February 16, 1907 



HORTICULTURE, 



197 



AN AMATEUR WITH A RECORD. 



Most of us have heard of, and some 

 of us have seen, the cottage gardens 

 of England and Scotland, and remem- 

 ber with delight the geraniums, 

 fuchsias and gladioli that the shoe- 

 maker found time to bring to perfec- 

 tion in his kitchen window. We have 

 heard of the amateur exhibitions of 

 plants, cut flowers and bouquets, and 

 the fine collections of vegetables, ex- 

 hibited by mechanics or laborers, and 

 all tended before and after a ten-hour 

 work day. 



As a boy in Scotland I have pleasant 

 recollections of James Nichol, stone 

 cutter, the subject of this sketch, then 

 in the prime of life, working in his 

 garden, a piece of rented land a mile 

 distant from his home. Morning and 

 evening he dug every foot of it with 

 a spade, planted his potatoes with a 

 dibble. Leeks, cauliflower, cabbage, 

 peas, parsley, etc., were the usual crop 

 of vegetables; strawberries and goose- 

 berries for fruit, grew to gi'eat size and 

 perfection in that climate. And. be- 

 sides, the usual collection of herbace- 

 ous plants and dahlias that were 

 dahlias, always had a place in some of 

 the borders. He was one of the many 

 ■who did such things tor the love of it 

 and the sport of competition at the 

 annual horticultural shows. Mr. 

 Nichol came to America in 1872. The 

 next that I saw of him was in Quincy, 

 Mass., in 1S84. He was still working 

 at his trade and tending his garden in 

 spare moments. The first thing that 

 attracted my attention was a circle of 

 carpet bedding on his small but well- 

 kept lawn, while in the rear besides 

 some fine fruit trees and a vegetable 

 garden was a hotbed of six sash- 

 something not usually seen in the back 

 yard of our American working man. 

 One would suppose that after laboring 

 all day in our excessive summer heat 

 that this, without counting in the short 

 twilight and the troublesome mosquito 

 ■would have dampened his ardor, but it 

 is his way of resting himself, and for 



this last ten years he has been rest- 

 ing himself growing chrysanthemum 

 blooms for exhibition. 



Commencing with an ordinary sash 

 house he grew some elegant single- 

 stem plants which it required a good 

 deal of pressure to induce him to ex- 

 hibit, Init his first attempt brought 

 several first and seconds and all the 

 old zeal and sporting blood wa-s set 

 in motion. Up went the modern house 

 shown in the photograph. Ever since 

 he has been a successful exhibitor at 

 every chrysanthemum show held in 

 Boston. This picture shows Mr, 

 Nichol and three generations of 

 Nichols. One face is absent that 

 should be there if it were not for the 

 retiring modesty of its possessor — a 

 face so sweet and pretty yet that one 

 readily concludes that fifty years ago 

 Mr. Nichol had good judgment and an 

 eye for the beautiful. Any reader must 

 know that a house of blooms like that 

 shown herewith did not take care of 

 itself all day; some one had to keep 

 an eye on the temperature and of 

 course that someo'ne had to be very 

 much interested to know how. 



It is not surprising that when the 

 city of Quincy required a capable 

 superintendent for their cemetery they 

 turned to this man who had always 

 been known among them for his skill 

 in horticulture, whose cottage and 

 garden had been a model for others, 

 and persuaded him to accept the situa- 

 tion. And those who saw the cemetery 

 then and have seen it evei^y year since 

 are not surprised that Mr. Nichol gets 

 his re-appointment without question 

 as the years come and go. We, in the 

 vicinity of Boston, all know him. He 

 is a useful and enthusiastic member 

 of our club. 



It would be interesting to know 

 whether there is now or ever was in 

 the United States another man work- 

 ing steadily at his trade who has a 

 modern greenhouse in his back yard 

 for his amusement and who grows and 



competes at the horticultural shows. 

 Many a toiler after this world's goods 

 in the spirit of our American com- 

 mercialism, may say: "That's all right, 

 but what has he got out of it?" Well, 

 not dollars, that's certain; but some- 

 thing better, health and a good 

 healthy ripe old age. He is as rugged 

 yet as the granite that he hammered 

 for 40 years and would not change 

 places with John D. 



GEO, M. ANDERSON. 



•CLUB AND SOCIETY NOTES. 



The Illinois State Florists' Associa- 

 tion will hold a meeting and exhibi- 

 tion at Bloomington, on February 19 

 and 20. 



The schedule of prizes offered by the 

 North Shore Horticultural Society. 

 Manchester, Mass., for the year 1907 

 has been issued. Thi rose show will 

 be held in June and the summer show 

 in August. Copies of the schedule 

 may be obtained by addressing the 

 secretary, James Salter. 



The Tennessee State Nurserymen's 

 Association held their annual conven- 

 tion at Nash.ville on January 30. A 

 committee was appointed to secure an 

 increased appropriation for the state 

 entomologist: legislation looking to 

 the preservation of the forests was 

 recommended. The officers were re- 

 elected. A smoker in the evening 

 closed the meeting. 



The .\labama State Horticultural 

 Association held its fourth annual 

 meeting in Montgomery on February 

 G. Among the speakers were P. J. 

 Berckmans, Augusta, Ga., on "Shrubs 

 and Vines for Home Planting"; W. B. 

 Peterson. Jr., on "Roses and Their 

 Culture"; Prof. W. T. Clarke and Dr. 

 E. Mead Wilcox of Auburn. W. F. 

 Heikes of Huntsville and R. S. Mack- 

 intosh of Auburn have been president 

 and secretary respectively of the so- 

 ciety since its organization. 



PERSONAL. 



R. H. Tacke has been appointed 

 superintendent of parks at Lexington, 

 Ky. 



Wm. Donaldson succeeds the late 

 James Braik in the park department 

 at Buffalo. N. Y. 



Israel Rosnosky, representing H. F. 

 Michell, Philadelphia, has been can- 

 vassing the Boston trade this week. 



S. S. Skidelsky has been hustling in 

 Detroit for the past few days. Andrew 

 Ramsey of Newport, R. I., was a re- 

 cent visitor. 



Robert Boeck of Hyde Park, Cincin- 

 nati, Ohio, was terribly injured Feb- 

 ruary 4 by being dragged a long dis- 

 tance hy his runaway horse that he 

 was taking out for exercise. 



Visitors In Newport: Thomas J. 

 Grey of Boston, W. N. Campbell. John 

 S. Hay, of H. A. Dreer Co., Philadel- 

 phia; Mr. Folger, of the "Bonnie Brae" 

 Nurseries, New Rochelle. N. Y., and 

 John R. Clark of West Roxbury, Mass. 



