442 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



June 15, 1912. 



exterior being represented on them by a 

 perforation in the woody framework, so 

 as to form, in conjunction with inramier- 

 able fellows, the charming patterns afore- 

 said. These cultivated opuntias grow to a 

 considerable height, and are almost entirely 

 devoid of thorns. Their fruits are used 

 to make a sort of sweetmeat, which is some- 

 what insipid. In some species of cacti, the 

 thorns are greatly modified ; in the species 

 popularly called the Old Man Cactus they 

 are transformed into long whitish hairs, 

 the ball-like plant resembling an old man's 

 head covered with long unkempt hair, fully 

 justifying the name. In these small-grow- 

 ing spherical species, the flowers iisually 

 appear as a sort of circlet near the top of 

 the ball and are of varied colours, bright 

 rose, yellow, etc., but are very short-lived 

 and Usually eaten by the ants and other 

 insects of the locality. Incidentally, an in- 

 terminable procession of ants, each bearing 

 a portion of a leaf from some leaf-bearing 

 stem, such as the Mesquit, an acacia-like 

 plant, suggests a factor inducing leafless 

 vegetation, in addition to the drought. 

 Mingled with the cacti are other xerophitic 

 plants, the hills in many places bristling 

 with species of yuccas, agaves, and other 

 sword-like vegetation, the yuccas especially 

 forming grand specimens, which manage 

 to produce magnificent spikes and bunches 

 of their white lily-like flowers. From 

 the agaves the natives obtain the 

 potent spirit Mescal.'' The fleshy leaves 

 are all cut away leaving a central mass 

 like an immense pine apple, from which 

 they distil the spirit, mostly, we imagine, 

 in unlicensed stills. In Arizona, a very in- 

 sidious opuntia grows in the fields among 

 the grass; it lies quite flat on the ground, 

 anid, having very formidable spikes, would 

 be apt to give considerable trouble to any- 

 one thinly shod. At a short distance it is 

 quite imperceptible. At the railway sta- 

 tions children offer specimens of^ the 

 Resurrection plant, the curious Selaginella 

 lepidophylla, in some respects one of the 

 most interesting xerophites known, since it 

 belongs to a moisture-loidng genus, and 

 yet grows on the exposed prairies. In the 

 dry season it is represented by curious 

 brown inroUed balls which are blown about 

 loose, and when the rainy season comes, 

 root where they lie, and unfold into beau- 

 tiful green rosettes. 



Mr. J. W. M 



The Council 



of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural vSo- 

 ciety have awarded the Neill Prize for the 

 biennial period of 1910 to 1912 to Mr. John 

 W. McHattie, City Chambers, Edinburgh. 

 The prize is one which is in the gift of 

 that societv, and commemorates the late 

 Dr. Patrick Neill. It is awarded to dis- 

 tinjguished Scottish botanists or cultiva- 

 tors. Mr. McHattie is a native of Moray- 

 shire and began his gardening career ui 

 the gardens of the Mackintosh of Mackin- 

 tosh, at Moy Hall. He served at various 

 other places, including Altyre Forres, Raith 

 House, and Oxenford Castle, and was after- 

 wards appointed to take charge of the gar- 

 dens of the Marquis of Lothian, and later 

 those of the Duke of Wellington at Strath- 

 fieldsave, Berks. He then was entrusted 

 with the laying out of the grounds and 

 gardens at Lea Park, Surrey. In 1901 he 

 took charge of the City gardens in Edin- 

 burgh. He filled all these positions with 

 n arked success, and the state of the gar- 

 dens and parks in Edinburgh testifies to 

 his ability. That Mr. McHattie deserves 

 the honour conferred upon him is demon- 

 strated by his success as a cultivator ot 

 fruits and flowers. In these directions he 

 has few equals, having won the Royal Hor- 

 ticultural Societv's Gold Medal for a col- 



lections of fruits, the Banksian Medal for a 

 collection of trees and shrubs, the Veitch 

 Memorial Medal twice for fruits, the City 

 of Edinburgh Cup three times for chrysan- 

 themums, the National Chrysanthemum So- 

 ciety's Gold Medal for chrysanthemums, 

 and many other notable prizes at London, 

 Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh, and 

 Glasgow. Ho devoted much of his attention 

 to landscape gardening, and successful ex- 

 amples of his work may be seen at Strath- 

 fieldsaye ; Tyliiey Hall, Hampshire ; Lea 

 Park, Surrey ; Saughton Hall Park, Black- 

 ford Hill, Colinton Hospital, and Princes 

 Street Gardens, Edinburgh. In addition, 

 Mr. McHattie has rendered valuable ser- 

 vices to various societies, both horticultural 

 and arboricultural. He also contributed 

 largely to the gardening Press, and wrote 

 under ''Work for the Week'' in the Gar- 

 deners' Magazine for some years. His ser- 

 vices as judge are in request at interna- 

 tional and other exhibitions at home and 

 abroad, and are much valued. 



The Royal Society will celebrate 



its 250th anniversaiy this year, and the 

 functions in connection therewith will com- 

 mence on Monday, July 15, when there will 

 be an evening reception of the delegates 

 in the rooms of the society at Burlington 

 House from 8.30 to 11. On July 16 there 

 will be a short commemorative service in 

 Westminster Abbeyj beginniiiig at 12 

 o'clock. In the afternoon at 2.30 the for- 

 mal reception of the delegates will take 

 place in the Great Librarj' of the Royal 

 Society. In the evening the Royal Society 

 will entertain the delegates and other 

 guests at a dinner in the Guildhall. On 

 July 17 the Duke and Duchess of Northum- 

 berland will give a garden party at Syon 

 House^ and in the evening there will be a 

 conversazione at the Royal Society's rooms. 

