274 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Early in his experience he saw the possibilities in the culture of 

 vegetables under glass and to this end he devoted himself with 

 untiring energy, adopting every new method that promised to be 

 of help in his work. He was among the first to introduce the sys- 

 tem of sterilization of the soil and to demonstrate its value in the 

 growing of hothouse products. In recent years he had also carried 

 on experiments with electric light and electric currents in the 

 ground as aids in hastening the growth of vegetable crops. 



He was thoroughly interested in the work of the Society, of 

 which he had been a member since 1873, and was often called upon 

 to speak at its meetings on matters connected with vegetable grow- 

 ing. In 1902 he gave a lecture before the Society on "The Evolu- 

 tion of Vegetable Culture during the last Forty Years" which is a 

 valuable contribution to the literature of this subject. He pub- 

 lished also a book on market gardening. 



In addition to his great business interests he was identified with 

 many organizations and took a prominent part in the public affairs 

 of his native town and state, serving as a member of the Governor's 

 Council in 1905 and 1906. He was also a Vice-President of the 

 Society in 1904 and Chairman of the Committee on Vegetables in 

 1905 and 1906. 



His death, while still in the vigor of middle age, is a serious loss 

 to all the interests with which he was identified, but he has left to 

 those that remain the stimulating example of an honorable and 

 successful life. 



Emil Joh:anssohn of Brookline, Massachusetts, a well-known 

 private gardener and specialist in orchid growing, died in that 

 town, September 11, 1908. 



Mr. Johanssohn was a native of Sweden. He joined the Society 

 in 1902 and was a member of the Committee on Plants and Flowers 

 at the time of his death. 



Charles E. Richardson, a member of the Society since 1865 

 and also its Treasurer for sixteen* years, died in Brookline, Massa- 

 chusetts, September 14, 1908, at the age of seventy-two. 



Mr. Richardson was a native of Portland, INIaine, his family 

 removing to Cambridge, Massachusetts, Avhen he was a child. 

 In his early business life he was an officer in several banking insti- 



