Prince, William 1725-1802 (approx)  

Prince was the second proprietor of the Prince Nursery at Flushing, L.I. The Prince Nursery was established about 1730 by his father, Robert Prince, and was probably the first commerical nursery in America. The Huguenots, who settled at New Rochelle, New York, and on Long Island brought with them a wide variety of French fruits. For a number of years attention was confined to fruit trees which were used to stock the new country but finally ornamental trees and shrubs were included. Under William Prince the nursery grew rapidly until the Revolution. Following the depredations of the Revolution the nursery increased still further in importance. A catalogue of 1794 contains a long list of cultivars including apriocots and nectarines. Everything of merit was imported and origination of new cultivars by a careful selection of seedlings was conducted. Before the death of William Prince, the nursery business was taken over by his two sons William and Benjamin.

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