THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



191 



BOSTON HORTICULTURAL CIRCLES. 



Harry Stouart. ganlcjaT tu Miss Curnclia Wairuu, Walthaiii, 

 Mass., is an excellent plant snian wliose exhiluts won many prizes 

 at the Boston Show. Ericas are ])articularl\' well grown here; 

 there are also some sjilenilid s])eeimen azaleas. I donbt if there 

 are any other gronnds tlrat can produce such magnificent plants 

 of dendroliinm nobilt in a few years. Here are to be seen jilants 

 witli l)eaiitifnl dark greeu f(diage and carrying (iOO and 800 llowers 

 each. The old oncidiiini llexnosuni grows with a reckless aban- 

 don; large specimens larry ."jO to 7.) si>ikes each, and are an eye- 

 opener to many. There is a tine maze of American arborvitae 

 here, patterned after the one at Hampton Court Palace, England. 



At the est 

 ter Angus i 

 is an interes 

 8 to 12 feet 

 thousands o 

 estate some 

 best Europe 

 glass casing. 

 fruit. Some 

 the mansion, 

 mens of Eng 

 white pine 



ite of Arthur T. Syman, Waltham, JIass., where Wal- 

 < head gardener, a house of camellias, 85 feet long, 

 ting sight. The plants are in tubs and average from 



in height. When seen early in March they carried 



f flowers. There is a row of bride wall on this 



400 feet long, covered with trained peaidies of all the 



an varieties, one-half the length being enclosed in 



These trees annually yield a big crop of handsome 



grand beds of rlioilodendron are on the north side of 

 . while dotted about the grounds are grand old speci- 

 ;lish elms, purple beech, wdiite pines, etc. One of tlie 

 girths IS feet. 



The estate of Mrs. Samuel C. Lawrence, Medford, Mass., is 

 always worthy of a visit, as many plants not often met with are 

 well grown here by the skillful gardener, George F. Stewart. 

 Dipladenias are grown to ]ierfection here, so are clerodendrons, 

 allamandas. rondeletias. ixoras and crotons. The glory pea of 

 Australia — Clianthus Dampieri — was Howering beautifulh'. In 

 the way of orchids, cattleyas which have been here for years, and 

 in some cases not disturbed for half a dozen years, are in most 

 luxuriant health. A row of C. Schroederiana hanging along the 

 ridge of an old carnation house was the picture of jjerfeetion. 

 The night temperature often falls to 4,5 degrees, little shading 

 is given and tlie plants are fed freely as are other orchids. In 

 the large store house are some grand specimen rhododendrons 

 in tubs 10 to 12 feet high, also quantities of mammoth hydran- 

 geas which annually carry hundreds of flower heads each. The 

 well-known Calceolaria Stewarti was raised here. Mr. Stewart 

 now has three other colors of this type. 



PITTSBURGH HORTICULTURAL CIRCLES. 



The Garden Home Country Club, composeil of residents of 

 Ross Township, has the distinction of being the initiative or- 

 ganization of its kind in Allegheny County, if not western 

 Pennsylvania. An application for a charter was filed on the 

 morning of March .SO in Common Pleas Court, the directors 

 being G. F. Self. Edward (irossman, Charles Kurt and A. G. 

 Lehman. 



Altliough no definite steps have yet been taken, a mnnlicr of 

 the private ganleners of Pittsburgh and Sewickley Heights 

 (numbering in all about one hundred) are agitating an organi- 

 zation of their own. While some are affiliated with the Flor- 

 ists' Club, many feel a distinct organization will be more satis- 

 factory. 



E. .J. Derry, for eigliteen years in the employ of Mrs. William 

 Thaw, is the most enthusiastic of the older men for a gardeners' 

 society. He supervised the b\iilding of the greenhouse, notable 

 for its fine foliage i)lants. adjoining Mrs. Thaw's present home 

 in Beechwood Boulevard in 190G, and a few years previous 

 looked after tlie landscaping of her beautiful summer home 

 ■■Elmliiust." at Cresson on the topmost range of the Alleghi-ny 

 Mountains. Xearby tlie town jdace of Mrs. Thaw is the old 

 Thaw estate. •"Lyndhiirst." now leased to .J. J. Fisher, with Neil 

 Forsyth as head gardener. He has a range of five houses, hot 

 beds and a fine garden, every inch of which is utilized. Mr. 

 Forsyth, who is a young Scotchman, received his early training 

 at Andrew Carnegie's Skibo Castle. 



In this same Point Breeze neighborhood is the Charles T). Arm- 

 strong place, which is in charge of Thomas Edward Tyler, wlio 

 came from England four years ago. Mr. Armstrong is devoted 

 to orchids, live of his seven houses being devoted to this flower. 

