234 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  18,  1897. 
never  forgot  it.  Seeing  the  schedule  of  a  Tulip  show,  and  noting  a 
laxity  in  the  regulations,  he  decided  to  put  a  doubtful  point  to  the 
test.  He  visited  a  collection  of  varieties  so  far  advanced  in  flowering 
that  the  colours  enabled  him  to  choose  the  more  promising.  Thet-e 
he  purchased,  had  the  plants  carefully  dug  up  there  and  then,  also  as 
carefully  planted  on  a  site  in  his  possession.  Under  the  best  atten* 
tion  they  suffered  little,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  he  cut  the 
blooms  and  won  the  first  prize.  Then  came  the  contest  as  to  his 
right,  but  it  was  decided  in  his  favour.  Though  very  markedly  and 
emphatically  a  man  of  peace,  when  Dr.  Hogg  was  face  to  face  with 
a  difficulty  he  was  the  reverse  of  easy  to  overcome. 
Returning  to  the  fruit,  the  young  pioneer  became  a  partner,  by 
purchase,  with  Gray  &  Adams,  in  the  long-famed  Brompton  Nursery 
at  Kensington,  in  1845  ;  and  the  business  of  Gray,  Adams,  &  Hogg 
was  continued  till  the  dissolution  of  the  whole  concern  in  1851. 
This  nursery  was  established  in  1681,  but  the  site  became  too  valu¬ 
able  for  growing  fruit  trees,  and  it  is  now  occupied  by  the  South 
Kensington  Museum,  Imperial  Institute,  with  other  National  build¬ 
ings  ;  and  it  may  be  interesting  to  note  that  the  Exhibition  Road  is 
on  the  site  of  the  main  thoroughfare  that  passed  through  the 
Brompton  Nursery.  The  changes  brought  about  since  the  Doctor’s 
manhood  seem  little  short  of  marvellous.  The  region  of  Belgravia, 
now  covered  with  magnificent  buildings,  was  during  the  same 
period  devoted  to  market  gardens,  and  there  the  Doctor,  on  the 
south  side,  built  himself  his  London  home. 
Continuing  to  devote  himself  assiduously  to  his  favourite  study, 
Dr.  Hogg  produced  “  British  Pomology"  in  1851,  a  work  in  which 
is  enumerated  940  Apples,  and  it  was  translated  into  German.  It 
was  in  due  time  superseded  by  the  “  Fruit  Manual,”  of  which  it 
formed  the  basis,  this  developing  into  a  large  work,  which  has  passed 
through  five  editions,  and  has  been  several  times  translated.  Its 
author  had  of  recent  years  prepared  a  great  amount  of  MS.  for  a 
sixth,  which  it  was  his  intention  to  have  produced,  with  assistance, 
had  he  been  spared  to  regain  health. 
In  the  interval  between  the  dissolution  of  the  Brompton  partner¬ 
ship  and  1855  Dr.  Hogg  was  associated  with  his  father-in-law,  whose 
premises  occupied  the  site  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  Charing 
Cros9  Railway  Station.  His  mind,  however,  was  not  of  that 
unimaginative  order  which  takes  kindly  to  the  calculating  ways  of 
business,  and  his  leisure  moments  were  ever  devoted  to  the  pursuit  of 
botany  and  horticulture  in  some  of  their  forms.  These  excursions 
led  to  his  acquaintance  with  Mr.  G.  W.  Johnson,  a  barrister,  whose 
scientific  leanings  had  prompted  him  to  forsake  the  thorny  paths  of 
the  law  for  horticulture,  and  who  had  established  the  Cottage 
Gardener  in  1848.  This  paper  was  at  first  printed  at  Winchester, 
where  Mr.  Johnson  lived,  and  published  in  Paternoster  Row  ;  but  in 
August,  1860,  the  whole  was  removed  to  London.  Mr.  Johnson  alludes 
to  the  advent  of  Dr.  Hogg  in  the  preface  of  the  half-yearly  volume 
in  April  of  1855  in  his  peculiarly  genial  way: — “Every  seventh 
year  is  said  to  be  an  eventful  year  in  the  life  of  periodicals  as 
well  as  of  men.  It  has  been  an  eventful  year  to  us.  The  barque 
has  partly  changed  owners,  but  the  same  hand  is  at  the  helm,  with  a 
friendly  helmsman  at  his  side  to  aidj  to  relieve,  and  to  strengthen.’’ 
