THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 26, 1890. 
142 
designed and neatly-kept place. From a gardening 
standpoint, Trinity Grove ranks among the few places 
in the suburbs of the City that in reality is deserving 
of the appellation of garden. Every branch of the art, 
destined to conserve its vitality, here exercises the 
functions of the horticulturist. Anything to detract 
from this admirable condition would appear to be 
studiously guarded against. A place comprising such 
excellent combinations as these must always receive a 
high position in the estimation of not only every 
intelligent gardener, but of the general public as well. 
This, in itself, is one of the highest recommendations 
which we think should go to testify the order and 
good taste of both proprietor and gardener at all 
times. 
We are specially enamoured of a good show of 
herbaceous plants, and giving a look in here the other 
day, in passing, and seeing the gorgeous display of 
flower in this department, we felt we could for once 
understand the feeling of the great Swedish botanist on 
first seeing the Furze in full blossom. We would fain 
wish that many other gardeners and gentlemen, in 
doing renovations, would consider the immense value 
of herbaceous collections in making a place effective in 
the eyes of the majority. We cannot very well 
account for the fact that in town and suburban 
gardening, generally, a wide offing is given to this 
beautiful department of decoration, and every available 
space and corner substituted by what we unhesita¬ 
tingly call the vulgar custom of glass structures. There 
is little or no attempt made here to desecrate the 
harmony of the surroundings with that obnoxious filigree 
mode of bedding, so very indicative of weakness and 
fleeting taste. All has a subdued boldness and gran¬ 
deur pervading it that when contemplated in the 
aggregate cannot fail to have a soothing and impressive 
effect upon the approbationary faculties of the most 
fastidious and difficult to please. 
The house itself is surrounded with a lawn exquisitely 
dotted with beds and appropriate trees and shrubs, and 
extends almost the whole length of the one side of the 
policy, in which, at a suitable distance from the house, 
is situated the range of glass structures. Along one 
side of this lawn is a row of standard Rhododendrons, 
here and there alternated with standards of golden 
and silver Hollies. Behind this, intercepted by an 
effective hedge, is the kitchen garden, and it is here 
that the lover of herbaceous plants will find his Utopian 
conception in a great measure realised. 
The glass structures consist of a very fine conservatory, 
fernery, Heath house, stove, vinery, and a Peach house, 
besides which there is, in another part of the garden, a 
cruciform span house, used mainly as a rosery. The 
conservatory, which we entered first, was one mass of 
floral display, comprising Pelargoniums, Begonias, &c. 
The former call for special notice for the way in which 
they are cultivated here. The huge robust plants, 
with their strong sturdy stems, and the comparatively 
small pots they were grown in, clearly indicated that 
the gardener, Mr. Mackenzie, is not far from attaining 
the secret of growing them to the highest possible per¬ 
fection. Food of no kind is used to effect this beyond 
the ordinary supply of clear water. 
The strain of Begonias was very fine, the darkest we 
have jyet seen, and convinces us that it is a strain 
that can scarcely be beat. The roof is tastefully 
festooned with appropriate twiners, among which we 
observed a fine Lapageria promising abundance of 
flower. The fernery, a 30 ft. span, is chiefly set 
apart for the various Maidenhair Ferns, of which there 
are some very fine pieces. One side of the house is 
laid out in a rockery style. The whole roof is thickly 
covered with Passiflora racemosa, better known to 
gardeners as P. princeps. -The gorgeous display of long 
pendent racemes of scarlet flowers is a sight we should 
think worthy of going a hundred miles to see. Mr. 
Mackenzie informed us that it flowers almost con¬ 
tinuously the whole year round. It must prove a 
valuable acquisition where the demand for cut flowers 
is great. 
Heaths and other hard-wooded plants are well 
represented in the Heath house, conspicuous amongst 
which are such varieties of Ericas and others as E. 
ampullacea major, E. rubra, E. Cavendishii, and E. 
ventricosa, of sorts ; Acacia Drummondi, A. armata, 
A. Riceana, Aphelexis [maerantha purpurea, Erios- 
temon buxifolium, Rhododendrons, and many others. 
