14 Progress of Horticulture fo7' 1843. 



Western Farmer and Gardener^ since the establishment of 

 the Cincinnati Horticnlturai Society, has given up its Berk- 

 shires, and in their place now presents occasional engrav- 

 ings of plants and fruits. The exchange we think will be 

 generally" liked by its readers. The proceedings of the So- 

 ciety are published at length. It is a cheap and useful 

 work. 



Obituary. 



A short time since a pamphlet came into our possession 

 containing a historical notice of the late Dr. Van Mons, of 

 Louvain, the eminent cultivator of pears, who has done so 

 much towards the production of new varieties during his 

 life-time. We have not seen his death noticed in any of 

 the London gardening periodicals, and until this pamphlet 

 reached us, were not aware of his decease. He died at 

 Louvain on the 6th of September, 1842. Dr. Jean Baptiste 

 "Van Mons was born on the 11th November, 1765, and was 

 at his death 77 years of age. 



We have not time or space in this article to enter at 

 length into a notice of this distinguished man, whose name 

 is familiar to all cultivators of the country. At the early 

 age of 15, Dr. Van Mons was deeply interested in the cul- 

 tivation of plants, and the production of seedling roses and 

 annual flowers ; and at the age of 22, he conceived the 

 Theory, which, in the language of his biographer, has con- 

 ferred on him " les plus beaux titres de gloire."' 



Dr. Van Mons, as early as 1823, published a catalogue of 

 the seedling fruits in his collection, which amounted to up- 

 wards of 2U00. From that time to 1834, his nursery was 

 twice destroyed, yet notwithstanding these sad reverses, 

 which would have damped the ardor of almost any other 

 man, he continued with incredible perseverance to cultivate 

 an immense number of seedling trees. In the Annales de 

 Physique Gimrale he first commenced giving the descrip- 

 tions of his fruits, and in 1833 he published his only work 

 on fruit trees, entitled Arhres Fruiters and their Culture^ 2 

 vols., 12mo. 



The Historical sketch accords to Belgium the merit of 

 having created the greatest intellectual movement which 

 has marked the end of the last century, and particularly to 

 Dr. Van Mons, is that country indebted. In the closing words 

 of the writer. " Honneur done, Honneur a sa memorie ! " 



