122 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 23, 1897. 
convincing than the concluding paragraph in the 
actuary's report at the quinquennial valuation in 
1896, which reads thus : * I have great pleasure in 
congratulating the committee and members on the pro¬ 
sperous condition of the society, and its substantial 
progress, both in growth of funds and public support 
during the period under observation. This progress 
is evidenced equally by the increase of membership 
from 291 to 535, the growth of funds from £4,933 to 
£9,533. the increase of income from £908 to £1,376, 
and the favourable experience of the society as to 
sickness in a period which included some severe and 
wide spread epidemics.’ 
«• 1 have incidentally alluded to the democratic 
spirit of the society, but democracies have their 
senate; and I claim for this little republic, that it 
has what I shall assume to be an equivalent in its 
life and honorary members. It is my desire this 
evening to make a substantial addition to the names 
of those who already appear in that honourable 
capacity ; first, because the subscriptions of life and 
honorary members materially assist in defraying the 
cost of management, and second, and what is per¬ 
haps of greater importance, they will receive annually 
the report of the executive committee, and thus a re¬ 
minder to place before their employees the advant¬ 
ages accruing to benefited members of this admirably 
conducted society. There are other methods I 
desire to bring to your notice by which you may 
exercise your benevolence, viz., the benevolent fund, 
(the purport of which you will have gathered from my 
previous remarks), the mangement fund, and also 
the convalescent fund. The latter, as its name 
implies, is for assisting members on their recovery 
from illness, and was formed in 189; on the initiative 
of our good friend Mr. Sherwood ; and will, I am 
sure, prove of great advantage. 
Gentlemen, I have said there was but little for 
which to plead, and I am concerned lest that little 
should suffer from my feeble advocacy ; but the 
pleasure derived from assisting those who endeavour 
to help themselves is proverbial, and I would ask 
you to add to the gratification you have experienced 
on occasions similar to the present, by helping this 
deserving society by one of the methods I have 
indicated, and thus, in some degree, tend to mitigate 
' the weight of care, 
That crushes into dumb despair, 
One half the human race.’ ” 
Mr. James Hudson, the hon. treasurer, rose to 
reply, and corroborated what the chairman had said 
anent the prosperity of the society, by stating that he 
expected the society would invest about £1,200, or 
£100 per month during the course of the present 
year. In inviting more gardeners to become 
members, he urged the plea of the economy with 
which the affairs of the society are managed. All 
their meetings, committee and otherwise, were open 
to members, for nothing was held in secret. Mr. 
George Bunyard and Mr. B. Wynne, responded to 
the toasts of " The Honorary Life Members ” and 
“Visitors,” respectively. “The Chairman,” and 
" Kindred Institutions ’’ were also proposed, and in 
responding to the latter Mr. G. J, Ingram, pleaded 
the cause of the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent 
Institution. Before the close it was announced that 
Mr: George Bunyard had consented to preside at the 
dinner next year. The tables were profusely 
decorated with flowers, plants, and fruit, and the 
meeting on the whole was a hearty one. 
--x-- 
MUSHROOMS AND BROCCOLI. 
Double cropping and even treble cropping have very 
frequently been resorted to by those driven for space ; 
and to those in like circumstances I would, were 
suitable conditions existent, recommend this 
particular method of double cropping. Having a 
piece of ground destined for a crop of winter 
Broccoli, it occurred to me that there was a possi¬ 
bility of securing a crop of Mushrooms between the 
rows; so measuring the ground off I lined it out for 
a row of Mushrooms between the Broccoli. I then 
dug out trenches in which was buried the freshest 
stable manure procurable steaming hot. This was 
trodden firm in the trenches, the spawn being put in 
at once. Some of the soil was thrown over it and then 
another treading given to make it as firm as possible. 
The soil was then levelled and trodden over again. I 
left the space vacant between the second and third 
rows of Broccoli, and so on throughout the planta¬ 
tion, in order to form an alley between the 
rows of Mushrooms. This is quite necessary for 
conveniently getting at the Mushrooms to gather 
them. The manure and spawn were put in the 
trenches during the second week of June, and we 
have for some eight weeks been gathering a fine crop 
of good Mushrooms with every indication of being 
able to so for some time longer, should the weather 
remain open. The Broccoli having well covered the 
ground shelter the Mushrooms and keep up a moist 
atmosphere about them, a condition of things suit¬ 
able to their requirements. There is just one draw¬ 
back to those who demur to wetting their boots, that 
is, there are some days during which to get at the 
crop means a thorough wetting.— IV. B. G. 
