HORTICULTURISTS 



HORTICULTURISTS 



1587 



the Dracut amber grape, the John Sweet and the (iran- 

 ite Beauty apple. Mr. Manning made a specialty of 

 evergreens and also establishctl a large department of 

 hardy herbaceous jilants. He was a member of the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society and the American 

 Pomologieal Society for over forty years. He was also 

 a member of the .\merican Nurserymen's Association, 

 the Massachusetts Fruit-Growers' Association and 

 others. He served on many fruit committees, making 

 exliibits in various parts of the country. 



Manning, Robert (July 18, 17S4, to October 10, 1S42), 

 wa.s one of the most thorough and accurate of American 

 descriptive pomologists. In 1823 he established his 

 "Pomologieal Garden" at Salem, Massachusetts, for 

 the purpose of collecting and proving varieties of fruits. 

 At the time of his death this garden contained more 

 varieties of fruits than had ever been collected in 

 America. Pears were his specialty, but he had all the 

 fruits which would thrive in his climate. These fruits 

 numbered nearly 2,000 varieties, of which about one-half 

 were pears. These varieties were gathered from all 

 parts of this country, and also from Europe. The new- 

 pears of Van Mons, the Flemish scientist and pro- 

 poimder of a theory of plant variation (see "Survival 

 of the linlike," Essay V), were introduced largely by 

 him. He also received valuable acquisitions from 

 Robert Thompson, of the fruit department of the Lon- 

 don Horticultural Society. In 1S3S, Manning pub- 

 hshed at Salem his "Book of Fruits, being a descriptive 

 catalogue of the most valuable varieties of the pear, 

 apple, peach, plum and cherry for New England cul- 

 ture." It also contained bush-fruits, grapes and hardy 

 trees and shrubs. It was published as "Finst Series for 

 1838," which indicates that its author intended to 

 issue other parts. All the desoript ions were drawn from 

 the fruits themselves. The book was illustrated. In this 

 work he was assisted by John M. Ives; and Ives made 

 a second edition of the work in 1844 under the title 

 "The New England Fruit Book," and a third in 1847 as 

 "New England Book of Fruits.'' At this day it is diffi- 

 cult to appreciate the work of a man Uke Manning. In 

 those days, varieties were all-important. The scientific 

 management of orchards had not yet arisen. Varie- 

 ties were confused. Manning and his compeers opened 

 the way for correct nomenclature and systematic 

 pomology, and estabUshed the idea of testing varieties. 

 His decisions on nomenclature were accepted as final. 

 He was one of the founders of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society. For a reference to the position of 

 Manning's work in our history, see page 1522; also 

 Tilton's "Journal of Horticultiu-e," 7, pp. 157, 158. 



L. H. B. 



Manning, Robert, Jr., was born at Salem, Massa- 

 chusetts on July 6, 1827, and died on February 17, 1902. 

 He and his brother, Richard, succeeded their father in 

 the work of the "Pomologieal Garden." In 1SG9, he 

 was appointed editor of Tilton's "Journal of Horticul- 

 ture," which position he held until this magazine was 

 discontinued in 1871. He was Secretary of the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society for twenty-six j'ears. 

 I'nderhis editorship, the "History of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society" was completed in 1880. For a 

 fuller account, see the "Cyclopedia of American Agri- 

 culture," Vol. IV, p. 594. 



Meehan, Thomas (Fig. 1889), writer, editor, state 

 botanist, vegetable biologist, legislator and nursery- 

 man, was born in London, England, March 21, 1826. 

 He died at Germantown, Philadelphia, November 19, 

 1901. His father, Edward Meehan, was head gardener 

 for Col. Francis ^'ernon Harcourt, at St. Clare, near 

 Ryde, Isle of Wight, and there Thomas spent his 

 boyhood. He was self-educated, acquiring Latin, 

 Greek, French and the elements of botany by study- 

 ing at night. 



Mr. Meehan's first published jiajier was at the 

 age of twelve on the ))roduction of double-flowered 

 stocks from single. His first scientific discovery pub- 

 lished was on "The Sensitive Nature of the Stamens of 

 the Portulaca," at fifteen years of age. .At the same age, 

 he produced .St. Clare, the first hybrid fuchsia known to 

 the horticultural world. Numerous scientific papers 

 followed, resulting in his being elected member of the 

 Royal VVernerian .Society of Edinboro, without making 

 apphcation or the .Society being aware that he was a 

 boy. Thomas Meehan became a student at Kew Gar- 

 dens, and after graduation came to America, landing 

 on his twenty-second birthday. Here he was employed 

 by Robert Buist, .Sr., in Philadelphia; was superin- 

 tendent of Bartram's Gardens, and later gardener to 

 Caleb Cope, Hohnesburg, and while there flowered the 

 Victoria Regia, the second time blossomed in America. 

 In 1853, he estabhshed Meehan's Nurseries, afterward 

 famous for their fine collection of American trees. He 

 was sole editor of the "Gardener's Monthly" for the 

 thirty years of its life, beginning in 1859 (p. 1559). 

 He founded "Meehan's Monthly" in 1891, which sur- 

 vived him. For sixteen years he was agricultural editor 

 of "Forney's Weekly Press," and at one time was agri- 

 cultural or horticultural editor or regular contributor 

 to more than half a dozen weekly and monthly papers 

 and magazines. For thirty years he was the regular 

 scientific editorial contributor to the "New York 

 Independent." He was appointed State Botanist by 

 Governor Hoyt and held that position until his death. 

 For many years he was a member of the Board of Visi- 

 tors of Harvard University. He was a prolific contribu- 

 tor to the pubUcations of the .'\cademy of Natural 

 Sciences of Philadelphia, of which institution he was 

 senior vice-president for twenty-three years; to the 

 proceedings of the American .'^.ssociation for the 

 advancement of Science, of which he was one of the 

 early Fellows, and to the American Philosophical 

 Society, the Pennsylvania Horticultural .Society, the 

 Pennsylvania Agricultural Society, in all of w-hich he 

 was an active member. He was recognized as the lead- 

 ing vegetable bi- 

 ologist of his day. 

 He was the origi- 

 nator of the doc- 

 trine of evolution 

 that self-sacrifice 

 plays as impor- 

 tant a jiart in na- 

 ture and evolution 

 as the struggle for 

 existence and the 

 survival of the fit- 

 test. For his scien- 

 tific attainments 

 in horticulture he 

 was awarded the 

 Veiteh medal bj' 

 the Veiteh Mem- 

 orial Fund of Eng- 

 land, the third 

 American so hon- 

 ored. He was 

 the author of 

 "Native Flowers 

 and Ferns of the 

 United States." 

 He was elected a member of the Common Council of 

 Philadelphia in 1882, and was reelected biennially 

 thereafter as long as he lived. As councilman, he 

 inaugurated a movement for numerous small j)arks 

 in Philadelphia. He was a member of the German- 

 town school board for eigliteen yejirs, and dvn'ing 

 that period secured the establishment of seven new 

 .schools, two exclusively for colored teachers. Other of 

 his activities that may be mentioned are as follows: He 



1889. Thomas Meehan. 



