508 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 8, 1892. 
Durondeau, Marie Louise, and Beurrd Diel, the latter being especially 
fine and A1 in texture and flavour. In a letter accompanying the 
fruits Mr. Mole wrote, “ The season has been apparently so unfavourable 
that I did not anticipate the pleasure of sending any of my Pears to my 
friends, but to my agreeable surprise, they are, I think, almost as good 
in flavour and texture as 1 have ever had them. It is one of those 
peculiarities difficult to understand. Perhaps cultivation has had a 
little to do with it, but that I will not take too much credit for. 
Doyenne du Comice, as usual, heads the list, then Marie Louise comes 
next. Beurr£ Diel is very sugary, but as is its nature, lacks the exquisite 
texture of the preceding varieties. It is, however, a Pear to be recom¬ 
mended, as it produces a much better return than any other variety I 
grow. Durondeau would have been better with a better season, but 
still it is a handsome Pear, and worth growing.” 
Mr. Mole’s success year after year is to a very great extent due to 
culture, and growing sorts that will do in town gardens with proper 
cultivation. Judicious pruning, always at the right time, thinning of 
the spurs, and even blossom buds, and giving plenty of room to the 
shoots, is a part of his system of cultivation. Copious waterings in dry 
weather, repeated syringings, and thinning to secure a moderate even 
crop of fine fruit rather than a large crop of small fruit, are also 
practised. 
In a conversation recently with Mr. Parker of Impney,and he knows 
how to produce fine Pears, I found that he also was a firm believer in 
very liberal applications of water to the roots of trees against walls at 
all times when they need it, and I think we may certainly say that in 
dry summers and autumns, and at the blossoming time, water should not 
be spared.—W. D. 
DARWIN TULIPS FOR BEDDING. 
F r om Journal of Horticulture of November 24th, we conclude 
there exists some misunderstanding as to the value and the most 
recommendable use of our Darwin Tulips. “ D., Deal,” says they find 
no favour in his eyes, as they scoff at all florists’ rules (page 454). 
From this judgment it only results that the said horticulturist does 
not like the Darwin Tulips as breeders. Indeed, it seems they do not 
answer exactly to the English florists’ rules as regards late breeder Tulips. 
This, however, is not our fault at all. We have never offered them as per¬ 
fect English breeder Tulips, but we have always recommended them for 
their exceedingly good qualities as late bedding Tulips. Notwith¬ 
standing this statement, the Darwin varieties have been described in 
some English horticultural periodicals as breeders. In the Journal of 
Horticulture of June 7th, 1888, we read, “ Messrs. E. H. Krelage & Son, 
Haarlem, send us a collection of breeder Tulips, which they intend 
offering for sale next autumn without waiting until they have rectified. 
The flowers are large, of good form, and most varied in colours, purple, 
mauve, crimson, rose, and vermilion shades being very abundant, and a 
number could be selected that, judged by a florist’s standard, would be 
considered most promising when broken.” This note regards the same 
Tulips which are now offered and sent out as “ Darwin ” varieties. So 
it seems that, even amongst English horticulturists, the opinions on the 
florist’s standard of breeder Tulips are not always the same. 
This is, however, not the question now. We only wish to state that 
the Darwin Tulips should be considered and judged as bedding Tulips, 
and we are sure that everyone who has once seen them in their full 
glory in the second part of May will agree with the praises they secured 
from all visitors to our nurseries. 
Recommending these Tulips in particular ourselves cannot be our 
task nor our intention ; but we think your readers, and “ D., Deal ,” in the 
first rank, will agree with us when we endeavour to remove misunder¬ 
standings like the above.— E. H. Krelage & Son, 
[We perfectly remember that some of the flowers sent to us were 
clean and well formed, but the majority can only be regarded as deco¬ 
rative varieties, and this is all that Messrs. Krelage & Son claim for 
them. For this claim they have justification.] 
HORTICULTURE IN COLORADO. 
Your reports of the horticultural shows in England are very inter¬ 
esting to Colorado readers. Perhaps an account of the Exhibition of the 
Colorado State Bureau of Horticulture, heid this autumn, may be 
equally interesting to English readers. 
So recently as 1863 Colorado, then a frontier and very sparsely 
populated region, did not possess a single mile of railroad, and in that year 
William Lee, an Englishman from near Croydon in Surrey, carted the 
first fruit trees (Apples) from Iowa City, Iowa, over 700 miles across the 
plains, and planted them a few miles west of Denver. To-day Colorado 
has 5000 miles of railroad, 30,000 acres planted with fruit, and the 
Exhibition recently held in Denver could be duplicated in the United 
States, and certainly (according to my experience of many fruit ex¬ 
hibits in my native country) not in the United Kingdom for variety, 
«ize, colour, and flavour of fruits grown in the open air. 
Several hundred exhibitors sent in about 2000 plates of fruit, and the 
result was a surprise even to Denver people, who had not realised the 
rapid development of horticulture in Colorado within the past few years. 
Asa matter of fact, since I came here from Lancashire in 1883 the 
orchards of Colorado have more than trebled in area. For instance, last 
spring 1600 acres were planted with fruit trees near the town of Grand 
Junction alone in not less than 40 acre tracts. A New York capitalist 
planted 80 acres of Pears near Grand Junction, mostly Bartlett’s, in 
1891, and there are two 80-acre Peach orchards. One prominent feature 
of fruit growing in Colorado as against fruit growing in England is that 
here the man who plants the orchard owns the land, and is not a mere 
tenant. As a consequence he buys only the best varieties of fruit trees, 
and as he gets his land at from £3 up to £30 per acre, according to 
location, every year’s growth of his trees rapidly enhances the value of 
his property, and having no rent to pay he is soon able to make a very 
comfortable living from his crops. Another thing, too, fruit trees bear 
earlier and heavier, and the fruit commands a better price than in any 
< ther district I have seen or read about. At the Denver Show over a 
dozen counties were represented, but those which took the lead are the 
newer counties of Mesa, Delta, and Montrose, on the western or Pacific 
slope of the Rocky Mountains, where climatic conditions are especially 
favourable to the successful culture of a wide range of fruits. 
