1885.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



31 



benefit, he said. A list was given to each man 

 weekly and a set task exacted from each. 



"At that time, for a man in his station, Mr. Sterling 

 received flattery enough to turn his head. Rarely 

 a week passed but his interesting collection of 

 plants was examined by amateur and professional 

 botanists, and such men as Dr. Niel of Edinburgh, 

 McNab of the Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, and 

 Turnbull of Glasgow consulted and deferred to 

 his opinion. Mr. Sterling was a candidate for 

 Curator of the Cambridge Botanic Gardens, Eng- 

 land, in 186/], and received scores of testimonials 

 from the highest sources in Britain vouching for 

 his peculiar ability for the position. 



"The writer visited him in Edinburgh in 1872. 

 He had then retired from active work, and though 

 sixty- five years of age was as bright mentally and 

 physically as a man of fifty. He still kept a col- 

 lection of over six thousand species of plants, 

 mostly Alpines, and amused himself by making 

 exchanges with the different Botanical Gardens 

 throughout Europe. 



" Mr. Sterling had but one son, who I understand 

 has inherited the botanical tastes of his father and 

 who has been for some time in the United States, 

 and is now of the firm of Gould & Sterling, nur- 

 serymen, Jacksonville, Fla. P. H." 



Diseases of Plants. — A. W. Smith says: 

 "The diseases of plants we plant growers have to 

 contend with would be an interesting subject of 

 value to the general reader of the Gardeners' 

 Monthly." 



[As our correspondent well says, this is one of 

 the most interesting subjects that can employ the 

 thoughts of the practical man, and we are much 

 obliged to him for the suggestion. It will be a 

 great pleasure to us to receive from correspond- 

 ents accounts of their troubles and trials, and ex- 

 periments and observations, that will enable the 

 Editor to aid and assist them. In a magazine of 

 this kind the Editor has to fall in with the wants 

 and wishes of his subscribers. To-day it may be 

 in the line of the practical value of steam over hot 

 water; to-morrow the thoughts of the mass of 

 readers may turn in the direction of the greatest 

 amount of money to be had from an orchard that 

 is in grass, or in an orchard kept in a clear sur- 

 face. At one time the great mass of the readers 

 seem to run into a desire to discuss facts and 

 problems in natural history that may have a rela- 

 tion to gardening — and then again the Editor is 

 overwhelmed with correspondence about the enor- 

 mous value of the wine crop to the people of the 

 United States, and the necessity of publishing 

 everything possible that may tend to keep down 

 the ravages of the Phylloxera. In short, the Gar- 

 deners' Monthly has to take those subjects into 

 the most earnest consideration in which the cor- 

 respondents themselves seem to take the greatest 

 interest. In this case we second the suggestion of 

 our correspondent that the diseases of plants is 

 one of great practical importance ; and it will be a 

 pleasure to the Editor to aid any correspondent 

 during the coming season who may desire infor- 

 mation.— Ed. G. M.] 



Horticultural Societies. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



HAARLEM EXHIBITION OF FLOWERING 



BULBS, MARCH, 1885. 



BY J. H. KRELAGE. 



In 1885 the General Society for improving Hor- 

 ticulture at Haarlem will celebrate the fourth cen- 

 tury of its existence, and on that occasion an ex- 

 hibition will be opened at Haarlem on a large scale, 

 being one of the quinquennial shows of the socie- 



ty. Such grand exhibitions have already been 

 held in 1875 and 1880. The one'now announced, 

 however, will surpass all those held before, and if 

 it become what it promises, it may be the best 

 show of flowering bulbs and tuberous rooted plants 

 ever held. The show will be opened from 20-24 

 March in the largest hall at Haarlem with its an- 

 nexes. 



The schedule of prizes has 140 entries for which 

 381 medals are offered, (golden, gilt, silver and 

 bronze — some of them, with a surplus of money 



