458 THE GARDENER. [Oct. 



good qualities, with these additional advantages; it is a better bloomer, 

 has a larger flower, a more vigorous constitution, and is much more 

 eflfective at a distance than Purple King. It was planted out side 

 by side with Purple King in various situations, and its superior- 

 ity was very noticeable. It will prove a good companion to Crimson 

 King, by the same raiser, and we hope Mr Thomson will send it out 

 at an early date. 



Early and late frosts are the great drawback at Drumlanrig. They 

 linger in the valley of the Nith till the beginning of June, and the fine 

 display of bedding plants is liable to be cut up any time after the end 

 of August. A destructive frost occurred here in the middle of May 

 last, that completely destroyed all the young growths of the deciduous 

 trees. The fine Beech-trees, which are a feature of the pleasure-grounds 

 and parks around the Castle, had all made a second growth, and the 

 withered remains of the earlier shoots were still adhering to the trees at 

 the time of our visit. 



Having Archerfield in our mind's eye, we naturally looked for some- 

 thing in the way of fruit culture ; nor were we disappointed. A range 

 of forcing and plant houses is being erected on the site of the old 

 houses at the kitchen-garden, which, for design and finish, surpass any- 

 thing we have seen for a long while. Two new vineries, each about 

 50 feet long and 20 feet wide, were completed and planted last year. 

 The supernumeraries were bearing heavy crops — fine in bunch and 

 berry. Black Hamburgs were finer on year-old rods than anything 

 we saw at the Glasgow Centenary Exhibition. The Golden Champion 

 was fine and without blemish, grafted on the Muscat of Alexandria. 

 From what we saw here and elsewhere, we have come to the conclusion 

 that this is decidedly the best stock for it. It does not spot, as it is 

 apt to do when planted on its own roots, or grafted upon the Hamburg. 



The rods of the young permanent Vines were, without the least 

 exaggeration, simply marvellous — more like rake-shafts than anything 

 we could think of ; the wood short-jointed, firm, brown, and promising 

 to finish like a Hazel rod — certainly the finest samples of growth it has 

 been our lot to see. Judging from the crops on the " extras " here, 

 and in the other houses temporarily planted with Vines, and other 

 indications, the Champion of the North will have to look to his laurels 

 by-and-by. Drumlanrig is a red-sandstone district, and the soil of the 

 Vine-borders looked very red and sandy, and reminded us a good deal 

 of the soil about Blakeford Hall, in Staffordshire, where Mr Bannerman 

 has long produced such fine Grapes, and other good Grape-growing 

 districts in England. 



The Pine-stoves were only in progress at the time of our visit — large 

 and commodious structures. In consequence of the re-erections and alter- 



