311 



JOURN.Ui OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 25, 1872. 



in walking, used n gold-headed cane of the right old sort. In 

 truth, the Doctor ^vas a " character," hut an amiahle one. He 

 ■was a fine reUc of the old gentleman, neat, courteous, and con- 

 servative with that degree of enthusiasm in pursmng his 

 favourite study of horticulture, which placed him above the 

 ordinary stamp. At the period of his death, the business of 

 ' Neill & Co., printers and typefounders,' was one of the most 

 respectable in Edinburgh." 



This was the tribute of one friend, that of the second was as 

 follows : — 



" I had the privilege of knowing Dr. Neill personally, and a 

 great privilege it was. He was the man of a century, and was 

 most devoted to the study of every branch of natural history. 

 To the day of his death he was the head of, perhaps, the 

 largest printing and tj-pefounding establishment in Scotland, 

 and although he was assiduous in business, he always found time 

 sufficient to pursue his favourite science. Those who are grand- 

 fathers and grandmothers now in Edinburgh number among 

 their earliest associations Dr. NeiU's garden, and a curious little 

 garden this was. It was a perfect Noah's .4xk, and more than 

 that, for Noah had no plants in the ark. Here might be seen 

 eagles, owls, a fine specimen of the snowy owl, Passerinre, GalU- 

 nacea?, Grallatori!e,&c.,andwithin-doors innumerable specimens 

 of parrots and cats. The Doctor was a bachelor, and his sister a 

 spinster. His garden contained botanical curiosities rather than 

 showy plants. In the greenhouse were cultivated such plants 

 as Myrtus Pimenta, Cinnamomum verum, Laurus Camphora, 

 Coffea arabica, some Orchidaceie, and altogether a very in- 

 teresting collection of stove and greenhouse plants. Out of 

 doors were some interesting herbaceous and Alpine plants, 

 with fine specimens of ornamental trees and shrubs. The gar- 

 den was situated at Canonmills, on the way from Edinburgh 

 to Newhaven ; and about sixteen years ago, when the Edin- 

 burgh and Leith railway was projected, it was intended to 

 destroy the Doctor's dwelling and demoUsh his garden. He, 

 however, prepared a petition, procured a plan of the garden, 

 with an enumeration of its contents, and proceeded to London, 

 where, in the House of Commons, he secured such opposition 

 to the project that the railway company had to alter their 



Elans and form a tunnel, even at some distance from Dr. Neill's 

 ouse. As is well known he was a great naturahst. He main- 

 tained a long correspondence with Baron Cuvier and other illus- 

 trious men on the Continent. He was one of the founders of the 

 Plinian Society of Edinburgh, and for many years walked twice 

 or three times a- week to the Frith of Forth to obseiwe the action 

 of the tides. His garden and dweUing-house were situated on a 

 level with, and by the side of, a large stagnant pond, which was 

 continually green with Confervie and Duckweed, and was the 

 source of many fevers and malaria ; but the Doctor for many 

 years strenuously and successfully opposed the authorities in 

 their endeavours to have this pond drained, his heart yearning 

 for the fate of a very large and handsome specimen of Weeping 

 Willow, which having extended its roots under the garden wall, 

 for years imbibed the sweets of the Canonmills pond. 



" To a highly cultivated and well-regulated mind he added a 

 kindly disposition and a genuine modesty, which greatly en- 

 hanced the value of his general deportment. In his moral 

 character he was temperate, friendly, consistent, and tmthful. 

 As a man of business Dr. NeiU was uniformly open, honourable, 

 and accommodating, willing to yield a great deal for the lake of 

 peace, but possessed of a suificient share of firmness when an 

 attempt was made to overreach him or to act in a stealthy 

 manner towards him. As a friend he was candid, judicious, and 

 concUialory. As a citizen, the town of Edinburgh lost a clear- 

 sighted and determined supporter. Whether to establish an 

 experimental or zoological garden, to decorate the North Loch, 

 or to protect the Flodden Tower, Dr. NeiU was ever ready and 

 ■willing with his pen and his purse to promote every useful im- 

 provement, or save from ruin time-hallowed relics. The merits 

 of Dr. Neill as a man of science were very generally acknowledged. 

