October 10, 1908 



HORTlCULTURt 



481 



Obituary 



George Nicholson. 

 Every American gardener will learn 

 with sadness of the death of George 

 Nicholson whose Dictionary of Garden- 

 ing has undoubtedly a wider dissemin- 

 ation among American horticulturists 

 than any other work of like character. 

 We quote from the Gardeners' CUron- 

 iclt the following notes on the death of 

 Mr. Nicholson: 



We regret to have to record the sad 

 dentli of Mr. G. Nicholson, F. L. S., V. M. 

 II.. on Sunday, the ^"th inst. His r tire 

 incut from the euratorship of Kew In July, 

 L903, in consequenc e of hearl disi ase, 

 brought on, it is to be feared, by moun- 

 tain climbing in Switzerland in serach of 

 plants, \\ :i ^ distressing to his iitun friends 

 and a freat loss to the establisment with 

 which he had been connected since 1873, 

 when he entered the sen-ice in the capa- 

 city of assistant to the curator, John 

 Smith II., whom he succeeded in ism;, and 

 it has been said of Nicholson that he was 

 an ideal curator. The son of a Ripon 

 nurseryman, trained in the nurseries of La 

 Moult, Paris, and of Messrs. Low & Co., 



George Nicholson 



Clapton, and endowed with quite excep- 

 tional capacity for work and close study, 

 he early developed a fitness for a posl 



where /.-.-ii and intelligence -Acre needed, 

 and he found full scone for his gifts .'( 

 Kew, When lie hpcsime a inenihcr "i the 

 staff sir Joseph Hooker was actirey en- 

 gaged in forming tic I\cw arboretum, and 

 he found in Nicholson an apt assistant. 

 This gave htm his opportunity, ami he 

 made full use of it. the result being that 

 he soon knew more about hardy trees and 

 shrubs than any man in Europe, and be 

 came the recognized authority in all ques- 

 tions of tic nomenclature. At the same 



time, Nicholson was tot a s| iaiist. for 



there were very few plants in cultivation 

 with which he was unacquainted. He was 

 a most competent British botanist, know- 

 ing native plants as few men ever set to 

 know them. It was almost impossible to 

 entangle him over a plant came, he knew 

 them all so accurately. 



******** 



Nicholson did much valuable work at 

 Kew. He was a regular contributor to 

 the pages of the Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 and his monographs of such genera as 

 Quercus and Acer, published in these 

 pages, ate models of critical study and 

 industry. Whilst he was not a very pro- 

 line writer, in all that he wrote he was 

 most conscientious. It was therefore most 

 fortunate for horticulture that he was in- 

 duced to undertake the editorship of the 

 Dictionary of Gardening, a work which 

 has done more towards standardizing 

 plant names and developing an Interest 

 1n horticulture than anything published 



siuce Loudon's day. It was his intention 

 had his health permitted, to write a big 

 hook on bardy trees ami shrubs, for which 

 he had collected much information, some 

 of which has. we believe, been utilized by 

 Messrs. Blwes and Henry in their work 

 ou the "Trees of Great Britain ami In 

 land," now In course of publication. 

 ******** 



The great charm of George Nicholson was 

 in his conversational gifts, for he w.i- a 

 most entertaining talker, not aboul plants 

 only, hut about most subjects thai interest 

 men He died comparatively young. Born 

 in isiT. sturdy in figure, full of energy 

 and secure of encouragement, Nicholson 



appeared to t f the type that reach or 



cm beyond the ter t four score years. 



lie married when about thirty, but was 

 soon left a widower, with one child, a son, 

 vrho is now a naval engineer. 



Wm. D. O'Connell. 



William I). O'Connell, grandson of 

 William Doogite, superintendent of 

 public grounds of Boston, died October 

 :i in his 17th year. The young man 

 was a leading athlete in the Mechanic 

 Arts High School and was injured in 

 the stomach in a football game two 

 weeks ago which necessitated an oper- 

 ation, which was not successful. 



Charles Weisbecker. 

