September 4, 1915 



HORTICULTUEE 



313 



Obituary 



Edwin Lonsdale. 



The news of the passing away of 

 Edwin Lonsdale will bring sorrow 

 home to the hearts of a host of friends 

 ■who loved him. Mr. Lonsdale's death 

 was not unexpected as it has been well 

 known for some time that there was 

 practically no possibility of recovery 

 from the malaily from which he was 

 suffering. The news has just reached 

 us that he passed away on Wednesday 

 afternoon, September 1, at the Na- 

 turopathic Institute, Los .-\ngeles, Cal. 



Edwin Lonsdale was a native of 

 Litchfield, Staffordshire, England; 

 born on October 6. 1845, and educated 

 in horticulture by apprenticeship and 

 service in several places nf note, in- 



Edwin Lonsdai-e 



eluding Enville Hall gardens, Stafford- 

 shire, and Hanover Lodge, Regents 

 Park, London. At the age of 24 he 

 came to America and was employed at 

 Syracuse, N. Y. in market gardening; 

 at Germantown, Pa., with the late 

 Thomas Meehan; at San Francisco, 

 with Miller and Sievers, and San .lose, 

 Cal., with Levi P. Sanderson. At the 

 ape of 30 he visited his old liome In 

 England where he married .Miss Sarah 

 Burton, sister of .lohn Burton of Tliila- 

 delphia. Returning he estalillshed 

 himself as a florist in Philadelphia and 

 five years later went into partnership 

 with John Burton. Later, on the dis- 

 solution of the firm, he resumed busi- 

 ness on his own account. This he 

 gave \ip in i;i04 and became superin- 

 tendent of Clrard College. Five years 

 later he accepted the position of man- 

 ager for W. Atlee Burpee & Co., at 

 their seed farms in Lompoc. Cal., 

 where be continued until overcome by 

 llie illness which resulted in his death. 

 Kdwin Lonsdale was one of Ibc pio- 

 neer members of the Society nf Ameri- 



can Florists. He served as secretary 

 of that organization in 1887 and as 

 president in 1S96. He was also official- 

 ly connected with the Penna. Horti- 

 cultural Society and the Florists" Club 

 of Philadelphia, serving as president 

 of the latter. He was the first presi- 

 dent of the .American Carnation Soci- 

 ety, holding that office for three con- 

 secutive years. 



Mr. Lonsdale was one of the best in- 

 formed and well-read men in American 

 commercial horticulture. His name is 

 linked with many movements for the 

 advancement of bis profession and the 

 improvement of those specialties in 

 florists' flowers in which he took a di- 

 rect interest. Some of the finest vari- 

 eties of crotons ever produced in the 

 world were raised liy him. Carnations 

 Helen Keller, -Mrs. Cleveland and 

 Grace Battles were produced and in- 

 troduced by him, also the zonal gera- 

 nium La Pilot. 



In his personality, Edwin Lonsdale 

 was one of the most lovable men the 

 Almighty ever put upon this Earth. 

 True hearted and loyal, he was a shin- 

 ing example of manly nobility. Words 

 fail when we try to express how dear- 

 ly we loved him. They will bring him 

 home to Chestnut Hill where he may 

 sleep with bis daughters in Ivy Hill 

 Cemetery — those daughters so cruelly 

 torn from them in that awful drown- 

 ing accident at Ocean City a number 

 of years ago and the remaining one 

 who followed them a year or two later. 



Personal 



John Mackenzie. 

 John Mackenzie, formerly gardener 

 for W. Emerson Cox and later with E. 

 B. Dane when Mr. Dane bought the 

 Cox estate, died on August 25th at 

 the Massachusetts General Hospital, 

 following an operation for hernia. Mr. 

 Mackenzie had been doing job garden- 

 ing of late, temporarily, for R. & J. 

 Farquhar & Co. He leaves a widow 

 and a large family, most of them 

 grown up. 



PUBLICATION RECEIVED. 

 The Complete Club Hook for Women. 

 By Caroline French Benton. A com- 

 panion volume to "Woman's Club 

 Work and Programs." If women must 

 have their own clubs — and why 

 shouldn't they? — then here is a book 

 that they will find helpful, or. we 

 might say indispensable. The volume 

 embraces in its 300 pages the last word 

 in proper organization and manage- 

 ment. A model Constitution is offered 

 which any club may adapt to its own 

 needs. Condensed rules of order and 

 examples of programs, etc.. are also 

 given. But all this fills only a minor 

 place in the contents of the book un- 

 der consideration. Chapters are de- 

 voted to Community Improvement. 

 The Business of Systematic House- 

 keeping, Literature, History. Educa- 

 tional Systems. How to Make a Year 

 Book, A Study of Songs, A Study of 

 the American Colonies, Child Labor, 

 Famous Buildings, Great Men and 

 Women in History, etc., etc., topics 

 selected for their educational and up- 

 lifting character. Organizations tak- 

 ing their in.'iplralion from this unique 

 volume will unquestionably fill a use- 

 ful place In their respective communi- 

 ties. The publication is Just off the 

 press of The Page Company, Boston. 

 Price $1.25 net or $1.40 carriage paid. 



James Macfarlane of Werden, N. Y., 

 has been appointed instructor in flori- 

 culture at New Hampshire Agricul- 

 tural College, Durham, N. H. 



M. F. Byxbee. the florist of So. Nor- 

 walk. Conn., is ill with typhoid fever. 

 Health Officer W. J. Tracey is investi- 

 gating to learn the source of contagion. 



Miss Elizabeth Clucas daughter of 

 Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Clucas, and Mr. 

 John Young Telfer will be married at 

 Sparkill, N. Y., on Wednesday. Sep- 

 tember 15. 



J. F. Amniann, secretary of the Illi- 

 nois State Florists' .Association, left 

 St. Louis with .Mrs. .\mmann on 

 August 28th for Peoria, where a meet- 

 ing of the executive board of the asso- 

 ciation was held on Tuesday, August 



31st. 



A DEFORMED BRANCH. 

 The accompanying photograph is a 



good example of a fasciated branch 



and was found on Aniorpha virgata, 

 growing in the shrub collection in the 

 Arnold Arboretum. This branch was 

 the only one on the plant which was 

 so deformed, the others being normal. 

 In the case of this particular branch 

 the growth at the crown of the plant 

 was normal, but about a foot away 

 the whole structure started to flatten 

 out and continued so to the end of the 

 branch, where it seemed to split up 

 into many small Immature leaflets. As 

 will be noticed, the branch is approxi- 

 mately an inch and three-quarters wide 

 for a great deal of Its length and about 

 one (luarter of an inch thick. The 

 curious way In which the leaves have 

 disposed themselves is very interest- 

 ing. The bush on which this occurred 

 is 11 handsome specimen about nine 

 feet high and has a spread of over six 

 feet. The branch was one of the lower 

 ones but with just as much space In 

 which to develop as the rest on the 

 same level. 



IlniiuT M, Casnimi. 



BUSINESS TROUBLES. 



Chattanooga, Tenn. Chattanoogn 

 Floral Co , F.ast Main street, vohinlary 

 bnnkrupt; assets. $4,'Joii: ibiliillties, 

 $2,435.66. 



