Mr. Gerardi was an enthusiastic and especially well informed student of nut culture. He was always looking for new and better seedlings, some of which were named as they were found worthy. His Gerardi hican is probably one of the best in that group. He also introduced the Gildig pecans (Gildig Nos. 1 and 2) and the Fisher pecan. Mr. Gerardi was quite successful as a propagator and always tried to have nursery stock of the best varieties. His loss will be keenly felt. His son, Louis Gerardi, will continue the propagation of nut trees at Caseyville, Ill. (The following notes are supplied by Louis Gerardi.--Ed.) Joseph Gerardi was born in the year 1868 on the old Hagamann farm, five and one-half miles northwest of Lebanon, Ill., in O'Fallon Township. He was the fourth child of John and Catherine (Haas) Gerardi. When he reached the age of five years, his parents moved on a farm three and one-half miles southeast of Trenton, Illinois, in Clinton County. His early schooling was obtained in the McKee School near his home and in St. Mary's School in the town of Trenton, Illinois. After graduating from the eighth grade, he helped his father through the spring and summer months with the farm work, but in the winter attended McKee school. In the year 1894 at the age of 25 years he left the home farm in Clinton County, and moved to a farm two and one-half miles southeast of Jerseyville, Illinois, in Jersey County. Here he began the study of fruit growing, and became an agent for the Stark Bros. Nursery. In 1907 he married Eleanor Collignon of Trenton, Illinois. To this union six children were born: Eleanor Barbara, Sharlotte Catherine, Eugenia Ruth, Louis Joseph, Bernice Marie, and Gertrude Beatrice. In the spring of 1918 he sold this farm and moved to Trenton, Ill., where he worked with his father-in-law, John Martin Collignon, doing construction work. During this year he searched for a farm with soil suitable for fruit growing. In 1919 he purchased a 110 acre farm situated two and one-half miles west of O'Fallon, Illinois. The next year he set out twenty acres of Stark Bros. trees. While living on this farm in the fall of 1920 the little family had its first great loss. Here the oldest girl, Eleanor Barbara, died from a railroad accident. Julius Rohr, watching him work with his trees, encouraged him to start his own nursery because he knew so much about trees. With this encouragement, he started his own nursery in 1923. As demand increased he added a general line of nursery stock. Being interested in better varieties of fruit trees, he also became interested in better varieties of nuts. Having some native nut trees on his farm, he began to buy the better varieties of nut trees grown by other nurseries. When these came into bearing, not being satisfied with the known varieties of nuts on the market, he began his search for better nuts.