October 24, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
125 
Simla Walk he was naturally proud of, as the plants 
were his own raising, as Mr. Temple says. He might 
well be so, for it is given to few to see plants reared 
and planted by their own hands, in such perfection 
as these are and have been for years. While every¬ 
thing under his charge was thoroughly done, his 
chief pride lay with his vines, quite magnificent 
crops being taken each year for a long period. 
Always clean, and yet never scraped nor painted, 
these vines, I believe, are in good health yet. 
His death is all the sadder as it is only about six 
weeks since Mrs. Whitton died, having died at the 
end of August. For his sons it is especially sad, and 
much sympathy is felt for them. As for myself, I 
shall always remember him as a warm-hearted friend, 
and one for whom I entertained the highest respect; 
and I am sure many of those, who served under him, 
hold him still in their memory with the same feel¬ 
ing.— Perthshire. 
-- 
PRESENTATION TO A NURSERYMAN. 
A large gathering of members and friends of the 
Hawick Working Men’s Horticultural Society met in 
the Tower Hotel, Hawick, on Saturday, the loth 
inst., to hold a “social,” and present Mr. John 
Forbes, Buccleuch Nurseries, with a handsome 
reading lamp. Mr. John Kershaw, president of the 
society, ably filled the chair. After the usual toasts 
had been done justice to, the chairman, in an 
eloquent speech, sketched the rise and progress of 
the society, which was founded six years ago by a 
few enthusiastic allotment holders, and now boasted 
of more pounds than shillings when they started, 
giving great praise to the energetic secretary and 
treasurer, Mr. Geo. Mitchell, who, he said, had done 
much to make the society what it now was. He 
called on Mr. A. Taylor to make the presentation. 
Mr. Taylor, on rising, said it gave him great 
pleasure to be present. As they all knew the history 
of the society, he did not require to remind them 
of its phenomenal success, not only in regard to the 
annual exhibition, but also to the great influence it 
has had in removing many of the weedy and trashy 
things from the gardens, and encouraging articles of 
higher merit, no small share of that credit being due 
to Mr. Forbes. The splendid exhibits he placed 
before them at their shows must have had a great 
influence in educating their minds to a higher and 
nobler conception of things horticultural. Mr. 
Forbes was a man of whom they all felt proud ; 
he had gained honours over the length and breadth 
of the land, and was well known in the world of horti¬ 
culture as a man who had made his mark. His 
nurseries were well worth visiting, and always brought 
to his mind the beautiful poem of John Palmer in 
which he says :— 
“ Ye bloom in the palace, ye bloom in the hall; 
Ye bloom on the top of the mouldering wall; 
Ye bloom in the cottage, the cottager's pride— 
The window looks cold with no flowers by its side— 
Ye twine up the trellis; >e bloom in our bowers ; 
Ye carpet creation, ye beautiful flowers. 
* * * 
Wildings of nature or cultured with care, 
Ye are beautiful, beautiful, everywhere.” 
He then handed over to Mr. Forbes the beautiful 
lamp, which had a suitable inscription on the base. 
Mr. Forbes, on rising to reply, was received with 
loud applause, the whole company rising and singing 
lustily “for he's a jolly good fellow.” After the 
enthusiasm had somewhat abated, Mr. Forbes said : 
—“Iam very much obliged to Mr. Taylor for the kind 
words he has given expression to, and for the hearty 
manner in which you endorsed them. I do not wish 
to assume any undue modesty or humility, but I 
must say that the praise you have so generously 
lavished upon me is altogether extravagant, and 
quite beyond any services rendered by me to your 
society, to say nothing of the costly and handsome 
gift you have been so good as present me with. I 
must, however, give you credit for honesty and 
sincerity, and can only account for your liberal senti¬ 
ment, by giving you credit also for very generous 
and charitable views toward myself and my small 
services. 
