<Begin Segment 16>

VY: When you met all these different people from different countries, other flower growers, did you notice similarities or differences between you all?

FN: Well, there were similarities and there were differences. In foreign countries, the growing has been longer than in the United States, growing in greenhouses. So there's many family histories, since they have been doing this longer than us, they have done a lot of hybridizing. We have our own hybridizing in the United States, but they have more history to it. And then like in Holland, where the horticulture business is really, really important to their country, it's a smaller country, and they're really more technologically advanced than we were. So on these trips it really made us think of how we had to keep improving, and how we had to make changes. So I think that contributed a lot to the advancement that we made here.

VY: So what kind of changes did you make over the years?

FN: Well, in Holland, they made a lot of mechanical equipment, and we used their grading system, so we bought some of their machines, they were really into using computers to control things like temperature and humidity more than we were, so that made us start working on that.

VY: When was this?

FN: This was in the 1970s. So it really opened our eyes. Their buildings were, they used a lot more newer buildings, and they tried to, controlling temperatures because fuel is so much more expensive in Europe. So they would put heat curtains in the greenhouse, and at night, they would try to control loss of heat by using curtains. And so that was very interesting, and so we started going into technology like that. So we learned from them, and we did use some of their equipment, but we tried to build our own equipment here in the United States. So it helped us, the travel. And I think that was really, really important.

VY: Do you think there's any growing practices that American flowers used that some of the people in the other countries utilized? I know they were probably doing it earlier.

FN: Well, Mr. Aebi was... we have always watered plants in a greenhouse using a hose, and gradually it became drip system and all those different systems. And so Mr. Aebi was always interested in nutrition of plants, so he was always conducting nutrition studies. And so he decided that he was going to build an automatic fuel injection system, and so he started working on this by using equipment that, like pumps. So he really worked on this system, and all of the growers that would come to visit would want to go visit him to see what his newest project was and what he was working on. He was very innovative, and being the kind of person he was, there were no secrets. He was always willing to share whatever thing he had tried, whatever equipment he had tried, whatever pump he had tried, whatever he had tried, he was always willing to share his latest technology with anybody that would knock on his door. He did not keep secrets. And so I know that he was respected throughout the industry, because he would often speak at conventions that the rose growers would have, and I remember Shimi Shibata distinctly saying, "There are no secrets here, because we're always sharing our latest ideas, our latest innovations." And Shimi encouraged that, too. And Shimi was very innovative, because he was one of the first persons that thought that we should keep better records on production, how we were doing as far as income. And so he hired a professor from Ohio State to come to California, his name was Ray Hasek, and he came to work for Shimi, and he started taking this data. And all of our growers within our system, there were ten growers, we would share this information to know which varieties were good varieties to grow, which varieties sold the best, which varieties we had to discard because they were not in favor. And so these records really helped us to keep moving forward. And Shimi was one of the first to go into the IBM system when they had cards, and everything would have to be punched in on cards, he was really an innovator, and just well-respected. So Ray Hasek is, our businesses have all closed, to Ray Hasek is at the university now, but of course he's retired now, and he went to the university and worked in the university at Davis in the horticulture department there, and I still see him.

VY: You still see him?

FN: I still see him.

VY: It sounds like the cut flower community was very supportive of each other, the different nurseries.

FN: Well, I think that what made the Japanese so successful in whatever endeavor they did is they share and they try to help each other out. And not every group of people that immigrated to the United States felt that way, not everybody tried to support each other, but by and large, I think that the Japanese community tried to help each other out. And especially if you came from the same prefecture or you were a relative, you really tried, no matter what endeavor they went into, they tried to help each other out, and that makes a difference. And I think it followed into the second generation, because as the Niseis became older, they formed their social organizations like bowling clubs, or they started baseball teams and basketball leagues for their children, and then they all, those kids grew up together. And so those organizations still get together today, and people that have children still have their children participating in these organizations. And I know that they were successful because now, the leagues have people from all groups. The Chinese are there, there are Filipinos in these organizations, and the senior programs, they have all kinds of people. And that's happening in our churches also, we're having people, all kinds of, trying to become part of our community.

VY: Bringing more people into the community.

FN: Right, into our community.

VY: Do you think that the way that the cut flower community shared information about growing practices and that sort of thing, do you think that was typical of other nurseries or growers that grew different things, like container plants or that had orchards? Do you think they had similar practices, were they supportive of each other?

FN: I think they tried to support each other, but they were quite competitive. Like within the other fields of nursery, like if you were in potted plants, (potted) plant growers have a different way of selling, they don't go to a market. What they do is they deliver. And so it's very competitive there, I think it's not easy. I guess it does depend. But we did, we no longer operate our nursery, and we did lease our property in Salinas to a (potted) plant grower, and even within the (potted) plant business, it has been difficult to continue because of the competition. It's hard, it's hard for me to give a real answer.

VY: Yeah, I understand.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2019 Densho. All Rights Reserved.