

NOVEMBBB 17, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



27 



p. J. Berckmans in his Library at Fruitlands. 



—Photo by Prr f. John Oralg. 



August 20, 1836, in West Carrollton, O., 

 a small village five miles south of Day- 

 ton, his parents being Horace and Sarah 

 L. (Bellville) Pease. The ancestral home 

 of the family was at Hull, England, 

 whence representatives came to the 

 New World at an early period in its 

 colonization. Mr. Pease was educated 

 in the Dayton public schools, while later 

 he attended the University of Wiscon- 

 sin at Madison, leaving this institution 

 in 1859. In 1862 he responded to the 

 call for military aid, when he became 

 connected with the quartermaster's de- 

 partment at Nashville, Tenn., under 

 Capt. Chas. T. Wing, with whom he was 

 associated until the end of the war. 



Mr. Pease was a thirty-secpnd degree 

 Mason, a Knight Templar and a mem- 

 ber of the Shrine. On the 3d day of 

 October, 1865, in Cleveland. 0., he was 

 united in marriage with Miss Laura G. 

 Erwin. Two sons were born to them, 

 Calvin Erwin, who died in 1902, at the 

 age of 35 years, and Edward Gardner 

 Pease, now vice-president of the Buck- 

 eye Iron and Brass Works. 



Mr. Pease is survived by his widow, 

 Mrs. Laura G. Pease, one son, Edward 

 Gardner, and a granddaughter, Miss 

 Catherine Pease. 



Never before, at a funeral in this 

 city, was there such a profuse and elab- 

 orate display of flowers. Mr. Pease was 

 a great lover of flowers, and he was 

 literally buried in them. 



P. J. Berckmans. 



Prosper Julius A. Berckmans, well 

 known in the trade as the senior mem- 

 ber of the firm of P. J. Berckmans Co., 

 Fruitland Nurseries, Augusta, Ga., and 

 famous both within and without the 

 trade as a horticulturist, pomologist 



and entomologist, died of heart trouble 

 at his home on Washington road, a few 

 miles from Augusta, November 8, at 

 the age of 80 years. He had been ill 

 for only a few days. 



He was born at Aerschot, near Brus- 

 sels, Belgium, October 13, 1830. The 

 family to which he belonged was pros- 

 perous and highly respected and he had 

 the best of educational advantages. He 

 graduated with the Bachelor's degree 

 in his native country and afterward 

 continued his education in France. 



His father. Dr. Louis E. Berckmans, 

 was noted as an amateur horticulturist 

 and pomologist and had one of the larg- 

 est collections of pears, apples, etc., in 

 Belgium. In 1851 the family came to 

 America, bringing with them the choic- 

 est part of this collection of fruit trees, 

 and Dr. Berckmans purchased a large es- 

 tate at Plainfield, N. J. There he and 

 his son. Prosper, laegan the work of im- 

 provement and of cultivation, but the 

 property was found to be not altogether 

 suitable for their special purposes, on 

 account of the rigor of the climate. 



In 1857, therefore, they moved south- 

 ward, bought a piece of land on the 

 outskirts of Augusta, Ga., and founded 

 the Fruitland Nurseries. Beginning on 

 a tract of not more than twenty acres, 

 the business has developed until it is 

 now one of the largest of the kind in 

 the south, with roses spread over great 

 areas; fruit trees in orchard and nurs- 

 ery to the extent of about 300 acres; 

 grape vines in test vineyard and nurs- 

 ery row, covering ten or twelve acres; 

 evergreens and deciduous trees of the 

 orhamteiital types, occupying twenty-five 

 or more acres. In addition there are the 

 small fruit plots and the minor test 

 grounds. 



Ten years ago P. J. A. Berckmans 

 gave each of his sons a fifth interest 

 in the Fruitland Nurseries, reserved 

 two-fifths for himself and had the com- 

 pany incorporated. His sons leased the 

 two-fifths share of their father and 

 have for several years had active man- 

 agement of Fruitlands, with their 

 father's sound advice always to be se- 

 cured at a moment's notice. * 



Mr. Berckmans' general interest in 

 horticulture, as a writer and organizer, 

 began early i'n life. At the age of 18 

 he assisted his father in the preparation 

 of the "Album de Pomologie," the 

 best authority of the kind at the time. 

 For several years he edited the Farmer 

 and Gardener, which was published in 

 Augusta. In 1876 he was the leading 

 spirit in organizing the Georgia State 

 Horticultural Society, of which he was 

 president continuously till his death. 

 He was president of the State Ento- 

 mological Society ever since its or- 

 ganization, and was long a prominent 

 figure in the State Agricultural So- 

 ciety. For many years he was a mem- 

 ber of the Richmond County Agricul- 

 tural Society and in his later years was 

 president of it. He was president of 

 the American Pomological Society and 

 vice-president of the International 

 Pomological Society^ with headquarters 

 in Paris, France. He has written many 

 interesting and valuable articles on 

 subjects pertaining to the culture of 

 plants. 



He was twice married. His first wife 

 was Miss Mary Craig, of New Jeuey, 

 and his second wife Mrs. Edith Frbme 

 Berckmans, who' Survives him. He also 

 leaves three sons, R. C., S. A. and P. J. 

 A. Berckmans, Jr., and a stepson, A. P. 

 Purdy. 





