866 



HORTICULTURE 



December 17, 1910 



Obituary* 



Charles P. Braslan. 

 An event of great import to 



the 



un- 



P. 



his 



seed trade, is the sudden and 

 expected death of Mr. Chas 

 Braslan, variously known to 

 friends as "Charlie" and "The Ma- 

 jor." It is no exaggeration to say- 

 that he will have many sincere mourn- 

 ers among the seedsmen of the coun- 

 try, for notwithstanding the undeni- 

 able fact that he was the greatest 

 peace disturber in the trade during the 

 present generation, his genial, open- 

 handed hospitality and comradship 

 made him personally a most agreeable 

 companion. Mr. Braslan died at San 

 Jose, Cal., on Saturday, Dec. 3, after 

 twelve days of intense suffering from 

 pneumonia. He was born in Cam- 

 bridge, Mass., 49 years ago, and when 

 yet a boy entered the employ of John 

 Breck fcSons of Boston. He remained 

 with the firm for a period of 11 years, 

 after which he became a member of 

 the seed house of Northrup, Braslan, 

 Goodwin Company of Minneapolis, be- 

 ing general manager until the reorgan- 

 ization of that company in 1896. A 

 year later Mr. Braslan went to Cali- 

 fornia and the Braslan Seedgrowers' 

 Company, of which he was the presi- 

 dent and manager, was incorporated 

 July 13, 1902. He prospered greatly 

 and recently had a farm of 4000 or 

 5000 acres devoted to seed raising. 



It has often been said that Mr. Bras- 

 lan was never intended tor a business 

 man but tor a board of trade operator, 

 a theatrical manager or a lawyer. Had 

 he been fortunate enough to have re- 

 ceived a college education as a young 

 man, he would have made a decided 

 mark in public life, for notwithstand- 

 ing the limited education he had and 

 the natural restrictions which such an 

 education usually imposes on men, he 

 was never known to be ruffled or 

 abashed, nor did he ever hesitate to 

 attempt any task or assume any role 

 however impossible it might seem of 

 fulfillment. It has been said that he 

 possessed strong hypnotic power, and 

 it is difficult to account tor his Influ- 

 ence over men vastly his superiors in 

 education if not in natural ability, on 

 any other theory. Ceitainly he was a 

 very forceful and energetic worker and 

 was able to accomplish many difficult 

 tasks by sheer enthusiasm which he 

 was abie to impart to others. Who 

 will conduct the extensive seed grow- 

 ing business which be bad under his 

 control, has not been determined, but 

 we may take it for granted that with 

 the Major's personality lacking, there 

 will not he the same aggressiveness 

 and push which always characterized 

 everything he undertook. Who will 

 inherit the large government free seed 

 business which he always managed to 

 secure, the future will have to reveal. 

 It is a fact that only a few years ago. 

 he was personna non grata at the de- 

 partment, and the year that the dis- 

 tribution was awarded to Mr. Chas. 

 Parker of California, which as every- 

 body knew was simply Mr. Braslan un- 

 der an alias, the secretary of agricul- 

 ture refused to recognize or deal with 

 Mr. Braslan in regard Uj the matter, 

 and another man was sent to Wash- 

 ington to superintend the distribution. 

 Since that time Mr. Braslan has en- 



tirely overcome this prejudice towards 

 him by the department, and it is not 

 too much to say that up to the time of 

 his death he was personally the most 

 welcome of any seedsman who visited 

 the department, a further illustration 

 of his wonderful power in influencing 

 people and overcoming tneir antipath- 

 ies. 



ible fund of anecdotes and above all 



to the shrewd and witty comment with 

 which he could point each one of them. 

 The business of the Robert Buist Co. 

 was incorporated some years ago and 

 will be continued as usual by the re- 

 maining members of the corporation. 

 GEORGE C. WATSON. 



Robert Buist, Jr. 

 Thomas Meehan. in 1880 (30 years 

 ago), wrote a splendid appreciation of 

 the first Robert Buist in the "Garden- 

 ers' Monthly." Mr. Buist senior, having 

 died in that year, and it now becomes 

 our sad duty to chronicle the demise 

 of his distinguished son, Robert Buist, 

 Jr., who passed away at midnight, Dec. 

 13th. aged 73. The first Robert Buist 

 was 75 when he died, and the son, 

 while even more rugged in constitution 

 and apparently good for many years 

 yet. evidently must have suffered 

 greatly from the unfortunate domes- 

 tic tragedy of a year ago and suc- 

 cumbed to the first serious illness— an 

 attack of pleurisy which seized him 

 about a month ago. 



