860 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



[ KoTombcr 4, 1869. 



thns collected would creep into rolled-np foliage or other ont- 

 of-the-way comers, and become stationary daring the winter, 

 and bo ready on the retam of spring to deposit their eggs 

 where they could find a supply of aphides.— J. 0. W."] 



VEITCH jrEMORIAL. 



Oun readers would observe from the report of the prelimi- 

 nary meetinR in last week's Journal, that the Veitoh Memorial 

 is now {airly started, and that a numerous Committee has been 

 formed to carry it out. Formed, as this Committee is, of some 

 of the most inflnential gardeners in the country, we have no 

 doubt that when the individual members aud the Sub-Com- 

 mittees get fairly into working order that the desired result 

 will soon be attained. High as those names are, however, in 

 the gardening world, they will not of themselves stimulate 

 others to do the work. Members of Committee must take the 

 matter in hand, and do manfully and energetically that which 

 he whom they wish to commemorate would have done had he 

 undertaken a similar duty. It is not enough "to lend your 

 name." One of tho most touching features of this movement 

 is, that it has been initiated by the professional gardeners, and 

 BO generally was this desire to perpetuate the name and re- 

 putation of their friend expressed, that it amounted almost to 

 a yearning, the numerous letters we received on the subject 

 evidencing how strongly this feeling exists. It reminds one of 

 the warm attachment that soldiers not unfrcquently exhibit 

 towards their general, and is, perhaps, unparalleled in tho 

 gardening world. Let us trust, then, that the work so aus- 

 piciously begun will be carried out to a speedy and successful 

 issue. 



The form which this memorial will assume is as yet un- 

 certain. A good deal of consideration will have to be given to 

 the question. Many suggestions have been, and, no doubt, 

 will still be made before any decision is come to. Among those 

 proposed at the meeting were a monument, a portrait, a 

 medal, a prize, a Gardeners' Benevolent| pension, a club and 

 library, a fund for disabled collectors, the education of gar- 

 deners' orphans, the erection of an Orchid house, and some 

 others ; all good in their way, and all, no doubt, the prompt- 

 ings of minds impressed with the importance of the subject. 

 While the form to be adopted is yet unsettled, it may not 

 be amiss to consider what appears to us to be the most 

 desirable. 



The essentials that a memorial ought to possess are per- 

 manence and publicity. To adopt anything that would merely 

 last for a generation or two, or which, if it were ever so per- 

 manent, did not force itself on the public attention, in either or 

 oth cases it would fail in the desired end. Of the suggestions 

 that have already been made, the monument, the portrait, the 

 medal, and the prizes, appear to contribute most towards the 

 object, and it is iu favour of these that Mr. Veitch's family are 

 nnderstood to have expressed themselves. 



Let us consider each of these propositions singly ; and first 

 ef the monument. No doubt a monument would be a very fit 

 and proper mode of perpetuating Mr. Veitch's memory. Sup- 

 posing a suitable design were obtained, where is it to be 

 erected? If in the cemetery where Mr. Veitch lies buried, 

 according to our idea the fitting publicity will not be obtained, 

 and the desirable object of keeping his name prominently before 

 the horticultural world will fail. The world moves very fast, 

 and the greatest players are soon forgotten unless something 

 turns up every now and then to recall them. Philip Miller, 

 the author of the " Gardener's Dictionary," was for more than 

 half a century a shining light in the botanical and horticultural 

 world, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and frequently a member 

 of its Council. His fame was so great he was styled by foreign- 

 ers " Hortulanorum Princeps." A monument was erected to 

 Philip Miller, but how many of the present generation know 

 where that monument is ? and who but for the " Gardener's 

 Dictionary" would ever know about Philip Miller? That 

 monument a few years ago was a mouldering stone with an 

 illegible inscription. John Claudius Loudon a generation ago 

 was a name familiar to every horticulturist. The man is gone, 

 but he lives in his works ; and by his works only, except to a 

 few, is he known. Mr. London has a monument erected to 

 him, and though a generation has barely passed since his death, 

 how many of those who now read what we have written know 

 where Loudon's monument is ? David Douglas is a name that 

 once excited admiration and sympathy in the horticultural 

 world. His fate shocked the feelings of the coimtry for a while. 