Words, gentlemen, are always considered and 
really are a very cheap way of evidencing gratitude 
and defraying debts, but I must say that you are not 
content with this mode of expression. You have 
been profuse in kind words, but you follow them up 
by a thorough and tangible mark of your gratitude 
in the shape of this handsome and useful reading 
lamp, which I doubly value as being the spontaneous, 
and I understand, the unanimous act of the society, 
of which I have much pleasure in accepting, and 
which I shall use in the hope that it will shed light 
on many topics that have hitherto been dark ; and 
that it will ever remind me of a circle of friends who 
have the goodness and magnamity to put the most 
iberal and charitable construction on small services 
rendered to them. 
But, Mr. Chairman, if I had done all you give me 
credit for, I consider I would not be doing a jot too 
much service to horticulture, and especially horti¬ 
culture as applied to working men’s shows. I 
contend, and am sure you will agree with me, that 
there is no more useful or enobling recreation, 
that working men can employ their spare time 
with, than their gardens. I need not remind you 
how many of your own acquaintances would spend 
their time loafing on the street, or spending 
their earnings in the public house, had they no 
flowers to love or garden to cultivate, and culti¬ 
vate so well that they do more than the equivalent 
for making two blades grow where only one grew 
before, in that every blade so grown is immensely 
better than it would otherwise be. They thus 
confer a great benefit on their intellect and morals 
as well as on the resources of their household ; and 
they also confer a great benefit on the whole horti¬ 
cultural world. It is an indisputable and well 
recognised fact that it is the enthusiastic amateur 
we have to thank not only for raising very many of 
our best fruits, flowers, and vegetables, but also for 
preserving many of them from extinction when lost 
to gardeners and even nurserymen. I again thank 
you for your handsome gift; I will be proud to use it, 
and show it to my friends as a token of your good¬ 
ness, liberality, and generosity.” 
A few pleasant hours were spent with songs and 
sentiment. Mr. Forbes proposed success to the 
“ Hawick Working Men’s Horticultural Society,” 
which was replied to by Mr. John Dewar in a most 
appropriate manner. " Auld Lang Syne ” was sung 
in a way as only Scotchmen can sing it, after which 
the company had to give way to “ Forbes Me 
Kenzie.” 
---*• - 
FALKLAND PARK. 
Something of interest may be seen at any season of 
the year in the gardens of T. McMeekin, Esq., Falk¬ 
land Park, South Norwood Hill. We had occasion 
to make a hurried inspection of the houses recently, 
and noted some seasonable flowers as well as some 
that are never out of season. 
Entering the vineries we noted a houseful of vines 
supposed to be sixty to eighty years old. They were 
intended to be destroyed before now, but as they 
continued to bear good crops of fruit they have been 
allowed to remain. The varieties are Black Ham¬ 
burgh, Mill Hill Hamburgh, and Muscat of 
Alexandria, all bearing good bunches and berries. 
Another vinery planted twelve months ago last May 
contains some young vines which have made growths 
14 ft. long, during the past season. The varieties are 
Black Hamburgh, Foster’s Seedling and Madresfield 
Court. Passing through the kitchen garden, we 
noted a standard Pear tree, the branches of which 
were being broken down by the weight of fruit. 
There were about three dozen fruits on one branch, 
forming practically one bunch. A large breadth of 
Onions which had been reared under glass in spring 
and planted out, had given excellent results. The 
bulbs of The Record, Ailsa Craig, and Cranston’s 
Excelsior were of enormous size. 
One of the conservatories, forming part of the 
long range of houses, was brightened with a display 
of single and double tuberous Begonias, in a great 
variety of beautiful colours. Where this house 
abuts on the rockeries built of tufa on either side of 
the walk, the glass partition has been removed on 
the right hand side exposing the greenery and 
flowers on the rockery, which we consider an 
improvement. 
The Cattleyas were beginning to be lively in one 
of the Orchid houses, and included C. dowiana 
aurea, C. gigas, and C. gaskelliana. Of the first 
named there was a magnificent variety, richly 
striped with orange and crimson along the centre. 
Of C. gaskelliana beautiful light-coloured varieties 
were numerous. Odontoglossum grande measured 
seven inches across the petals. The dark orange 
blotch in the throat of C. Eldorado was very con¬ 
spicuous. C. Harrisoniae was also flowering. The 
flat sepals and petals and dark lip of Laelia pumila 
prestans were very pretty. The Cymbidiums here 
had commenced to move thus early in the season, 
including the dark C. lowianum, Prewitt's var. C. 
lowianum itself was throwing up nine spikes of 
bloom on one plant. 