 On July 18 the King and Queen will re- 

 ceive the President, Council, and delegates 

 of the society at Windsor Castle, where a 

 garden party will be held. The l^niversities 

 of Oxford and Cambridge will entertain the 

 delegates on the following day. 



Horticultural Club. 



A house 



dinner of the club will be held on Tueisday, 

 June 18, when a lecture, entitled Pic- 

 tures from a London Garden," illustrated 

 by lantern slides in colour^ will be given by 

 Mr. H. J. AVright. The dinner will, as 

 usual, commence at 6 p.m. 



Herbaceous Paeonies are among 



the choicest flowers of modern times, and 

 are verv lar^felv the result of the careful 

 crossing practised for years past by Messrs. 

 Kelway and Son, of Langport, Somerset. 

 We have received a box of blooms of some 

 of Messrs. Kelway's latest introductions, 

 among which were charming varieties 

 named Lady Godiva, Exquisite, Mrs. Rich- 

 mond, Emperor of Russia, Purple Emperor, 

 Louis N. Parker, Miss Br ice ^ Pink 

 Domino, and Viscountess Cross. These 

 form a choice little collection in varied 

 colours, and both <l()iib]e and single blooms^ 

 all modern representatives of our grand- 

 mothers' " pseony roses." 



Va.cant Land Cultivation So- 



—From Mr . R . L . Ca stle , wh o 

 superintends the preparation and cultiva- 

 tion, of waste lands that come under the 

 care of this swnety, we have received a 

 copy of the fourth annual report. It ap- 

 pears that there are 14,000 acres of waste 

 land in the Metropolitan area, but so far 

 only 60 acres are controlled by this society, 

 although 470 applicants are anxiously wait- 

 ing for the opportunity of cultivating rent- 

 free plots. About 500 persons are cultiva- 

 tino- plots on what was waste land, and it 

 is estimated that 2,500 people are deriving 

 benefit from such cultivation ; anjd these 



ciety. 



benefits include fresh vegetables, improved 

 health, lesvsons of self-reliance, patience and 

 perseverance, and a knowledge of the re^ 

 ward that follows well-directed industry in 

 connection with land cultivation . iJr 

 Joseph Fels is tlie moving spirit of the so- 

 ciety, which was founded in 1908 for the 

 purpose of obtain(ing the loan of land and 

 letting it rent free to needy working-men 

 and women. The society cannot do all the 

 Avork it would like to do because of lack of 

 funds ; anyone interested in this excellent 

 work should write to Mr. J. Fels, 39, Wilson 

 Street, E.C., or Mr. R. L. Castle, 7, Caxton 

 Road, Wimbledon, for further particulars. 



Professor J. S. Henslow as 



CEcoiOgist is the subject of the lecture 

 that will be given by the Rev. G. Henslow, 

 M.A., V.M.H., at the general meeting of 

 the Royal Horticultural Society on Tues- 

 day next, the 18th inst. The relationship 

 of flowering and other plants to their en- 

 vironment is a most interesting and instruc- 

 tive study, and the lecture should prove 

 highly instructive to those who are giving 

 special attention thereto. 



National Hardy Plant Society. 



— This comparatively young and vigorous 

 society will, as we have previously an- 

 nounced, hold its annual exhibition at the 

 Royal Horticultural Hall, Vincent Square. 

 Westminster, on Wednesday, the 19th inst., 

 and it has the promise of pro\dng a decidwl 

 success. As this is the first show held by 

 the society in Lond'on, it is creating much 

 interest among lovers of hardy flowers resi- 

 dent within a short distance of the Metro- 

 polis, many of whom will be found among 

 the exhibitors. The Gardeners' Magazine 

 iis offering a gold medal, to be awarded to 

 the best competitive exhibit in the show. 



The 



Westo 



ibirt Hippeas- 



trumSy so ably grown by Mr. A. Chap- 

 man, gardener to Lieut. -Colonel Sir 6. 

 Holford, secured a Large Gold Medal, 

 apart from the orchids exhibited, at the 

 recent International Horticultural Exhibi- 

 tion, while two dozen particularly fine 

 examples secured the Silver Cup offered 

 by Messrs. Guillemans and Sons. Every 

 variety exhibited was raised at Westonbut, 

 Tetbury, by Mr. Chapman. 



Gardeners' Royal Benevolent 



!nstitution.-.Sir Jeremiah Oolman, 

 Bart., writes from Gatton Park : I am an- 

 ticipating the pleasure of presiding on the 

 occasion of the anniversary festival dinner 

 of the Gardeners' Roval BeneA'olent Insti- 

 tution on Tuesdav, June 25 next, which 

 will be held in the ancient Hall of the 

 Worshipful Company of Grocers through 

 the courtesy of their Court. The Institu- 

 tion has for its laudable object the perma- 

 nent or temporaiy assistance of gardeners 

 a nd others, including their widows, engaged 

 in horticultural pursuits, who, through for- 

 tuitous circumstances, have become inca- 

 pacitated, or are in distress. f®^® 

 than 253 persons are at the present time 

 receiving permanent aid at a cost or up- 

 wards of £4,500. The great work accom- 

 plished in the past has been recognised by 

 tlie substatitial support accorded by lovers 

 of liorticultnro. and to-day it is more than 

 ever necessary that the members of t^ne 

 committee, who devote so much ^'^J^^Y^^^ 

 time in the able administration ot tne 

 funds at their disposal, shall be loyally ana 

 generously supported not only by "^^^^^.^r^ 

 may become entitled to the benefits ot tne 

 Institution, but by all lovers of flowers 

 and gardening. The growing popularity o 

 horticulture in the present age been 

 little short of phenomenal, and with it 

 come as a natural sequence the demana 

 a much higher standard of gardening an^> 

 gardeners, and an ever-increasing denian 