 His published labours as a horticiilturist, botanist, zoologist, and 

 geologist, bear but a small proportion to his private efforts to 

 advance the interest of natural science— as secretary of the W>r- 

 nerian Society, as the patron of rising merit, and as ever ready 

 to offer the warmest sympathy to congenial spirits." 



FLOWERING LILIUM THOMPSOXIAXUJI. 



Mi object in sending the Lilium Thompsonianum to the 

 Comrnittee meeting of the Eoyal Horticultural Society on the 

 17th inst. (marked in your report as " contributed by Messrs. 

 Ban- & Sugden "}, was partly to exhibit a Lilium not often 

 seen in bloom, but chiefly to eUcit some practical observations 

 as to the best method of inducing it to flower. As both time 

 and space necessarily limit the length of your reports, I shall 

 he glad to know if any of your readers have been successful in 

 blooming this Lily, and the treatment given. — A. Rawsos, The 

 Vicarage, Bromley Common. 



[When our reporter made his notes Mr. Eawson's specimen 



was placed without a distinctive label by the side ofJMessTS. 

 J3arr & Sugdeu's Narcissi. We sent for full information to 

 that weU-kno^mi cultivator of the Lilies, Mr. G. F. WUsou, and 

 he has obliged us much by sending the folloiving reply : — 

 " L. Thompsonianum has appeared at South Kensington t^svice 

 before. A plant in large bud was sent to me by Mr. Leichtlin, 

 of Carlshrue, in 1868. It flowered in the South Kensingtou 

 conservatory, and was exhibited at the next Committee meet- 

 ing. If I remember rightly, Major Trevor Clarke exhibited a 

 plant in bloom about the same time. Mr. ISawson's plant, 

 though not very tall, was very well bloomed. I rather won- 

 dered at the time that it had not more notice from the Floral 

 Committee, especially as I saw one ' liliomane ' at the table. 

 The communication to me from Mr. Leichtlin is this : ' Now, 

 what -nith Thompsonianum. I plant my largest bulb in a. 

 7-inch pot in good substantial loam, say the bulb to be as 

 large as/3. 1. I favour in every way the growth of the long. 



leaves, and in December and February or March, two to three- 

 times, I cut off all oft'sets. The bulb presents the appearance 

 represented in fig. 2, in which a is the outer scale of the old 

 bulb, and h the new bulb in formation. The space between- 

 a and b is filled with offsets, feeding on the old and new bulb, 

 and preventing the sound formation of the latter. These 

 must be cut off. I lay the bulb bare, and cut 'with a sharp 

 penknife in the direction from e to c and (7, cutting all off, 

 sparing carefully the forming new bulb and the root part c, d- 

 The result is that I get a bulb of the size of a small egg, which 

 is a good flowering size. Next year the bulb may flower, but 

 this is not sure, and sometimes it may fail ; then an amateur'D 

 patience is tried, and I mj'self begin anew. I never counted 

 more than eleven leaves to a flowering bulb. The side shoots 

 then appear very soon, but ought not to be cut away, because 

 these also will flower.' "] 



GARDEN NOMENCLATURE. 



" Call a spade a spade." 

 I AM induced to send you my experience, that some of my 

 fellow readers of our Journal may have a chance of agreeing 

 with me in the appreciation of the above advice, which in the 

 opinion of some might appear unnecessary. My gardener 

 found that a very large plant of Cereus MalUssoni during its 

 stay in winter quarters, where he could not easily examine it, 

 was much infested with mealy bug, and as it is almost im- 

 possible to touch them by hand work amongst the dense cloth- 

 ing of hair and spines with which the flower-tubes are covered, 

 he begged to be allowed to try a bottle of " nicotine." It was 

 ordered at once, as the name led me to anticipate some won- 

 derful preparation of tobacco, and the idea was somewhat 

 strengthened by the delay in obtaining the article, during 

 which our enemies increased and multiplied. When, at length, 

 the bottle arrived, I was considerably astonished to find that it 

 was apparently nothing more than common naptha or pyroUgne- 

 ous spirit considerably reduced with water, so as to prevent in- 

 jury to the foliage. Upon this latter point I cannot speak quite 

 certainly ; I tried it on a portion of a large leaf of a Gloxinia 