-- 4 ~- 
PINKHILL NURSERIES, EDINBURGH. 
The nurseries of Messrs. R. B. Laird & Sons, Pink- 
hill, Murrayfield, Midlothian, are situated on the 
western outskirts of Edinburgh, and within easy 
distance of the warehouse, 17, South Frederick 
Street, Edinburgh. They are now very extensive 
and include several nurseries or pieces of ground, 
much of which has recently been added to the older 
portions of the establishment. On a glorious day in 
September last we had the pleasure of a drive to 
Pinkhill in full view of hills, rich agricultural land, 
and other scenery which has made the Scottish 
capital the annual rendezvous of tourists from all 
parts of the British dominions, and other countries 
throughout the world. At present we are concerned 
only with what we saw in the different parts of 
Messrs. Lairds’ nurseries and give the details in the 
order we noted them. 
Beechwood Mains. 
This is an old farm which has been secured as a 
forest tree nursery, and includes some forty-five 
acres of rich and valuable land, well adapted for 
the purpose of raising trees of all kinds. It begins 
at the extreme western end of the city boundary and 
extends for three-quarters of a mile westward on the 
south side of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Road. 
The stock consists of the usual nature, including 
forest trees by the million. Larch seedlings and 
transplanted seedlings are very fine. A little further 
westward on the north or upper side of the road we 
noted fields of Potatos planted by way of preparing 
the ground, which is now to be filled with Larch 
entirely, for which the ground has proved to be very 
suitable. The natural lie of the land and the soil 
itself accounts for its suitability. Two years’ seed¬ 
ling Larch is very scarce all over the country, but 
here we noted 1,000,000 of them in specially fine 
condilion, on the south side of the road. About 
half a million of two years’ transplanted Larch was 
equally fine, the trees of course being much larger. 
Other trees are grown here such as Spruce, Ash, 
Scots Fir, Thorns, Sycamore, Austrian Pine, &c. 
The New Premises, Pinkhill. 
Within the last few years a fine range of glasshouses 
has been erected on the south side of the main road, 
to take the place of the winter garden which used 
to be at West Coates. The ground here, consisting 
of two acres, slopes to the south, so that the houses 
and offices next the main road have been-raised to 
bring them on a level with the latter. The range of 
houses next the road have a hung cement floor, and 
underneath are potting sheds, stables, soil barns, 
joiner’s shop, &c. A flight of steps leads from the 
main building down to the natural level of the ground, 
where twelve span-roofed houses have been built 
and filled with the usual run of nursery stock. The 
nursery offices facing the road are complete in every 
detail, including main office, private offices, tele¬ 
phone, and every other convenience. The whole 
place is kept in excellent order. 
The first hothouse we entered is used as a forcing 
house in spring, but at the time of our visit was 
practically a conservatory, filled with Ficus elastica, 
Aralia Sieboldi variegata, Dracaena rubra, Juni- 
perus bermudiana, &c. The latter in its juvenile 
stage makes a very neat and graceful decorative 
plant, otherwise desirable by way of a change from 
the usual run. A fine plant of Stigmatophyllum 
ciliatum, with yellow flowers like an Oncidium 
covers the roof. 
The conservatory in the centre of the block on the 
level of the main road, was gay with Lilium speci- 
osum, Browallia speciosa major, Humeas, and 
various other flowering plants. Camellias, Eucalyp¬ 
tus globulus, Dracaenas and Ferns were also con¬ 
spicuous occupants of this cool house. Opening out 
of it the visitor passes into the New Holland House, 
filled with Heaths, Acacias, Epacris, Polygala, 
Genethyllis, Tremandra, Kalosanthes coccinea, and 
others of similar character. These plants not being 
in season, the house was brightened with Lilium 
speciosum, L. s. album, Bouvardias, and a small 
leaved Myrtle named Jean Reichenbach. The plants 
were just coming into bloom, being laden with buds 
and flowers, though they were only 12 in. to 15 in 
high. This should be a boon for those who are fond 
of Myrtles, but cannot get them to bloom till of large 
size. 
