March  27,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTIGULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
283'  I 
kinnon  was  appointed  to  the  office.  One  never  sees  him  debating 
at  the  monthly  meetings :  that’s  not  so  much  his  bent ;  but  his 
presence  can  usually  be  counted,  and  perhaps  he  finds  sufficient 
to  do  in  gathering  in  backward  subscriptions !  Outside  of  the 
Association  his  business  capacity  is  that  of  general  manager  in 
the  firm  of  Mr.  John  Downie,  whose  seed  establishment  in  Prin¬ 
cess  Street,  near  the  Caledonian  Station,  is  one  of  the  best 
known  houses  in  Edinburgh.  Mr.  Mackinnon  may  frequently  be 
found  busily  engaged  in  the  office  here,  or  at  the  Beechhill  nur¬ 
sery  of  the  firm,  and  the  new  nurseries  in  preparation  now  must 
necessitate  considerable  attention  from  him. 
Mr.  Alexander  Mackenzie,  for  long  the  efficient  and  trusted 
honorary  treasurer,  is  manager  to  Messrs.  Thomas  Methven  and 
Sons,  whose  nurseries  at  Warriston  and  Leith  Walk  are  examples 
^  of  good  order,  cleanliness  and  ciuality  in  stock.  Mr.  Mackenzie’s 
long  connection  in  his  capacity  as  manager  of  the  Methven’s 
nurseries  has  made  him  a  foremost  figure  in  Scottish,  and  par¬ 
ticularly  Edinburgh  horticulture.  We  have  enjoyed  his  hos¬ 
pitality  at  thei  pretty  home  near  the  Botanic  Gardens,  and  have 
joined  in  the  hearty  applause  that  always  follows  his  eloquent  and 
beautiful  orations,  that  are,  too,  soundl.v  practical,  and  delivered 
at  the  monthly  meetings  of  “  The  Scottish”  We  trust  that  as  a 
leading  light  and  greatly  valued  supporter  of  the  Association,  he 
may  long  be  spared  to  render  that  generous  help  which,  in  the 
past,  has  been  of  such  material  assistance  to  this  vigorous  society 
and  its  members. 
Mr.  Charles  Comfort,  who  was  re-elected  for  the  second  year 
to  the  presidential  chair  at  the  recent  annual  general  meeting, 
comes  of  a  good  gardening  stock,  and  his  energy  is  a  markecl 
characteristic  of  him.  A  brief  review  of  Mr.  Comfort’s  career 
includes  the  start  as  an  apprentice  at  Dalvey  Gardens,  near 
Forres,  the  property  of  the  late  Norman  McLeod,  Esq.  On 
leaving  Dalvey,  Mr.  Comfort  acted  as  foreman  for  a  period  in 
the  gardens  of  the  late  Miss  McPherson  Grant,  at  Aberlour 
House,  Banffshire,  moving  from  there  to  Donibristle,  where  he 
acted  as  outdoor  foreman  under  the  late  Mr.  Mair.  Mr.  Comfort 
vacated  this  situation  for  that  of  his  first  headship,  which  was 
in  the  gardensi  at  Raasay  House,  Isle  of  Raasay,  Inverness-shire, 
where  five  years  were  passed.  From  there  a  southerly  migration 
was  made,  twenty-twm  years  ago,  first  to  Cameron  House,  Fife, 
and  then  to  The  Gardens,  Broomfield.  Davidson’s  Mains,  Mid¬ 
lothian,  where,  as  head  gardener  to  Mrs.  Haig,  our  friend  has 
enjoyed  the  full  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  employer.  The 
first  two  years  of  the  twenty-two  were  spent  with  the  same  lady 
at  Cameron  House.  His  paternal  parent  was  a  gardener  (still 
alive)  and  his  five  sons  all  follow  the  same  profession.  Mr.  Com¬ 
fort  is  an  apt  speaker  at  public  meetings,  quick  to  observe  and 
catch  a  point,  careful  and  ever  eager  in  business,  and  has,  so  far 
as  we  are  judges,  all  the  qualifications  that  fit  him  for  the  respon¬ 
sible  and  honourable  position  as  President  of  the  Scottish  Horti¬ 
cultural  Association. 
Mr.  Peter  Loney,  who  succeeded  Mr.  Robert  Laird  in  the 
honorary  secretaryship  about  two  years  ago,  is  likely  to  main¬ 
tain  the  best  traditions  of  that  most  onerous  and  consequential 
position.  His  constant  affability  and  enormous  capacity  for  work 
will  bear  him  along  successfully,  as  it  has  done  throughout. 
