THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 



Ill 



R. Catawbiense. This was used to excellent effect in the Kleeff 

 exhibit as a backbone or center of a long and thick clump. 



There were excellent specimens of standard rhododendrons 

 shown by Fred Kelsey (plants from John Watefrer) and M. 

 Moser, some of the tallest in the former collection standing 

 eight or nine feet high. Very strong plants, in bloom, were 

 shown by Anthony Waterer, England, in 93 varieties and 15 

 seedlings; Moser, in 69 varieties; Croux & Son, Sceaux, near 

 Paris, 49 varieties ; Fred Kelsey 41 varieties ; Pitcher & Manda, 

 14 varieties ; and the Belgian Commission, 50 varieties. The 

 Belgian plants were contributed by Ch. Vuylsteke, Desmet 

 Brothers, Alexis Dallaire, and the Horticultural School, all of 

 Ghent or its vicinity. It will be seen that in the excellent 

 rhododendron shows, the Exposition was indebted to the enter- 

 prise of foreign nurserymen, for all the plants — with the single 

 exception of the small and comparatively unimportant collec- 

 tion from Parsons — were brought directly from Europe for pur- 

 poses of exposition. Some of Moser's plants were fifty years 

 old and were worth as many dollars, and some of the large 

 plants in the Kelsey and Pitcher & Manda (Waterer) exhibits 

 sell in England for seventy-five dollars each. The French 

 plants, especially those from Moser, were the most perfect in 

 form of any on exhibition, and the John Waterer plants were 

 the largest, but, taken all in all, considering hardiness a prime 

 factor, no collection surpassed that of Anthony Waterer, if, in 

 fact, it equaled it. Without exception, the collections of all 

 foreign exhibitors were marvels of vigor and profuseness of 

 bloom, especially when one considers the journey to which they 

 had been subjected, and the fact that they were all planted in the 

 spring of 1893. When the Kelsey collection came into bloom, 

 the plants were massed under a large tent near the rose garden, 

 where they attracted much attention. 



One of the most interesting displays of rhododendrons was 

 a collection of 55 large plants, in boxes, of R. Californicum, about 

 the Washington State Building. This species has recently 

 been designated as the State flower by the legislature of Wash- 

 ington. The plants were received late in May, in rather poor 

 condition, having been three weeks on the way in a dark car, 

 but they rallied and made some bloom. The species occurs 

 locally in Washington, especially about Seattle and the base of 

 Mount Hood. It forms dense plantations, four to eight feet, 

 and even fourteen feet in height. The flowers vary from pink- 

 white to rose. 



Altogether, this was undoubtedly the best display of rho- 

 dodendrons ever held west of the Alleghanies. Although the 

 rhododendron is a captious plant in our climate, it must b§ 



