THE CANADIAN HORTI0ULTURI8T. 



41 



taste in the art of decorative gardening 

 around the homes of our Canadian 

 people. 



With such ends in view we invite 

 the co-opei-ation of all the lovers of 

 Horticulture both in extending the 

 membership of the Fruit Growers' As- 

 sociation of Ontario, and in contributing 

 to these pages such items as may be of 

 general interest and profit. 



Back Volumes I., II., III., IV., VII., 

 and VIII of The Canadian Horticul- 

 turist are in stock at this office, and 

 will be sent to any address at 60c. 

 each, or with accompanying report for 

 75c. each. 



Any Subscriber failing to receive his 

 copy of The Horticulturist at the proper 

 time will please notify us at once of 

 the failure that we may send it him 

 before the edition is exhausted. 



A Package of Sample Copies of such num- 

 bers as Vol. VIII. as can be spared, 

 containing coloured plates, will be sent 

 to any one who will distribute them 

 with the view of getting new sub- 

 scribers. 



Delay of January Number. — The following 

 note from Messrs. Copp, Clai-k & Co., 

 pi'inters of the Horticulturist, Toronto, 

 will explain the delay of the January 

 number : — 



"The January number of the Horticul- 

 turist is all mailed (Jan. I2th). We had a 

 break down in our calendering machine, 

 which, we regret, occasioned the delay in its 

 publication, and is not likely to again occur." 



THE HON. MARSHALL P. WILDER. 



Whether we wish it or not we must 

 at times lay down our spades and our 

 pruning knives, and reflect upon the 

 shortness of our stay among our beloved 

 trees and plants. 



Already our readers will have read 

 the sad intelligence of the death of the 

 Hon. ]\I. P. Wilder, President of the 

 Amei-ican Pomological Society, at his 

 home near Boston on the 16th. of De- 

 cember last. His birth away back in 

 2 



the year 1798 reminds us of the days 

 of George III., George Washington 



HON. MARSHALL P. WILDER. 



and Napoleon Bonaparte. Early in 

 life his taste for gardening manifested 

 itself. He said on one occasion " My 

 love for rural life and the cultivation 

 of the soil is well known to you all. 

 Oh ! yes ! I cannot remember the time, 

 since my sainted mother took me into 

 the garden to help dress and keep it, 

 that I did not love the cultivation of the 

 garden above all other pursuits." 



For many years a leading merchant ( 

 in the city of Boston, he yet found much 

 leisure for his favorite study of Horti- 

 culture. His successful experiments 

 in hybridizing are well known, and his 

 pear orchard of some 800 varieties has 

 become justly famous. 



As time went on he devoted more 

 and more attention to fruit culture 

 until in 1848 he became President of 

 the American Pomological Society 

 which was organized in that year, and 

 this position he held until the day of 

 his death. Those were significant words 

 of his at the complimentary dinner in 

 Boston, considering they wei-e sjjoken 

 only two months before his decease : — 

 " Life at the longest is short. I have 

 passed its summit, and shall soon 



