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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
March  18,  1897. 
DEATH  OF  DR.  HOGG. 
It  is  with  sorrow  more  profound  than  can  find  expression  here 
that  the  record  of  a  death  has  to  be  inscribed  in  these  pages,  in 
which  are  largely  reflected  his  life  and  his  work — namely,  the  death 
of  Dr.  Robert  Hogg.  This  took  place  at  midnight  of  Sunday, 
March  14th,  at  his  London  residence. 
Others  of  his  friends  and  colleagues  who  have  been  asso¬ 
ciated  with  Dr.  Hogg  for  very  many  years  in  various  horticultural 
projects  may  perhaps  more  appropriately  recount  episodes  in  his 
career  and  describe  traits  in  his  character.  The  writer  of  these  lines, 
however,  who  has  been  in  almost  daily  contact  with  the  de ’eased 
gentleman  for  more  than  twenty  years,  may  be  permitted  to  mourn¬ 
fully  acknowledge  the  loss  of  one  who  was  to  him  in  very  truth 
a  “  guide,  philosopher,  and 
friend,”  as  he  has  been  to 
many  more  during  his  long, 
busy,  useful,  and  honourable 
career. 
Though  only  a  disjointed 
outline  can  be  given  of  the  life 
of  the  “dear  old  Doctof  ”  as 
he  was  so  commonly  refenel 
to,  yet  it  may  be  said  of  him 
that  no  one  has  taken  a  larger 
share  in  the  various  movements 
having  for  their  object  the 
advancement  of  horticulture 
than  he  during  the  past  fifty 
years,  while  it  may  also  be 
safely  said  that  the  Goddesses 
of  Flora  and  Pomona  never 
had  a  more  loyal  subject. 
Though  learned  in  the 
sciences,  at  least,  as  they  were 
taught  in  his  earlier  days,  he 
was  notably  and  essentially 
practical,  not  only  in  the  art 
with  which  he  was  so  long 
and  intimately  connected,  but 
in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life, 
and  his  opinions  on  the  various 
subjects  on  which  he  was 
consulted  invariably  carried 
great  weight. 
In  “  Men  of  the  Time  ” 
we  find  that  “  Robert  Hogg, 
LL.D.,  F.L.S.,  was  born  at 
Duns,  N.B.,  in  1818,  and  was 
educated  at  a  private  school 
in  his  native  town.”  He  was 
the  son  of  Mr.  Robert  Hogg 
of  Cheeklaw  and  Bogan  Green,  Berwickshire,  the  head  of  the  old 
firm  of  Hogg  &  Wood  of  Coldstream — famous  among  other  things 
for  forest  trees,  Leeks,  as  well  as  for  agricultural  and  other  seeds. 
The  Doctor  had  no  trade  interest  in  the  firm,  its  headship 
descending  to  his  brother,  Thomas  Hogg,  who  died  two  years  ago. 
After  a  curriculum  at  the  Edinburgh  University  the  subject  of 
this  memoir  came  to  London  by  coach  in  1836,  and  was  present  at  Her 
Majesty’s  coronation  in  1837,  a  circumstance  of  which  there  is  reason 
to  believe  the  Queen  has  cognizance.  The  Doctor,  who  had  a  wonderful 
memory  of  past  events,  has  more  than  once  amusingly  told  the  story  of 
his  entry  into  London.  He  was  in  charge  of  the  late  Mr.  Charles 
Lawson,  the  “  great  ”  Charles  Lawson  as  he  was  called.  The  object  was 
presumably  to  gain  a  footing  in  the  London  seed  or  nursery  trade.  He 
was  the  guest  of  the  late  Mr.  John  Noble,  who  was  then  perhaps  the 
chief  representative  of  the  great  seed  industry  in  the  metropolis;  but 
he  had  “  no  room  ”  for  the  visitor  in  his  business.  Other  “  houses  ” 
were  tried  with  a  similar  result.  At  last,  calling  with  Mr.  Lawson 
at  Covent  Garden,  the  then  renowned  fruit  nurseryman,  John 
Ronalds  of  Brentford,  was  met.  “Ah,”  said  Mr.  Lawson,  “you 
are  the  very  person  I  wanted  to  see.  I  have  a  young  man  here,  the 
son  of  our  friend  Mr.  Hogg  of  Coldstream,  and  you  must  take  him.” 
