1870.] GARDEN RECORDS. 315 



from frost. Some dry litter, or sawdust, or coal-ashes can be placed 

 over the pots to the depth of about 3 inches ; but it is much to be pre- 

 ferred that the plants have the shelter of glass before hard weather sets 

 in. At this period water will scarcely be required; and when it is 

 applied, it should only be in sufficient quantities to keep the wood 

 from shrinking. 



Plants destined for winter-blooming should be pruned, then potted, 

 and the wood dressed with the mixture prescribed above. If the roots 

 be dry, a soaking of water should be given, and the plants placed in a 

 cold frame, or some other cool structure, where the buds will begin to 

 swell ; and by the end of the year they can be put into a warm house 

 to be pushed on into growth, or treated as prescribed in my former 

 paper. A. Kerr. 



GARDEN RECORDS. 



NO. VII. 



MOTTISFONT ABBEY, ROMSEY, HAMPSHIRE, THE SEAT OF LADY 

 BARKER MILL. 



{Continued from page 27L) 



The traveller who journeys by rail from Southampton to Andover, or the 

 pleasure-seeker who makes his annual trip by road to Stockbridge Races, must 

 be equally familiar with the locale of Mottisfont Abbey, and have both admired 

 its charming seclusion, and, especially at this period of the year, have longed to 

 partake somewhat largely of the delicious cooluess so characteristic of its watery 

 surroundings and noble umbrageous trees. Certainly the place partakes of a 

 pleasant greenness, even in the hottest weather, that is most refreshing, and 

 which is produced by the abundance of water that flows through it. 



A pleasant walk of a quarter of a mile from the little railway station brings us 

 to the Romsey Lodge, where we are gratified to find her ladyship's able gardener, 

 Mr Jones, waiting to be our escort. Proceeding up the carriage-road, the ear is 

 struck by a rumbling sound as well as that of a rush of water; and turning 

 shortly to the left, we come upon a large pumphouse, in which a huge hydraulic 

 wheel is revolving, driven round by the force of the very element that it is thus 

 forcing in large quantities to the top of the Abbey for the supply of all its inter- 

 nal requirements, and also to the stables, farm, kitchen-garden, and the whole 

 of the glass-houses. A little further on to the lawn, still to the left, flows a clear 

 stream of cool spring water that rises from a large hole or well a little higher up. 

 This well is about 10 feet in depth and the same in diameter, and as the water 

 passes out from it, it falls down a slight declivity, and thus forms a pretty cas- 

 cade. The flow is incessant, the stream being about 5 feet in width and 12 

 inches in depth, thus furnishing a supply of delicious water that would in popu- 

 lous localities prove a valuable boon. 



Immediately in front of the east side of the Abbey runs an artificial river of 

 about 35 feet in width and 2£ feet deep, believed to have been made in the days 



