488 
JOURN'AL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
\ June 12, ISOO. 
employed by tbe natives as fish books. In most of the species the 
flowers are green or blue, those of P. lanuginosa being a peculiarly bright 
shade of green. 
PEACH GROWING IN FLORIDA. 
I HAVE read “ Waldo’s ” communication on page 458, and in reply 
I still maintain what I stated previously on page 316—viz., that Florida 
is not a favourable country for Peach growing. My visit was by no means 
a flying one, as “ Waldo ” supposes ; but what I wrote was intended for 
Florida on the whole, and not for any small portion of it. Your corre¬ 
spondent may well pass over my remarks about white sand, bottom 
heat, &c., as they are facts which are not to be denied, and anyone 
who knows anything of Peach culture knows that the trees will not 
succeed and give a good crop of fruit under the circumstances I stated. 
I was not at all surprised to see several plantations commencing to flower 
early in January and then drying up again. On January 27th some of 
them had a few small Peaches ; those on the Peen Tau variety were 
almost as large as Walnuts ; but on all the trees they were few and far 
between. There were no leaves worthy of notice. The majority of the 
flower buds had not started, and were dead. This was by means sur¬ 
prising, considering that no rain had fallen since September with the 
exception of 0'3 of an inch in October and 0‘8 in November. The 
weather was bright and hot, and continued so until March. The Peach 
trees could not possibly bear well under these conditions, but I quite 
admit they would make a good growth when the rainy season came in 
May and June. Everything grows then at a tremendous rate, but that 
comes too late for the dead flower buds on the Peach trees. 
"I can understand the roads getting firmer in the wet season, but 
that would not make up for the inconvenience of seven or eight months 
with nothing but 4 inches of dusty sand to walk in ; and I say again. 
If anyone contemplates settling in Florida, let them get as near to a 
railway depot or station as possible. Twelve or fifteen miles away 
would be bad enough in this country where the roads are good, but with 
Florida roads for that distance people would soon wish themselves back 
again.—W. H. Divees, A'rffeii. Gardens, Stamford, 
CARNATIONS FROM SEEDS. 
It is a common practice to raise Carnations of the border type from 
seeds, some making it an annual custom, but it is not so prominent a 
means for securing a stock of the perpetual or tree varieties. The 
reason probably is that a rather large per-centage come single ; the 
labour involved in pot culture being a greater consideration than is the 
case when they can be sown and planted on a small plot outdoors. 
However, if such results as recently came under my notice could be 
relied on, it is a matter of surprise that they are not more often obtained 
by seed-raising. In the Instance referred to, flowers equal to and even sur¬ 
passing many named kinds were presented. I could scarcely believe such 
splendid blooms in varying shades of colour were possible from such a 
cheap source. Among them was one identical with Pride of Penshurst, 
another and deeper yellow form equal in size to a good bloom of the 
popular Malmaison, which in itself was quite worth the cost of seed and 
trouble of growing them. Another plant produced an exceedingly 
compact and pure white bloom. The usual striped Carnations were 
represented, too, in several shades of colour, and all were characterised 
by that fulness so desirable in these favourite buttonhole flowers. 
From seed these plants assume quite a different habit of growth to 
those grown in the ordinary way by cuttings the first year, this being 
dense, and rising but a few inches above the pot’s surface, which adds 
materially to their value for conservatory decoration. Wbat is necessary, 
and was furnished in the case of those under notice, is a well ventilated 
and very light structure for insuring robustness, and this fact un¬ 
doubtedly contributed greatly to the excellent texture and fulness of 
the flowers. Although these were secured from a spring sowing, there 
yet remains time for those who desire plants for next year’s blooming 
to sow, and by careful and suitable treatment material for a late spring 
display might be had. Most seedsmen make them more or less a 
specialty ; the plants I saw were from seeds supplied by Messrs. Sutton, 
and to them credit is due in distributing so excellent a strain.—W. S. 
SCIENCE AND CATERPILLARS. 
My letter to the Bail'll Neios, which you honoured by a notice on 
page 443, has received severe comments from many scientific and agri¬ 
cultural quarters. The first find fault with my rudeness to Paris 
green, and my instinctive trust in natural compensations, the latter 
with my selfishness, because I was not sympathetic with the Apple 
growers of Herefordshire, and because I slyly hinted that my swarms 
of birds had something to do with my immunity from the plague. 
Science means exact knowledge, and when it suggests definite scientific 
courses should give all demonstrable results from their adoption. 
When science gives us, as in your last week’s issue, beautifully executed 
portraits of the caterpillar pest in all its stages, with a valuable history 
of the whole course of its life, it is doing sound work, exact, scientific, 
and useful. 
I attacked a crude and dangerous remedy because it came with 
authority from a scientific scource, but was not scientific. Glance at 
it for a moment. The caterpillar lives in extremely small holes in 
blossom buds, and to destroy it I am told to aim Paris green and rose 
water, or something of a liquid kind, at him and poison him. Now, 
effectively to shoot a little caterpillar on a big Apple tree with a squirt 
is beyond the sporting powers of the average Boeotian, while to saturate 
food-producing plants with such an indestructible poison as arsenic, 
spreading it wholesale over acres of grass and thousands of square feet 
of leaf, bark, and bud, looks bookworm like, but I humbly suggest is 
not scientific. 
