1882. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



381 



up another uncle, a well-to-do merchant of Car- 

 rick-on-Suir, took on himself the task of giving 

 him a tirst-class education. When old enough 

 to judge for himself he chose his uncle Heffer- 

 nan's profession, and was put as an apprentice 

 for five years with the gardener of Sir Thomas 

 Osborn, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. His uncle 

 having moved to London as gardener to Lady 

 Whitbread at Gore House, the boy followed and 

 took a course at nursery work with Watson of 

 St. Albans, and Oxley & Bunney of the Isling- 

 ton Nurseries. From there, though still young, 

 he obtained the position of second gardener in 

 the establishment of Mrs. Barrinot, of which 

 then famous establishment he subsequently be- 

 came the chief. Marrying here Sarah Denham, 

 one of an old and well-known family of Barnet, 

 he started a large florist's establishment in the 

 Regent's Park, one of the most aristocratic por- 

 tions of London, but unfortunately too large for 

 bis capital, and the end of it was that he re- 

 turned to his old position in Oxley & Bunney's 

 nursery from whence he removed to the Isle of 

 Wight, where for nearly half a century he had 

 the sole charge of the Isle of Wight property of 

 Earl Vernon or (by the subsequent death of the 

 male representative of the ancient Earldom of 

 Harcourt) Vernon-Harcourt. . 



The strongest trait in Mr. Meehan's character 

 was a thorough devotion to whatever he under- 

 took to do, and a determination to thoroughly 

 understand even the minutest details of his 

 work. Young as he was when in charge of the 

 Barrinot establishment, the place became famous 

 for the successful cultivation of the Grape and 

 the Pineapple. He was a zealous student of 

 Botany — and a great admirer especially of the 

 Linnsean system to the last. By its aid he ob- 

 tained a knowledge of nearly every British plant 

 known in his time — and it was extremely rare 

 that any cultivated plant could be brought to 

 his attention, with the name and history of 

 which he was unacquainted. 



His devotion to principle was most remarka- 

 ble, and led to the erection in the town otR^de 

 of one of the most beautiful and costly public 

 edifices, by the Countess of Clare, in admiration, 

 as the liile of Wight Observer states in its remarks 

 on Mr. Meehan's career, of his persevering en 

 thusiasm in its cause. 



The esteem in which he was held by his em- 

 ployers was well evinced by the will of Lady 

 Catherine Vernon Harcourt, in which he was 

 retired from actual service with full salary, and 



other testimonials of her regard — and the will of 

 Colonel Francis Vernon Harcourt who died the 

 following year, leaving him a testimonial in the 

 shape of 15,000 — while the new proprietor, Hon. 

 Egerton Vernon Harcourt, evidenced his re- 

 gard for the old family friend by appointing the 

 younger son to succeed his father in the manage- 

 ment of the estate. 



Penn Memoeial Trees.— On the 9th of No- 

 vember, a stone was planted on the spot at 

 Chester where William Penn first set his foot on 

 American soil, and three trees were planted 

 around it by the Historical Society of Pennsyl- 

 vania, and the Penn Club of Philadelphia. Mr. 

 Lloyd Smith, a lineal descendant of Wm Penn, 

 planted an American Linden ; Mr. Justice Cox, 

 a descendant of the interpreter between Penn 

 and the Indians planted an Elm — and Mr. 

 Samuel Chew, a descendant of the famous Chief 

 Justice of Pennsylvania, planted an American 

 Ash. The trees were all raised from Pennsylva- 

 nia seed — the Elm being of old Philadelphia 

 parentage. 



Portrait OF James Vick.— Mensing & Streeper, 

 of Rochester, New York, have executed a beau- 

 tiful life-size portrait of the late James Vick, 

 which besides being an admirable piece of art, 

 is a very accurate likeness of this distinguished 

 man. 



St. Petersburg Botanic Garden. — Prof. Budd, 

 of Iowa, now traveling in Russia, sends the 

 following to the Iowa Homestead : 



''Of the Imperial Garden I can only say at 

 this time that under the able management of 

 Dr. Regel. it has attained a proud position. The 

 doctor is now sixty seven years of age, and has 

 had charge of these gardens for twenty-six years. 

 Before coming here he was director of a botanic 

 garden in the mountain regions of Switzerland. 

 He is probably tho ablest botanist in Northern 

 Europe. He is really a walking encyclopoe.lia 

 striiiing over the grounds and talking of the 

 24,000 species of plants under his charge. We 

 tried tokeep up with him for six hours yester- 

 day. We did not observe that he was tired, hut 

 we freely admitted that we were. Some idea of 

 the magnitude of the place may be inferred 

 from the fact that the large glass houses, if 

 placed end to end, would extend two English 

 miles. Without exception the plants are in 

 gt)od condition, and are arranged in scientific 

 order. In many respects the facilities ottered 

 in the way of suitable buildings, and the classifi- 

 cation, seemed better than at Kevv. Thirty 

 skilled gardeners are employed to take charge 

 of the difl'erent divisions. Tiie running expenses 

 amount to 66 OuO roubles per year. It is in no 

 sense a school, and no plants or trees propagated 



