372 MINNESOTA STATE HOETICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 



In the winter of 1865-66 he received a severe spinal injury by 

 a fall on the icy pavement, which incapacitated him for further prac- 

 tice' of his profession and, for many months, for anything whatsoever. 

 He came to this town to recuperate his health, became enamored of 

 the locality and decided to remain and experiment in hardy fruits for 

 the cold regions. He began to establish a nursery at West Derby, 

 Vt., about 1868, experimenting very carefully with many varieties. 

 It required not only money, but courage, patience and experience 

 to solve, as he finally very largely did, the problem of tree fruits 

 for northern New England and lower Canada. In the selection and 

 introduction of ironclad Russian fruits, including apples, pears, 

 plums and cherries, of various qualities and seasons, he was associat- 

 ed with J. L. Budd, professor of horticulture in Iowa University, 

 and Charles Gibb, of Montreal. 



The latter made two trips to Russia in pursuit of new varieties, 

 and shared his spoils with the doctor. He gave to the public the 

 Yellow Transparent (Russian) and the Scott's Winter (native) vari- 

 eties of apple, and in his seed business, which he conducted until 

 1899 an auxiliary to his nursery and market garden, he originated 

 and propagated several varieties of vegetables. 



In 1870 Dr. Hoskins started the Vermont Farmer at Newport, 

 and after two years removed it to St. Johnsbury, where it was con- 

 ducted four years with himself as editor and Royal Cummings as 

 publisher, reaching a circulation of 4,000. He then sold his in- 

 terest to Mr. Cummings. 



He was a popular member of the State Board of Agriculture, 

 and for many years was in demand as a speaker at horticultural 

 meetings in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. 

 Always a public-spirited citizen wherever he resided, he was one 

 of the founders and first contributors to the Newport public li- 

 brary, and the first president of the library association. Extremely 

 versatile, he had poetic, artistic and histrionic talent, an extraor- 

 dinary command of language and gift of expression, combined 

 with a strong love of humanity. With all this he was possessed of 

 great industry and a systematic and orderly disposition. 



He may be forgotten by all but a few, but his work will remain 

 an important contribution to progress along the lines where his 

 work lay, and his life is yet another example of the truth of the 

 words of the poet: 



"Lives of great men all remind us 

 We can make our lives sublime, 

 And departing leave behind us 

 Footprints on the sands of Time." 



— Express and Standard, Newport, Vt. 