Robert Buist, Jr., was as celebrated 

 as a seedsman as his father was as a 

 plantsman and had achieved fame and 

 distinction in that branch of the horti- 

 cultural world by the time he was 21 

 years old. The operations of the firm 

 were extensive all over the country 

 "before the war", and especially so 

 in the southern states. The southern 

 trade suffered of course during recon- 

 struction times but soon recovered 

 and for many years back It has been 

 larger and better than ever, and today 

 the name of Buist is a household word 

 in the Sunny South and far ahead of 

 any of the great firms that have be- 

 come successful in recent times. 



Mr. Buist was a great seedsman in 

 the truest sense of the word— knew the 

 business thoroughly— and kept himself 

 always abreast of the times. He trav- 

 elled extensively both at home and 

 abroad and had the keenest eye out 

 for improvements in the horticultural 

 line, many of which he was the first 

 to introduce. 



His influence was far-reaching and 

 beneficent and now that he is gathered 

 to his fathers we mingle with our sor- 

 row the consolation of great pride in 

 his fine achievements during a long 

 and well-spent life. He was an honor 

 to his profession and an ornament to 

 it. He held an exalted position in the 

 business and social life of Philadelphia 

 and sustained every call on his activi- 

 ties with dignity and distinction- 



Personally Mr. Buist was tall, 

 straight and of commanding presence 

 —somewhat austere to the stranger at 

 first but on close acquaintance of a 

 most genial disposition. The wife of 

 another distinguished seedsman who 

 sometimes visits Philadelphia summed 

 up his character very accurately when 

 she exclaimed, with ui)litted hands and 

 glistening eyes, "Robert Buist is, I 

 think, the most finished, polished and 

 perfect gentlemen I ever met." He 

 was always a tremendous worker and 

 to the last remained actively in har- 

 ness and could do more in one day 

 than many good ones of half his age. 

 But even with his strenuosity he could 

 unbend when he chose and tell a goot* 

 story. Some of his reminiscences were 

 brilliant with racy humor and it was 

 always a great treat to his listeners 

 when they could get him in this vein 

 and listen to his apparently inexhaust- 



William A. Appleton. 

 Wm. A. Appleton, who was one of 

 the best known florists of Rhode 

 Island, died at his home in Providence 

 on December 7, aged 55 years. He had 

 been in bad health ever since last 

 March and during the last few weeks 

 of his life suffered greatly from a com- 

 plication of liver and kidney diseases. 

 Mr. Appleton was born in Providence 

 and at the age of 18 he entered the 

 employ of Walter Hogg at the green- 

 houses on Benefit street. He next 

 worked under Superintendent Timothy 

 McCarthy at Swan Point Cemetery for 

 several years, finally becoming head 

 gardener. To his taste in landscape 

 work are due many of the beautiful 

 effects to be seen at the cemetery to- 

 day. He bought out the florist busi- 

 ness of Robert Hogg at 294 Broadway 

 in February, 1888, and had since con- 

 ducted a flourishing business at that 

 place. 



Mr. Appleton was a former President 

 of the Florists' and Gardeners' Club of 

 Rhode Island, of which he was one of 

 the charter members. His son, Eugene 

 Appleton, is now Vice President of the 

 club, and during his father's illness 

 has been in charge of the business. 



As to Mr. Appleton's personality it 

 can be truly said that he was one of 

 the few men without an enemy in the 

 world. His unvarying good nature, 

 his ever-ready courtesy and kindness 

 gave him a place of affectionate esteem 

 in the hearts of all with whom he 

 came in contact. He will be sadly 

 missed. His home life was one of 

 the happiest. 



At the time of the S. A. F. conven- 

 tion in Providence in 1897 Mr. Apple- 

 ton was one of the prime movers and 

 an unselfish, industrious worker and 

 to his persuasive executive ability was 

 due much of the success which attend- 

 ed that event. 



He is survived by a widow, six sons, 

 three daughters, five sisters and two 

 brothers. The funeral on Saturday, 

 Dec. 10, was attended by many repre- 

 sentatives of the Gardeners' and Flor- 

 ists' Club. President Johnson serving 

 as a pall bearer. Wm. J. Stewart of 

 Boston, a close friend of Mr. Appleto.. 

 for the past 25 years, was among the 

 attendants from out of town. 



Mrs. Isabella P. Whittet. 



Mrs. Isabella P. Whittet, wife of 

 Alexander Whittet, florist, died Satur- 

 day night, December 3, at her home in 

 Lowell. Mass. Her age was 70 years. 



Mrs. Whittet had been ill with heart 

 trouble since last August, although at 

 times she had sufficiently recovered to 

 be able to go out of doors. About a 

 month ago she became seriously ill 

 again and since that tirne had been 

 confined to her bed. Saturday she 

 seemed cheerful and in rather better 

 condition than for some weeks. With 

 almost no warning the end came at 9 

 o'clock. 



She was born Isabella Proudfoot, in 

 Perth. Scotland, in 1840. She came to 

 Lowell as a young woman and in Jan- 

 uary, 1867, was married to Alexander 

 Whittet. Mr. and Mrs. Whittet had 