 Although the flower business was 

 only a minor item in his large market 

 business, Charles Weisbecker, who was 

 killed in an automobile accident at 

 Englewood, X. .1 , Oct. 4, was a large 

 buyer in the New York flower market 

 and was highly esteemed by the whole- 

 sale trade as a business man of the 

 best type. 



A Sad Fatality. 



The cottage occupied by Robert 

 Cummings, gardener on the estate of 

 W. F. Cochran at Yonkers, N. Y., was 

 destroyed by fire on the morning of 

 Monday. 5th inst., and his wife, aged 

 15, grandson 9, and grand-daughter 3, 

 were burned to death. 



Alvah A. Eaton. 

 Alvah A. Eaton, a well-known bot- 

 anist, died at his home in N. Easton, 

 Mass. Mr. Eaton has been employed 

 in the botanical laboratory of Oakes 

 Ames for the past six years, his work 

 being chieflv on orchids. 



H. R. Akers. 

 M. K. Akers, proprietor of the ( !fc 

 worth Manufacturing Co., Chatsworth, 



N. J., died suddenly on September 7. 

 There being no near relatives, his 

 estate is in the hands of the Surrogate 

 Court. 



Mrs. Samuel Henshaw. 

 Mrs. Henshaw, widow of the late 

 Samuel Henshaw, of West New Brigh- 

 ton, N. Y., died in Brooklyn on Sep- 

 tember 25. 



James Galvin. 

 James Galvin, son of Thomas Galvin, 

 florist of Newport, R. I., died in New- 

 York on September 28. 



Julius Schoelner. 

 Julius Schoelner. florist, died at his 

 residence, 76 Watson Ave., Newark, 

 N. J., on October 5. 



Gordon Wolf. 

 Gordon Wolf, proprietor of the Den- 

 ver Floral Co., Denver, Colo., died on 

 September 11. 



RAMBLER ROSES 



FOR FORGING 



Including Lady day, Hiawatha, 

 Delight, Sweetheart ; two and 



three year old stock, first quality 

 plants. Also the new famous 

 French rose The Lyon, a grand 

 forcing rose; and Harry Kirk, the 

 yellow everblooming Tea, novelties 

 of the highest merit. 



IYI. H. WALSH 



Rose Specialist 

 WOODS HOLE, MASS. 



:MiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiihiimiiiiiiiiiiiimiimiiiiJ£ 



j New Red Heleniuiii f 



H. Autumnale Superbum Rubrum 5 



E Tall Growing. Fall Flowering. 2 



"■ Color terra-cotta Red. 



S i Irat. Class Certifcate nass. Horticul- ■ 

 tural Society. 



= Fine plants, $8.00 per 100 



| FREDERIC J. REA, | 



NORWOOD, MASS. 



FTi 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 : 1 1 1 1 1 1^ 



■ 



J have 50,000 time year old Rhubarb 

 roots for this winter's forcing. Also 50,000 

 large Asparague roots for forcing. Order 

 now as there i> a large demand tor these 

 root- for forcing. Florists are buying 

 aeavilv. We have also 30,000 Privet, 



35, Peach trees, 500,000 Asparagus roots, 



Lm.oon Strawberry plants, 5, Apple 



ties. All ready now to plant. 



WARREN SHINN'S NURSERY STOCK 



Woodstown, N.J. 



PEONIES 



Strong 3 and 5 year old clumps cheap. 

 A«l. for wholesale catalogue of orna- 

 mental nursery stock. 



SAMUEL C. MOON 



Morrisville Nursory. 



MORRISVILLC, PA. 



PALMS 



JOSEPH HEACOCK COMPANY 



WYNCOTE, PA. 

 For Price List see page 440, Oct. 3rd. 



INCORPORATED. 

 Empire Floral Co., New York; T. J. 

 McGreevy, Jacob Annsbacher, Maxwell 

 Lustig: capital, $25,000. 



T. .1. King Seed Co., Richmond. Va.. 

 T. J. King, president; C. W. King. 

 vice-president: 0. W. Winn, secretary 

 and treasurer,.!. D. King. D. R. Midy- 

 ette, J. A. Addison; capital, $50,000 to 

 $100,000. 