The following partial list will give an idea of the fruits exhibited. 
Apples.—Gravenstein, Northern Spy, Golden Russet, Summer Pearmain, 
Domino, Milam, Fulton, Duchess of Oldenburg, Tetoffski, Sops of Wine, 
Autumn Strawberry, Jersey Sweet, Smith’s Cider, Winesap, Stark, Ben 
Davis, Maiden’s Blush, Fall Wine, Willow Twig, Rambo, Rail’s 
Jennette, Lawyer, Bailey’s Sweet, Tallman Sweet, Jonathan, White 
Winter Pearmain, Whitney No. 20, McMahon’s White, Yellow Trans¬ 
parent, Waggoner, Wealthy, Hyslop, Martha, Henderson’s Sweet, 
Tulpehockan, Transcendent, Wolf River, Isham Sweet, Walbridge, 
Rhode Island Greening, Roxbury Russet, Missouri Pippin, Fameuse and 
Celestia. There were many Apples over a pound weight each and 15 
inches in circumference. Pears.—Bartlett, Flemish Beauty, Duehesse 
d’Angouleme, Early Margaret, Clapp’s Favourite, Tyson, Sheldon, 
Seckel, Howell, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Vicar of Winkfield, Beurr^ 
d’Anjou, Beurrd Easter, and Winter Nelis. The Pears were very fine 
in flavour and quite equal to California Pears for large size. Plums.— 
Lombard, Bradshaw, Yellow Egg, Pond’s Seedling, Victoria, all the 
Gages, five varieties of Japanese Plums, the German Prune, the French 
Prune, the Fallemburg Prune, Tragedy, and Robe de Sargeant. Some 
varieties are very prolific, and branches were exhibited with the fruit 
simply clustered on them for several feet. A number of native varieties 
of considerable value, which improve much with cultivation, were 
also exhibited. Grapes.—Black Hamburgh, Tokay, Goethe, Zinfandel, 
Muscat of Alexandria, Sweetwater, Seedless Sultana, Muscatella, the 
Mission Grape (from the old missions in Southern California), and the 
Cornichon, a large blue oval Grape from France. All these varieties are 
grown in the open air, with very slight protection in the winter. Many 
bunches weighed 3 lbs. and upwards each. There were also exhibited 
over forty varieties of American Grapes, hardier in character. Peaches.— 
Over twenty varieties were exhibited, which are grown to perfection 
without any protection in the above-mentioned three counties. The 
names of the varieties having originated in the Peach-growing districts 
of America are therefore not likely to be well known in England. The 
Peach season lasts from the middle of July until the middle of October. 
Apricots.—Over a dozen varieties, besides the Russian, are successfully 
grown, of which fine samples were exhibited. Nectarines.—Three 
varieties were exhibited—viz., New White, Hardwick, and Stanwick. 
In less than five years fruit will be shipped from the counties of 
Mesa, Delta, and Montrose by the train load, as it now is from California. 
The Colorado State Bureau of Horticulture has had a number of 
specimens of Colorado fruit reproduced in wax, exact counterparts as 
to size, shape, and colour, for exhibition at the World’s Fair in Chicago 
next year. The work was done by a local expert. I saw the original 
fruits and the wax copies, and know them to be correct, but feel con¬ 
vinced the wax models will be regarded as gross exaggerations by many 
of the visitors to Chicago. The Colorado State Bureau is also having 
100 varieties of Strawberries grown in pots specially for exhibition, 
when fruiting, at the World’s Fair. These attempts are all very well, 
but it is necessary to visit such a show as has just closed in Denver, 
or to visit the orchards and vineyards themselves, to fully realise the 
high character of the fruit which can be and is actually raised here. 
The supply has already decreased the imports from California and 
other States, but has not reached the local demand, for the mining 
towns consume large quantities of fresh fruit, and canning factories 
will be established the moment there is a prospect of surplus fruit, 
which, however, does not seem likely for a few years to come. 
Should this letter be read by any energetic young man without 
incumbrance, experienced in gardening, who is ambitious to make more 
headway for himself than there seems to be before him where he is, he 
would do well to write to Dr. Alexander Shaw, Secretary of the State 
Bureau of Horticulture, Denver, for a copy of volume vi. of the Annual 
Reports of the Bureau, which contains much practical, reliable, and 
official information as to horticulture in Colorado. Good land suitable 
for fruit growing can be got at reasonable prices in different districts. 
In consequence of my previous letters in your paper, several young 
Englishmen have personally come to me for advice as to the best 
locality in Colorado for going into fruit raising, and that advice always 
is to visit each district, consult practical fruit growers in each district, 
work at least one season for a fruit grower before purchasing land, and 
then use their own best judgment. I am not directly or indirectly 
interested in any district, and cannot undertake responsibility in such 
a matter, but I am firmly convinced that there are many young men in 
England of the right sort as to character, training, and financial means 
who could do better for themselves in Colorado than at home, as consider¬ 
able numbers of English emigrants have done. Success, however, 
depends mainly on the emigrant himself,— Thomas Tonge, 
