HORTICULTURISTS 



HORTICULTURISTS 



1565 



regretted that no authentic portrait o'i John Bartram is 

 known. For an excellent illustrated account of Bartram 

 and his garden, see article by Miss M. L. Dock in "Gar- 

 den and Forest," 9:121-124 (1S95). See also "Harper's 

 Magazine," 60:321-330 (1880). Wilhelm Miller. 



Beadle, Delos W., scholar, horticulturist, wTiter, 

 was the son of Dr. Beadle, St. Catharines, Ontario, 

 one of the pioneer nurseryman of the province. He was 

 graduated in Arts at Yale University in July, 1844, and 

 two years later was granted B. A. {ad cundem) by the 

 University of Toronto. In 1847, the degree of LL.B. 

 was conferred upon him by Harvard University, and 

 in 1848 he was called to the bar in New York City, 

 where he practised law for about six years. In 1854, 

 he was admitted to an interest in his father's business, 

 and in this line he became widely knowTi throughout 

 Canada. In addition to his other business, Mr. Beadle 

 accepted the position of horticultural editor of "The 

 Canada Farmer," and in 1861, two years after its first 

 organization in Hamilton, he was made secretary and 

 treasurer of the Fruit Growers Association of Ontario, 

 and himself contributed largely to its wonderful growth 

 and usefulness, continuing to be its most important 

 officer until his retirement in 1887. As a writer on 

 horticultural and pomological subjects, Mr. Beadle 

 occupies an important place, as shown by his numer- 

 ous contributions to the reports of the above-mentioned 

 society and to the "Canadian Horticulturist." Of 

 this latter journal, he was practically the originator in 

 1878, and continued to edit it until 1887. In November, 

 1862, he was made corresponding member of the 

 Entomological Society of Philadelphia, and in 1865 a 

 corresponding member of the Horticultm-al Society of 

 London, England. In 1872, Mr. Beadle pubUshed his 

 "Fruit, Flower and Kitchen Gardener," and as late as 

 the year 1903 contributed his final article to the "Cana- 

 dian Horticulturist" entitled, "The Carnivorous Plants 

 of Canada." He died in "Toronto, Ontario, August 



30, 1905. LiMUS WOOLVERTON. 



Berckmans, Prosper Julius (Fig. 1870), scholar, 

 horticulturist, nurseryman, and botanist, was born in 

 Arschot, Belgium, October 13, 1830, and died at Fruit- 

 land Nurseries, near Augusta, Georgia, November 8, 

 1910. His boyhood was spent upon the estates of his 

 father, who was himself a horticulturist of some note. 

 He secured his elementary education at Liers and 

 Tourney; in 1845 he went to France, attending school 

 at Saint Germain and graduating from Tours in 1847. 

 While at Saint Germain, he took lectures on botany 

 at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, and whenever 

 possible attended the meetings of the Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society of France. In 1847 he returned to 

 Belgium and spent three years overlooking the pa- 

 rental estates and studying botany at the Botanical 

 Gardens of Brussels. It was during this period that 

 he became acquainted with Bivort and other prominent 

 European horticulturists. 



For pohtical and reUgious reasons, young Berck- 

 mans left Belgium for the United States in 1850; in 

 1851 he was joined b)' his family who soon thereafter 

 purchased a farm near Plainfield, New Jersey. It was 

 during his six years residence here that he first met 

 Charles Downing and others prominent in American 

 horticulture. In the fail of 1857, Mr. Berckmans 

 moved to Augusta, Georgia, and established the 

 J'ruitland Nurseries by purchasing a one-half interest 

 in the nurseries of D. Redmond. The following year, 

 1853, he bought the other half interest and started in 

 business alone with about twenty-five acres of nursery 

 stock. From that time until his retirement in 1907, 

 Mr. Berckmans' sole object was the advancement and 

 upbuilding of southern horticulture; and as a reward 

 for his work the University of Georgia conferred the 

 degree of Master of Science upon him in ISSO. 



Mr. Berckmans spent the major part of his life in an 



untiring effort to originate, introduce and disseminate 

 fruits and ornamentals of value to the South. Plants, 

 cuttings and seed were imported from all parts of the 

 world to be tested at Fruitlands, and the nurseries 

 became not only an experimental station but a botani- 

 cal garden as well, 

 from which dis- 

 seminated many of 

 the most valuable 

 plants of the south- 

 ern horticulturist, 

 among which are 

 the Honey and 

 Peen-to peaches, 

 Kelsey plum, 

 Japanese persim- 

 mon, hardy lemon 

 or Cilrus trifoliata 

 (Poncirus), Amoor 

 River privet, Biola 

 aureanana (Thuja), 

 besides other fruits 

 and ornamentals. 



The society affiU- 

 ations of Mr. Berck- 

 mans were numer- 

 ous and in their 

 volumes of proceed- 

 In 1869 he first took 



1870. P. J. Berckmans. 



ings are found most of his writings 

 an active part in the Americal Pomological Society and 

 served on various important committees until 1887 when 

 he was elected president, which office he held until resign- 

 ing in 1897. He foimded the Georgia State Horticul- 

 tural Society in 1876 and was its president from that 

 time until his death in 1910. The Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society made him a corresponding mem- 

 ber; he was hkewise honored by La Societc D'Horti- 

 culture et D'Histoire Naturelle de L'Herault de Mont- 

 pellier, France; La Soeiete Pomologique de France, La 

 Societe D'Horticulture de la Gironde de Bordeaux, 

 and La Societe D'Horticulture du Department du 

 Gard, France. His position as president of the State 

 Horticultural Society of Georgia made him a member of 

 the State Board of Entomology, on which board he 

 served from its foundation until his death. He was also 

 a member of the Board of Control of the Georgia 

 Experiment Station when it was organized, but served 

 only a few years. In 1883—4 he went to Europe for the 

 United States Government, to coUeet horticultural 

 exhibits for the New Orleans Exposition. He was 

 presiding officer over the Horticultural Congress in 

 Chicago in 1893; Chairman of the Jury of Award at the 

 Jamestown Exposition in 1907; and the only American 

 representative to judge the fruit at the centennial of La 

 Royale Societe d'Agriculture et de Botanique de Gand, 

 at Ghent, in 1908. T. H. McHatton. 



Brackett, George C, nurseryman, was born at 

 Unity, Maine, October 26, 1830, and died at Fresno, 

 Cahfornia, April 18, 1903. In his early years, his family 

 moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and later to Denmark, 

 Iowa, where his father commenced the nursery busi- 

 ness. It was here that George became interested in 

 horticulture. He was a graduate of Amherst College. 

 In 1856, he went to Leavenworth, Kansas, and joined 

 the army. He was in a law partnership from 1857 to 

 1859 and, after the dissolving of this partnership, he 

 bovight land near Leavenworth and opened up a nursery 

 ancffruit farm. This was the first nursery established 

 in Kansas. Mr. Brackett was the first to introduce the 

 cultivation of the strawberry and the first to grow pears 

 in Douglas County. He was a charter member of the 

 Kansas State Horticultural Society and its secretary for 

 twentv-six years; also secretary of the American Pomo- 

 logical Society 1891 to 1898. For portrait, see "Trans. 

 Kansas Horticultural Society," Vol. XXVll, p. 8. 



