254 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY, 



[August, 



Splendid large specimens of Allamanda Schot- 

 tii, in full bloom, for lawn decoration, were ready 

 to put out, and which must have a charming effect 

 throughout the season. 



Of ferns, chiefly Adiantum cuneatum and A. 

 Farleyensc were grown, in large quantities for bou- 

 quet making. Prominent among a variety of beau- 

 tiful plants stood a huge plant of Phormium tenax 

 var., or striped New Zealand fla.x. 



Both indoors and outside were large tanks con- 

 taining a choice collection of aquatics, from the 

 magnificent Victoria Regia to the beautiful odorif- 

 erous Nymphias, interesting Nelumbiums and 

 Papyrus, curious Cyperus, singular floating Pistia, 

 with a number of other pretty water plants, such 

 as Villarsia, Pontederia, Aponogeton, Sarracenea, 

 etc. For the first time I saw a fine plant of the 

 truly elegant Asparagus plumosus nanus, which is 

 far more beautiful than A. plumosus scandens. 

 Nothing herbaceous could possibly more closely 

 resemble pretty little green feathers than the plant 

 under notice. As yet it is new and scarce and 

 somewhat difficult to propagate, but will become 

 more popular than either ferns or smilax for flor- 

 ists' use when more abundant. 



The large mushroom house, in which immense 

 quantities are grown, as well as the well-stocked 

 vegetable garden of fourteen acres, which supplies, 

 besides the family, the heads of departments with 

 first-class vegetables, are sights to see. There are 

 five acres of asparagus for forcing, two acres of which 

 are annually used for that purpose, and two more 

 are planted yearly to be ready to keep up the stock. 

 The excellent condition of all these things I briefly 

 mention attest the skill and good management of 

 Mr. Gardener, of whom it may be truly said "he 

 is the right man in the right place ;" and, happily, 

 his princely employer duly appreciates his worth. 



In conclusion, what a gratification Mr. G. must 

 experience when he sees "how doth the little busy 

 bee improve each shining hour" beneath a canopy 

 of glass in the winter time. The novel idea oc- 

 curred to him of introducing a hive of bees into 

 the forcing houses to fertiUze the peach and straw- 

 berry blossoms. Holes for ingress and egress were 

 made in the glass partitions, through which they 

 passed from house to house and did their work 

 most effectively. Many ingenious devices have 

 been tried to produce artificial fertilization, but 

 these skilful little operators have a far better 

 method of impregnating flowers than man can 

 devise with all his wisdom. Not a blossom seemed 

 to escape their delicate attention, as no abortive 

 flowers were seen. 



CHAMPAGNE. 



The very interesting chapter on the grapes from 

 which champagne is made, is given from the Lon- 

 don Daily Telegraph : 



GATUKRI.NG THK CIIA.\1PA(,.\E (.RAPES. 



Witliin an easy distance of the town of RheirHS, 

 and connected with it by a convenient railway, 

 will be found the various localities which yield the 

 grapes from which the popular wine called cham- 

 pagne is made. Covering all the hills and scat- 

 tered about the plain, occupying every square foot 

 of available space, the vine steadily asserts itself, 

 and, despite the monotonous regularity of the rows, 

 the straitness of the intersecting avenues, and the 

 millions of light grey short sticks to which the 

 vines are attached, it would be unjust to deny the 

 existence of a certain picturesque eff'ect. The 

 gentle undulation of the soil about Rheims coht 

 siderably favors the growth of the grape. All the 

 vine gardens obtain the full force of the sun, and 

 it may be safely said that they obtain a maximum 

 of heat and a minimum of shadow. The land in 

 France is so very valuable, and the system of 

 peasant proprietorship is so usually followed, that 

 we find in the neighborhood of RKeims a general 

 and equal division of space. 



It is commonly but erroneously supposed that 

 each particular brand of champagne is made from 

 the grapes grown on one vineyard, and, further, 

 that every proprietor makes his wine from his or her 

 own ground. This is by no manner of means the 

 case. The Clicquots, the Moats, the Mumms, the 

 Roederers, the Goulets, and the Pommerys, all 

 have special tracts, and naturally employ their 

 own grapes ; but at vintage time it is necessary to 

 buy liberally from the humbler growers in order 

 to meet the demands of their gigantic establish- 

 ments. There is another reason why there should 

 be a mutual exchange of the champagne fruit. 

 This popular wine only obtains its perfection by a 

 careful, artistic, and judicious mixture of juices 

 obtained from the first-class vineyards. It is said 

 that among these Ay is renowned for the sweetness 

 of the grapes ; Cramant for its sparkling proper- 

 ties ; Verzenay for bouquet ; and Bouzy for force 

 or vinosite. Doctors differ on the subject of these 

 mixtures. Some manufacturers insist upon care- 

 fully divided proportions of Sillery, Verzenay, and 

 Bouzy ; of Mareuil, Ay, and Dizy ; and Pierry, 

 Cramant, Avizi, and Mesnil ; whilst others content 

 themselves with Ay, Pierry, and Cramant. Ee 

 this as it may, the true art of champagne-making 



