656 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 19, 1905. 
was at their nurseries, and I was invited 
to speak to him through the telephone. 
“Want to interview me?” he said, m 
answer to my request spoken over the wire. 
“ Why,, what have I done to deserve such 
treatment ?” 
It did not require any particular smewa- 
ness on my part to gather from this that 
Mr. Mee is inclined to be facetious. 
“ You are a public man,” I replied, severely, 
“and I understand occupy several public 
positions, therefore you must pay the penalty 
of publicity. But I particularly want to talk 
to you about your achievements as a suc¬ 
cessful exhibitor at horticultural shows, and 
also to learn something of the horticultural 
society of which you are secretary.” 
“Well, I suppose it'must be. Come right 
out,” he said, with a sigh of resignation. 
Daybrook Vale, Sherwood, is delightfully 
situated in a well-wooded hollow, and sur¬ 
rounded by lovely, undulating country. 
Here Mr. Mee has an elegant residence ap¬ 
proached by a carriage drive, at the entrance 
nates of which is a pretty lodge, smothered 
in flowering climbers. Adjoining Mr. Mee s 
house are the admirably ordered nurseries. 
The front windows command a view of a 
picturesque cascade, which empties itself into 
a lake dotted with verdant islets. Well-kept 
lawns and beds ablaze with colour and many 
rare and beautiful shrubs and trees occupy 
the space between the lake and the house. 
It is an ideal little spot, far removed from 
the madding crowd, and, it should be 
added, owes its existence to the genius and 
industry of Mr. Mee, who, when he pur¬ 
chased the property, found little else but 
bog land and other apparently unamendable 
conditions. 
Mr. Mee, whom I found in one of the 
extensive glasshouses, is a tall man, a six- 
footer at least, muscular, and in the pink 
of health. What he is like the reader will 
be able to 1 gather from the excellent accom¬ 
panying photograph. Nothing could be more 
affable, genial and breezy than his manner. 
There is not a trace of artificiality about him, 
and he puts you at once at your ease. He 
is essentially a man of energy, and it was 
not ^difficult to discover during the time I 
was with him that he is possessed of con¬ 
siderable mental endowments, a. kind heart, 
a hospitable nature, hating humbug, and 
delighting to do good. 
First of all we made a tour of inspection 
of the nurseries with their extensive glass¬ 
houses. The amount of business transacted 
by Messrs. Mee and Son at their shop in 
Nottingham will be sufficiently evident from 
the fact that they there dispose of all the 
’ produce of these' hot houses and gardens. 
One large house was full of fine tropical and 
other foliage plants, another was devoted to 
Orchids, yet others were given over to Cucum¬ 
bers and Tomatos. There was a big house 
packed with Maidenhair Ferns, the consump¬ 
tion of these being particularly large. In 
the fruit houses were some magnificent 
Peaches, weighing some of them over a pound 
each, and the Cape Gooseberry and some 
other recent introductions were in evidence. 
The grounds were in apple-pie order, and 
everything looked in prime condition, not¬ 
withstanding the dryness of the season. The 
Apples and Pears, however, had proved a 
complete failure. 
“ Now let’s come inside and have this chat,” 
said Mr. Mee, as he led the way into the 
house, and into a room overlooking the gay 
parterres and the cool, umbrageous retreats 
of the lake. 
Liquid refreshments, cigars and cigarettes 
were ordered and placed on the table, and 
at the same time I received an invitation to 
remain to luncheon. 
“ I don’t know that I have much to tell 
about myself,” began Mr. Mee. “ I am a Not¬ 
tingham man born and bred, and entered the 
world—let me see—yes, in 1855. I took up 
the profession of horticulture from choice, 
and being naturally and passionately fond 
of gardening have, of course, never regretted 
doing so. When I was twenty-two I took 
Wallaton Hall grounds, which are eight and 
a-half acres in extent, and successfully cul¬ 
tivated them for some years. Then I bought 
up this property, and.from a more or less 
barren and apparently unpromising waste 
made it into what you see.” 
“ It’s simply charming, Mr. Mee, a verit¬ 
able paradise, and I should think you may 
well be proud of what you have accomplished. 
I hear you are now a member of the Not¬ 
tingham Town Council?” 
“ Yes, I got in after a stiffish fight. I re¬ 
present. the St. Ann’s Ward, and my princi¬ 
pal object in becoming a councillor is to try 
and reduce the rates, which I consider far 
too high.” 
“ And the other positions you hold ?” 
“ I am chairman of the Nottingham and 
Notts Chrysanthemum Society, in which I 
take a very great interest, president of the 
Nottingham Market Stall Holders’ Associa¬ 
tion, and, as of course you know, hon. secre¬ 
tary of the Nottinghamshire Horticultural 
and Botanical Society. Besides that I am a 
member of some thirty societies and associa¬ 
tions and a 1 Fellow of the R.H.S. Oh, and 
I may add, I am a Mason; I have been from 
A to Z in Freemasonry.” 