In the stove, Crotons, Palms, Dracaenas, and Pandanus 
make a prominent show. Orchids, too, are here 
represented, among which we noticed some very fine- 
flowered specimens. A plant of Dendrobium superbiens 
carried 200 flowers ; Odontoglossum vexillarium, with 
three spikes, had exceedingly large flowers. Some of 
the others observed were Cymbidium Lowianum, a fine 
plant; Cattleya Skinneri, a good plant; Dendrobium 
speciosum, a very large plant ; Odontoglossum pul- 
chellem majus, a good plant; Dendrobium nobile, 
and Coelogyne cristata, of each several nice plants, and 
many others. 
We understand that Mr. Thomson'is a lover of this 
class of plants, and, inferring from that, no doubt the col¬ 
lection will always be gaining magnitude. The vinery 
and Peach-house show excellent crops, and testify to 
the good management that not only here, but through¬ 
out all departments, indicate the attention they receive 
at the hands of Mr. Mackenzie, a pupil of the cele¬ 
brated Clovenfordian school of horticulture.— Gamma, 
Edinburgh. 
-- 
THE GARDENERS’ ORPHAN 
FUND. 
Annual Meeting and Dinner. 
The third annual general meeting of this institution 
was held at the Cannon Street Hotel, on Friday the 
18th inst., Mr. N. N. Sherwood, one of the vice-pre¬ 
sidents, presiding. The minutes of the previous 
meeting having been read and confirmed, the chairman 
moved the adoption of the report and statement of 
accounts (which were taken as read), and in so doing 
alluded in feeling terms to the regretful circumstances 
under which they had met, consequent upon the death 
of Mr. Deal ; and congratulated the supporters of the 
Fund on the excellent statement of accounts which the 
committee had presented. With reference to the pro¬ 
posal which had been formulated by the committee to 
pay a graceful tribute to the memory of the late chair¬ 
man, he had a suggestion to make which he trusted 
would meet with the approval of the committee, and of 
the subscribers to the Fund. He would suggest that as a 
“ Deal Memorial ” they should put on the Fund the 
whole of the seven children that could not that day be 
elected, and this could be done if the committee could 
collect £250 as a minimum sum to put on some of the 
children, in which case Mr. Harry Veitch and himself 
would undertake to provide for the remainder. He would 
also suggest the advisability of commencing the finan¬ 
cial year in January instead of in July, and of holding 
their annual dinner in the winter instead of in 
August, believing as he did that such an alteration 
would be in the best interest of the Fund. The 
adoption of the report was seconded by Mr. Yeitch 
in complimentary terms, and carried unanimously. 
On the motion of Mr. W. Marshall, seconded by Mr. 
Roupell, T. B. Haywood, Esq., was re-elected treasurer. 
Mr. H. Turner moved, and Mr. J. Walker seconded, the 
re-election of Mr. John Fraser, Lea Bridge, as auditor, 
and this also was carried nem. con. Mr. T. C. Ward 
moved the re-election of Messrs. W. Bates, R. Dean, 
H. Herbst, W. Richards, and J Wright, as members 
of the executive committee, and on being seconded 
by Mr. Weller, Glenstal Castle Gardens, co. Limerick, 
was carried unanimously ; as was also, on the motion 
of Mr. A. Dean, seconded by Mr. J. Smith, Mentmore. 
the election of Mr. W. Marshall, of Bexley ; Mr. G 
Bunyard, Maidstone, and Mr. John Wills, South 
Kensington, in the place of Messrs. W. Goldring, C. 
Penny and J. Roberts, who retire. The re-election of 
Mr. Barron, moved by Mr. B. Wynne, and seconded by 
Mr. R. Dean, was carried with applause. Messrs. R. 
Dean and T. C. Ward were appointed scrutineers of 
the ballot, and the meeting adjourned until 4 p.m. 
with a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Sherwood, who 
had to leave, for presiding. 
At the close of the poll Mr. Yeitch took the chair, 
and the scrutineers declared that Robert James Phillips, 
Thomas Henderson, George Philip Shrubb, Henry 
Edmund Skelton, George Beveridge, Bessie Stronach 
Deedman, Frank Butcher, Susan Elizabeth Baker, 
William Henry Milne, and Arthur Lacey, had been 
duly elected. Yotes of thanks were then accorded 
to the treasurer and trustees, the auditors, the executive 
committee, the chairman, the scrutineers, and the 
secretary ; and then came 
The Dinner. 
