TlllXNIKO FRUIT 



THORBURN 



1797 



l!ie fruit. Sonirriim's small shears are enipluyed. Imt 

 ;is a riilf the tin^rrs ami thumbs of an active man are 

 the must eUeetive instruments availahU'. Prartii-c 

 ^qves deftness. Ei.ijht to ten mature peai'h trr.s 

 constitute a day's work. As to time, while it is im- 

 jiortant to thin early in the season, experienee h;is 

 sliown tliat uuu-li Uibiu- is saved if tlie \York is delerri'd 

 until tlu' "June drop" or first dn-ii after iiu' setting- of 

 the Iruit occurs. After this, thinning; should he done 

 promptly. j.,i[s,- Ckai.;. 



THISTLE. Blessed T. > 



<>tn>i.><n:l<>i<. Globe T. Se^ 

 .Scohniiiis. Scotch T. See 



THLADIANTHA (Grei'k. /.- rms], and I'hHVtr: tlie 

 author of the geuus is said to have named it from 

 pressed specimens). Ciicii rhiWlcru . A yenus of 4- spe- 

 cies of tender, dio.'cious, herbaceous \"ines witli tulierons 

 roots, usually ovale-cordale leaves and axillary, yellow- 

 flowers. The iL^enus is native of southern and eastern 

 Asia and the island of -lava. !iMale ds. solitary or r;i- 

 cemed; calyx-tul>e short, l>ell-shaped, the bottom shut 

 bv a horizontal scale; se!j,-uieuts 5, lanceolate; coroUa 

 bell-shaped, 5-lo'oed. the lo!)es revtdute half way d(i\vn ; 

 stamens 5: female ti. witti calyx and corolla of niak'; 

 ovary oblong; style 3-cut : seeds numy. Thladiantha 

 has recently been offered in this country under the 

 name of f-ioiden Oreeper. 



diibia, Bunge. A tall climber with light green foli;ige 

 aud numerous yellow bell-shaped tlowers: male tis. soli- 

 tary in the axils without bracts: fr. ovoid-oblong, about 

 2 in. long, red: seeds black, smooth. Summer. N. China. 

 ii.C. III. 'JS:279. B.ll. 54tii» (male t\. only ).- According 

 to R.. I. Lynch, in i.-iu. 56, p. 51S, the plants are of easy 

 cultivation and by planting both sexes and artiticial 

 pollination the fruit may be grown. He further stati--^ 

 that the root-tubers are without buds Init form buds 

 jnst before growth commences, as littes a riK)t-cutting. 

 AcCfirdiug to Danske Daudridge. the plant is hardy in 

 W. Va.. increasinir rapiiUy by tulf-rs and becoming a 

 pest when plautetl with choicer plants. 



F. W. Barclay. 



THLASPI (Greek, crushnl; referring to tlo' strongly 

 liattened pods and seeds |. Crueifi'nt . A genus of '_I.*i-;iO 

 species of annual or perennial herbs, mostly from tlie 

 temperate and alpine regions of the northern hemisphere. 

 Mostly inconspicuous plants with radical rosettes of 

 leaves and leafy scapes of small white, rose or pale 

 purple flowers. T. arvense, Linn., known as Penxv 

 Cress, is a naturalized annual weed from Eu., A-Vl in. 

 high, simple, with terminal clusters of small dowers; 

 sepals greenish: petals white. T. alpestre, Linn., is a 

 perennial species native of the Rocky 3Ir^. An i-arly- 

 tiuwering alpine plant of a tufted li;ibit. variatiln Imt 

 usually 2-4 in. high: sepals purplish: iietals white. 

 Has been offered by collectors and is a neat little rock 

 plant. It should be given shade and a c<.'ol. moist soil, 

 V. 23:29J>. It ditfers from the European T. <f!p<: si >■<■. 

 Imt apparently not by any good specific charai-ter. 



F. W. Bak.-'Lav. 



THOMAS. JOHN JACOBS (Plate XLIi, one of iho 

 three pomulogists who may be said to have crcatt-d tho 

 science in this country (the others being Pa1ri<-k Bari-\' 

 aud the elder Downing), was born January S. 1810, near 

 the lake in central New York— Cayuga — ou ihe shores 

 of which he passed his life;, and died at Union ,Sprinii:s. 

