350 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[November, 



Thomas Meehan, and have not, as he implies, 

 made any uncivil flings at him, knowingly, ex- 

 cept possibly in one instance, and we regret 

 having done that. He may be unjust to us; we 

 shall not be to him ; and this is all we have to 

 say in the matter." 



Express Packages for the Editor. — One 

 would suppose that common sense would sug- 

 gest that when fruit or other matter is sent for 

 an editor's opinion, the packages would be pre- 

 paid. It is surprising how many overlook this 

 little piece of justice. In protection to the edi- 

 tor's purse, all such packages have been refused 

 the past few years. Once in a while, perhaps 

 from the editor's temporary absence, or some 

 other favorable opportunity, a box slips in, and 

 here we are now penning this note, smarting 

 under a dollar gone for the rottenest mass of 

 rubbish that ever came before us. We feel very 

 much like publishing the name of the corres- 

 pondent, only that it would look spiteful, and as 

 an editor, above all other men, is supposed to 

 have " charity to all," we content ourselves with 

 the hope that nobody will do it again. 



Elihu Hall. — Botany loses an eminent worker 

 in the death of Elihu Hall, which occurred at 

 his home near Athens, Illinois, on the 24th of 

 September last. He had suflfered for a long time 

 from consumption, and his death was not unex- 

 pected by his friends. He leaves a widow and 

 three grown children. He was a Virginian 

 born on the 4th of June, 1822, but in 1829 was 

 brought by his parents to the spot where he died. 



His devotion to botany began a few years be- 

 fore the rebellion. In 1862, when it was very 

 difficult and dangerous to travel through the 

 Rocky Mountains, he made an extended ex- 

 ploration through the mountain region of Col- 

 orado, in company of Harbour, which expedition 

 resulted in the discovery of many new species, 

 and added largely to our knowledge of plants 

 already identified. Subsequently he made a 

 botanical expedition to little known portions of 

 Texas and to Oregon, both of which resulted in 

 great additions to knowledge. A number of 

 Rocky Mountain plants bear his name. Dr. Gray 

 has named for him Seseli Hallii, Pentstemon 

 Hallii, Astragalus Hallii and Heuchera Hallii. 

 Englemann gives him one of the rashes, .Tuncus 

 Hallii; Olney a sedge grass, Carex Hallii, and 

 Lesquereux two mosses, Campylopus Hallii and 

 Orthotrichum Hallii. 



During the later years of ill health he derived 

 great pleasure from work on his botanical and 



conchological collections, and he had much con- 

 solation in his last days by the reflection that 

 though not gifted with the strength of other men, 

 he had performed to the best of his ability the 

 work given him by his Maker to do ; and that to 

 some extent at least the world had benefited by 

 the life which he led. 



Edward J. Hooper.— The death of this gentle- 

 man in San Francisco, the first week of Septem- 

 ber, is recorded in the California papers. He 

 was the author of the " Western Fruit-Book," 

 and a well-known newspaper writer on rural 

 topics. He was a native of England, but settled 

 j early in the West, removing to California in 1870. 

 He was eighty years old when he died, with the 

 satisfaction of having spent a very useful life, 

 and that he would leave an excellent reputation 

 behind him. 



Joseph Sherfy. — To all familiar with the de- 

 tails of the fateful battle of Gettysburg, Sherfy's 

 peach orchard is a familiar name. We have 

 now to record the death of the owner of this 

 sacred spot whereon the earlier struggles of tne 

 eventful four days' fight came near making it 

 the grave of the Republic. It is, however, with 

 his career as a fruit grower and useful citizen 

 chiefly, that the credit is due of making peach 

 culture one of the solid institutions of South- 

 ern Pennsylvania. He took a sterile piece 

 I of land, and by intelligent good sense, made it 

 I one of the richest and most profitable farms in 

 I the State. His example alone, as an agricultur- 

 ] ist and horticulturist, has had a wonderful influ- 

 ' ence on that section of the State, and has been 

 worth tons of essays and preaching without end. 

 And yet he was a preacher as well as an eminent 

 practitioner. In what is known as the German 

 Baptist or Dunker denomination, he was known 

 as a clergyman ; and as a director of the public 

 schools led the advance in everything which 

 contributed to the advance of education. At 

 one of the meetings of the State Horticultural 

 Association the writer of this brief sketch first 

 made his acquaintance. Though his gray hair 

 and features generally, indicated a close verging 

 on threescore and ten, he attracted general at- 

 tention by his tall, strong and well-proportioned 

 form. He was regarded by strangers as a plain, 

 plodding farmer, but when he was, by invitation, 

 brought out to give his experience on peach 

 culture, his well-chosen and chaste language, 

 and clear and fluent exposition of his ideas were 

 great surprises to all. We have, at this writing. 



