32 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t January 11, 1372. 



Many species of Ladies' Slipper are grown. Tliese are at all 

 times interesting, as the leaves of most of them are prettily 

 marked. I noted Cypripedium Dayanum, a most distinct and 

 beautiful species both as regards its beautifuUy-variegated 

 leaves and flowers. C. Farrieanum is also very pretty and 

 distinct. 



I wiU conclude by advising all lovers of this class of plants 

 to visit Mcadowbank, and by thanking Mr. Anderson for his 

 Mndness iu showing me through, and unreservedly answering 

 aU the questions I put to bim concerning the treatment of his 

 favourites. — J. Douglas. 



BOWOOD.— No. 2. 



The Seat of the Marquis of Lansdowne. 

 We left off at the kitchen garden. This is situated on the 

 north side of the mansion, and contains 5J acres within the 

 walls, which vary from 12 to 14 feet in height ; the area in- 

 cluded by them is di-(-ided into four compartments. There is, 

 besides, in another part of the grounds a kitchen garden of 

 about 2^ acres, in which Cabbageworts, Asparagus, Sea-kale, 

 Rhubarb, Potatoes, and similar crops are grown ; there is also 

 an orchard of 6 acres. The soil and subsoil of the walled 

 garden are naturally imfavourable to the growth of fruit trees, 

 containing a large amount of hungry, coarse, ferruginous sand, 

 with rock beneath, through the fissures of whicli the water 

 rises to within 3 feet of the surface. On this account the 

 borders have for the most paii been formed artificially of turfy 

 loam, which had to be carted a distance of several miles. 

 These borders are generally 12 feet wide, and the great labour 

 which has been expended in making them has been repaid by 

 excellent crops. The trees have evidently been carefully 

 managed from then- youth, and among the horizontal-trained 

 Pear trees are some of the best examples of that mode of 

 training anyivhere to be found. On the opposite side of the 

 9-feet walks, all of which are edged with stone, are also hori- 

 zontally-trained Apple and Pear trees on espaliers of iron wire, 

 and the space between them and the walk was in one border 

 planted with Picotees and Carnations, to furnish cut flowers. 

 The fan-trained Pears are large, and like the horizontals very 

 well trained ; so, too, are some single and double upright cordons 

 between the trees. The Peach and Apricot walls have copings 

 ■which project on the south side 4 inches beyond the face of 

 the wall, and temporary copings are put on in spring. One 

 wall is entirely occupied with Green Gage Plums, and on a 

 north aspect are Plums for late use, and Morello Cherries, 

 and borders with the same aspect are planted with Currants, 

 which are kept covered to retard them iu order to afford a late 

 supply, and Lily of the VaUey for forcing. On some of the 

 waUs are Fig trees, several of which though very old still bear 

 good crops. To break the force of the wind Ai-bor-Vitie hedges 

 extend across the borders in parts exposed to the sweep of 

 eddying breezes, and in front of some of the houses simQar 

 hedges are employed with the same object. 



We will now look through the vineries and other houses, 

 which are for the most part lean-to's facing the south. A 

 half-span Muscat house 30 long, and a large vinery planted with 

 Black Hamburghs, which are generally started about Chr-ist- 

 mas, may be dismissed without further remark, than that at 

 the time of our visit each was filled with Geraniums. In the 

 late Muscat house the Vines had been lifted in 1870, aud a 

 fresh border made ; they had pushed roots vigorously, and 

 the crop r about half of which was cut, was also good. The 

 late vinery cont.iined such standard kinds as West's St. 

 Peter's and Lady Downe's ; and a house planted with Canon 

 HaU Muscat, a noble Grape when well gro-wn, but a shy setter, 

 was undergoing repah-. Mr. Scammell prefers fruiting it on 

 the young wood instead of on the spurs. In the early house 

 the spur-pruned Vines were breaking at Christmas ; on the back 

 EheU were Strawberries for March, and m front Orange trees. 

 A succession house contained Black Hamburgh and Buckland 

 Sweetwater for ripening in June. Another range about 50 feet 

 long by 1.5 or 16 feet wide, is filled with large old Black Ham- 

 burgh Vines, which it is intended to replace with Lady 

 Downe's and other late Grapes. At present it is occupied 

 with Chinese Primulas, Cinerarias, and bediling plants. The 

 last vinery to be noticed is one flue-heated, contamin" old 

 Tines Ufted the year before last (1870), and which bore a''good 

 crop last season. This likewise was profitably occupied with 

 bedding plants. Azaleas, and Mignonette. 