“ And when did you begin exhibiting at 
shows ? ” 
“ Really I forget, but it was many years 
ago. I almost forget how many medals and 
certificates I have won, but here,” opening a 
drawer of his desk, “ are some forty gold, 
silver, and bronze medals. Those certificates 
on the wall are only a few of what I possess. 
I have a lot more upstairs, but have not had 
them framed.” 
The medals made a grand show when they 
were laid out on the table, and the gold ones 
were specially fine and of exquisite workman¬ 
ship. Mr. Mee, by the way, designed the 
beautiful gold medal of the Nottinghamshire 
Horticultural and Botanical Society. A 
study of the medals and the scores of certifi¬ 
cates on the walls of his sanctum proved 
that Mr. Mee had successfully competed at 
the principal horticultural shows throughout 
the country. 
“ In 1896,” pursued Mr. Mee, “ for a group 
of stove and greenhouse plants I won the first 
prize offered at our show by Lord Henry 
Bentinck, M.P., of a silver cup, to which 
the society added £10. During the years I 
exhibited at the Nottingham Show I must 
confess I carried all before me.” 
“ The reward of enthusiasm and skill, Mr. 
Mee.” 
“Yes, I was very enthusiastic. But I have 
given up exhibiting now for a good while 
back. 1 have not the time, and, besides, 
think I have had my share of prizes.” 
“ Here are two more medals,” continued 
Mr. Mee, “ which I highly prize. One is the 
silver Banksian medal and the other the 
silver flora medal of the R.H.S. They were 
given to me at two large provincial shows at 
which I successfully competed in 1896 and 
1897 respectively. It was the admirable 
practice in those days for the R.H.S. to occa¬ 
sionally give these and other medals for super¬ 
lative excellence of exhibits after the competi¬ 
tion awards had been made. Needless to say, 
such unlooked-for acknowledgments of merit 
were very highly esteemed. I do not fancy 
the R.H.S. do this now, but I think it would 
be a good thing if they did.” 
“ And now, if you please, a word or two 
about the society of which you are hon. secre¬ 
tary. Is it an old society ? ” 
“ No, it has been in existence only some 
twenty-five years. And for a long while the 
existence was a precarious one. At length it 
seemed as if it would die altogether ; it was 
in bankruptcy ; it was quite at its last gasp, 
and the members came to the conclusion that 
it would have to go.” 
“And then you came to the rescue?” I 
ventured in a vein of 'prophecy. 
“ Yes, then I came in and took up the secre¬ 
tarial duties, though I could really ill- 
afford the time, but it seemed a thousand 
pities such an excellent society should 
collapse. That was in 1898.” 
“ And how has it gone since? ” 
“ Well, we are in a very much better posi¬ 
tion than ever before, but I should like to 
see an improvement. For years we had no 
headquarters, and had to hold our shows any¬ 
where we could. At length the Corporation 
came to our help, and through the instru¬ 
mentality of the Public Parks Committee we 
were permitted to hold our exhibitions in the 
Arboretum. This is a beautifully-wooded 
public park, on the slopes of two 'hills, of 
seventeen acres, and centrally situated. Such 
a lovely situation makes the show, of course, 
doubly popular. As a set-off against this 
great advantage have been the recent wet 
years. As regards the number of entries and 
the quality of the exhibits we have nothing 
at all of which to complain. This year’s show 
brought together a larger and finer collection 
than ever, and the attendance was a great 
improvement on former years. A season or 
two like this, and the society would soon be 
placed on a firm financial basis, and there 
would be a pleasant surplus in place of try- 
ingly monotonous deficits.” 
“ How many members?” 
“ About 600. His Grace the Duke of Port¬ 
land is our president ; we are affiliated with 
the R.H.S., and in addition to the silver cup 
offered by Lord Henry Bentinck, M.P., the 
Mayor, Alderman J. Bright, also gives a hand¬ 
some silver cup. 
“Just let me mention that the Corpora¬ 
tion, who I must say have done a great deal 
to encourage a love of gardening in the neigh¬ 
bourhood, have a number of excellent allot¬ 
ments, and each year offer generous prizes for 
the best-cultivated gardens rented from them. 
I myself am one of the judges in making the 
awards, and I can speak from experience of 
the splendid productions raised in these 
allotments. Well, at our last show one of 
these garden-holders on the Hunger Hill 
obtained the first prize for his display of 
Begonias.” 
During luncheon Mr. Mee told me he had 
desired to give up the secretarial work of the 
society. 
‘ But they will not let me,” he said plain¬ 
tively, “ and really I think too much of the 
good work the society is doing to study my 
own feelings too much.” 
“And then they pay you a very high com¬ 
pliment,” I said. 
“ Yes, I recognise that fully,” allowed Mr. 
Mee. 
As I left my cheery host, he said with an 
admonitory laugh : 
“Now, no larding it on, mind. Do not say 
more than you can help about me. Just 
state the simple facts, you know.” 
And that is all I feel I have done ; but 
even then we may be allowed to say by way of 
conclusion that Mr. Mee is a man of very- 
admirable parts, and has achieved very en¬ 
viable distinction in a profession where dis¬ 
tinction is only won by much painstaking and 
a- knowledge and skill which comparatively 
few can acquire. Peter Pexx. 
