i2 



HORTICULTUEE 



July 13, 1912 



Intimate as with any otlier officer of 

 the government. They were constant- 

 ly seeliing different varieties of shrubs 

 and flowers fcr their constituents and 

 for their own gardens and lawns. As 

 a result of this association Mr. Smith, 

 during his long service beginning six 

 or eight years before the civil war, 

 probably knew personally and well 

 more of the public men of the country 

 than any other man who has ever 

 lived. And he knew not merely the 

 public men but also their wives and 

 children, who would naturally have 

 an interest in the wonders of his gar- 

 den. Next to talking with him about 

 Burns, it was most interesting to 

 listen to his reminiscences of the men 

 who had served in the Cabinets, in 

 Congress and even in the Presidency. 

 He was devoted to his art and it is 

 doubtful whether he ever had a supe- 

 rior as a practical horticulturist. The 

 passing of this most interesting figure 

 will Inflict deep sorrow upon a very 

 wide circle of friends. 



S. W. McCALL. 

 Washington, D. C. 



From John Burton. 

 The distinguishing trait of William 

 R. Smith to my mind was his breadth 

 •of view and democratic spirit. This 

 was particularly the case with those 

 younger than himself to whom he al- 

 Vays had the open hand and heart — 

 giving freely of his wisdom and ex- 

 J)erience to all, and encouraging the 

 humblest to do their best. I believe 

 that spirit animated this great man's 

 labors during all of the sixty years in 

 •which he graced his commanding posi- 

 tion at the heart of things in the Capi- 

 tol of the American Commonwealth. 

 We in the trade owe him an especial 

 debt of gratitude, as he never swerved 

 from his loyalty to our and his profes- 

 sion, notwithstanding the allurements 

 of the high and mighty; but always 

 stood shoulder to shoulder with us in 

 progress — guided by commonsense and 

 practability. JOHN BURTON. 



From J. Otto Thilow. 



William R. Smith, the embodiment 

 of conscientious, untiring and inde- 

 fatigable effort to advance everything 

 that was worthy and for the advance- 

 ment of mankind. He was as enthu- 

 iastic in combining horticulture with 

 the refinement of humanity, as he was 

 interested in the welfare of his 

 brother-man. 



Yea, there has gone from among 

 us, one who was ripe in years, thought 

 and deeds, who by hard dint, and 

 ceaseless application, was desirous to 

 bring the results of his labors worthy 

 of the appreciation of his Maker. 



J. OTTO THILOW. 



From George C. Watson. 



William R. Smith -sfas the only man 

 I ever met in my 28 years' sojourn in 

 America in the seed business, who 

 was able to put up against me an 

 argument that would hold water In 

 favor of free seeds. He put the free 

 seed idea on highly altruistic grounds. 

 According to W. R. Smith, seeds are 

 merchandise of course; but they are 

 also more than merchandise. They 

 are the beginning of everything. So 

 iwhy should we boggle about a few 



cents when planting a seed in some 

 far away corner of Texas or Wyoming 

 charged to the general account. The 

 whole country will eventually benefit, 

 the seedsmen included. What's two 

 hundred thousand dollars? You pay 

 ten times that for one battleship— 

 that -will be scrap iron in probably five 

 years and nothing to show for it. All 

 of which was good talk. What I said 

 in rebuttal has nothing to do with this 

 story. All I want to say now is that 

 1 found one man, at least, who had 

 nothing to do with the vote-catching 

 proposition — who advocated free seeds 

 with all his might, and justified him- 

 self in so doing on purely patriotic 

 principles! No man will ever know 

 the amount of good William R. Smitn 

 did in his lifetime. The number of 

 people who called on him at the Bo- 

 tanic Gardens in Washington— even in 

 one year — and carried away saplings 

 and seedlings of new and rare and fine 

 things, to the remotest corners of the 

 continent— to radiate in every direc- 

 tion — was legion. All of which is 

 silent and unchronicled in history; but 

 will nevertheless be a potent factor in 

 the glorious development of the days 

 to come. So what must such an influ- 

 ence have been, when it extended over 

 the long period of sixty years? Think 

 of the influence of a man of this char- 

 acter, the friend and intimate of all 

 the giants in American history for 

 sixty years! Thank God for W. R. 