Though  now  residing  at  6,  Carlton  Street,  Edinburgh,  it  was  only 
in  the  year  1894  that  he  left  Sir  Hugh  Hume  Campbell’s  March- 
mont  estates  in  Berwickshire,  where  he  was  overseer,  and  settled 
in  the  northern  metropolis.  His  removal  from  Marchmont 
caused  widespread  regret,  and  in  a  short  biographical  notice  that 
appeared  in  the  “Berwickshire  New’s”  on  May  22  of  that  year, 
the  writer  of  it  remarked  that  “  his  removal  has  occasioned  a  very 
marked  blank  in  the  districtj  where  his  commanding  presence, 
cheery  salutation,  wide  intelligence,  and  great  business  capacity 
were  universall.v  known  and  appreciated.”  Yes,  these  attributes 
are  true  in  each  direction,  and  only  a  man  of  mark  could  have 
impressed  the  Edinburgh  folks  to  elect  him  to  the  most  important 
office  of  this  or  similar  Association.  Peter  Loney  was  born  in  Aber- 
nethy,  Perthshire,  and  after  passing  through  the  Parish  School 
of  Rait,  at  an  early  age  he  started  work  in  the  gardens  at  Fin- 
gask  Castle,  the  beautiful  seat  of  Sir  Peter  Murray-Threipland, 
where  his  father  was  gardener.  He  did  not,  however,  lose  sight 
of  the  schoolmaster,  but  attended  an  evening  school  four  times 
a  week.  It  was  during  these  precious  extra  hours  that  Mr.  Loney, 
in  common  with  many  more,  felt  the  real  value  of  education,  and 
had  a  thirst  awakened  which  has  made  him  a  student  all  his  life. 
It  is  not  our  intention,  however,  to  follow  each  of  his  subsequent 
steps  in  detail  at  this  time.  At  eighteen  years  of  age  he  removed 
to  the  gardens  at  Camperdown,  where  shortly  he  was  made  out¬ 
door  foreman.  From  thence  his  next  appointment  was  as  general 
foreman  at  Gordon  Castle,  with  the  direction  of  thirty  men,  and 
remained  here  during  two  years.  Far  south  we  next  find  him, 
to  wit,  in  the  nurseries  of  Messrs.  Thomas  Jackson  and  Son, 
Kingston-on-Thames,  and  laid  out  an  estate  at  Epsom  for  the 
firm.  An  appointment  as  head  gardener  at  The  Clarence,  near 
London,  followed,  and  while  here  the  meadows  and  home  farm 
were  also  placed  under  his  supervision,  and  on  leaving  for  March¬ 
mont  he  was  presented  with  a  very  handsome  piece  of  plate.  We 
may  observe  that  a  valedictoi-y  gift  was  also  given  to  him  by  the 
emplo.yes  when  he  left  Gordon  Castle.  At  Marchmont  Mr.  Lonev 
spent  thirty  of  the  best  years  of  his  life.  But  this  notice  must  end 
tor  the  present,  though  not  before  we  convey  to'  Mr.  Loney  our 
sineerest  wishes  for  his  welfare  in  Edinburgh,  and  express  our 
hopes  that  he  may  continue  for  a  long  while  yet  in  the  official 
capacity  as  honorary  secretary  of  the  Scottish  Horticultural  Asso¬ 
ciation. 
The  Horticultural  Hall. 
On  Friday  last,  March  21,  at  3  o’clock  p.m.,  in  the  Drill  Hall 
of  the  London  Scottish  Volunteers  at  Buckingham  Gate,  West¬ 
minster,  a  special  general  meeting  of  Fellows  of  the  Royal  Horti¬ 
cultural  Society  convened  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  whether  or 
not  a  hall  would  be  accepted  as  the  means  of  celebrating  the 
Centenary  of  the  Society  in  1904,  and  if  so  decided,  as  to  what  site 
would  be  chosen.  After  considerable  discussion  on  both  sides 
the  ultimatum  of  the  meeting  was  that  an  Horticultural  Hall  be 
erected  at  thei  Vincent  Square  site  previously  referred  to  in  these 
columns  as  being  the  one  recommended  by  the  Council. 
Sir  Trevor  Lawrence,  Bart.,  the  President  of  tlie  Society, 
occupied  the  chair,  and  was  supported  by  all  of  the  Councilmen 
except  Mr.  C.  E.  Shea  and  Mr.  Bennett-Poe.  The  meeting,  in 
point  of  numbers,  must  have  been  a  record  one,  and  occupied  a 
half  of  the  body  of  the  Hall. 