Mr. Shirley Hibberd, one of the Vice-presidents 
presided, and the company, numbering about 160, in¬ 
cluded many well-known horticulturists. After dinner 
The Chairman proposed the loyal toasts, reminding 
the company that the Fund was established to com¬ 
memorate the Queen’s Jubilee ; whilst one of its 
founders was Mr. Penny, the gardener to the Prince of 
Wales. 
The Chairman, before proposing the toast of the 
evening, “The Gardeners’ Orphan Fund,” said he must 
ask the company's consideration for a very serious 
matter. Since they last met death had been busy 
thinning the ranks. He would not attempt to mention 
all who had passed away from a sphere of usefulness 
within the last year, but two names he must bring 
before them. He would be wanting in his duty, and 
he would be wanting in respect if he did not do so. 
They had lost their dear old friend, Mr. Benjamin 
S. Williams, of Holloway, a grand old gardener. 
They had lost another dear friend, whose presence was 
wanted now, Mr. George Deal, the first chairman of 
the committee of the Fund. Death was no respecter of 
persons, of race, or condition. When men went in the 
fulness of years, and they could believe that their 
labours were accomplished, there was no reason why 
they should not feel satisfaction that the Lord had been 
pleased to call them to His rest. But it did trouble 
them ; it filled them with strange thoughts when men 
were taken in the prime of life, in the midst of their 
labours, when men were stricken down at a blow. It 
was not for them at that moment to philosophise over 
those things, but to recognise the fact that they had 
lost two friends and deplore their loss, remembering 
how good an example those friends had left for others 
to follow. He asked them to drink upstanding and in 
solemn silence to the pious memory of Mr.'Benjamin 
Samuel Williams and Mr. George Deal. 
The toast was then drunk in silence. 
The Chairman then asked the company to honour 
the toast of the evening. He said he wished to 
propose to them “Success to the Gardeners’ Orphan 
Fund.’’ It was a young institution, but it was 
becoming established, and it has been truly successful 
from the first. It was not always that a thing began 
and went on so well. There seemed, however, to be a 
reasonable promise of the continuation of the present 
prosperity, and of its increase as time went on. He 
hoped to be able to prove to them before he sat down 
that the institution had some reasonable prospect of 
becoming increasingly useful. The primary idea was 
to provide something for the assistance of orphans of 
gardeners that were unprovided for. They knew all 
that. It was an intimation to them that all gardeners 
did not make provision for those they left behind them. 
It was one of the blessings of this life that they never 
knew how long it might last, for if they did life would 
be intolerable. He imagined many men neglected to 
make provision for the future because they had not 
the courage to face the fact that life was uncertain, 
that death might come upon them at any time. They 
had but to make observation, or to read the papers. 
They saw that youth and strength gave no guarantee 
of length of days, and they saw that weakness and 
infirmity, disease, want and misery gave no sure 
promise of the coming of death.- There were those who 
lingered out their days, appearing to die every morn- 
ing, and yet living. He believed many men neglected 
to make provision when they might do so, not from 
recklessness or selfishness, but because they would 
not see clearly that because of the uncertainty of 
life there should be a certainty of provision for 
death. YTe all loved life too much, that was why 
we drank and smoked. Every man wanted thirteen 
pence to the shilling, and endeavoured to live forty- 
eight hours in twelve. It was the case all through, 
and had been from the beginning of the world. It 
caused the use of narcotics, and all the many dodges 
resorted to to dodge death. Some of them were perhaps 
in some degree successful. Science helped us ; in fact, 
if science did not help us, we should not live so long as 
we do. The best story that ever was told they would 
find in fEsop’s Fables. It was the story of the old man 
and Death. The old man crept along in pain and 
misery bearing his burden. He was weary and sick of 
life, and he threw down his burden and said, “ Oh 
that Death would come ! ” And out of the hill close 
by Death popped up his head and said, “ Do you want 
me?” And the old man said, “Sir, would you be 
kind enough to help me take up my burden ? ” The 
old man was ready to go on plodding again. The poet 
Young had said, “All men think all men mortal but 
themselves.” It was quite certain that men in all 
professions and occujiations made enough for themselves 
and their families, and vanished from the scene and left 
the whole of their affairs in confusion. They were 
not to suppose he was making an accusation against 
gardeners. He could make none. From what he 
knew of gardeners he was prepared to say in the face 
of the world that they were a provident, thoughtful 
class of men, that they acted in their whole life in 
accordance with the teaching of their business, for the 
