HORTICULTURISTS 



HORTICULTURISTS 



1583 



perplexing problem of pear blight. He grew many 

 varieties of pears and by a series of hybridizing pro- 

 duced many new varieties of pears and more than 

 thirty new varieties of cherries; among the latter are 

 the noted Governor Wood, Kirtland's Mary, Black 

 Hawk, Pontiac, Powhatan, Tecumseh, Osceola and 

 Red Jacket. The varieties were introduced by Ellwan- 

 ger & Barry, of Rochester, New York. The Governor 

 Wood and the Rockport are the two varieties of all 

 the long list that are today most widely cultivated. In 

 1874 the Ohio Horticultural Society, in its session at 

 Akron, sent a vote of thanks to Dr. Kirtland at Cleve- 

 land for his success and skill as a cultivator of new 

 fruits. He was one of the most distinguished men ever 

 connected with the Societj'. He replied that his highest 

 aspiration in this matter was to awaken and develop a 

 love for horticulture in the youth of the state. He had 

 been actively engaged in the great work since July 4, 

 1S12, and at the time of this meeting had not wearied 

 of the well-doing for a period of sixty-two years! The 

 hj'brids of fruit gave him many new \'arieties of rare 

 excellence. His flower-garden — always an object of 

 interest — contained many specimens rare and beautiful, 

 native and exotic. He-succeeded in grafting the sweet 

 bay on the magnoha and the rare flowers and fine fruits 

 were his special care. He was a careful weather obser- 

 ver, and took accurate observations many years 

 before the United States Weather Bureau charted the 

 country. G. B. Brackett. 



Landreth, David, founder of the oldest seedhouse in 

 America, was born in 1752 at Haggerston, North- 

 umberland County, England. He came to America late 

 in the eighteenth century, making Philadelphia his 

 home, and estabhshing there, in 1784, a nursery and 

 seed business. Its location, on what was then known as 

 High Street, is now covered by the building 1210 and 

 1212 Market Street. The raising of trees and produc- 

 tion of seeds were conducted on land' nearby, particu- 

 larly on a tract at Twelfth and Filbert streets. This 

 locahty proving too contracted for the purpose, the 

 nursery and seed grounds were removed in 1789 to 

 the "Neck," then considered far out of town, the place 

 chosen being not far distant from the site of the present 

 arsenal. 



The younger David Landreth was born in Philadel- 

 phia in 1802. WTien of suitable age he entered actively 

 into his father's business, which had considerably 

 extended in Philadelphia, while a branch house had 

 been opened in Charleston, South Carolina. The young 

 man's early duty was that of manager of this Charles- 

 ton branch. Of the Charleston business, it will suflSce 

 here to say that it continued tiU the era of the Civil 

 War, when it came to a sudden end by the act of the 

 Confederate States District Coiu-t, which confiscated 

 the real estate and merchandise alike, on April 22, 

 1862. BtTKNET Landreth. 



Landreth, David, the younger, in 1828 .succeeded his 

 father as proprietor of the weU-estabUshed and thriv- 

 ing business in Philadelphia, a business which was to 

 remain highly prosperous for half a century afterward 

 under his fostering care. His time, however, was 

 not wholly occupied with the details of business, but 

 was turned at an early age toward the literature of 

 husbandry and to enterprises of public interest. Among 

 the latter may be mentioned the Philadelphia Horticul- 

 tural Society, of which, in 1827, he was one of the 

 founders and a vice-president, and in 1828 was elected 

 corresponding secretary, which oflSce he held for seven 

 years. At a subsequent date he was made president of 

 the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agricul- 

 ture, and vice-president of the United States Agricul- 

 tural Society, and became an active member of many 

 other organizations. 



His literary labors included the publication of the 

 "Floral Magazine," started in 1832, and an advanced 



work for that period (see page 1559). At a later date 

 he \vrote much upon husbandry, his graceful style as a 

 writer and his technical knowledge of the subject mak- 

 ing his views of much value in the progress of the indus- 

 try. He edited an American edition of Geoige W. 

 Johnson's "A Dictionary of Modern CJardening," a vol- 

 ume of 635 pages, pubhshed at Philadelphia in 1847. 



In 1847 the Landreth nursery was removed to 

 Bloomsdale, Bristol, Permsylvania, where Mr. Lan- 

 dreth estabhshed what is believed to be the most 

 complete seed-farm in the United States, and where 

 he planted an arboretum which for years stood 

 unequaled in this countr}' in the development of 

 its trees. He was an eiU'ly breeder of the Channel 

 Island cattle, then styled Alderneys, and was among 

 the earliest manufacturers of mowing and reaping 

 machinery. In 1872-3 he experimented in steam- 

 plowing with a Scotch engine, and in the follow- 

 ing year with an American engine. Subsequently, 

 steam-digging and steam-chopping were experimented 

 with at Bloomsdale, and many improvements pro- 

 duced in the machine-shop of that model farm. In 

 early hfe he had lived amid the plantations of the Land- 

 reth nursery, one of the show places of Philadelphia — 

 the site now marked by the Landreth School — and his 

 virtues and character were those of one brought up in 

 intimate contact with nature. Burnet Landreth. 



Legaux, Pierre (or Peter), an early vigneron, who 

 made one of the first attempts to establish the wine- 

 grape and to make wine in this country. From his 

 plantation at Spring Mill, near Philadelphia, Dufour 

 secured vines for the great experiment in Kentucky 

 (see Bailey, "Evolution Native Fruits"). 



The follo%\Tng information about Legaux is taken 

 from Samuel Gordon Smyth, in the "Philadelphia 

 Press," September 10, 1899: 



"At the close of the Revolution there appeared 

 among the French colonists in Philadelphia a man of 

 superior talents and reputation, a poUtical refugee wlio 

 sought the hospitable shores of America to escape the 

 impending doom which afterward swept over France. 

 Pierre Legaux belonged to an aristocratic family of 

 ancient hneage in Lorraine. By the scanty light thrown 

 upon his early personal history we have been able to 

 learn that he was born and educated in Metz ; had been 

 a counsellor in the Parliament there; a patron of the 

 arts and sciences, member of several foreign academies, 

 besides enjoying the personal friendship, favor and con- 

 fidence of his sovereign Louis XIV. Under the regime, 

 Legaux had filled positions in the Government with 

 honor and distinction. Prior to the time of his escape 

 to America, he had been in the diplomatic service of 

 the king at one of the French West Indian Islands, and 

 it was while there, through the intrigue and malevolence 

 of his official superior, that he was forced to fly Guada- 

 loupe to save his life. We begin to hear of his presence 

 among his compatriots of Philadelphia, about 1786. He 

 was spoken of as distinguished for his culture, scien- 

 tific accompUshments and gentiUty. Minghng with the 

 best society and finding friends among the men who 

 were shaping the destinies of the nation, Legaux allied 

 himself with the foremost, partaking actively in public 

 affairs and appearing with the dignitaries in the social 

 functions which enlivened the metropolis of America. 

 Citizen Legaux became a member of the American 

 Philosophical Society in 1787, at a time when his doing 

 so would indicate the close touch he had with t he ablest 

 men of the day. It was in February, 1786, when Pierre 

 Legaux bought from Augustine Prevost, a fine planta- 

 tion on the Schuykill River near Spring Mill. The 

 property called 'Mt. Joy,' contained 206 acres. 



"Noting the remarkable growth, productiveness and 

 sweetness of the native grapes which thrived so luxiui- 

 antly on the warm banks of our forest-bordered rivers, 

 and confident of a great destiny for this country in the 



