THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
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A corner of the Propagating room. Vincent Lebreton’s Nurseries 
Plot culture method with Rhododendrons under shade 
Vincent Lebreton’s Nurseries 
EDITORIAL WANDERINGS VI. 
Interesting Holland—The Land of Intensive Nursery Culture 
For a little country Holland possesses an astonishing 
number of interesting features. It makes little difference 
whether one is interested in art or agriculture, language or 
science, he will be sure to find in /this small stretch of 
swampy, or in some places sandy land, things of surpassing 
interest. We approached Holland from the south east and 
were at first 
greatly dis¬ 
appointed in 
finding exten¬ 
sive sandy 
stretches ap¬ 
parently so 
poor that 
nothing but 
an indifferent 
growth of 
Scotch pine 
was able to 
maintain a 
precarious ex¬ 
istence. This 
was on the 
line connect¬ 
ing Utrecht 
and Amster¬ 
dam. Soon, 
however, the 
alluvial Rhine 
region is reached and the character of the vegetation is im¬ 
proved. In Holland the fences are replaced with ditches. 
The country is cut up into oblongs and squares, the bound¬ 
aries always being water. In these areas the traveller notes 
the great herds of belted cattle mostly in fine condition. 
The ditches are crossed by small bridges having hinged tops 
which open upwards forming a barrier, and a moat at the same 
time. The herbage is certainly succulent, whether rich or not 
is a question. What the effect of this diluted forage is on'the 
quality of the milk can only be suggested by the low per 
cent, of butter fat in many individuals of the Holstein race. 
So far as I am aware there are no large nursery establish¬ 
ments in the vicinity of Amsterdam. There is however, a 
very interest¬ 
ing Univer¬ 
sity, with a 
Botanic Gar¬ 
den attached, 
the director of 
which is the 
famous Pro- 
fessor De 
Vries, author 
of the Muta¬ 
tion Theory in 
relation to the 
developm e n t 
of plants. De 
Vries is of the 
opinion—nay 
more, believes 
—that modi¬ 
fication in 
plant life oc¬ 
curs, not by 
slow, gradual 
change, but by sudden jumps whereby new individuals 
appear quite distinct in form and character from the old and 
endowed with the ability to perpetuate themselves and thus 
continue the new species. Prof. De Vries has proved his 
theory with Oenotheras and is continuing his studies with 
other groups of plants. 
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