424 



On the retirement of John Smith the second, in 1886, Nicholson 

 was promoted to the post of Curator, which he held until com- 

 pelled by bad health to resign in 1901. At the time of his 

 appointment he was in the midst of his great work, the 

 " Dictionary of Gardening," which made him famous throughout 

 the gardening world. An enlarged French edition, edited by his 

 friend, S. Mottet, appeared during the years 1892-1899, and L. H. 

 I Wiley's "Cyclopaedia of American Horticulture," 1900-1902, is 

 compiled on the same model. This is not the place to enlarge 

 upon Nicholson's high and varied attainments, and the benevolent 

 traits of his character, which brought him universal esteem and 

 admiration. The Horticultural Press has done this and is unani- 

 mous in its appreciation of his talents and personal character. 

 VI ways modest, he shrank from anything in the form of a public 

 testimonial, but on his retirement a complimentary dinner was 

 given in his honour, presided over by the late Dr. M. T. Masters, 

 and a handsome silver salver was presented to him by his friends 

 and colleagues, "who, while admiring his qualifications as a man 

 of science and a gardener, have a warm appreciation of his worth 

 as a friend." 



He was elected an Associate of the Linnean Society in 1886, 



ami became a Fellow in 1898; and he was one among the first 



sixty recipients of the Victoria Medal of Honour in Horticulture, 



on its institution in 1897. Mr. William Robinson, who was also a 



personal friend, dedicated to him in 1895 the forty-eighth volume 



of * The Garden ' in the most eulogistic terms. ' In 1894 he was 



awarded the Veitchian Medal. Among other distinctions he 



enjoyed was that of being first President of the Kew Guild, to 



which he was elected in 1894. For many years he was a member 



of the Scientific and Floral Committees of the Royal Horticultural 



Society, and he was a regular attendant during his later years 



until his mulady reached a stage that prevented him from going 

 out. 



Nicholson was fond of travelling and of mountaineering, and 

 he continued the latter at an age when it probably became detri- 

 mental to h - health. Apart from his climbing expeditions, most 

 Ol his journeys on the Continent were made in the company of the 

 late H. Herbst, with whom he visited manv parts of France and 

 Germany and some parts of Italy and Spain. Notes on one of 

 these journeys to Southern France and Northern Italy were pub- 

 lished in a series of articles in the « Garden and Forest ' for 1889 

 and 1S90. He twice visited America ; the first time in 1893, and 

 again in ] 902. On the first occasion he acted as a judge in the 

 horticultural section of the great Chicago Exhibition, and visited, 

 in the interests of Kew, the celebrated Arnold Arboretum and 

 many ot the leading horticultural establishments of the Kastern 

 states. An interesting report of this journey will be found in 



I uf V i™^' W ' 1894 ' PP- 37 " 66 - Bein S somewhat better in 

 neait i in 1 J02 he accepted the position of a Delegate from the 

 Koyal Horticultural Society to the newly founded Horticultural 

 Society of New York, on the occasion of the Conference on Plant 

 Breeding and Hybridism. This journey proved very unfortunate 



d th" Q d ; ^ aCUt6 attaCk ° f pleuris y bringing him almost to 



