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Article: Of a practical nature.(18th-century nurseryman Thomas Fairchilds research on plant sexuality)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- May 13, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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VERY little is known about Thomas Fairchild, a London nurseryman who died in 1729. The only known portrait of him shows a ruddy-faced man with round cheeks and a gentle look. Who painted it and why no one knows. Quite wealthy by the time he died, he still asked to be laid to rest "where the poor people are usually buried".
Were it not for the writing of a few loquacious friends and the short tract of his own entitled "The City Gardener", published in 1722, no one would know that Fairchild was one of the most advanced plantsmen of his age and the first person to see the practical implications of the fact that plants reproduce sexually. From these unpromising ...