 February 22, 1895. He was much nn>re than a ponndo- 

 gist, his studies covering nearly every branch of rural 

 industry except the breeding of live stock, and his 

 labors in the direction of adorning the surroundings of 

 country life entitling him to rank in that .lepartnunit 

 with the younger Downing. Two of his works. ''Farm 

 Implements and ^tachinery." and the series of nine vol- 

 umes called "Rural Affairs," deal with the practical 

 every-day matters of life on the farm in a manner at 

 once pleasing and original, there being nothing that 

 could quite fill their p/lace in the whole range of "uv 

 agricultural literature; and his incessant stream of in- 

 spiring editorials in "The Cultivator" and "The Country 

 Gentleman " for nearly sixty years covered a wide ami 



diversitied ran-e <d' rural topics. Bn! i>nmology was his 

 chief delight. aTid his fame rests mairdy en his treatise 

 on that suliject. "The Anici-ican Fiaiil Giilturisl." This 

 imntensely useful book lirst ap[M:-a.re<l, in \HH<, as a 

 paper-coven-d Uhuo of :^^|l pag<Ns, with :ib wood-cuts, 

 wlii(di must have boon well rei-oivcd. inasmuch as a 

 fourth edition ( ,li;,niilieii witli muslin bindmgj was pub- 

 lished in the fullowin- yi.-ur, and in \iii'.) another, eu- 

 lar;.;ed to 424 duoileciino ['a^ios, an<l "illustrated with 30(1 

 accurate figun-s." This edition apt>ea.rs to Inive been 

 reissm-d a few years later, wit.li sli-hl mod iticat ions 

 and on lar.i^ei- ]ia]ier. and was tlo-n called the seventh. 



I'l- to this lime, ihe changes in the work had been 

 idiielly in tin- direction of natural gniwth. But horti- 

 cultural knowle<l.i;o was undergoing great moiiiflcatioii ; 

 and in 18b7. the public still calling for l he b.iok . it reap- 

 l>eared in dill'erent style, newly arran-cd and moslly 

 rewritten, filling now consideralily more l lian aOO ))ages, 

 aud accom])auied by almost tiiat nundier of illustra- 

 tions. Rather unfortunately, tliis was called the"s(-c- 

 (.•nd edition," all its predeces^oJ•s being jiroliably regarded 

 as dilt'erent forms of the sauie book, while this was sub- 

 stantially new. 



The next edition, called the " ei,-lit)i r<' vised." appeared 

 in 1875. and had nearly Cbil octavo pages ami o\ ,t oIM) 

 (■ngravings, — ]mt to mention a cidored frontispiece and 

 highly pictorial Iduding; and this was followed, ten 

 years later, by a revised rc])rint in plainer and more 

 tasteful style, illustrated with tlie lai't;est n\imber of 

 engravings yet rea<died, 511b This edition, the last 

 issued during the life of the author, sold well, like all 

 the others, and was long out of print ami much sought 

 for. A so-called "twentieth" e<iitioTi, i-cvised and en- 

 larged by Mr. William H. 8. Wood, a. lifelong friend of 

 the author, with the assistau(-e oi a number of high 

 authorities, appeared in 1897. and <'ontains over 700 

 paii'es and nearly 8110 illustrations. Pe'rsonally, Thomas 

 was one of the most lovable ot! juen. A consistent but 

 very liberal-mimled member (d' the " orthodox " branch 

 ot the Society of Friends, he exemplifij-d in a marked 

 degree the ])eculiar virtues, both rolnist and gentle, 

 whicli so commonly command, for the adherents of tluit 

 simple and unobtrnsive faith, the respect and adnura- 

 tion of those who know them. GiLnEirr M. Tucker. 



THORBURN. GRANT (Plate XLI), founder of the 

 seedhouse of J. M. Thorburn A.- Co., New York, aud hor- 

 ticultural author, w^as born in 1773 in Dalkeith, Scot- 

 laml, and early came to New York to seek his foi'tune. 

 His father was a wnuight-nail maker, and the son eu 

 gained iu the same traile in this country. He soon mar- 

 ried, and his wife attended a store which he established 

 in Nassau street, near Liberty, for the selling of "tape, 

 riblKms. thimbles, thread, scissors, and Oxliery's nee- 

 dles." The living rooms were in connection. "A glass 

 door opened opposite the firejdace, wlo^rc she rolled the 

 dumpling or broiled the steak with one eye, aTid kept a 

 s((uint on the store with the other." The introductioTi 

 of cut-nail nuxchines deprived young Thorburn of his 

 trade, and the establishment of a pretentious grocery 

 business on the corner of Nassau aud Liberty streets 

 took away his customers. He theref()re gave attention 

 to <"tther means of li\-e]ihood. The women of the city 

 had begun to siiow a taste for dowers. Tlu'se were 

 ,i::rown in pots, and the pots were sold by grocers. In 

 the fall of 18(12, there being various pots in his stock, 

 Thorburii thoui;ht to attract the attention of pur(dmsers 

 bv ]>aintin:,^ the pots green. Four ]iots were tirst 

 painted. They sold <|uickly. Tlien he painted tw(dve. 

 Thev sold; and thus the pot business grew\ Thorburn 

 ha.d'been in tlie hatdt of I)uving his meat at the Flv 

 3Ia.rket. at the foot of Maiden" Lane. In April, 1803, he 

 bought a rose geranium there, thinking' t<i lie aide l.iy 

 its means to still further advertise his ]iots. bbit the 

 next day a customer Vionglit both ])ot and plant; and 

 Tliorburn (juiekly returne<l to the nuirket and bought 

 two more plants. These sold; and thus the plant busi- 

 ness grew. 



The nmn, George Inglis, of whom Thorlnirn bought 

 the plants, was also a Scotchman, and it was soon 

 airreed that <'ne should i.n-ow the plants and the other 

 sell them. I'.ur the customer- also wanted to grow 

 plants, and they a^ki'd for seed; and as there \vas no 



