40 THE HOKTICULTURE OF 



in horticultural science by residing in foreign lands, 

 and by his acquaintance with experienced cultiva- 

 tors of both fruits and flowers. His fruit houses were 

 two hundred feet in length, in and around which were 

 grown the choicest varieties of grapes, peaches and 

 plums ; there the Golden Nectarine was produced from 

 the stone planted by him. Mr. Perkins was the intro- 

 ducer of the Duchesse d'Angouleme pear, the Franconia 

 raspberry, and other fruits from France. He attended 

 personally to the pruning and cultivation of his trees, 

 and his success was greater than that of his brother. 

 Mr. Samuel G. Perkins usually wore a button-hole 

 bouquet in the lappel of his coat, and was fond of sur- 

 prising his brother with superior fruits. One day he 

 came with a basket of gorgeous grapes, peaches and 

 apricots, and said: "Brother Tom, I know you love 

 fine fruit, and fearing you do not often get it, I have 

 brought you something worth having." "Thank you, 

 Brother Sam, I try to be contented with what I have, 

 and I certainly should be if you were not always burst- 

 ing in and giving me something that makes me envy 

 you." x 



In Brookline is the old Aspinwall estate. This was the 

 birthplace of our beloved citizen, the late Col. Thomas 

 Aspinwall, where still remains the same old mansion* 

 house in which he and his father, Dr. William Aspinwall, 

 were born. .The "Aspinwall House " was built by Peter 

 Aspinwall in 1660, is now owned (1880) by Hon. 

 William Aspinwall, and has never been out of the 

 possession of descendants of the same name. Here 

 were planted by Dr. William Aspinwall extensive 

 orchards of Baldwin and Koxbury Russet apples, and 

 other fruits. Some few trees are still remaining near 



l Letter of Augustus T. Perkins. 



* See Boston Memorial, Vol. I., p. 221. 



