December 25, 1897. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
261 
Compliment to Mr. Hugh Dickson, Belmont.—On 
Thursday evening, the i6th, Mr. Hugh Dickson, the 
owner of the well-known Belmont nurseries, was 
entertained to dinner by a large circle of his friends, 
and was made the recipient of a beautifully-illu¬ 
minated address in album form, which set forth the 
guest’s efforts for a long period of years in the pro¬ 
motion of horticulture in Belfast and the North of 
Ireland. The function took place in Messrs. 
Thompson & Sons’ Restaurant, Dcnegall Place, 
Belfast, and was in every respect a great success. 
Mr. Thomas Shaw, J.P., presided, and a numerous 
company joined in the veil-deserved tribute to the 
popular guest. Mr. M'lntosh, in responding to the 
toast of Mr. Dickson's old friends, said that having 
known Mr. Dickson when living in Newtownards 
he, in common with the entire community there, re¬ 
gretted when he left the town. He was a most 
upright, sterling, energetic man, and they had 
followed his career with the greatest interest, and 
taken deep pride in all his achievements. During 
the evening an excellent programme of soDg was 
rendered, and the enjoyable proceedings terminated 
with the singing of " Auld Lang Syne."— W. F. C. 
-. I — ■ — 
A SOUVENIR OF EDINBURGH SHOW. 
The accompanying group of portraits depicts on the 
left the president of the Scottish Horticultural 
Association, whose year of office, now closing, has 
been endowed with so signal a success beyond all 
previous records. The handsome sums which the 
association last week allocated to charitable pur¬ 
poses, owe much of their existence to the personal 
devotion and assiduity of Mr. Todd, as president, 
who, by the bye, gives an " At Home " this week at 
the Society's Official House at which the formal 
presentation of these sums will be made to the 
charities selected. 
To the right of Mr. Todd in the photo is Mr. 
A. William-, the gifted musical director of the 
Grenadier Guards Band, whose performances at 
Edinburgh were undoubtedly an important factor 
in the attendances. Mr. Williams had the gratifi¬ 
cation of knowing that his efforts have succeeded in 
fully maintaining the high reputation of the Band, 
and he is sure of a hearty welcome again at 
Edinburgh. 
To the left of the group is the well-known figure of 
Mr. H. J. Jones, of Ryecroft fame, who stands in the 
proud position of being the only winner in the 
miscellaneous section of the association’s Diamond 
Jubilee Gold Medal—a coveted honour which does 
him infinite credit. 
To the right is Mr. A. E. Stubbs, of the Ichthemic 
Guano Company, whose tasteful exhibits are invari¬ 
ably a welcome adjunct at all our leading shows. 
- ■!> 
SCOTTISH HORTICULTURAL 
ASSOCIATION. 
President’s at Home. 
A Highly successful gathering of this sj iritcd and 
popular association took place in the Royal British 
Hotel, Edinburgh, on the evening of Tuesday the 
2ist inst. The meeting was organised and carried 
through by Mr. M. Todd, the energetic and popular 
president of the association, ably assisted by Mr. 
R. Laird and Mr. J. H. Murray, thehon. and assis¬ 
tant secretaries, and was attended by about T50 
ladies and gentlemen. Amongst those who accepted 
invitations were the Lord Provost of Edinburgh ; 
Bailies Kinloch, Anderson, Hay, Mackenzie, and 
Sloan, Councillor Cranston, Mr. D. P. Laird, Mr. 
John Methven, Mr. David Mitchell, Mr. Dunn, 
Dalkeith Park ; Mr. Smith Hopetoun, Mr. R. W. 
E. Murray, Mr. A. Milne, Mr. A. Mackenzie, War- 
riston; Mr. D. T. Fish, Mr. Harrow, Botanic 
Gardens; Mr Peter Loney, Mr. Macintyre, The 
Glen ; and a large number of horticulturists and 
their lady friends. The meeting took place in the 
magnificent new dining salcon of the hotel (one of 
the most spacious and elegant rooms in Edinburgh), 
which was most beautifully decorated for the 
occasion by the president. 
