152 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Henderson considered that up to that time his prospects were 

 not very "rosy," and a regiment was being raised in the neighbor- 

 hood for service in the Mexican war. So he made up his mind to 

 enlist, and one day putting his spade in the ground, he went into 

 Mr. Spang's library and told that gentleman of his intention Mr. 

 Spang turned round to him and said, "Young man, if I mistake not 

 there is something in you that will make you a prominent mau in 

 your calling in this land of your adoption. Don't do any such fool- 

 ish thing. You may think that your prospects and your position 

 with me are perhaps not as good as you have a right to expect ; go 

 back to your work, and whenever you have an opportunity to better 

 yourself don't study me in the least." 



Mr. Henderson always considered this the turning point in his 

 life, and he never could think enough of Mr. Spang for his kind 

 advice at that time. 



He started as a market gardener, in Jersey City in 1847, and for 

 many years this was his principal business ; gradually, however, as 

 the taste for ornamental work increased, his early botanical training 

 came in use, and the market gardening part of his business was 

 abandoned. He had already written his famous book, '-Gardening 

 for Profit," of which considerably upwards of 100,000 copies have 

 been sold. This book has helped thousands of gardeners and farmers 

 in every state and territory in the Union to comparatively easy and 

 profitable business. Mr. Henderson abandoned market gardening 

 some twenty years ago, and since then placed all his energies into 

 the business of florist and seedsman. His greenhouse establishment 

 now covers over five acres of glass, and on an average 100 hands 

 are employed in this department throughout the year. Up to the 

 time of his death it was entirely under his personal management. 



The seed department, which is one of still greater magnitude, is 

 one of the largest and best equipped in the United States. This is 

 managed by his two sons, Alfred and Charles, 



Peter Henderson's name, we need hardly say, is perhaps as widely 

 known as any horticultural author in the country. He has been 

 before the public as a horticultural writer for nearly forty years, 

 during which time, besides his books, he has written many hundred 

 magazine articles. 



The wonder is that with the large amount of business and the 

 immense quantity of correspondence daily involved thereby, he 

 found time to write so much, but he inherited an excellent constitution, 



