1880.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



253 



Faulkner in his "History of Fulham," says 

 that Mr. Rench wixs the first to introduce the 

 Moss Rose into this country, the original plant 

 of which is supposed to have heen brouj^lit from 

 Holland. Rench lived at South Field Farm, 

 near Parson's Green, a farm possessed by his 

 family for two centuries. He was buried in Ful- 

 ham churchyard, where there is this in.scription 

 to his memory on a headstone — "Under this 

 stone are deposited the remains of Nathaniel 

 Rench, late of this parish, gardener, who depart- 

 ed this life Jan. 18th, 1783, aged 101 years." So 

 he may have introduced the rose before 1724, 

 for in that year he was forty-two years old. 



The moss rose was first portraited in the 

 " Botanical Magazine, plate 69. It is described 

 as the Rosa nniscosa. or moss rose, and the plate 

 is dated December, 1788. Mr. Curtis observes 

 that, though Miller thought it a distinct species, 

 Linnaeus considered it only a variety of Rosa 

 centifolia. — Journal of Horticulture. 



The Horticultural Authority. — A pleasant 

 quarrel as it stands is going on between the 

 Rural New Yorker and the American Agriculturist, 

 as to where the great horticultural authority of 

 the United States is located. Judging by what 

 has appeared in print so far, this great literary 

 light must be somewhere in the city of New 

 York. Well, they are all pretty good fellows, 

 and we would advise that they kiss and be 

 friends. 



The Langdon Nurseries. — These well known 

 nurseries, established tiventyseven years ago, 

 at Mobile, Alabama, by Col. C. C. Langdon, have 

 passed into the hands of his nephew, Daniel W. 

 Langdon, who proposes to place them on a foot- 

 ing second to none in the South ; and in this we 

 are sure he will have the good wishes of all his 

 brethren in the trade. 



Jean Nuytexs Verschaffelt. — There are few 

 Americans but know that famous bedding plant 

 Coleus Verschaffeltii, which, after all the newer 

 introductions, remains the prince of the tribe. 

 The following from the Gardener's Chronicle, will 

 have a great interest in this connection : 



''The announcement of the death of this dis- 

 tinguished and amiable horticulturist will be 

 received with very great regret by his many 

 friends and acquaintances in England. M Nuy- 

 tans Verschaffelt was the adopted son of the late 

 Jean Verschaffelt, of whose nursery, near Ghent, 

 he was the manager, and to which he succeeded 

 on the death of the proprietor. M. Nuytens 

 Verschaffelt was deservedly a favorite for his 

 genial straightforward character, while his nur- 



sery vma one of the most remarkable, even in 

 that town of nurseries, Ghent. The English 

 visitor, go when he might, was sure to meet with 

 a most kindly reception on the part of the pro- 

 prietor, while tiie collections of plants under his 

 care were unusually interesting and important. 

 M. Nuytens Verschaffelt died on the 30th ult., 

 after a short but painful illness in the forty- 

 fourth year of his age. M. Nuytens Verschaffelt 

 was an active member of the Royal Agricultural 

 and Botanical Society of Ghent, a Chevalier of 

 the Order of Philip the Magnanimous ; but his 

 best title to remembrance will be his own char- 

 acter." 



Dr. J. T. RoTHROCK. — This distinguished bo- 

 tanist, and well-known lecturer at Fairmount 

 Park, left on the 19th of June for a six months' 

 study in Germany of some of the special 

 branches of his favorite science. 



Death of Robert Buist, Sr — As we are about 

 to go to press we have the announcement of the 

 death of Robert Buist, Sr., which occurred on 

 Tuesday, July 13th. To his intimate friends his 

 death was not unlooked for, as it was known he 

 had been in feeble health for some months past. 

 We have but space in this number for this brief 

 announcement, but will have more to say of our 

 deceased friend and eminent horticulturist in 

 our next. 



The Coming of Christ. — By James Caleb 

 Mcintosh — At first we wondered why any one 

 should send a book like this to a horticultural 

 magazine for review ; but on glancing through it 

 we see what suggested it. According to 

 Mr. Mcintosh, " the last train," " the coming of 

 Christ," " the lake of fire," " the end of the 

 world," is to be during the winter of 1883 and 

 1884. It will therefore be of no use for nursery- 

 men to set out any more young trees, cuttings 

 or seeds ; or to make any contracts for over two 

 years ahead It is kind of Mr. Mcintosh to for- 

 warn us of our fast approaching doom ; but pos- 

 sibly fate may be induced to change her mind, 

 as she has so often done in the past, before the 

 fatal diiy comes; and we fancy most nurserymen 

 will hold on in hope some good luck will yet 

 postpone the awful time. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Gardening and Gardeners. — The following ex- 

 plains itself : — "I noticed in the May number of 

 the Gardeners' Monthly an editorial in which 

 it stated that localities in which energetic florists 



