But it must not be supposed that
these are all imported from their na
tive country. Some of them are, but
the vast majority come from the
European conservatories, and especial
ly from Belgium. There is no other
private conservatory in this country of
equal size and scope. Almost every
wealthy gentleman maintains a hot
house for Howers, but no other has un
dertaken to establish a full collection of
plants. In Europe there are many
private conservatories, but few which
can c m note with this. A walk through
the bufluing h enough to explain how
men spend their lives in studying one
plant or species of vegetable life. There
is an infinite variety of forms and col
ors, and the senses are bewildered by
the luxuriance of the scene. In one
room there are arc 100 varieties of
double geraniums in full bloom, mak
ing a bank of color that was simply
georgeous. One section eighty feet
long by twenty-two feet wide, is devot
ed to roses, of which there are 400
varieties. There are 400 varieties of
palms, 300 of them from America and
100 from Asia. Some of the specimens
cost fiom $250 to 1300 each. There
are forty varieties of the “pitcher”
plant from Madagascar alone. There
are 100 varieties of crotons from the
Fiji and Solomon islands; 500 varieties
of plants from Central America, East
Indies and the Archipelago islands;
sixty varietres of marantas from the
Amazon river; a collection of ferns from
Central and South America and the
East Indies, 300 varieties including
some exceptionlly fine tree ferns; 120
varieties ofgloxinea. The collection of
oracenas is the largest in the world.
There are sixty kinds of bromelias
and till.mdsias.
