1885.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



25 



few beautiful kinds, which with ordinary care, they 

 may manage to grow — namely : Erica Caffra alba, 

 E. Caffra rubra, E. rubida, E. Wilmoreana, E. um- 

 bellata, E. sicula, E. arborea squarosa, E. Bowie- 

 ana, E. mutabilis, E. cruenta superba, E. interme- 

 •dia, and E. colorans. Mount Holly, N. J. 



THE LOTUS OF THE ANCIENTS. 

 BV DR. \V. R. GERARD. 



" Inquirer" (p. 350 of Gardeners' Monthly), 



probably wants information in regard to the 



famed Lotus, the food of the Lotophagi, which 



Homer says was so delicious as to make those who 



ate it forget their native country. 



'* They went, and found an hospitable race ; 

 Not prone to ill. not stranee to foreign guest : 

 They eat, they drink, and Nature t:ives the feast ; 

 The trees around them all their food produce, 

 I/otusthe narae — divine, nectareous juice I 

 (Jheiice called Lotophagi) which whoso tastes, 

 Insatiate riots in the sweet repasts ; 

 Nor other home, nor other care intends. 

 But quits his house, his country, and his friends." 

 — Odyssey. 9 ; Pope's irari.sl.ition. 



This enchanting fruit of the ancients is said to 



have been the product of an African species of 



Zizyphus — Z. Lotus, Willd. Celtis Australis has 



also had the credit of being the plant that yielded 



the fruit under consideration; hence its popular 



name Lote-tree. The Greek name '/u-m- (lotos), 



included the above-named shrub, a species of 



melilotus, a few trees, and several aquatic plants. 



New York City, Nov. 18, 1SS4. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF BY-GONE SCENES. 

 BY JAMES MORTON. 



In reading the interesting article of Wm. T. 

 Harding in the November Monthly, and follow- 

 ing him in vivid imagination in his rambles 

 through Needwood forest, I cannot but share with 

 him in surprise and regret at the breaking up of 

 the bright and fertile retreat of Rangemore. (See 

 correction of this.— Ed. G. M.) 



I have read with avidity and delight the pleasing 

 word pictures of Mr. Harding in many of his 

 flowery descriptions of things and places in the 

 English midlands ; but when he touches on 

 Rangemore I can no longer refrain from joining 

 with him in a few less elegant words than his on 

 the beauties of thes* Elysian glades. My words 

 may not be of a general interest to the readers of 

 this journal, but it certainly gives me relief to vent 

 my feelings and say a few things in favor of the 

 abodes surrounding Burton and along the banks 

 of the winding Trent. I was an admirer of things 

 at Rangemore ; its undulating vegetable garden. 



fruit trees, lawns, its fine growing graperies, and 

 unique collection of plants I have frequently 



I trudged about seven miles to see. The scenes that 



I Mr. Harding describes are all familiar to me, and 

 their recollections beget pleasant memories of 

 " bygone happy days." In this metaphorical 

 ramble we cannot but visit Rolleston Hall, the seat 

 of Sir Tonman Mosely, replete with all to be found 

 in horticultural interest, and smiling under the 

 charge of the genial Mr. Buck. What fine speci- 

 mens of Cyathea dealbata and Dicksonia antarctica 

 flourished in the conservatory there. I have 

 tramped it every inch from Rolleston to Dunstall, 

 and retain pleasing thoughts of Mr. Simpson 

 and his indefatigable foreman, Mr. Bradbury, the 

 ridge and furrow roofed conservatory, with many 

 things of interest that escape my memory now. 

 Crossing the Trent at Barton and Walton into 

 the sun-blessed radiance of the Derbyshire hills, 

 and soon to the sylvan shades of the towering 

 elms in Drakelowe Park, where I have sauntered 

 through its leafy bowers, and took the divergent 

 leafy pathways of the fallow-deer. The gardens 

 at Drakelowe contain many admirable things in 

 the plant and fruit line, especially so since the 

 acquisition of the Colon Hall plants, by Mr. John 

 Gretton. Mr. Arnold was then in charge and the 

 stately mansion of Drakelowe nestled in bright 

 tranquility on the verge of the rippling Trent. 

 Bladon House, still higher up on the Derbyshire 

 slope, the residence of Fred. Gretton, Esq., is 

 where for some years I whiled my time away. 

 Our " bothy" was close to the river and often when 

 "on duty" I stole to bathe in that beer making 

 stream. Mr. Prince, a graduate of Chatsworth, 

 was gardener at Bladon at that time; under his 

 tuition I gained much information that has since 

 proved valuable to me, not all in matters horti- 

 cultur.il — for his life was a model for gardeners to 



I emulate. There I saw the finest lot of fancy Pelar- 

 goniums it was ever my privilege to behold. 

 Staged at the June show of Burton-on-Trent, they 

 were as sure of the awards as were the orchids 

 froin Rangemore or the pines from Rolleston. 

 .Mr. Prince was the instigator of many improve- 

 ments in the gardens at Bladon House, and under 

 his guidance they lacked none of the thrift to be 

 found in their rivals beyond the Trent, or in that 

 salubrious location where the morning breeze is 

 mingled with the vapors of distilling malt, and the 

 cold air of Winter mellowed with the perfume of 



) the hops. 



I would like to take your interesting correspon- 

 dent by the hand and travel again those verdant 