“Oh,  well,”  was  the  reply,  “if  I  must  I  must,  but,”  and  this  with 
emphasis,  “  1  shall  only  give  him  15s.  a  week.”  The  young  Northerner 
was  delighted,  as  he  would  have  felt  it  a  privilege  to  get  into  such  a 
nursery  without  any  remuneration.  No  doubt  there  are  old  friends  of 
the  Doctor  who  have  heard  him  tell,  in  his  quiet  deliberate  way,  how  ' 
he  “  started  on  15s.  a  week,  because,"  he  would  go  on  to  say,  with 
the  merry  twinkle  in  his  eye,  “  I  was  not  worth  any  more.” 
Working  diligently  he  gained  a  practical  knowledge  in  nursery 
routine,  and  became  an  expert  in  most  kinds  of  work  connected  with 
the  raising  of  trees  and  the  cultivation  of  fruit.  It  was  during  this 
period  until  1845,  when  he  entered  into  the  business  at  Brompton, 
that  Dr.  Hogg,  as  the  result  of  his  travels  in  France,  Belgium,  and 
Germany,  first  established  those 
friendly  relations  with  Con¬ 
tinental  botanists  and  horti¬ 
culturists  so  often  reqewed  in 
subsequent  years  by  personal 
intercourse  both  in  England 
and  abroad. 
Of  penetrating  rather  than 
quick  perceptions  he,  after  in¬ 
vestigating  the  matter  of  im¬ 
portations  of  hardy  fruit  from 
Holland  and  France  (there  was 
no  American  competition  in 
those  days)  ;  satisfying  himself 
by  observation  of  the  prevail¬ 
ing  negligence  of  fruit  growing 
at  home,  as  well  as  of  the 
general  ignorance  pertaining  to 
fruit,  he  resolved  not  only  to 
make  the  subject  a  special 
study,  but  endeavoured  by 
strong  and  effective  articles  in 
the  press,  including  several  in 
the  early  issues  of  the  then 
Cottage  Gardener ,  to  arouse 
interest  in  and  disseminate 
information  on  what  he  believed 
to  be  a  matter  of  national  im¬ 
portance. 
The  then  young  reformer 
also  spent  some  time  in  the 
West  of  England,  and  gave  to 
florists’  flowers  a  large  share  of 
attention,  especially,  perhaps, 
Dahlias  and  Tulips.  On  the 
former  he  wrote  a  treatise,  and 
in  his  latter  days  we  could 
not  imagine  a  more  difficult 
task  than  trying  to  convince  the  Doctor  that  the  modern  Dahlias 
were  better  than  those  of  forty  yearn  ago.  He  would  grant  they  were 
larger,  but  held  that  size  was  obtained  at  the  expense  of  refinement. 
His  old  love  of  the  Dahlia  does  not  seem  to  have  returned  to  him  in 
the  same  way  as  did  that  of  the  florists’  Tulip.  These  flowers  had 
not  changed.  The  old  varieties  remained  with  their  characteristics 
unimpaired,  but  the  varieties  were  hard  to  find  ;  the  natural  per¬ 
sistence  of  the  man,  however,  asserted  itself,  and  a  few  years  ago  he 
resolved  to  form  a  collection. 
No  distance  was  then  too  great  for  the  Doctor  to  travel  to  see 
collections  in  flower,  and  to  there  mark  the  varieties  he  wanted  with 
the  view  to  purchasing  bulbs.  He  eventually  obtained  an  excellent 
assortment,  and  his  life  was  made  the  happier  by  their  possession. 
His  Tulips  in  May  were  his  annual  feast,  enjoyed  with  a  zest  that 
was  pleasant  to  see,  though  sometimes  disappointing,  as  when  fungus 
or  eelworms  feasted  on  his  treasures.  But  even  this  imparted  interest, 
for  he  set  himself  to  discover  methods  to  conquer  the  enemies,  and 
always  looked  forward  hopefully  for  the  result  of  his  endeavours. 
His  first  Tulip  prize  was  won  when  he  was  in  the  West,  and  he 
