950 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
November 26, 1904. 
1 • ' ' 
Round the Nurseries. 
Pinkhill, Murrayfield, 
There is always something of interest to bei seen in the well- 
stocked nurseri-e,® of Messrs. R. B. Laird and Sons, 17, Sooth 
Frederick Street, and Pinkhill, Edinburgh. They have several 
nurseries in the district, but the old-established one is. at Pink¬ 
hill, and hawing some spare time about the middle of Septem¬ 
ber last,, we paid a, visit of inspection, to the glasshouses and 
the out-door cultures on the upper side' of the great western 
road to Glasgow. 
The Glasshouses. 
The old ranges are still in full use on the upper side of the 
main thoroughfare, but the chief display.isi to be seen in the 
conservatory, greenhouses 1 , and stoves forming the new ranges 
on the lower side of the road. As far aisi flowering plants are 
concerned, the chief display is in the show houses, running 
parallel with and on a, level with the road. In one of the 
division® we noted fine pieces of Bambusa, falcata variegaia 
with silvery striped leaves, that is: much used in pots for decora- 
five work. The dwarf one, Arundinaria Fcrtunei variegata,, is 
also a useful decorative subject when grown in pots. M-os- 
chosma riparium is a, winter-flowering subject, but the leaves 
are delightfully fragrant at every period of the year. Aspara¬ 
gus Sprengeri and A.S. variegata-, although grown in pot®, are 
suspended in the same way as basket plants. Here also were 
healthy and well-grown trees of Araucaria, excels-a. 
A fine display i-s usually kept, up during September, with 
naturally-grown bulbs of Lilium speciosum, L.s. album, L.s. 
Melpomene, L. aura-turn, L.a,. rubro-vittatum, and L. tigrinum 
fl. pi., all of which succeed admirably in the north, when grown 
in pots. The Tiger Lily is, of course, perfectly 'hardy, and 
succeeds as well in most part® of Scotland a® anywhere else. 
Amongst greenhouse Rhododendrons, in this house are some 
splendid specimens' of R. fragrantissdmum and other species 
which must present a fine sight when in bloom. For pot work, 
Ha drangm paniculata grandiflora is, also of great service. 
Veiy clean and pure were the sprays of white flowers of Swain- 
sonia coronillaefolia, alba,. In another division of this cool 
house a, fine collection of Acacia® are grown, which furnish 
large, quantities of flowers in spring with very little attention, 
whether grown in. pots or planted out. Amongst them we, noted 
A. platyptera, A. riceana, A. ovata,, A. ccrdaita,, A. dalbeata, 
A. Drummondi, A. leprosa, A. longi folia, floribunda, and many 
others. All of these have yellow flowers of some shade or 
other, but varying greatly in, the, form of the leaves, the size 
and arrangement of the flower spikes. It would be difficult to 
s,a,y which is 'the prettiest of most useful, but; A. dalbeata,, A. 
Diummondi, and A. leprosa- 'should find a place, in every collec¬ 
tion. The last named is notable, for the great, length and 
the richness of its spray® of flowers. Indian Azaleas are also 
grown, in quantity, and amongst the, plants in these houses we 
noted a quantity of 0es-fontainea, spinosa, small specimens 
carrying orange and yellow flowers. Rhodochiton volubile Is 
a, tall climber, laden during a long period with its purple calyx 
and nearly black corolla. 
The other houses are situated at a lower level. Entering the 
Palm house, we noted a fine collection of all the more useful 
subjects for decorative purposes, including some very large 
Kentias. Under the slight shade of some of them were, well- 
grown Aspidistras. Several useful Dracaenas were located 
here, including D. indivisa,, D. australis, and the yellow-striped 
D. lineata amea. There wa® also* a fine batch of Nerine curvi- 
folia,, better known as N. Fcthergillii. Another Palm house 
contained a handsomely furnished specimen of Phoenix re* 
clinata with leaves 10 ft. long. Smaller and more generally 
useful plants were plentiful, including Coco®, weddeliana, and 
Geonoma gracilis, always in request for table decoration and 
other use®. Splendid growth had been made by Pluynium 
variegatum, richly coloured, and over 2 ft, in height, Beau- 
ca.mea, reeurvata is a plant that is much neglected at the 
present time, but the graceful rich leaves are of useful decora¬ 
tive value for conservatories,. 
