Febnioiy 1, 1873 ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



105 



Eefebence to Tlan of Flowek Gakdes at Saxdkixgham. 

 A. Flower bed edged i\itb Vaiiegated Holly, 6 inches high. 

 U. „ ,, Euouymub ludicous vaiiegatus, 6 inches hiyh. 



C. „ „ Cupresisus Lawsoniana, 6 inches high. 



D. „ „ Cuimnou I\-y, 6 inches high. 



E. ., „ Cedi-ua DeoJara, 6 inches high. 



F. „ „ CiTptomeria elegans, 6 inches high. 



0. „ ,, Voi-iegated Ivy, 6 inches high. 



H. „ „ Cotoneaster microphylla, 6 inches high. 



1. ^ „ Euonymus radicans variegatus, 6 inches high. 

 J. ,, „ , Japan Yew, ti inches high. 



K. ,. „ Common Ivy, 6 Inches hl^h. 



il. N. Centre of garden, the other haU is similar. 

 U. O. Grass. P. P. Grass slope. E. E. Walks. S. Statue. 



The desi;,'n9 mai-ked on the beds show the style of bedding-out adopted. 



provision is made for securing^ supply of water of the same 

 ti'iiiperatiu-e as the house by a tank iu frout under the ii'on 

 gi-atiug which serves as a path. 



In front of cue of these houses is a suiik piP for forcing 

 Strawberries, with which, in fact, the shelves of nearly every 

 house are filled. To give an idea of the demand for this fruit we 

 may state that no less than 10,000 pots are requii-ed to keep up 

 an adequate supply, and that gatheiing begins on the 1-lth of 

 Febraary. For the earliest gatherings 5-inch pots are used ; 

 for plants to fruit in April and May sometimes S-inch pots are 

 employed. The runners to furnish these plants are aU layered 

 in small pots, for each of which' a hole is made with a crowbar, 

 and the pot pressed down ; a stone is put on to keep the runner 

 steady, and as soon as rooted the plants are shifted into 5-iuch 

 pots and placed on an open piece of ground fully exposed to 

 the sun, ranging them iu 4-fcet beds \\ith 2-feet alleys between. 

 In the first week of October the plants intended to be first 

 forced are laid on their- sides, and the rest ai-e all plunged in 

 a border to the rims of the pots. There they remfdu without 

 any protection till required for forcing. Every week a fresh 



lot of plants are removed to the pit, which is fiUed with leaves, 

 and further heated by a hot-water pipe. When the fruit begins 

 to swell Mr. Carmichael puts a little of Standen's manure on 

 the surface of the soil, and as soon as the bloom is set the 

 frait is thinned out so as to leave from twelve to eighteen to 

 each pot. The extent to which the diflferent varieties are 

 grown for forcing is British Queen, 2000; President, 2000; 

 Echpse, 1000 ; Sir J. Paxton, 1000 ; Premier, 500 ; La Con- 

 staiite, 500 ; and the remainder consists of Dr. Hogg, President, 

 Cockscomb, and some other varieties. The last lot generally 

 flowers out of doors, and is only brought iu if likely to be 

 needed to kefp up the succession till the out-door crops 

 come in. 



Peas, likewise, are forced in quantities, and for this purpose 

 Maclean's Little Gem is alone employed. This is sown at the 

 a \A of August in 8-inch pots fiUed with soil (which is pressed 

 down) to three-fourths of their depth, eight Peas being placed 

 round the sides. The pots remain out of doors as long as the 

 weather is mild, but before frost they are placed iu a tempera- 

 tm-e of 45° to 50° at night. This sowing begins to produce 

 iu the first week of December, the plants bear successively 

 till February, and are succeeded by a sowing made about the 

 end of Seijtember. The plants we saw were not only furnished 

 with an abundance of their little pods, but were even orna- 

 mental by their blossom. There are so few who are not lovers 

 of Peas, even when these are m abundance, let alone a rarity, 

 that we have thought the method by which Mr. Carmichael 



produces them, and not in small quantities, is worthy of de- 

 sciiptiou and imitation. Green Peas iu December and January 

 are a rarity to be sighed after by many, but rarely obtained ; 

 but as Mr. Carmichael manages them there seems to be little 

 difficulty about it, and yet we all know that the Pea wiU not 

 bear forcing. The Kidney Bean, on the contrary, is well known 

 as one of the easiest things to force, and of it, of course, in a 

 place like Sandringham there was no lack. Cucumbers and 

 Melons receive their share of attention, and of the former 

 there were numbers hanging from the trellis ready for being 

 cut. In one of the Pine pits Musa Cavendishii was throw- 

 ing out a cluster of fririt which is likely to jirove of great 

 weight; and near it was the Mangosteeu, which Mr. Car- 

 michael hopes some day to fniit, but the plant is young as 

 yet, and so far as we know it has only once borne fruit iu this 

 couutiy. 



Before quitting the kitchen garden the Mushroom house must 

 be noticed, not only on account of its size but the fine crops 

 it contained. This is 80 feet long by 15 feet ■nlde, there being 

 a 5-feet path up the centre, and on each side 5-fcet shelves, 

 three tiers at the back, two tiers in front, for the house is a lean- 

 to against the north wall of the garden. The sides of the beds 

 are of iron, with iron cross-bars, and the flooiing is wood laid 

 longitudinally from cross-bar to cross-bar. It is heated by a 

 flow and return pipe, with evaporation troughs under the 

 centre of the iron-giated patliway. On the same side of the 

 wall are the fiuit-room, which is large and well-fitted up, 



