing landscape nursery industry in St. Tammany Parish. Click on the article below to make it larger and more readable.
Text from the above column:
COVINGTON BEAT With Fred C. Darragh
Have you ever seen canned gold?
Well, I have -- thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of the stuff, stretching in row upon orderly row as far as the eye could see. I have watched, as the cans containing it were carefully loaded aboard huge transport trailers destined to fan out over a twenty seven state area in the first leg of a journey that would scatter ST. TAMMANY'S GREEN GOLD over practically every state in the union, as well as many foreign countries.
The GREEN GOLD. of course, is the product of the many commercial nurseries which have quietly, without chest-pounding or fan-fare, contributed a multi-million dollar business to the economic growth of St. Tammany Parish.
Commercial buyers visit our local nurseries in all seasons, eager and anxious to exchange good cash money for the broad leaf evergreens that are cultivated here. They come hunting Holly. Arbor Vitae, Crepe Myrtle. Juniper, Ligustrum, Gardenias. Magnolias, Photenias, Ilex, Cherry Laurels. Hibiscus, Azaleas, Sansanquas and camellias, and dispatch heavily laden transports to points as far North as Chicago (Montgomery Ward and other catalog houses are big customers), South to Miami, West to Texas and Oklahoma, and East to the Atlantic states.
The average citizen of St. Tammany is unaware of the tremendous scope of the local nursery industry, because most of its business is wholesale, and its leaders are entirely too busy to do much bragging on their importance.
AND THEY ARE IMPORTANT -- MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT THAT!
The several thousand acres in cultivation represent a capital investment of a good many hundred thousand dollars. even at the most conservative estimate.
Building is constantly in progress; tractors and other equipment wear out and must be replaced; plants must be fed, and watered, and babied through droughts and cold spells, and protected from "varments" of field and air. In every operation, the nurserymen's dollar takes firm root in local business, while the hundreds of people that they employ add materially to the general prosperity.
An overwhelming majority of the parish nurseries are state registered, with their owners going to Baton Rouge on one of the two dates set annually, for examinations in nursery management and plant culture, the passing of which will qualify their firms to ship beyond State lines.
All are members of the Southeast Louisiana Nurserymen's Association, and many belong to the Louisiana State Horticultural Association, and the National Association of Nurserymen, whose strong lobby (headed by an extremely well paid and efficient secretary) protect the interests of nurserymen throughout the nation.
Our nurserymen are leaders in church and civic activities, devoting both dollars and effort to the improvement of their local communities, and through State (two of which Covington and Abita Springs have hosted) and national conventions, have proven themselves extremely fine ambassadors of good will for their home parish.
All of which is a far cry from the year of 1903 when Mr. Henry McKee, popularly credited with pioneering the nursery business in St. Tammany. started selling fruit trees on a commission basis for a Georgia firm. Visualizing the possibilities inherent in the mild climate and generous rainfall of the area, he started cultivation of his own plants, and through a long course of trial and error, laid a firm foundation for the present thriving industry.
St. Tammany may well be proud that it can boast of what is probably the largest commercial nursery in the state, and one of the most modernly equipped in the nation, as well as what is claimed to be the world's largest "lath house" -- all of which I hope to take up in another column in the very near future.
St. Tammany Tribune, December 8, 1961
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Co-op Paper Carries Story Of Nurserymen
MARCH, 16, 1956
The front page and most of the back page of the March issue of "Rural Louisiana", a tabloid published by Louisiana Electric Cooperative, was devoted to the Folsom area and several of its nurserymen.The front page was a full-page picture showing Milton Morgan, Jr., in his field with the caption, "Folsom Area, Nov Top U. S. Nursery Center."
The back page carried the following story:
Born of Depression and economic necessity, plus the hard work and vision of two brothers, Price and Dallas Magee, the thriving nursery industry around Folsom is today one of the nation's largest. After the seas of green pines around Folsom were slaughtered, the stump industry depleted and the golden revolution in tung oil failed to materialize, conditions looked grim for the Folsom area. Then, the depression landed to cinch the choking hand of economic despair.
That was the picture when Price Magee came to the area. A jobless public worker and victim of the depression, he returned to the land to ride out the disaster. Not content to sit still, he began experimenting in horticulture on a limited scale back in 1930. Convinced that the warm climate and high sandy soil of the area offered opportunity for a nurseryman, he and his brother, Dallas, increased their experimenting, probing and prodding—learning everythig they could about horticulture.
Ships to 18 States
Today, Price Magee ships nursery products into 16 states. Better, eight big nurseries have sprung up in the Folsom area, offering job opportunities to many people. Coupled with nurseries in nearby communities, the St. Tammany parish nursery industry is one of the foremost in the United States.
A penetrating, highly intelligent man, Mr. Magee sees an even greater future for those who really know the tedious business and are willing to work. He says highways of the future will be landscaped, requiring much stock. Housing projects propose a good market, particularly for trees.
"We missed the boat around here on live oak trees. They're in big demand now. Most of our emphasis has been on evergreens, simply because we can easily compete in that field," Mr. Magee explained while sitting on his tractor.
Mr. Magee said, contrary to popular opinion, a nurseryman's best customer is another nursery. This is because of seasonal difference across the nation. "For instance we can get as much growth in the Folsom area in one season as they get in two seasons up in Tennessee. Our gardenieas, therefore, are in big demand up in Memphis. We sell to a lot of nurserymen to the north of us."
Soil and weather conditions make it possible to compete in the national markets throughout the entire field of broad leaf evergreens—magnolias, liveoaks, hollys, camelias, etc. Pines are also a popular seller, along with other members of the family with needle-shaped leaves.
Mr. Magee exploded a popular fallacy: Top and Root Relation
"There is a definite relation between the top structure and the roots of a plant. If a root area is destroyed, the top is affected, and vice versa. The further out on a limb the sap goes, the richer it is —hence more growth."
Asked why blooming plants are not as popular nursery items as the evergreens, Mr. Magee said it is because Southerners do not cherish them as much as in the north. "That's simply because spring doesn't burst forth in full glory here as it does in the North—from drabness to overnight brilliance of colors. Who highly values spring roses after seeing Azaleas blooming in February?" he asked.
Green Valley
Skipping over to the nearby Green Valley Nursery, run by Melton Morgan, Jr., president, agreement was found with Mr. Magee that irrigation is becoming a must with nurserymen. The Morgan brothers were irrigating thousands of Oleander cuttings. . . . the time was early in January.
They also agree that Azaleas are far out ahead of Camellias in today's markets. Seems that doctors, shoe clerks, etc., got into the Camellia business down around Mobile about like they did in cattle in Louisiana. The resulting crash and rush to sell out sent the Camellia market, long a St. Tammany best seller, to the rocks.
Relatively new in the business, the Green Valley operators had 135 acres of camellias, azaleas, gardenias, pines, magnolias, etc., under cultivation. They had just planted their Oleanders with a mechanical machine, planting 20,000 per day. A sprinkler irrigation system was being used to give the plants a head start.
Like the pioneer Magees, the Morgans believe the future is good for those who know the difficult business, have the land and facilities for an adequate operation. The young men, are just beginning to make headway after a hard struggle to' put over their cut-over land into business.
All agreed that nurserymen lead an extremely enjoyable, if somewhat hectic, life if they know and love the business. There's something about making beautiful ornamental plants grow that gets under a man's skin, they say.
Photo by Ron Barthet
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