26 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[January, 



announced for the spring:: of '84, that I know of, 

 and it is important to us to let people know that 

 something is contemplated in Paris. 



[As our readers will no doubt perceive, the above 

 was not intended for ijublication just as received, 

 but it contains so much that is of interest to us all, 

 that we are sure of pardon for giving it just as it is 

 to our readers. — Ed. G. M.] 



ACROSTIC EPITOME OF HORTICULTURE, 



In < 'clcliratidii of this ;M:ii!;;i/.iiii-''s Twciity-fit'tli Yi'ai- <^f 

 Useiiilness. 



I5V W.M. r. HARDING, MOUNT HOLLY, N. J. 



The rosy-tinted morning 



has dispell'd the shades of night ; 

 His quick'ning beams the warm sun threw, 



in golden rays so bright ; 

 Early in creation's dawn, 



when Nature saw the light. 



Gardening, the first pursuit, 



e'en since the world began, 

 Amused the famous Homo, 



the historic primal man ; 

 Roseate, seem'd the .new-born world, 



baptized in vernal showers. 

 Delights sprung up on every side, 



with Eve among the flowers) 

 Eve, angelic maid, who first 



assayed the charmer's part, 

 Naively, coy and beautiful, 



enthralled her Adam's heart. 

 Eden's leafy garden then, 



celestially serene, 

 Refulgent, gay and gladsome, 



was a paradisic scene ; 

 Such was the fragrant flow'ry spot, 



so blissful, yet terrene. 



Marred by mischance, weeds began 



t' usurp the place of flowers. 

 Oh sad the change it brought about 



in Eden's happy bowers! 

 No more could sweets be gather'd then, 



without severest toil, 

 To labor's curse consigned was man, 



to cultivate the soil. 

 Happily, rich rewards still yield; 



to delving spade and plow ; 

 Life's hopes remain to cheer us on, 



though sweat may damp the brow ; 

 Yet just so much of Eden's left, 



to make us happy now. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Portrait of Mr. Barry. — A distinguished 

 Western horticulturist writes: "The portrait of 

 friend Barry is excellent. He is certainly worthy of 

 the honor you confer upon him. To him I owe my 

 first lesson on fruit growing. I then bought and 



still have the " Fruit Garden, " by P. iiarry, 1863. 

 It was a good book then, and is a good book still." 



SwTNOLiNc; Agknts.— Our readers will remem- 

 I ber that the publisher of the Gardjcnkrs' Monthly 

 put himself to the trouble and e.xpcnse of capturing 

 and prosecudng a fellow who took money from 

 people under pretence of collecting subscriptions 

 for the Gardenkr.s' Monthly. It was only sixty 

 days' imprisonment for several years' stealing, and 

 the publisher thought it was hardly worth, at this 

 rate, all the trouble to protect people from their 

 own imprudence. It now appears that some such 

 a fellow has been making a grand haul in the in- 

 terior of the State, collecting for the American 

 Agriculturist. 



It is amazing that any one will pay money to a 

 stranger, before he gets the goods. Even the most 

 conscienceless tree-agent takes orders only, and 

 .generally delivers something before he gets paid. 

 It is wonderful that there should be any money in 

 a fraud like this of the " Magazine agent." 



The Latk Mr. Euvvard Mekhan. — The writer 

 of the brief sketch in the last number, was not 

 without some fear that it might be considered par- 

 tial, as being dictated as much by affection as pub- 

 lic merit. He has therefore thought it might not 

 be without interest to the reader to copy the fol- 

 lowing from the pen of the Reverend Henry Ew- 

 bank, the well known writer on flower garden cul- 

 ture, to the London Gartien, of Nov. nth, 1882: 



"This neighborhood has just now sustained a 

 loss which, I think, should have a tributary notice 

 in your columns. I refer to the death of Mr. Ed- 

 ward Meehan a few days ago at the ripe age of 

 eighty-four years. For more than half a century 

 he has been in charge of the beautiful gardens at St. 

 Clare, which are rather more than a mile from 

 Ryde. For considerably more than forty )ears he 

 was in the service of the late Colonel Francis Ver- 

 non Harcourt, formerly member for the Isle of 

 Wight, and latterly he has been in that of his 

 brother, Mr. Egerton Vernon Harcourt. Mr. 

 Meehan has passed away from us among the sin- 

 cere regrets of his numerous friends in this place. 

 It was impossible to know him without forming a 

 great regard for him. He had a kindly open- 

 hearted sort of way which was very attractive. 

 But it is more especially as a gardener and very 

 devoted lover of flowers that this reference is made 

 to him. Mr. Meehan lived for his trees and his 

 plants, and they paid him back in full. It was 

 very interesting to walk with him through one of 

 the most beautiful gardens in the kingdom — his 

 own creation under his master's eye at St. Clare — 

 and to hear him tell how fifty years ago he turned 

 out some magnificent tree — when yet a sapling — 

 from a small pot, or planted some striking shrub 

 which has now attained to great size. There is a 



