M 



THE GARDENERS MONTHLY 



[December 



about his adopted city ; he was well-known 

 everywhere by his writings and by the encour- 

 agement which he gave to every literary enter- 

 prise of a horticultural character. His "Rose 

 Manual," his " Family Kitchen Garden," and his 

 " Flower Garden Directory," were in their day 

 among the most popular of practical garden 

 guides. When Mr. A. J. Downing first projected 

 the Horticulturist, he found in Mr. Buist a good ad- 

 viser and warm friend. After an interview with 

 him by Mr. Downing,, he gave the writer of this 

 sketch an account of the project, expressed his 

 desire that it might be a complete success, and 

 hoped the writer would contril)ute notes to it, if 

 able. The writer then suggested that if Mr. 

 Buist would furnish him with a full set of varie- 

 ties of any one kind of vegetable, he would 

 make regular notes of their growth and relative 

 value, and contribute them to the Horticulturist. 

 This was done, and the article in time appeared, 

 the first from the pen of the writer to any 

 American magazine, through Mr. Buist's encour- 

 agement. 



But, perhaps, in no way was Mr. Buist's influ- 

 ence on American horticulture more marked 

 than by the encouragement he was always will- 

 ing to give to the better class of European gar 

 deners who desired to emigrate to America. 

 Nothing gave him more delight than to have 

 these men about him, and the knowledge of 

 these generous traits made him a sort of head- 

 centre of information. Those in need of skilled 

 assistance looked to him for advice in time of 

 need, to an extent that but fevf can have the 

 slightest conception of. It was a happy thought 

 in Col. Wilder, when presenting to the Massachu- 

 eetts Society the memorial resolutions on Mr. 

 Buist's death, to refer to this as among the great- 

 est in the sphere of his usefulness. " He not only 

 introduced rare plants, but rare men,— he did a 

 double service." The Pennsylvania Horticul- 

 tural Society, of which until his death he was one 

 of the Vice Presidents, and the American Pomo- 

 logical Society, which he helped to establish, 

 have lost in him one of their most energetic 

 officers and sustainers. 



Personally, Mr. Buist was tall, and to his death 

 as straightas a well-trained soldier. He had been 

 some time ailing, but long after he had ceased to 

 take any interest in other worldly affairs, the 

 Gardener's Monthly, and a favorite London 

 norticultural paper were his constant compan- 

 ions, showing his interest in his favorite pursuit 

 to the last. 



And he had his faults as well as his virtueis; of 

 these it is not our province to write, but we will 

 say, that these faults, whatever they may have 

 been, were unlike the faults of many men. He 

 had not one gross habit or taste. He was a 

 model of justice, and honor, and plainness of 

 speech ; and if those, who think it is the part of 

 a biographer to look at all sides of a man's life, 

 choose to step into the writer's place, the worst 

 that they could say of him would probnbly be 

 that in the pursuit of what he believed juf^t and 

 true, he was no more able to hit the mark on 

 every occasion than any other man. He came 

 about as near to perfection as we may expect to 

 find in our times. 



Mr. Buist was thrice married. His eldest son 

 died some years ago. He leaves behind him a 

 widow; his only living son Robert, the well- 

 known seedsman ; and two daughters. 



There being no one to succeed to his florist 

 business it was closed out in 1876, only enough 

 being retained to keep up his interest to hia 

 death. The city is fast growing towards Rosedale, 

 and in a few years the chapter of his immediate 

 work will be closed, and streets and buildings 

 occupy the ground where the rare trees he 

 planted and loved still interest the lovers of 

 nature. 



The Western Farmer of America. — A letter 

 to him by Augustus Mongredien, of London, 

 Eng.— As the Gardener's Monthly is a horticul- 

 tural and not a firming paper, we fancied there 

 was a mistake in sending it to us for review, but 

 in a note our " Sincere Friend," Mr. Mongredien, 

 tells us " that the word ' farmer ' is used to de- 

 note all producers of articles by the cultiva- 

 tion of the soil." Well, our " friend " com- 

 mences by reminding us that " the golden rule 

 for successful trading is ' to buy in the cheapest 

 and sell in the dearest market.' " No man of 

 any common sense doubts this. The only ques- 

 tion is, which is the cheap one and which 

 is the dear one? Mr. Mongredien, the "sin- 

 cere friend of the western farmer," would 

 have him believe that the lowest priced 

 market is the cheapest for the buyer, and that 

 this low priced market is his market, that is, the 

 English market of course ; for if the American 

 were the cheaper, he would not be our " sincere 

 friend." But every American buyer knows that 

 low-priced things are not necessarily the cheap- 

 est, for there are cheap things that are likewise 

 nasty and mean. It is not which market is low- 