Of the Peach houses, three in number, the trees in the 

 earliest were coming into flower at Christmas, and wiU most 



likely produce fruit the first week in May. This house,''about 

 9 feet wide, has a steep roof well calculated to transmit and 

 not reflect the sun's rays early in the year, and so to econo- 

 mise natural heat ; still ample provision is made for artificial 

 heat, for there are three rows of 4-incli pipes. At the back 

 are two shelves under the hip where Strawberries are forced. 

 The trees in the succession house, wliich is flue-heated, had 

 just been tied-in ; the varieties were Pioyal George and Belle- 

 garde Peaches, and Murrey Nectarine. Those in the late 

 Peach house, being dormant, call for no remark. 



The Pine pits, which are about 13 feet wide, and have out- 

 side chambers for leaves to afford bottom heat, contain a 

 fine stock of healthy fruiting and succession plants. Black 

 Jamaica and Smooth-leaved Cayenne are the varieties chiefly 

 grown for winter fruiting, and the Ripley Queen for sum- 

 mer. Providence is also ripened to a good size. In other 

 forcing houses were Dwarf Kidney Beans, Asparagus, and a 

 number of Pines, every inch of space being fully occupied. 

 In the Cucumber house, 30 feet by 12, Telegraph was bearing 

 well ; Azalea amcena, a charming little kind for spring decora- 

 tion, was hkewise being forced, as well as Gardenias and some 

 other plants. One of thfe most useful structures in the garden 

 is the orchard house, a little more than 200 feet long by 10 feet 

 wide, and having a curvilinear roof placed against a waU facing 

 south. The back sashes lift to afford top ventilation, and 

 those in front are pivot-hung to push outwards. Peaches aud 

 Nectarines are trained on a curved treUis in front. Half a 

 dozen Plum trees, taken from the open gi-ound, beheaded, and 

 grafted with Green Ciage, had borne well last year. The other 

 occupants of this house were Strawberries, to be protected 

 imtil required for forcing, and Cos Lettuces, of which a large 

 number had been taken up from the borders to be planted 

 out in spring. In a quarter snugly hedged round with Arbor- 

 Vita; are frames fiUed with a fine healthy stock of Nea- 

 politan Violets and half-hardy plants, pits for Strawberry- 

 forcing, &c. 



Plant-growing is not pursued to any great extent at Bowood, 

 the principal object being to produce plants to meet the lai-ge 

 demands for the decoration of the mansion and flowers for 

 bouquets and similar purposes. A small stove contains Bou- 

 gainrillea glabra planted in a border with bottom heat, and 

 freely producing its rosy bracts on the roof ; also a number of 

 plants of the brilliant and useful Poinsettia pulcherrima in 

 4-inch as well as in larger pots, Dracfeuas, Marantas, Eu- 

 phorbias, Eucharis amazonica, Begonias, and other plants. 

 Another plant house is chiefly filled with Azaleas and CameDias ; 

 on the roof is a plant of Tacsonia Van-Volxemi, which flowers 

 from spring tiU late in autimm. Outside of this house is a 

 flourishing plant of the New Zealand Flax, which though 

 almost hardy is not quite so, being cut down to the ground in 

 severe weather unless afforded a little temporary protection- 

 In front are two large tufts of the Pampas Cirass, one of which 

 had produced the year before a hundred of its tall silvery 

 plumes. The only other houses we need notice are a tem- 

 poraiy orangery, iu which are some immense trees obtained 

 from France, weighing with the tubs aud soil more than 3 tons 

 each, and, consequently, veiy troublesome to move to the 

 terraces in summer, and another orangery forming part of the 

 mansion, and as architectural in its character as the one just 

 referred to is not. Here, too, are some large and handsome 

 Orange trees in tubs. Bays, American Aloes, etc. Outside the 

 Pomegranate, Bignouia radicans, and Japanese Honeysuckle 

 serve to clothe the walls. The fruit-room, 50 feet long by 

 14 or 15 feet wide, is fitted-up with open-spaiTed shelves, and 

 there are sliding shutters in the roof, which, except when fruil; 

 is required, are kept closed aud the room in darkness. 



We have before said that the glory of Bowood is its pleasure 

 grounds, and we have also remarked how well these are kept; 

 notwithstanding their great extent ; but it would not be just 

 to the excellent gardener, Mr. Scammell, to omit adding that 

 the useful is as carefully attended to as the ornamental, and 

 that the fruit and kitchen garden and hothouses, as regards 

 neatness and good cultivation, are on a par with the xileasure 

 groimds. 



CoLTivATED Natuke. — Between Nature iu her wild state and 

 Nature under skilful management there is as mxich difference 

 in appearance as between a savage and a peer, and in produc- 

 tive power as between a wandermg Caffre and a practised 

 artisan. A few days ago we went through Mr. Crook's gardens 

 at BlackpUl, and were astonished to find in it an Apple tree — ■ 

 the Crook Seedling, as it is now to be called — bearing a third 