In  his  opening  remarks  Sir  Trevor  said  he  hoped  that  the 
meeting  that  day  would  arrive  at  a  decision  of  considerable  im¬ 
portance.  He  approached  the  task  of  proposing  the  motion  in 
favour  of  a  hall  with  a  considerable  sense  of  responsibility.  In 
the  history  of  a  Society  such  as  this,  there  were  times  when  grave 
questions  must  always  arise,  and  though  these  might  occasion 
differences  of  opinion,  he  trusted  that  the  Fellows  would  recog¬ 
nise  that  the  Council,  at  any  rate,  had  the  welfare  of  the  Society 
at  heart.  At  home  and  abroad  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society 
has  become  the  reputed  head  of  horticulture  in  this  country,  or, 
indeed,  in  the  Empire.  Many  Fellows  considered  that  either  a 
new  hall  or  a  garden  was  desirable  in  itself,  but  unfortunately 
one  cannot  have  both  at  once,  and  which  was  to  have  priority? 
Looking  to  the  necessity  of  having  a  strong  horticultural  society 
in  the  British  Islands,  and  to  the  ever-increasing  interest  in 
horticulture  throughout  the  Empire,  and  surveying  the  histoi-y 
of  the  Society  since  quitting  South  Kensington,  Sir  Trevor  ven¬ 
tured  to  think  that  both  a  new  hall  and  a  new  garden  would  be 
secured  before  this  century  is  far  gone.  The  chairman  then 
briefly  laid  before  the  meeting  the  reasons  in  favour  of  a  hall. 
The  Drill  Hall  at  present  used  had  been  accepted  on  coming  from 
South  Kensington,  merely  as  a  makeshift,  and  the  Society  has 
now  entirely  outgrown  this  hall.  Besides  being  noisy,  draughty, 
and  often  cold,  it  was  entirely  unsuited  for  lecturing  in.  Touch¬ 
ing  on  the  negotiations  for  the  site  for  a  new  hall.  Sir  Trevor 
recapitulated  the  facts  as  previously  published  in  the  Journal  of 
Horticulture  and  its  contemporaries.  Turning  to  the  question  of 
a  new  garden,  there  were  many  points  in  favour  of  why  a  new 
one  should  be  got.  A  society  like  the  Royal  Horticultural  requires 
a  good  garden  for  scientific  and  practical  experiments,  and  it  is 
hoped  to  have  a  new  garden  very  soon.  Sir  Trevor  here  men¬ 
tioned  that  the  surrender  value  of  the  twenty  years’  lease  of 
Chiswick  Garden  is  now  known  to  be  less  valuable  than  was  at 
first  supposed.  Many  inquiries  were  made  for  a  suitable  site  for 
a  new  garden,  but  it  was  discovered  that  the  moment  one  tries  to 
get  land  lying  near  a  railway,  there  is  a  building  interest  attached 
and  prices  accordingly  rule  high.  Comparing  the  arguments  in 
favour  of  a  hall,  on  the  one  hand^  and  a  garden,  on  the  other.  Sir 
Trevor  thought  there  was  a  decided  advantage  on  the  side  of  a 
hall.  He  paid  a  high  tribute  to  the  unceasing  interest  and  aid 
rendered  by  Baron  Schroder.  In  the  dark  days  of  South  Ken¬ 
sington  Baron  Schroder’s  advice  and  assistance  were  largely  the 
means  of  rescuing  the  Society  from  failure.  He  also  read  a  letter 
from  the  Baron  (who  is  in  the  Riviera),  in  which  the  latter  ex¬ 
pressed  the  hope  that  the  meeting  would  that  day  pass  the  motion 
for  a  hall. 
Rough  preliminary  plans  and  estimates  for  a  hall  are  pre¬ 
pared,  though  on  March  21  they  were  not  ready  to  be  presented. 
£25,000  will  be  required  for  the  building  scheme ;  but,  looking 
to  the  vast  number  of  wealthy  Fellows  of  the  Society,  it  is  anti¬ 
cipated  that  this  sum  will  be  secm-ed  without  difficulty.  The 
Council  will  not  draw  upon  the  accumulated  funds  of  the  Society 
if  it  can  be  avoided.  The  rates,  taxes,  &c.,  entailed  by  the  new 
hall  will  come  out  of  the  yearly  income.  The  details  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  new  hall  plans  must  necessarily  be  left  to  the 
Council.  Having  concluded  his  remarks.  Sir  Trevor  then  read 
his  motion,  as  follows  : 
That  the  Fellows  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  in  general 
meeting  assembled  accept  the  proposal  of  building  a  new  Hall  in 
celebration  of  the  Centenary  of  the  Society,  and  hereby  adopt  the 
report  laid  before  them  this  day  by  the  Council.  They  also  desire  to 
record  their  appreciation  of  Baron  Schroder’s  public-spirited  conduct 