He, too, had a monument — where is it? How often is his 

 name heard except in the company of those who knew him ? 

 Thomas Fairchild, once a nurseryman at Hoxton, whose name 

 the Fairchild Nectarine bears, raised his own monument when 

 he died just M'l years ago. He left a sum of money vested in 

 trustees, the interest of which was to be given for a sermon to 

 be preached on Whit-Tuesday in the church of St. Leonard's, 

 Shoreditch, " On the \Yonderfnl Works of God in the Creation." 

 But who knows anything of Thomas Fairchild ? neither his 

 name nor his memorial is kept fresh in the world of horticul- 

 ture. Now, we have no assurance that a monument to Mr. 

 Veitch would bo more enduring than any of these, or keep his 

 name fresh among succeeding generations. 



The portrait is equally good and desirable as a monument. 

 It must necessarily be a posthumous one. Assuming that a 

 successful portrait of Mr. Veitch were obtained, and a suitable 

 place were found wherein to deposit it, we think that this 

 would fail in keeping up a constant memorial of him whose 

 memory we love to cherish. The only permanent bcation 

 would be the national portrait gallery if it could be secured a 

 place there, and even then his name would he recalled only 

 when future generations unin'.eri..-tedly looked on the picture 

 and read its legend. 



A Veitchian medal, or a Veitchian prize, is not open to any 

 of these objections. A medal, or medals, bearing a portrait bust 

 of Mr. Veitch, given annually, would keep alive the name and 

 features of him whose memory we now desire to perpetuate. 

 The opportunities for its distribution will never fail ; for 

 horticulture and horticultural shows we shall always have 

 with us, even to the end of time ; or if these should cease, the 

 names of those who are associated with them may fairly cease 

 too. How or for what objects these medals should be given, 

 we do not presume to say ; these are details that may be left 

 in the hands of those who are entrusted with carrying out the 

 memorial. But we would advise that the sum subscribed be 

 invested in the names of trustees who shall be appointed by 

 the Committee, and that the annual sum arising from the in- 

 vestment be appropriated to the purchase of a medal, or 

 medals, to be awarded not to exhibitors at any particular 

 society, but wherever a worthy application of the award can be 

 found. The medal should be given for merit of a high stan- 

 dard, and, like the Victoria Cross, be coveted not for its in- 

 trinsic value, but for what it represents. 



All we have said on this subject is merely suggestive. Many, 

 no doubt, will be the views taken by those who give the subject 

 their earnest heed ; but the first thing to be done is to get 

 the money, and leave all details for the future consideration 

 of the subscribers generally. Let all, then, do their utmost 

 to raise a sum which will be worthy of the object, and the 

 greater the amount subscribed the more extended and varied 

 will be the character of the memorial. 



IXFLUEXCES OVER THE KEEPING QUALITIES 

 OF FRUITS. 

 It has been stated that there is some evidence to show that 

 the character of one variety of the Strawberry was affected by 

 growing in the vicinity of other sorts. Mr. Hiram Walker, of 

 Washington County, New York, who has practised grafting since 

 1818, writes, that according to his experience the same thing 

 takes place with Apples and other fruits, and he thinks the 

 fact that some winter Apples do not keep, is not due to their 

 being grafted on stocks of early varieties. He says he never 

 knew any difficulty in the keeping of fruit where the orchard 

 was all of one kind, but that when early and late sorts were 

 all together, late fruit was rendered early, and early fruit made 

 late, from cross-impregnation. He mentions a tree in Saratoga 

 County which was in part grafted with a sweet variety, but the 

 grafts bore sour Apples for several years; the grafts of the 

 sweet Apple had been put into the lower limbs of a sour .\pple 

 tree, and as long as the upper limbs of the original tree re- 

 mained, the sweet grafts bore sour fruit, from blossoms being 

 impregnated by those on the limbs above them; when the 

 natural limbs were removed then sweet Apples were produced. 

 Mr. Walker mentions other instances of a similar character 

 which have fallen under his observation. The subject is one not 

 only of scientific interest, but of actual importance to all fruit- 

 growers. It is within the observation of every one that a 

 variety of fruit is not the same, even in widely separated locali- 

 ties. This difference is by some attributed to soil and exposure, 

 by others to the character of the stock upon which the fruit is 