The  new  helmsman  was  Dr.  Hogg,  and  the  two  shipmates  worked 
together  like  brothers  till  Mr.  Johnson’s  retirement  in  1879. 
This  gentleman  died  in  1886,  and  soon  after  that  event  Dr.  Hogg 
became,  by  the  purchase  of  his  late  colleague’s  share  in  the  property, 
sole  proprietor.  But  long  before  that  (in  1861)  the  paper  was 
invested  with  a  new  title.  The  change  came  about  in  this  way  :  The 
Cottage  Gardener  grew  beyond  original  anticipations,  finding  its 
way  into  most  of  the  leading  gardens  in  the  kingdom.  The  character 
of  its  matter  gradually  changed  accordingly,  and  the  “  Quarterly 
Review  ”  said  “  the  Cottage  Gardener  was  for  the  occupiers  of  a 
cottage  to  which  a  double  coach-house  was  attached.”  The  proprietors 
took  the  hint,  and  changed  the  title  to  the  Journal  of  Horticulture . 
In  1858  he  produced  the  “  Vegetable  Kingdom  and  its  Products.” 
This  work  must  have  involved  great  labour  and  research,  as  it 
contains  an  enumeration  of  7000  genera  and  4000  synonyms, 
representing  about  100,000  species  of  plants.  He  was  also  the 
co-author  with  the  late  Mr.  G.  W.  Johnson  of  the  “Wild  Flowers  of 
Great  Britain,”  published  in  eleven  volumes. 
Dr.  Hogg  was  the  originator  of  the  British  Bornological  Society, 
which,  with  the  co-operation  of  Sir  Joseph  Paxton  (President), 
Mr.  Spencer  of  Bowood,  Mr.  Thomas  Rivers,  and  others,  was  founded 
in  1854.  He  was  first  one  of  its  Secretaries,  and  subsequently  Vice- 
President.  Monthly  meetings  were  held  for  five  years — in  fact,  until 
the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  became  established  at  South 
Kensington.  This  great  scheme  was  decided  upon  in  1859  ;  but 
though  the  Doctor  was  so  doubtful  of  its  security  as  an  investment 
as  to  “  urge  on  all  to  whom  money  was  a  consideration  to  consider 
very  seriously  before  sinking  a  penny  in  the  concern,”  yet  when  it 
was  finally  adopted  he  accepted  the  position,  and  did  all  he  could  to 
make  the  great  speculative  project  (in  which  so  much  money  was 
ultimately  lost)  a  success.  With  this  object  in  view  he  took  the 
initiative  in  transforming:  the  Pomological  Society  into  the  Fruit 
Committee  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society.  Dr.  Hogg  was  really 
the  father  of  this  the  senior  Committee  of  the  Society,  and  the  Floral 
Committee  speedily  followed. 
Dr.  Hogg  was  during  the  year  1865  zealously  engaged  with  other 
earnest  men  in  laying  the  foundations  for  the  Great  International 
Exhibition  and  Botanical  Congress  which  was  held  in  London  the 
following  year.  The  idea  originated  at  a  congress  in  Brussels  in 
1864,  when  the  British  representatives  desirfld  to  invite  their 
continental  brethren  to  London,  and  a  subscription  was  opened  there 
and  then.  Amsterdam  followed  Brussels  with  a  great  gathering  in 
1865,  and  on  the  return  of  the  British  contingent  it  was  determined 
to  carry  out  the  London  proposal,  and  in  a  very  short  time  £4200 
was  subscribed  or  guaranteed.  Dr.  Hogg  was  appointed  General 
Secretary  of  this  great  project,  and  became  intimately  associated 
with  Dr.  Masters,  who  was  Secretary  oi  the  Congress  and  foreign 
correspondent.  The  two  Doctors  who  then  worked  together  so 
amicably  remained  close  and  attached  friends  through  all  the 
following  years  till  the  elder  was  called  away.  Unfortunately 
this  happened  before  a  graceful  tribute  could  be  presented,  the 
outcome  of  a  happy  thought  and  spontaneous  endeavour  of  Dr. 
