1885.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



283 



license along with him. We rarely find one who 

 can give any historical fact correctly. Joaquin 

 Miller, the " Poet of the Sierras," has been writing 

 letters from Florida, and fills up his columns with 

 the following account of the Leconte Pear: — 



"This new, sandy land cannot be very rich, it 

 seems to me. \et the people tell me it is amazing- 

 ly productive. They showed me a pear-tree, yes- 

 terday, as we drove down the old Ponce de Leon 

 trail, that, last year, brought the owner S148. This 

 is a Leconte pear-tree, and is only eight years old. 

 The fruit ripens in July, and is bought by New 

 York dealers as it grows on the tree at the fabu- 

 lous price of four dollars per bushel. This tree is 

 a production of this latitude, and is a revelation. 

 The parent tree is still standing. The fruit was 

 discovered and developed by a French gardener, 

 whose name it bears. Many new comers from the 

 North are now clearing off and planting land with 

 this remarkable Leconte Pear. In a year or two 

 the shores of this Fountain of Youth will be blos- 

 soming with the discovery of the French garden- 

 er." 



Our readers need not be told that the Leconte 

 Pear is not a native of Florida, and that the origi- 

 nal tree is not still standing in Florida, nor was it 

 "discovered and developed," whatever that may 

 mean, by any French gardener, and the man 

 "whose name it bears" was not a Frenchman, 

 though his ancestors were. In fact the only "rev- 

 elation" Miller has had in the matter is a mere 

 guess at the whole thing because "le conte" hap- 

 pens to be French. Possibly a tree eight years 

 old from the graft might produce thirty-seven 

 bushels of Pears, but if the price is " fabulous," the 

 measure may be so also. 



Downing's Fruits and Fruit-trees of Amer- 

 ica. — Mr. Charles Downing told Mr. Green of the 

 Fruit Grower, that he never had any pecuniary in- 

 terest in this work. The copyright belongs to Mrs. 

 A. J. Menell, who was formerly Mrs. .\ndrew Jack- 

 son Downing. 



H.\RD-W0RKiNG EDITORS. — The London Gar- 

 deners' Magazine has the following : " Editors 

 make a poor figure in the affairs of the National 

 Rose Society. There were four in the last list of 

 the general committee, and not one of them at- 

 tended a single meeting throughout the year. It 

 is a folly to appoint editors to offices they have 

 not shown a desire to fill. Perhaps they would do 

 many of the things that 'are required or expected 

 of them could they be provided with more than 

 twenty-four hours in a day, and occasionally a 

 few extra heads, arms, legs, and digestive ma- 

 chinery." 



We make room for this paragraph, because it 

 has been the experience of the present writer. It 



is a compliment he highly appreciates, to be asked 

 to write scores of essays, give innumerable ad- 

 dresses, visit innumerable pretty places, and serve 

 on countless committees for all sorts of things. 

 But the truth must be told, which is, that an Editor 

 cannot do any of these things. 



Prof. J. G. Lemmon. — Prof. J. G. Lemmon 

 and wife, both excellent botanists and explorers, 

 well known to our readers, by the many beautiful 

 flowers they have discovered in their wanderings, 

 passed through Philadelphia in the first week in 

 August, on a short visit to the "old home" in the 

 East before making another plant-hunting journey 

 next year. 



Mr. Edg.'VR S.-vnders. — This well-known and 

 esteemed florist of Chicago, according to the 

 Prairie Farmer, which gives an excellent likeness 

 of him, was born October ist, 1827, at East Grim- 

 stead, Sussex, in England. There he was educated 

 to the gardening profession, when in 1853 with 

 his wife he landed in New York. Within a few 

 weeks after we find him laying out a suburban 

 garden at Albany, and subsequently at several 

 temporary engagements, till he entered with Mr. 

 Rathbone at Albany, and remained four years. 

 With a small capital he located in Chicago in 1857. 

 There was but one small commercial greenhouse 

 when he started, so that he may be said to be the 

 father of the florists in Chicago. He retired from 

 the business four years ago, giving to horticultural 

 literature the whole of the time, of which it has al- 

 ways had a very useful part. His earlier writings in 

 this country were dated from Mr. Rathbone's and 

 contributed to the Philadelphia Florist. 



Andrew McNair Dryburgh..— Some thirty 

 years ago, when the fame of the florists of Phila- 

 delphia and the exhibitions of the Pennsylvania 

 Society filled the land, the name of Andrew M. 

 Dryburgh was a very common one among the 

 successful exhibitors. Like many others of note 

 he came to Philadelphia, a well-educated gardener, 

 with plenty of knowledge and enthusiasm for his 

 business, but with little cash. By saving and in- 

 dustry he accumulated enough to start business, 

 and eventually purchased a half block of ground 

 near Logan Square. He was one of the first to 

 start the business of cut flower growing in Phila- 

 delphia, and made a specialty especially ot 

 camellias. At this period they were in great de- 

 mand, and all that flowered before New Year 

 brought readily $20 per 100. Mr. Dryburgh had 

 the oldest and largest plants in the city and knew 

 how to advance the flower, hence his camellia in- 



