1870.] GARDENING AT PINKIE HOUSE. 457 



over and above. Mr M'Intosh, in his ' Book of the Garden/ vol. ii. p. 

 487, has some very good and judicious remarks regarding the formation 

 of Peach-tree borders, and in addition to what I have stated, he says 

 regarding aeration, " Thorough drainage is not only necessary to the 

 welfare of the roots of the Peach and all other tender trees — and this 

 the more so as the situation is cold, late, or damp — but subterranean 

 aeration, or underground ventilation, is equally essential." I have 

 never seen this put into practice, but in theory I like the idea very 

 much. The simplest mode I know of accomplishing this is to place 

 ordinary tiles in communication with the drains of the border and the 

 material covering the same. By placing these tiles perpendicularly so 

 as to make regular communication with the air and the bottom of the 

 border, placing one set along the bottom of the wall and the other at 

 the front of the border near the walk, a regular and free circulation of 

 air will be secured, which, I have no doubt, would prove highly 

 beneficial to the cultivation of the Peach in localities where now its 

 growth is regarded as almost impossible. 



James MOIillan. 

 (To be continued.) 



GARDENING AT PINKIE HOUSE. 



As an Englishman rather enthusiastic in botanical research, I venture to state 

 how very much I am interested, in my yearly visit to Scotland, in what I find 

 in the many gardens that come under my notice. Go where I will, I find either 

 something new, or some old and valuable herbaceous plant under cultivation, or 

 the general garden in a high state of order and beauty. I have, however, only 

 found one garden where all the requisites for complete study and enjoyment 

 are existing — viz., bedding-out plants, herbaceous, Alpine, and Ferns. Many 

 gardens are indeed a glorious display of colouring ; the eye is pleased, the taste 

 gratified, but the mind is dissatisfied. In visiting one, you visit all — the only 

 variety is the transposition of the colouring. But where botany is really con- 

 sidered, where the different classes or orders of plants are valued, where plants 

 from the smallest sedum to the tallest herbaceous plant are to be found, there is 

 cultivation of the mind with intense gratification and useful study. I might 

 then state how gratified I was at finding at Pinkie House all that I so much 

 longed to see, — a most picturesque arrangement of bedding plants, with a back- 

 ground of fine timber ; a large assortment of herbaceous plants, about 300 

 varieties ; an interesting collection of Alpines, and a very fine collection 

 of Ferns, these latter numbering at least 300 hardy varieties, all of which had 

 remained out during the last winter. Some of the specimens are in great 

 vigour, especially the Polystichums. There was also one very pleasing feature 

 in this garden — it is not kept up at a very heavy expense. Many of the 

 great shoiv gardens require a large staff and a heavy outlay, but here all is 



