May  22,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
457 
A  Liverpool  Roof  Garden. 
An  Edinburgh  Nursery, 
Being  North  recently,  and  having  an  afternoon  at  niy  disposal 
when  in  Edinburgh,  I  utilised  it  by  inspecting  a  noted  Scottish 
nursery — I  refer  to  that  of  Messrs.  Dicksons  and  Co.,  which  has 
been  established  since  1770,  and  is  universally  known  as  a  sub¬ 
stantial  house.  The  Edinburgh  folks,  as  all  know,  are  proud  of 
their  grand  city,  and  so  they  are  of  their  old  nurseries  of  high 
repute,  and  Dicksons  is  looked  up  to  and  pointed  at  a.s  a  grand 
example. 
The  siwd  shop  and  offices  at  1,  Waterloo  Place,  occupy  one  of 
the  most  central  positions  in  Edinburgh,  but  the  nursery  is 
further  out.  On  my  first  accjuaintance  with  the  firm  some  thirty 
years  ago,  the  nurseries  were  at  Red  Braes  and  Pilrig,  but  they 
were  squeezed  out  from  both  positions  by  the  encroachment  of 
railways  and  builders;  but  the  firm  will  be  much  older  before 
such  happens  again,  as  the  present  nursery  is  over  two  miles  from 
the  town,  near  CVaigmillar,  and  is  easily  and  quickly  reached  by 
cable  car.  The  winter  now  over  has  been  one  of  the  most 
severe  experienced  in  Scotland  for  many  years.  Winter  after 
winter  the  old  gentlemen  have  been  calling  out  “  Ice !  Ice !  ”  to 
curl  on,  and  many  gardeners  are  included  here,  but  in  January 
and  Februarj'  of  this  year  the  cry  was  reversed,  and  thaw  begged 
for.  You  will  therefore  understand,  sir,  that  the  winter  in  Scot¬ 
land  has  been  a  trying  one  for  vegetation,  and  while  interestinglj' 
occupied  in  examining  the  vast  stores  of  plants  with  which  the 
nursery  is  admirably  furnished,  I  was  keenly  observant  of  how 
they  had  stood  the  frost,  and  was  a  little  surprised  and  much 
gratified  to  find  very  little  trace  of  injury  by  frost  on  any  of 
the  subjects.  Their  exemption  I  attribute  to  the  well-drained 
soil  the  plants  grow  in,  and  the  full  exposure  they  are  subjected 
to,  which  ripens  the  wood  so  thoroughly  in  autumn  that  frost  has 
no  effect  on  them. 
The  nursery  extends  to  100  acres.  Fruit  trees  occupy  a  large 
space.  They  are  thoroughly  well  grown  here,  and  the  demand 
for  them  this  winter  has  been  unprecedented:  a  condition  I  hear 
of  in  the  South,  too  ;  and  is  a  sure  indication  that  fruit  culture, 
which  we  are  so  anxious  to  see  extending  in  this  country,  is  doing 
so.  The  nursery  was  exceptionally  void  of  old  trees.  Indeed, 
there  are  none  there  over  two  or  three  years  old,  but  tens  of 
thousands  of  young  ones  of  all  popular  forms  are  coming  on. 
Another  feature  is  the  forest  trees.  The  Scottish  nurseries  are 
invariably  great  in  these,  and  owing  to  its  extent  Messrs.  Dick¬ 
sons’  is  conspicuous ;  and  here  again  the  supply  can  hardly  keep  i 
pace  with  the  demand.  One  tree,  in  particular,  is  having  an  ! 
onnous  run  on  it  this  year.  I  refer  to  the  Japanese  Larch,, 
wincli  Messrs.  Dick.sons  have  been  most  assiduous  in  introducing 
to  this  country  in  large  quantities,  and  advocating  its  superior 
c  aiins  over  the  old  Larch.  The  main  points  of  the  Japanese  are 
tlmt  it  grows  more  quickly,  resists  the  disease  very  much  better 
and  IS  altogether  a  better  tree  than  the  old  Larch.  Mv 
oi\n  ob.sei  vation  elsewhere  leads  me  to  the  same  conclusions.  Ten 
yeais  ago  I  planted  a  trial  sample  of  this  Larch  near  some  of  tlie 
common  ones,  and  to-day  they  are  a  yard  or  more  higher  and  very 
robust,  and  their  more  brown  colour  when  not  in  leaf  is  very 
pleasing.  All  the  larger  trees  were  sold  out  at  the  time  of  my 
visit,  but  the  multitudes  getting  ready  for  next  winter  and  suc¬ 
ceeding  ones  are  convincing  of  the  confidence  the  firm  have  in 
this  as  yet  little-known  Larch.  Oaks,  Ash,  Spruce  Firs,  Elm, 
and  Beech  are  largely  grown,  and  ornamental  trees  and  shrubs 
are  given  much  attention. 
Rhododendrons  of  the  fine  flowering  kinds  and  ponticums  for 
covert  planting  were  capital.  Roses  of  all  kinds  are  largely  grown, 
and  all  had  escaped  injury  by  frost  remarkably.  I  may  observe  I 
saw  this  nursery  when  the  firm  took  to  it  some  dozen  or  more 
pars  ago.  It  was  then  a  farm,  under  the  plough,  but  it  has  all 
been  spade  trenched  since,  thoroughly  cleaned,  and  made  deeply 
fertile,  and  its  present  condition  is  absolutely  satisfactory  and  iii 
the  highest  state  of  production.  As  a  rule,  Scotch  nurseries  are 
considerably  behind  the  English  ones  in  their  glass^  house  arrange¬ 
ment  as  well  as  in  the  condition  of  the  occupants  of  such  struc¬ 
tures;  but  the  opportunity  was  taken  here  in  forming  the  new 
nursery  to  erect  many  ranges  of  up-to-date  glass  houses.  They  are 
excellently  adapted  for  plant  culture  and  most  conveniently 
arranged  as  to  facilities  of  working,  and  what  is  of  equal  import¬ 
ance  to  the  firm  and  the  public,  they  are  replete  with  well-grown 
batches  of  all  kinds  of  stove  and  greenhouse  plants  that  are  vast 
improvements  on  those  of  the  old  nursery  tiines. 
Cleanliness  and  good  health  are  their  conspicuous  features. 
What  may  be  termed  the  florist  flower  class  of  plants  meet  with 
capital  attention  here.  I  can  hardly  recollect  the  time  when  I 
met  with  such  a  fine  batch  of  herbaceous  Calceolarias  as  filled 
one  of  the  long  glass  houses.  Some  hundreds  of  them  are  growing 
in  9in  pots  and  equally  as  many  in  Gin  ones.  None  were  in 
bloom,  but  all  gave  promise  of  superior  excellence,  as  the 
numerous  leaves  on  each  plant  were  as  large  as  one’s  open  hand, 
thick,  green,  and  in  the  very  best  of  health.  I  could  not  help 
congratulating  Mr.  W.  H.  Massie,  the  head  of  the  firm,  on  this 
strikingly  conspicuous  display  of  superior  culture  of  the  Calceo¬ 
laria.  and  I  advised  him  to  send  a  batch  up  to  one  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society’s  meetings  when  they  were  in  bloom,  as  I 