 Smith. GEORGE C. WATSON. 



THE LATE J. A. PETTIGREW. 



Memorial Resolutions Adopted by the 

 Cincinnati Florists' Society. 



At a meeting of the Cincinnati Flor- 

 ists' Society in regular session, news of 

 the death of W. R. Smith of Washing- 

 ton, D. C, was received with feelings 

 of deep regret. Words of praise were 

 spoken concerning the noble stalwart 

 life he has lived, the inspiration and 

 help he has always freely given. His 

 large and varied storehouse of knowl- 

 edge on many subjects was commented 

 upon but especially that of the horti- 

 cultural part of his lite— his pro'ession 

 which he so justly loved and in which 

 he so profoundly excelled and of which 

 he was always to the last so ready to 

 impart. The great help and impetus 

 he has given to the horticultural world 

 cannot be over estimated, especially 

 his help and assistance to the S. A. F. 

 and A. H. from its inception even to 

 later years. In view of these few of 

 his many-sided qualities, therefore: 



Be It Resolved, That in the decease 

 of W. R. Smith, horticulture has 1 st 

 one of its most ardent and foving 

 patrons, and 



Be It Further Resolved, That the 

 Cincinnati Florists' Society in full as- 

 sembly express their deep sorrow ar.d 

 extend their heartfelt sympathy to all 

 bereaved friends, and 



Be It Further Resolved, That a copy 

 of these resolutions be sent to the 

 trade papers and be spread upon the 

 minutes of the Society. 



A. OSTENDARP, Secretary. 



CORRECTION. 



In Mr. Fewkes' article on "Ameri- 

 can Seedling Peonies," page 9. of last 

 week's issue, sixth line from bottom 

 of second column, "stems are very 

 short, " should read "stems are very 

 It out. 



An Appreciation. 



Dear Editor: 



A friend has been taken from us. 

 We know it now. We shall appreciate 

 it the more as time goes on. He was 

 a man. A simple statement perhaps, 

 and yet we know what that means 

 when applied to our friend, for such 

 he is and will continue to be. He can 

 not be longer with us in the flesh but 

 so long as we are he will he — in our 

 recollection, in our minds, in our 

 hearts. Should we need any remind- 

 er of him— which God forbid— his un- 

 dertakings, his works, his results ac- 

 complished in our midst will stand as 

 beacons, and ever after serve as mute 

 witnesses to the mind that originated 

 and the executive ability that carr'ed 

 such to completion in many ca^es, 

 while many, many more must have 

 been unfinished; and it would have 

 been thus had he survived for years 

 tor such a man never ceases in the 

 good work. There is no halting. He 

 never lets up. The citizens of Boston 

 have lost a faithful servant and 

 leader. 



The citizens of your Commonwealth 

 have lost a benefactor in the good 

 work done by him. The great Amer- 

 ican public have lost the leader in his 

 profession, for he was the leader and 

 he made it a profession by his efforts 

 and successes. The horticultural 

 world has lost one, whose taking will 

 leave a vacancy only to be filled by 

 one of brains, with a learning broad, 

 technical, practical, cosmic, and walled 

 and buttressed with an inmate love 

 for his work and surroundings; each, 

 every and all of which can be applied 

 to and made a part of his work. Such 

 a man was our friend. He had these 

 qualifications and attributes. Further- 

 more he was honest to himself and 

 consequently true to his friends. His 

 friends— all who knew him were his 

 friends— -will deeply lament his go:ng. 

 May we all leave as fragrant a mem- 

 ory as John Allgood Pettigrew. 



Nashua. N. H., July 6, 1912. 



The funeral services of J. A. Petti- 

 grew, late superintendent of Boston 

 parks, whose death was chronicled in 

 our issue of July 6, took place at the 

 superintendent's house in Franklin 

 Park on Friday, July 5. There was a 

 very large attendance of mourners, In- 

 cluding a creditable representation of 

 the horticultural interests. There were 

 many beautiful floral tokens among 

 which were wreaths from the Garden- 

 ers' and Florists' Club of Boston and 

 the Horticultural Club of Boston, the 

 latter being a very large wreath of 

 foliage exclusively and the handsom- 

 est of all. 



