45 
work which he did for botanical and horticultural science. 
It is upon this work that his fame, to a great extent, rests : 
as thereby he anticipated by half a century, the progress 
which has been achieved in the hybridigation of plants. So 
far back as 1819 he wrote his essay on the production of 
Hybrid vegetables, and thereby started the gardening world 
upon a course of careful intercrossing of vegetables and 
flowers, which led to the great improvement of garden and 
farm produce. In 1821 he published his first treatise on 
the Amaryllis. His great work on the Amaryllidacese was 
published in 1837, with 48 plates, drawn by his own hand. 
The amount of careful woi'k in this volume is immense, and 
it remains to this day the standard work on the subject. 
Many of Herbert’s papers appeared in Edward’s Botanical 
Register, and in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, all beautifully 
illustrated by drawings from his own pencil, carefully 
coloured, and containing minute details of the organic struc- 
ture of the plants. In these are figured the Hybrid Narcissi 
raised at Spofforth in 1843, and the manner in which the 
varieties had been intercrossed is detailed, and he thereby 
showed the way, which has led to the immense variety 
of Daffodils which now adorn our gardens, and which we 
owe directly to him. Our fellow-townsman Edward Leeds 
soon felt the influence of the Dean’s teaching, and in 1850 
he produced the first group of his fine Daffodils, and now 
we have more than one hundred and fifty varieties of the 
Narcissus raised by Mr. Leeds. 
Dean Herbert’s history of the species Crocus was published 
in 1847j and he made accurate drawings of almost every 
variety, flowered at Spofforth. 
Herbert’s skill as a draughtsman was extraordinary, as 
well as the diligence he displayed in the deliniation of plants 
which formed the subjects of his researches. Seventy-two 
of his original drawings were exhibited, many of them most 
exquisitely drawn and coloured. Not only are they beauti-^ 