How much poison would the caterpillars get, and how much the 
fowls, sheep, pigs, and other Apple eaters ? It may do for a Geranium 
— I beg its pardon, a Pelargonium—inastudy,but in an ordinary orchard 
alive with stock many other things have to be considered.—J ohh 
Higgins, Pylle, Somerset. __ 
You have put the fruit growing world under great obligation, both 
by the able article in this week’s Journal and also by Mr. Smith’s very 
clever drawings. No more can ever be done in that way. We shall, 
however, have to keep pegging away to expose the weak suggestions 
which theorists put their names under in print. Here we have almost 
ended a most severe fight, and have come out better than I expected. 
The season will be remembered as a sort of fete for insects. The littlei 
white fly which attacks Tomatoes is swarming on our evergreens. 
Caterpillars are riddling our forest trees. The Cider Apple trees are 
becoming quite devoid of leaves in many cases, but thanks to Pans 
green, my fruit field is green.—D. Lee Campbell. 
SPRING FLOWERS AT HOME AND ABROAD. 
(Conchided from page 439.') 
The name of Messrs. Van Meerbeek & Co. is becoming every year 
more familiar to purchasers of bulbs in this country, and it will not 
be from want of enterprise if it fails to become synonymous with a large 
and high class trade. Very considerable progress has already been 
made, and there can be little doubt that there is a great future in store 
for the firm. Considering the length of time they have been in business 
the strides they have made are remarkable, and a striking proof of the 
advantages of advertising. Their farms are of very considerable extent. 
A large portion of the land lies on the line of railway from Rotterdam 
to Amsterdam, near the little town of Hillegom, and may be seen from 
the train. Their cultural methods are of the same high character as 
those of the other firms visited. Many acres are occupied, and. other 
fields of maiden land are being brought into cultivation as rapidly as 
possible to meet the yearly increase of business. Messrs. Van Meerbeek 
and Co. are capitalists bearing a very high business character in their 
own neighbourhood, and the managing partner, a young man of great 
ability, is proceeding on lines that can hardly fail to be followed by 
successful results. 
Apart from the open air bulbs, such as Hyacinths, Tulips and 
Crocuses, glass structures are being erected for other bulbous _ and 
tuberous rooted plants requiring indoor culture, such as Gloxinias, 
Begonias, Tydmas and Gesneras, for all of which there is a consider¬ 
able demand. The two former are raised from seed of prize strains 
in large quantities and the tubers sold. They are grown in low 
houses with roofs having a slope merely sufficient to throw offi water, sO’ 
that the boxes in which the seedlings are raised can be placed close tO' 
the glass without step stages, and the young plants are always sturdy 
instead of weakly and drawn. Some growers of bulbs for exhibition 
have similar houses, with a broad stage of uniform height, so that the 
plants are all on the same level close to the nearly flat roof. 
Mr. J. H. Krelage is the doyen of the Dutch bulb growers. He is- 
the head of the old firm of E. H. Krelage & Son, Kleinen Houtweg, 
Haarlem, an establishment of world-wide repute. He is the President, 
of the Dutch Bulb-growers’ Union, and a respected member of in¬ 
numerable other societies, home and foreign. The establishment over 
which he presides differs somewhat from that of other wholesale bulb 
growers in that considerable attention is given to miscellaneous plants, 
hardy and indoor. Most of the dealers are absorbed in what may be 
termed the great money making bulbs—Hyacinths, Tulips, Crocuses, 
and Scillas. These they cultivate by the million, and as a rule they 
take but a languid interest, if any, in specialities, which they procure 
for their customers if ordered, but frequently do not grow. Apart fronb 
his large trade in these flowers Mr. Krelage has an extensive collection 
of choice kinds less widely cultivated, but more interesting to lovers of 
hardy flowers. He takes a deep interest in the late or florists’ Tulips, 
and has lately Introduced to the notice of florists what are known as. 
the Darwin Tulips. These are a selection of choice breeders, and when 
rectified they will probably provide a number of excellent varieties. 
The evolutionary process which transforms the self breeders into the 
beautifully flamed or feathered rectified flower renders the title 
chosen for this strain an excellent and appropriate one, connecting the 
illustrious name of the great apostle of evolution with one of the most 
interesting examples of transformation in the whole gallery of Nature. 
These, however, are May flowers, and long before then there is some¬ 
thing of interest to be found amongst the large and choice collection of 
Crocuses (species). Narcissi, Irises and Anemones, not to speak of 
miscellaneous bulbs. Later, Liliums, Ranunculus, Gladioli, Cyclamens, 
Hellebores and other important families contribute largely. The 
flower lover can rarely visit Mr. Krelage’s establishment without finding 
much to interest him. 
Indoor plants are also grown on a fairly large scale. For quarter- 
