Necrology of 1889. 



223 



the age of twelve he was left an orphan, and while it is apparent that he 

 had the advantages of a fine preparatory school while a lad, there is no 

 evidence that he secured any of the benefits of an academic or collegiate 

 training. It is well established that the orphan school of London furnished 

 about all the instruction which he received, with the possible exception of 

 special work which he may have done in the night schools of Manchester, 

 while employed at his trade. It is certain that at a very early age he was 

 placed where he acquired a thorough knowledge of floriculture and land- 

 scape gardening, as he is found at the age of eighteen in the employ of 

 Rollison & Sons, leading nurserymen near London, and afterwards in the 

 Royal Botanical Gardens at the same place. 



Upon coming to America, he secured employment as a florist and gar- 

 dener for General Howland, near New York. He remained in New York 

 until about 1870, when he returned to England, and spent a year in practi- 

 cal work and study. When he returned to America, he placed himself un- 

 der the employment of Peter Henderson, where he remained until March, 

 1874, when he was sent to the Michigan State Agricultural College, upon the 

 recommendation of Mr. Henderson, to take the position of florist and gar- 

 dener in that institution. Here he remained for nine years, gaining the 

 esteem of the officers and students. 



In January, 1883, he was called to the State Agricultural college of Colo- 

 rado, as professor of botany and horticulture, and in a short time placed 

 himself in the front ranks of those engaged in industrial training in this 

 state. Horticulture by irrigation was a new field to him, but with industry 

 and perseverance he entered upon the discharge of his duties, and soon 

 made himself practically master of the problem. He identified himself 

 with the leading horticultural societies of the state, at one time serving as 

 secretary of the Northern Colorado Horticultural Association. He con- 

 tributed many valuable papers to the proceedings of these associations, and 

 they were always commended for their scientific and practical character. 



During the years 1885 and 1886 he conducted experiments with potatoes 

 and the growing of some of the finer varieties of tobacco. The results of 

 these investigations appeared in a finely prepared report submitted to the 

 State Board of Agriculture in December, 1886, and published in the report 

 of the secretary for that year. Prior to that time he had done considerable 

 general work in the study of native grasses of the state, as well as the gen- 

 eral flora and noxious weeds. 



In February, 1888, upon the organization of the agricultural experiment 

 station, he was elected horticulturist and botanist of the station, and then it 

 was that his line of original investigations began to take definite form and 

 scope. In the early history of his department there had been no distinct 

 line of work provided by the Board, and the subjects were largely of his own 

 choice. His first contribution to the station work was in the form of Bul- 

 letin No. 4, on "Potatoes and Tobacco, " published in February, 1888. The 

 matter in this bulletin covered experiments extending over three or four 

 years and enabled him to draw some satisfactory conclusions. Bulletins 6 

 and 7 were from his pen, the former upon "Insects and Insecticides," the 

 latter upon "Potatoes and Sugar Beets." 



During the last four or five years he had been making a special study of 

 the native grasses and forage plants of this state. Last summer he 

 spent about forty days on a trip to North, Middle and Egeria parks, making 