Specimen Palms in beautiful pots, on handsome 
pedestals, were arranged throughout the room, and 
the mantles, sideboard, etc., were elegantly decorated 
with vases of Chrysanthemums, Roses, etc. In the 
centre of the room a large circular table, on which 
were placed Grapes and other fruits to regale the 
company, was most beautifully decorated. A mag¬ 
nificent and elegantly arranged vase of Chrysanthe¬ 
mums occupied the centre, while smaller vases of 
Tea Roses, Cattleyas, Orchids, etc., with two very 
elegant baskets of growing Lily of the Valley and 
Ferns, rendered this table a feast of beauty. 
The guests were received by the president and his 
amiable wife, whose geniality and courtesy to all pre¬ 
sent added greatly to the success of the gathering. 
The immediate object of the meeting was to publicly 
announce the allocation of the surplus funds from the 
recent Chrysanthemum show which, as our readers 
are already aware were to be devoted to charitable 
objects. The success of the exhibition all our 
readers know from our reports at the time was of a 
Bobsburgh & Son 
Mr. H. J. Jones. 
Mr. M. Todd. 
phenomenal description, whether looked at from the 
extent of the show, the high quality of the exhibit*, 
or its financial results. 
The president intimated that af.er all the expenses 
had been paid, the committee have a sum at their 
disposal for charitable purposes of £250, and it had 
been resolved to allocate it as follows :—A sum of 
£100 to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary ; £50 to the 
Royal Hospital for Sick Children ; ^50 to the Royal 
Gardeners' Orphan Fund; and £50 to the Gar¬ 
deners' Royal Benevolent Institution. In announc¬ 
ing these donations, the president, in a neat and elo¬ 
quent speech, expressed the great pleasure it gave 
the committee to be able to dispose of these hand¬ 
some sums for charitable objects, and they hoped 
that continued success of these popular exhibitions 
would result in further sums being available for 
such beneficent purposes. 
On the invitation of the president, the treasurer of 
the Association (Mr. McKenzie) then presented the 
Lord Provost with a cheque for £iou for the 
Infirmary Pavilion Scheme ; and also handed a 
cheque for £50 to Mr. Cook, C A , Treasurer of the 
Sick Children's Ho-pital 
The Lord Provost, before referring to the objects 
rf the meeting, congratulated the proprietor of the 
Hotel on the completion of building, and on the 
brauty of the rcoms. In the recent eminently 
successful sho w they had, he said, done three good 
things ; they had stimulated an interest in the culti¬ 
vation of these beautiful flowers ; they had given a 
vast deal of pleasure to the citizens of Edinburgh ; 
and by handing over these cheques they had placed 
the city under a debt of gratitude to the society. 
On behalf of the Royal Infirmary he thanked 
them most heartily for that handsome cheque, and 
Mr. A. E. Stubbs. 
Mr. A. Williams. 
he was sure his colleagues would be very gratified 
when he reported it to them. (Applause.) 
Mr, Cook also acknowledged the donation 
towards the Sick Children’s Hospital. 
During the evening tea and coffee with other light 
refreshments with fruit, were liberally served, while 
a musical programme of great excellence was carried 
through with much spirit and ability by various 
talented ladies and gentlemen to whom a hearty 
vote of thanks was accorded towards the close of the 
meeting. On the motion of Bailie Hay a most 
enthusiastic expression of thanks was made to the 
president and his wife for the manner in which they 
conceived and carried out the meeting to a success¬ 
ful issue. The whole function was as enjoyable as 
rare in horticultural annals, and we hope the example 
set by our Edinburgh friends will be productive of 
an annual recurrence of such enjoyable meetings. 
Edinburgh and London. 