 There are many calanthe in variety, and between two and 

 three hundred hybrid cattleya, brassia, laelia, and some splendid 

 specimens of dendrobium. 



11. C. Prick lias decided to gradually dispose of the flowers 

 and foliage plants in his conservatories at '"Clayton," his Pitts- 

 burgh home, and close the lionses permanently. Until the 

 Phipps conservatories in Sclienley Park claimed the public at- 

 teutiou. tile Frii'k place was the shrine of tlie lovers of llowers 

 and Holering plants, but the visitors have gradually drop[ied 

 oir. It is owing to this fact that the owner has decided to dis- 

 pose of this feature of his splendid property. The estate as 

 a whole will continue under the regime of David Frazer, who 

 has been in charge of it about eighteen years. 



"Solitude," the Pittsburgh estate of the late George Westing- 

 house in Homewood, is now occupied by J. (Jerry C\irtis. He 

 and his family are the lirst occupants of "Solitude" since the 

 death of Jlr. \Vestingliouse, the place having been closed at that 

 time. Jlr. Curtis came to Pittsburgh from Boston a few years 

 ago as assistant chairman of the Shade Tree Commission, which 

 was abolished last year by council. Jlr. Curtis has oflices in 

 the Farmers' Bank Building, and in addition to his private work 

 is borough forester of Sewickley, Wilkingburg and Dormont, he 

 was recently appointed chairman of a sub-committee of the Civic 

 Committee of Allegheny County. 



Superintendent William Allen, of the Homewood Cemetery, 

 has been appointed chairman of the Vacant Lot Committee of 

 the Civic Committee, which is contemidating a campaign in the 

 interest of these "eyesores" of the city during the spring and 

 summer. To this end a luncheon will be given at the Fort Pitt 

 Hotel next Wednesday (April 14) to interest the public. Mr. 

 Allen is beginning to convalesce from an accident of six weeks 

 ago. when he slipped on a step, fracturing his right ankle. 



OBITUARIES. 



Thomas Emerson, for the |)ast 4^) years head gardener to the 

 W. B. Dinsmore family, Staatsburg,'N. Y., died at his home on the 

 3rd inst., in his 76th year. 



He served under three generations of the Dinsmore family, a 

 record which we believe is unbroken in this country. 



Thomas Emerson was born in Thornhill. Scotland, December 2.'), 

 IS39. Worked in the gardens at Blair Drummond. Eglington 

 Castle and Kozelle, tlicn came to this country and shortly after- 

 wards entered the employ of W. B. Dinsmore as gardener, which 

 position he held until his death. He was well known to the 

 gardening fraternity, and many gardeners now holding promi- 

 nent positions have passed under his tutorage. 



He is survived Ij,v his widow, two daughters and two step- 

 daughters. He was an uncle of W. E. Marshall of New York. 



The friends of John B. Thomson will regret to learn of the fatal 

 accident which occurred to him on February 19 last, the news of 

 which came to us too late to publish in our last issue. He was 

 kicked by a horse which resulted in his death. He leaves a 

 widow and three small children without kin in this country, his 

 widow's family all being located in Scotland. 



C, Philipps, who for several years had charge of the H. J. 

 Heinz East End estate, and later of Mrs. Sarah B. Cochran's 

 "St. .lames Place," at Dawson, has opened an attractive flower 

 shop with a landscape department on the corner of Forbes and 

 Dallas avenues. Squirrel Hill. 



The rather sudden death of Alexander Proctor, superintendent 

 on the estate of Mrs. H. J, Burrill, Hicksville, N. Y., was a shock 

 to the garden fraternity in which he was w^ell and popularly 

 known. His demise occurred on March 20, He is survived by 

 his brother, Thomas Proctor, of Lenox, Mass, 



Editor Gardeners" Chronicle: 



The article entitled "Traditions of the Fathers," ap- 

 pearing in the last month's issue of the (j.\rdeners' 

 Chronicle deserves more thoughtful consideration than 

 TC'(7^ given it bv the author. I do not think that there are 

 many of our gardeners who were brought up in the old 

 school but are aware of the fact that a good many of 

 the hard and soft zvooded plants can be propagated from 

 cuttings cut betzveen joints as zn'hen cut at the base of a 

 joint, or in other words with a heel. If this article wajr 

 backed up zvith an e.vperiment shozving the advantage of 

 this method in a larger percentage of cuttings, striking 

 and stronger plants resulting therefrom, over cuttings 

 made zvith a heel, it zvould have some value as a horticul- 

 tural article. 



T have read Peter Henderson's books and cannot say 

 that he made many radical changes in the system of 

 propagation, but he did open up the eyes of the people to 

 the fact that there zi'as no secret about it. It zvould be 

 very interesting to have an expression of opinion through 

 yoilr columns from some of the progressive gardeners of 

 today on this subject. Wm. Gray. 