In one of the low span-roofed houses were fine batches of 
Begonia Gloire de Lorraine, and Tumford Hall. Plants struck 
from cuttings in June were 10 in. to 15 in. high. Basket- 
plants of it were also grown. In this house were, batches of 
narrow-leaved Dracaena® of great value, for table decoration, 
including D. Douoettii, Duchess of York, The Queen, Mrs. 
Laird, and others. About 100 varieties of Crotons are grown 
on the -establishment, including all the best varieties, such as 
Lady Tennant, with long arching leaves having a yellow centre 
and red -stems; Aigburtli Gem, with crimson and yellow arching 
leaves, and many others of equal value, for table dec-oration. 
Several varieties have been raised here, -and at present, a 
number of very handsome unnamed seedling's may be seen. 
All. have very narrow leaves, and the colour varies considerably 
in being confined to the base or marbled and blotched ail 
over, while the stem® in so,mo instances, are of a brilliant red. 
A collection of Caladiums is also grown here with other stove 
plants such as Dracaena, gedseffiana., and Ficus elastica varie¬ 
gata,. 
The next, houses entered contained large plants of Crotons 
in the centre of the building, with small one® on the side 
shelves. The best, of the broad-leaved varieties are also grown. 
Many Dracaenas have been raised here, and not all of them 
have yet been named. A useful set -of Alocacia® is kept in 
stock, including A. argyraea,, A. spectabilis, and A. sanderiana, 
whose silvery markings serve to set off the intensity of the 
shining green leaves-. The new Ficus pan-durata ha® also 
found its way here. F. Cannonii is an older species with 
dark purple leaves, much of the same colour as the purple 
Hazel. 
The next- house entered contained a variety of stove subjects, 
amongst which we noted the beautiful Croton Lady Watson, 
yellow at the -base of the leaves and marbled upwards, while the 
stems and leaf stalk® were red. This variety branches very 
freely, producing very numerous side shoots. S-orne fine seed¬ 
lings, were also noted in this house. A very graceful Palm is 
Phoenix Roebelinii, of which we have, seen some grand speci¬ 
mens in this establishment at on-e time or other. Other fine 
foliage subjects were Tillandsia, zebrina and Ficus repens varie* 
gata,, with its leaves marbled with, silver. Flowering subject® 
in this bourn included the orange-flowered C’rossandra, undula- 
tifolia, Ixora-s, Hibiscus Rosa-s,inensis, with double salmon and 
double yellow flowers, and Glorios-a superba, the latter Lily- 
wort, flowering freely upon the roof. Berried subjects in fine 
condition were C'allicarpa, purpurea, and the Otaheite Orange. 
A few Orchids were flowering in this house, including Miltonia 
spectabilis and Cattleya Loddigesii Harrisoniae. 
Next in order came a greenhouse filled with zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums. A beautiful variety with salmon-coloured flowers 
produced in large trusses was that named Miss R. Laird. 
Tommy Atkins was well named, the flowers being large and 
brilliant scarlet-. Another scarlet variety with a rosy blotch 
-on the two upper petals was named Scarlet King. Fire Dragon 
give® promise of being useful for bedding purposes. In a 
house chiefly -devoted to, Fern® we noted Epiphyllum delicatum 
grown as standards, and making busily little heads. Varie¬ 
ties of E. trun,cat,um were also, being reared in the same way. 
A very leafy and well-named plant was Eugenia, myriophylla, 
having dense bushy masse® of narrow leaves that are beauti¬ 
fully tinted with red in the young stage. 
In. one of the cool houses on the upper side of the main road 
were fine batches of Roses in. pots, including Crimson Rambler. 
Marechal Niel, Tea® and Hybrid Teas. Ampetopsis, Veitchi 
is a plant that is very much in request at the present day, and 
is here extensively grown in pots. 
A house close by was devoted to Aspidistras, -plant® of Phoe¬ 
nix, and several varieties of Ophiopogon. The roof was, occu¬ 
pied with Tomato Stirling Castle, which is one'of the-popular 
varieties here. Another house, was devoted to, pot- Vines in 
all the leading varieties, with large numbers of seedling Ama¬ 
ryllis beneath. There was also, a good batch of Calanthe 
Veitchi in well-grown plants just, ripening off. Close by was 
La collection of Ivies, including the beautifully variegated 
mad-eirensis variegata,. Bush Myrtles, I ft. to, l| ft. in height' 
were also noteworthy. A house, was largely occupied with 
