Decbmpeb 26, 1007. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



' ■■^'^7i-->>1- 



IS' 



George Vair . 



THE DEATH ROLL. 



W. W. Edgar. 



After a somewhat lingering illness, 

 borne however with much patience, W, W. 

 Edgar died December 18, of cancer of 

 the liver. Mr. Edgar was an English- 

 man, hailing from Cheshire, where he first 

 saw the light April 28, 1843. After work- 

 ing on several English estates, he decided 

 to try his fortunes in Ainerica and 

 crossed the Atlantic in 1867. He was 

 employed first in the, at that time, well 

 known Pratt estate in Watertown, where 

 David Allan had charge for many years. 

 Later he went as gardener to Major Claf- 

 fler, who became governor of Massachu- 

 setts, and stayed there seven years. Aft- 

 erwards he was employed by the late 

 John Galvin, father of Thomas F. Gal- 

 vin, the well-known Boston florist, and 

 upon leaving him went as foreman to 

 Thomas W. Dee, at Mount Auburn, where 

 he stayed until he started business on 

 his own account, at Waverley, Mass., in 

 1885. ■ 



Mr. Edgar, who was possessed of tire- 

 less energy, soon built up for himself a 

 successful business and his productions, 

 both of cut flowers and plants, have al- 

 ways had a high standing in the Boston 

 market. His specialty had usually been 

 pot plants, such as lilies, Lorraine bego- 

 nias, azaleas, Rambler roses, acacias, 

 poinsettias, ferns and about every thin jj 

 salable from a commercial standpoint. In 

 addition to his greenhouses at Waverley, 

 which covered a considerable area, Mr. 

 Edgar, owing to his increasing business, 

 bought the Nathan Morse estate in Wal- 

 tham, a short walk from his other plant. 



and erected several commodious houses 

 on it. The deceased was possibly the first 

 successful commercial grower of the now 

 popular Begonia Gloire de Lorraine and 

 was quick to note the merits in any nov- 

 elties which promised well from a com- 

 mercial point of view. He on many oc- 

 casions exhibited at the Boston shows, 

 having some splendid vases of chrysan- 

 themums at the last exhibition. 



Mr. Edgar was always pleased to wel- 

 come visitors at his greenhouses and home 

 and the Gardeners ' and Florists ' Club en- 

 joyed pleasant field days there on several 

 occasions, being always kindly enter- 

 tained. Of this society the deceased gen- 

 tleman had been a member almost from 

 its organization. He was a life member 

 of the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety, of the S. A. F. and the American 

 Rose Society. He had been for some 

 time a director in the Park Street flower 

 market, where many of his products were 

 sold. He was a member of Belmont Lodge 

 A. F. & A. M. and Coeur de Lion Com- 

 mandery K. T., of Charlestown. He also 

 belonged to the Odd Fellows and Royal 

 Arcanum. In affairs connected with the 

 town of Waverley he took an active inter- 

 est and his was one of the best known 

 figures in a community in which he was 

 held in much esteem. 



Mr. Edgar had been married three 

 times, a wife and nine children surviv- 

 ing him. Two sons, Robert S. and 

 Frank, are engaged in the business at 

 Waverley and have been a great help to 

 their father of late years. The inter- 

 ment took place from All Saints' 

 Church, Belmont, December 21, when the 

 sacred edifice contained a large gather- 

 ing of mourning friends who" had come 



from far and near to pay a last tribute 

 of respect. There were delegations 

 from the several societies to which Mr. 

 Edgar belonged, including a number of 

 his confreres from the Park Street mar- 

 ket and Gardeners' and Florists' Club, 

 each of which sent handsome floral sou- 

 venirs. The display of flowers was one 

 of the largest seen at any funeral in 

 Waverley of late years. The pallbearers 

 were Alex Montgomery, Thomas Roland, 

 W. J. Stewart, P. Welch, M. P. Norton, 

 Joseph Fuller, F. R. Mathieson and T. 

 A. Cox. 



Mrs. Julius Schray. 



Mrs. Julius Schray, wife of Julius E. 

 Schray, St. Louis, died early Monday 

 morning, December 23, after a short ill- 

 ness. Mr. Schray is of the well-known 

 firm of Wm. Schray 's Sons and his naany 

 friends in the trade extend their sym- 

 pathy. 



Dennis McKenney. 



Dennis McKenney, a nurseryman well 

 known in Alameda county, California, 

 was burned to death at his home in Irv- 

 ington, Cal., on the morning of Decem- 

 ber 19. Mr. McKenney was alone in his 

 house at the time and the fire was dis- 

 covered by a watchman on the premises, 

 who hastened to extinguish it, but when 

 he broke in his employer was found ter- 

 ribly burned about the lower part of the 

 body. He was still conscious when taken 

 from the building, but expired shortly 

 afterwards. The supposition is that Mr. 

 McKeuney went to sleep in bed with a 

 lighted cigar in his hand and in this 

 way set fire to the bedclothes. He was 

 60 years of age and leaves a wife to 

 mourn his loss. 



George Vair. 



George Vair, of Toronto, Ont., dropped 

 dead December 11 as he was stepping off 

 a street car on his way home from his 

 day's work. On leaving his work at the 

 Normal School he had appeared to be 

 in perfect health, and his death was evi- 

 dently due to some form of heart trouble. 

 He was bqrn in Scotland 74 years ago 

 and came to Toronto in 1855. During 

 the following year he was engaged by 

 Sir David McPherson as gardener and 

 florist at Chestnut Park, and he re- 

 tained that position for thirty years. Dur- 

 ing the last eight years of his life he 

 had been gardener at the Normal School. 

 He had always taken an active interest 

 in horticultural matters. He was promi 

 nent in the work of the Toronto Electoral 

 District Society and was its president for 

 about ten years. He was widely known 

 and highly esteemed in the trade and 

 took an active part in entertain'ng the 

 American Carnation Society at the time 

 of its convention at Toronto last Janu- 

 ary. 



E. V. R. Thayer. 



Eugene Van Rensselaer Thayer die<1 

 of heart disease at his Boston home De- 

 cember 20. Mr. Thayer was 52 years of 

 age and had been ailing for some time. 

 He had a fine estate at South Lancaster, 

 Mass., where also three of his brothers 

 had their residences. He was a life 

 member of the Massachusetts Horticul- 

 tural Society. His head gardener, E. O. 

 Orpet, is noted as a grower of orchids 

 and has. made a specialty of seedling 

 raising. W. N. Craio. 



Toledo, 0.— Harry HeinI refused to 

 accept a consignment of 300 azaleas 

 from Ghent which arrived via Lake Shore 

 railroad in bad condition. 