The Pelargonium house is a roomy structure and, 
when we saw it, was filled with zonal, show, fancy, 
Ivy-leaved, tricolor, and sweet-scented Pelargoniums. 
Fuchsias also found a place here, as well as 
Clianthus puniceus andMyrtus obcordata, a slender, 
twiggy species having small bronzy leaves. The 
Azalea house contained a large assortment of 
subjects independently of Indian Azaleas and green¬ 
house Rhododendrons which have always been well 
grown by Messrs. Laird. We noted a huge specimen 
of the popular pot plant Rhododendron Countess of 
Haddington. Tall Tree Ferns occupy the centre of 
the house, and Lapagerias do well on the roof. 
Many other greenhouse plants are accomodated here 
including Mandevilla suaveolens, Hibbertia dentata, 
Kadsura japonica variegata, with leaves closely 
similar to those of a Camellia, Passiflora kermesina, 
and other species. The Kauri Pine (Dammara 
australis) makes a distinct looking subject for green¬ 
house decoration. Araucaria excelsa also proves 
indispensable for this kind of work. All of the above 
houses constitute the iange on the high level, each 
compartment being roomy, well ventilated, and 
worked with every modern appliance. 
The span-roofed houses on the lower level are 
utilised for growing various stove and greenhouse 
subjects. One contains a collection of Caladiums of 
the best named sorts raised in France and in 
England. Suspended from the roof are fine plants of 
Gymnogramme schizophylla gloriosa and Adiantum 
ciliatum. Here also was a quantity of Pteris 
serrulata, P. s. cristata, and P. hastata macrophylla 
ail of useful size. One house was monopolised with 
a collection of single and double tuberous Begonias, 
good bushy plants, with dark green foliage. The 
plants were, in fact, still in perfection, notwithstand¬ 
ing the late period of the season. They presented 
the usual run of colours peculiar to this useful 
summer-flowering race. The fernery was very 
interesting ; the sides all round being covered with 
wall tiles and planted with Maidenhair Ferns. 
There was also a fine batch of Adiantum cuneatum 
in first-class condition. The same may be said of 
Pteris tremula, P. argyrea, Asplenium fabianum, 
Polypodium aureum, Cyrtomium falcatum, and a 
dwarf and a useful variety of Nephrolepis exaltatain 
48-sized pots, just suitable for table or other decora¬ 
tive purposes. Smilax is grown in pots and allowed 
to twine up strings, so that it may be cut or used 
in pots as required. 
The large stove contained Crotons in the perfection 
of high colour, and amongst them we noticed grand 
batches of Golden Ring, rich golden-yellow and 
green ; and Aigburth Gem, red, yellow, and green, 
all in first-rate condition. Aralia Chabrieri, in 
plants of fine size, shows that the plant retains its 
highly ornamental form, even after it has attained 
large dimensions. Some of the finest oi the narrow¬ 
leaved Dracaenas now so popular and widely culti¬ 
vated all over the country, originated with this firm. 
We allude to Miss GlendinniDg, Mrs. Laird, 
Marchioness of Lothian, and others of that class. 
The last-named is the most graceful of all, and has 
narrow bronzy red leaves. There are fine plants of 
the bold and handsome Licuala grandis. Another 
handsome fan-leaved Palm is Stevensonia grandifolia, 
with amber veins and markings. Useful decorative 
plants also include Maranta major, Delabechea 
rupestris, with fingered leaves, Peperomia metallica, 
highly coloured Reineckea carnea variegata, Tilland- 
sia zonata, Aralia Veitchi, A. gracillima, and others. 
The Carex known as C. variegata is as well grown 
here as we have seen it anywhere. Alocasias may 
also be seen in variety. 
The intermediate house contains a collection of 
climbers as well as various other subjects, such as 
the upright growing Allamanda Williamsii, the 
golden Lantana Drap d’Or, and Clerodendron fallax, 
of a brilliant scarlet recalling Nerine curvifolia. 