Masters. 
In  1869  Dr.  Hogg  was  appointed  Official  Commissioner  of  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society  to  attend  the  great  International 
Exhibition  held  at  St.  Petersburg  during  May  of  that  year,  his 
co-delegate  being  Mr.  Andrew  Murray,  Sir  Joseph  Hooker  repre¬ 
senting  British  botany  on  the  occasion.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
Botanical  Congress  the  Emperor  Alexander  II.  made  known  his  wish 
to  Dr.  Hooker  and  Dr.  Hogg  to  confer  on  them  as  a  distinction  for 
their  services  the  Cross  of  the  Order  of  St.  Ann,  but  as  the  British 
Government  did  not  permit  its  subjects  to  receive  foreign  distinctions 
His  Majesty  regretted  he  could  not  carry  out  his  design.  He  com¬ 
manded,  however,  the  preparation  of  a  malachite  table  and  signet 
ring,  which  were  sent  to  Dr.  Hogg  as  a  memento  of  the  visit. 
For  thirty  years  and  more  Dr.  Hogg  gave  to  the  Royal  Horti¬ 
cultural  Society  loyal  and  even  strenuous  support,  so  long  as  he  was 
convinced  that  a  genuine  horticultural  policy  was  being  pursued. 
When,  however,  he  believed  the  reverse  was  the  case  he  was  a 
formidable  antagonist,  and  thought  nothing  of  driving  all  over 
London  to  pick  up  Fellows  whose  votes  he  could  rely  on  for  the 
purpose  of  turning  out  a  Council  whom  he  had  reason  to  believe 
was  out  of  sympathy  with  the  objects  for  which  the  Society  was 
established  to  promote.  But  for  him  and  other  earnest  men  the  whole 
of  the  Chiswick  Gardens  would  have  been  lost  to  the  Society,  and 
it  was  only  by  the  most  cfetermined  and  persistent  efforts  that  the 
establishment  as  it  exists  now  was  retained . 
When  the  Society  was  remodelled  in  1860,  and  the  Committees 
formally  established,  Dr.  Hogg  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the 
Fruit,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Moore  of  the  Floral  Committee.  The 
Council,  as  the  Doctor  wrote,  “  Was  composed  of  men  not  chosen 
because  of  their  social  position  only,  but,  combined  with  that,  men 
of  sound  practical  knowledge,  sagacity  and  energy  ;  and  it  was  only 
with  such  men  as  its  councillors  that  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society 
could  flourish.”  Prophetically  true  those  words  proved  to  be.  In 
the  course  of  time  a  non-horticultural  pleasure-seeking  Council  of 
South  Kensingtonians  obtained  power  and  brought  matters  to  a 
crisis  in  1875,  adding  a  new  debt  of  £5000  to  an  old  one  of  £50,000. 
Lord  Bury,  the  President,  was  then  compelled  to  resign,  and  a 
Horticultural  Council  elected,  including  Dr.  Hogg,  who  succeeded 
Mr.  Lindsay  as  Secretary,  and  occupied  the  position  during  the  most 
critical  period  of  the  Society’s  career.  In  recognition  of  the  welcome 
change  the  chief  nurserymen  joined  in  making  a  great  commemo¬ 
rative  show,  gratuitously,  which  was  held  on  July  21st  of  the  same 
year.  It  was  composed  of  the  finest  and  rarest  plantB,  and  their 