Another bouse was largely occupied with Cypri- 
pediums, a considerable number of which were in 
bloom. Amongst them was a fine piece of C. 
chamberlainianum, which has flowered continuously 
for the past twelve months, six to eight flowers being 
open at one time. Other hybrids included C. villoso- 
calosum, C. hornianum, C. arthurianum, C. 
crossianum, and C. Cythera. The beautiful C. 
Charlesworthii, had commenced its long season of 
flowering. Oncidium Papiliomajus seems always in 
season. Some of the natural hybrids between 
Catasetum macrocarpum and C. Bungerothii have 
found their way here. Vanda sanderiana was in 
bloom and close beside it was an unusually strong 
piece of Saccolabium bellinum having three flower 
scapes on a stem 9 in. high. A curiosity in its way 
was Dendrobium chrysanthum with all of its flowers 
deformed, some of them being semi-double. Several 
of the Cattleyas carried a bloom each that was 
deficient in the number of petals, which were united 
with the lip or the dorsal sepal, and in cases were 
apparently entirely absent. There is no gauging 
of these vagaries amongst Orchids. 
The stove contained some excellent examples of 
culture under Mr. A. Wright’s care. Anthurium 
waroequeanum carried leaves about 3 ft. 6 in. long, 
and 16 in. wide. A specimen of Cocos weddeliana 
had a head of leaves on a clean stem 4 ft. high. The 
beautiful Aristolochia elegans was still in bloom, the 
markings of the flowers being intricate and fantastic. 
In this house was a quantity of Cattleya dowiana 
aurea, suspended from the roof and about to flower. 
One plant bore a flower sheath, half of which was 
like a true leaf. 
The intermediate house contained a great quantity 
and variety of Achimenes in full bloom and very 
showy. Plants of Clerodendron fallax, raised from 
seed, carried large panicles of scarlet flowers. 
Gloxinias still kept up a good display. A tall piece 
of Begonia President Carnot was very showy on 
account of its heavy, pendulous cymes of soft orange- 
red flowers and fruits. The pretty Saintpaulia 
ionantha, with blue flowers like Violets, was very 
floriferous. A little further on we came upon a 
houseful of seedling Cannas, in full bloom and 
including some fine varieties. 
A long corridor, with a cool greenhouse tempera¬ 
ture connects the whole range of seven houses 
together, and is not the least interesting feature of 
the establishment, as it contains more or less bloom 
all the year round. The climbers are a decided 
feature of it including some fine Lapagerias. The 
flowers of one plant were to be seen through the open 
doorway of a Fern-grotto, and suspended from the 
roof of the latter. In the corridor itself was one of the 
largest plants of Fuchsia triphylla we have seen; it was 
loaded with blossom. Datura sanguinea had flowered 
all the summer and autumn, its huge trumpet flowers 
being very conspicuous. Other handsome and flori¬ 
ferous subjects were Solanum jasminoides, Begonia 
fuchsioides, a pale variety, Pleroma macrantha, 
Plumbago capensis, Cestrum elegans, and Begonia 
metallica, a healthy piece, 3 ft. high. 
The nucleus of a collection of British Ferns has 
been got together here, including Athyrium Filix- 
foemina plumosum elegans, and other forms of the 
Lady Fern. The varieties of the common Polypody 
were numerous, including such beautiful forms as P. 
vulgare omnilacerum, P. v. cornubiense, P. v. crista- 
tum, and P. v. Hillmani. The latter is forked from 
the very base of the frond. Another very beautiful 
form is P. v. pulchellum, the pinnules of which are 
even more deeply divided than those of P. v. omni¬ 
lacerum. 
--- 
ARDEN1NG JflSCELLANY. 
ABUTILON MEGAPOTAMICUM. 
Trained against the low wall supporting the T- 
range at Kew, and facing due south, is a fine speci¬ 
men of this vastly pretty and rather curious looking 
Abutilon that has been flowering with exceptional 
freedom for some time past. The flowers, which 
are rather small, are single and axillary, and are 
