296 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 4,1895. 
some old entomologist gave the odd name of the Gothic (Nsenic typioa), 
which begins life on the Pear and Plum, or other fruit trees, descending 
in October to hide amongst Box edging, under dead leaves and stones 
till April. A ravenous caterpillar is it during the spring, devouring her¬ 
baceous plants generally ; but we may hope for diminished numbers 
this April. There is a well-known caterpillar—at least, better known 
by its doings than by its aspect, for it usually hides under the soil—that 
of the large yellow underwing (Tryphsena pronuba), which feeds on the 
crowns and stems of many plants from the autumn to May, that may have 
suffered from the cold or want of food. To name one more species, the 
social and annoying enemy of some fruit trees, the little ermine moth 
caterpillar emerges from the eggs in the autumn to winter in small 
colonies upon the twigs under patches of protective gum which is spread 
by the mother insect. It has been noticed that the substance is, by 
some hard winters, made to split or shrivel, when the young caterpillars 
are exposed to cold, also to the attacks of insect-eating birds.— 
Entomologist. 
THE LATE MR. WILLIAM DEAN. 
Mb. Riciiakd Dean obliges us with the following supplementary 
notes on the career of his late brother and great and much-respected 
florist. A varied career it is truly, and shows the wide experience of 
our friend in the work he loved :— 
“My inability on the spar of the moment to refer to documents, 
added to my late brother’s singular reticence in regard to some of his 
undertakings, led me to make one or two mis-statements in regard to 
his doings, and also to withhold one or two points which, with your 
permission, I hasten to correct and supply. I find I am wrong in stating 
that he was once with his old friend Mr. Thomas Hewitt of Solihulf. 
When the London branch of the seed business was closed my brother 
went to the Heatherside Nurseries at Farnham as traveller and sub¬ 
manager. These nurseries, which were on a somewhat extensive scale, 
were founded by the late Mr. A. Mongredien, the author of ‘ Trees and 
Shrubs for English Plantations,’ and other works of a social and 
political character. The above mentioned work is an invaluable refer¬ 
ence book. The ‘ Heatherside Manual of Hardy Trees and Shrubs,’ 
with a preface gjving instructions How, When, and What to Plant, 
issued in 1874-75, was also prepared by Mr. Mongredien. It is a 
work of 116 pages, and valuable for the many useful suggestions. The 
death of Mr. Mongredien occasioned great changes, and my brother 
then established the Heath End Nursery at Farnham, but parted with 
it after a few years, and then went to the Chad Valley Nurseries, 
Edgbaston, and from thence to Walsall, where he was in business eight 
years, and taking up the raising of Violas sent out several new types, 
among them Queen of Spring, Mrs. Turner, and True Blue, and to him 
is due the first attempts to obtain a rayless section. From there he 
went to Solihull as manager of a small nursery belonging to Mr. Power 
at Edge Lane, and not to Messrs. A. Blizzard & Co., and on leaving 
there he established himself at Sparkhill, where he died. 
^ “ For many nights before his death he had slept in an arm-chair 
being unable to lie in bed. The doctor visited him on the morning of 
the 23rd, the day of his death, and did not appear to think any change 
was in progress. He partook of his tea at half-past five, conversing on 
domestic affairs ; immediately after he was seized, and falling into a 
comatose state, actually died in his sleep at half-past six, breathing 
gently and regularly to the last, and seemingly not in any pain.” 
“ He left a widow and six children, all of whom followed him to his 
grave in Yardley Cemetery on the afternoon of Saturday last, his 
brother Richard and his son-in-law being also present, and several 
friends from Birmingham, including Mr. Robert Sydenham, Mr. C. H. 
Herbert, Mr. W. H. Gabb, and members of the Birmingham Gardeners’ 
Mutual Improvement Society, who carried him to his grave, and a 
magnificent wreath was sent by the Committee and members, and other 
floral tributes came from Mr. and Mrs. Beddard, Stoneleigh Abbey, 
Kenilworth ; Mr. and Mrs. Watkins and Mr. and Mrs. Herbert, of 
Messrs. Thomson & Co., the Welshpool Horticultural Society, the 
Birmingham Chrysanthemum, Fruit, and Horticultural Society, from 
the Sutton Coldfield Chrysanthemum Society, a soray from the 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert, and others.” 
It was with sincere regret that, on opening the Journal of Horticulture 
last Friday, I learned the sad tidings of the death of that great florist 
and lover of Nature in all her gentlest and fairest aspect, Mr. Wm. 
Dean. I had not the gratification of knowing him personally; but 
friendship, as I know from experience, very frequently exists without 
the assistance of personal acquaintance ; a deep chord of sympathy, the 
inevitable result of mutual tendency in a common direction, existed 
between us, which even the awful and mysterious intervention of the 
impartial “ Last Messenger ” cannot wholly remove. 
For his memory and his influence, which are utterly imperishable, 
remain like benedictions to bless us itiil. Of my own delineations of 
his favourite flower contributed to this Journal he was generously appre¬ 
ciative. and on one occasion he was so kind as to express his regret that 
he was unable to invite me to the Viola Conference, as he did not at 
that period know my address. It would have been a great pleasure to 
me to have been there, if only to have made the acquaintance of this 
venerable horticulturist, so child-like in his simplicity, so generous in 
his sympathies, so beautiful in his peaceful, unobtrusive nature, so 
yenerative of all beauty and all goodness in his life. He has fast 
followed in the footsteps of another friend of mine, whom also, alas! I 
had never seen, but whose great kindness in my memory shall always 
abide—William Thomson of Clovenfords, “ King of the Vineyards,” 
whose creations are sufficient to perpetuate his name. 
It was my intention to have visited Birmingham on some future 
occasion on my way to London, that thus I might have the privilege of 
seeing Mr, Dean’s Violas and Mr, Chamberlain’s Orchids, Also, before 
the death of Mr. William Thomson, I had promised to pay a visit to 
Clovenfords in October, and may do so still, for its present possessor is 
amply qualified by nature to prove a worthy successor to his gifted 
father and sustain his reputation as a Vine cultivator. 
But who as a writer on the Pansy and Viola is competent to succeed 
the late Mr. Deau ? I fear the leading horticultural journals will 
suffer in this exquisite department by his death. I hope that Mr. 
Wm. Cuthbertson of Rothesay, Mr. McLeod of Chingford, and other 
great cultivators of the Viola, will do their utmost to sustain by their 
writings the wonderful, yet amply merited, popularity wherewith the 
lamented florist of the Midlands invested by his genius this fragrant 
flower, also that the invaluable varieties which owe their origin to Mr. 
Dean may not be permitted, like many of their predecessors once equally 
esteemed, to fall into oblivion. I have no fear of this.— David R. 
Williamson. 
By the death of our old friend I feel to have lost a correspondent 
who spared no trouble or pains, and lentered so thoroughly into all 
our views and suggestions. I had a letter from him the morning he 
died. I wanted him to come for our spring show and act as Judge, 
and it was only on Saturday, the 23rd ult., I had a letter from him 
saying he could not possibly come, although be would have been so glad 
if he could have ventured. I do not know when I met so real a gentle¬ 
man as Mr. William Dean, it was always a great pleasure to meet him 
at any time.—H. W. ADNITT, Shrewsbury. 
THE GARDENERS’ ROYAL BENEVOLENT 
INSTITUTION. 
As questions are sometimes asked through the gardening Press for 
particulars of the G.R.B. Institution, would it not be a good idea to 
republish Mr. Thomas’ letter (a copy of which I enclose) ? This explains 
its principles, and would no doubt do good. I wish gardeners as a body 
would become members, for my part I cannot understand why they do 
not.— Geo. Summers. 
An Appeal to Gardeners. 
Having recently been elected a member of the Committee of the 
above Institution, I hope I may be excused for approaching my fellow 
gardeners for the purpose of endeavouring to influence their minds in 
favour of a more general and generous support of its funds. It cannot 
be said that I am asking others to do what I have not attempted to do 
myself, as I have contributed in one way or another between £70 and 
£80 to this good and well managed Institution. 
It is difficult to understand why all gardeners do not rally round this 
splendid property of £29,000, especially when it is said that every 
shilling of it is their own. One would think that even from motives of 
selfishness, if from no higher, every gardener would strive to do all in his 
power to promote i;s usefulness and prosperity. 
There cannot be less than 30,000 gardeners, nurserymen, and others 
engaged in horticultural pursuits who are, or ought to be, interested in 
its welfare, and if as many of these as can afford it subscribed their 
guinea a year, and if the remainder who are unable to do this were to 
collect small sums amongst themselves annually for the benefit of its 
funds, the question of old age pensions, as far as it relates to gardeners, 
would be solved; 
Objections have been advanced by many persons against the Institu¬ 
tion because it is not founded on the lines and principles of a benefit 
society, where a member can claim help at any time in case of need. 
On the surface this may appear to be a reasonable objection, and I am 
afraid has been the cause of many not subscribing to its funds ; but I 
think on a little consideration that this objection may be proved to be 
an erroneous one, and especially as in the case of gardeners whose wages 
are scarcely now stopped in time of sickness, and who, therefore, do not 
feel the pinch of poverty at this time like mechanics and others who are 
paid by the hour, and whose pay is stopped when work ceases. As 
bearing on this point, I may say I have been a member of a benefit 
society for upwards of twenty years, paying about 22s. a year, and if I 
am to remain a benefit member I shall have to go on paying that sum as 
long as I live, and in case of sickness and permanent disability from 
work, I am entitled to lOs. a week for the first year, about 7s the second 
year, and after that I believe the pay is reduced to Ss. per week for 
life. Let me ask my fellow gardeners who are still sceptical on this 
point to compare this with the advantages offered by the Gardeners’ 
Royal Benevolent Institution, even from a benefit point of view, where 
after subscribing a guinea for fifteen years, or £10 lOs. down, a member 
is almost certain to be placed on the pension list if he is of good 
character and incapacitated from work and in want, receiving without 
any further cost or trouble to himself £20 a year for life, whether his 
life be short or long. 
Another objection has occasionally been levelled at the Institution— 
viz., that some gardeners who had subscribed but little, and others who 
had not subscribed at all, were occasionally elected pensioners. On this 
point I may say that we must not lose sight of the fact that by far the 
largest proportion of the property of the Institution has been subscribed 
