April ir,, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



Of other auuuals au almost endless number miglit he men- 

 tioned, such as the old Love-lies-bleeding, of which there are 

 red and white flowered varieties, the double Sanvitalia pro- 

 cumbens, Nvcterinia selaginoides, lilac or white, and Gaillardia 

 pieta, the latter two perennials, but flowering the first year ; 

 t'alandriiiia umbellata, beautiful in colour and very dwarf, valu- 

 able both for beds and rockwork ; Nolana laneeolata -siolacea, 

 beautiful violet, and there is a light blue variety as well. 

 Double Californian Sunflower also deserves notice on account 

 of its perfectly double orange flowers, 8 inches in diameter. 

 Lupines exhibited great diversity of height and colour, accord- 

 ing to the species and variety; L. bybridus atrococciueus was 

 one of the finest, being very rich in colour. Pentstemons and 

 Chelone barbata eocciuea, the latter with bright scarlet Pent- 

 stemon-like flowers, deserve mention among perennials ; the 

 latter in pai-ticular is extremely effective, but both deserve a 

 place in every garden. The Gladioluses, covering more than 

 half an acre, were a splendid sight ; of brenchieyensis, the most 

 showy of all the cheap varieties for garden decoration, we were 

 told there were somewhere about 200,000 bulbs. 



The vegetable seeds had been in a great measure harvested, 

 but we may note that of that invaluable dwarf Marrow Pea 

 Maclean's Little Ciem, the dwarfest of all the wrinkled Mar- 

 rows, and to the value of which for forcing we alluded in our 

 report of Sandringham, no less than ten acres were devoted, 

 and there was the same extent of Tom Thumb. These figures 

 speak for themselves. Of Laxton's Alpha there were between 

 five and six acres. Of other sorts w-e noticed Climax and 

 Leviathan, the latter one of the largest and best of the late 

 Peas. Conquest Marrow was also a very productive green 

 wrinkled kind. Of Broad Beans Beck's Dwarf Green Gem, not 

 exceeding a foot high, was bearing thirty pods to a plant. Of 

 Champion Moss Curled Parsley, one of the finest stocks of 

 Curled Parsley ever raised, there were quite three acres, and 

 the same area was devoted to another champion — the Cham- 

 pion Runner, an immense-podded Scarlet Runner. Spanish, 

 Giant Roeca, and other Onions were largely repre.iented, as 

 also a fine stock of solid white Celery, Beet, Dwarf Kidnev 

 Beans, Lettuces, and Tomatoes. 



ADVICE ASKED FROM SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 



In your instnictions for the management of pot plants, the 

 chief ingi'edients recommended for the compost are turfy loam, 

 fibrous peat, and leaf mould in various proportions. Now, in 

 this country none of the three is to be had. The roots of our 

 gi'asses die and disappear soon after the rainy season, and our 

 loams, whether chocolate brown, or light brown sandy loam, 

 contam not a particle of fibre. The only peat to be obtained 

 is much about the same as English bog soil, and costs 20.'>'. 

 a-load ; and as our trees are not deciduous we have no leaf 

 mould, the neai'est approach to it being all the weeds, prim- 

 ings, and garden refuse gathered into a hole and rotted there. 

 Under these circumstances, coupled with the fact of our 

 having two spi-ings and a long summer, with neither winter 

 nor autumn in reality, you can conceive that our greenhouse 

 management is a series of experiments, sometimes successful 

 sometimes otherwise, and I should be gratified if you or some 

 of your correspondents of experience would suggest some 

 plan of blending the soils we have as abovenamed (to which, 

 of course, may be added dung, coarse river sand, and white 

 sea sand), so as to form the nearest approach to those generaUy 

 recommended. — South Australian. 



The Auction or Plants at Leybouene Grange, in Kent, be- 

 longing to Sir .Joseph Hawley, Bart., took place on the lOth 

 and 11th iust. The Azaleas, 1.50, and Camellias ninety-seven 

 in number, were placed on the lawn at the back of the mansisn, 

 ranged in rows or avenues about 80 yards in length, and pre- 

 sented a sight seldom seen and rarelj- excelled by any private 

 collection. The health and symmetry of the plants showed 

 excellent examples of Mr. Bowman's skill and care. 



The prices the Azaleas brought were from seven guineas 

 per plant downwards, and the Camellias from £6 10s. down- 

 wards. Several beautifully arranged baskets for conservatory 

 decoration, tastefully filled with Ferns, &c., sold for £6 3.s-. 

 per pair, £7 6.--., and £3 18s. 



A large company spiritedly contended for the best specimens. 

 Among the purchasers were many of the neighbouring gentry, 

 and several of the principal London florists were present. The 

 sale was conducted by Messrs. Tootell & Sons, of Maidstone, 



and to them and Mr. Bowman many expressions of regi-et 

 were made that a collection of plants so beautiful should be 

 disjjersed. 



HAWKESTARD PARK. 

 The visitors to the London horticultural shows will remem- 

 ber that collections of plants from this place have frequently 

 carried off the first prizes, and such persons, therefore, are 

 familiar with the name of Hawkesyard, the seat of Josiah 

 Spode, Esq., near Eugeley, about the centre of the county of 

 Stafford. In the earliest notices it is spelt Hauksharde ; and 

 in the reign of Edward III. it was the residence of Humphry 

 Rugeley, and it remained in the possession of his descendants 

 until the commencement of the seventeenth century, Simon 

 Rugeley, the very effective parUamentaiy commander, bemg 

 the last of the name who was its owner ; and Dr. Harwood, 

 writing in 1820, observes, " The Rugeleys are extinct in the 

 county." Our next relative information is when it was in the 

 possession of J. H. Lister, Esq. The house then was moved 

 from the Trent Valley, placed where it now stands, and named 

 Ai-mitage Pai'k. About thirty years since it was purchased 

 from Mr. Lister by its present proprietor, the original name of 

 Hawkesyard restored, and the gardens very lai-gely improved. 



Hawkesyard is situated on the right bank of the Trent, a 

 little way up the rismg ground which borders the broad tract 

 of rich ailluvial land through which that river takes its winding 

 course, a tract of land perhaps not excelled in the kingdom 

 for its productiveness as meadow. The hilly district which 

 borders it on the south side presents the usual broken and 

 irregular frontage to the main stream, and eventually merges 

 into an elevated ridge diffeiing widely in character from the 

 rich valley below. Instead of the rank herbage and luxuriant 

 trees, with corresponding good crops on well-cultivated farms, 

 the elevated region referred to presents all the characters of 

 the Scottish muir, minus rocks, and a few of these are visible 

 in places. The high ground forming the watershed of the, 

 southern bank of the Trent at this particular place is the wild 

 tract of country called Cannock Chase, a district where Heath 

 and Whortleberries struggle for life, and where now and then 

 those who visit the spot at the right season may see covered 

 with the brilliant Foxglove tracts of land that would shame 

 the gaudiest specunens of the so-called bedding class of flower 

 gardens. 



My purpose, however, is not to ascend this district, but to 

 survey the base of one of its spurs or offshoots, on which 

 stands Hawkesyard, a mansion of considerable pretensions, 

 and surrounded by many objects of horticultural interest which 

 deserve more than a passing notice, especially as the natural 

 advantages of the place have been turned to good account. 

 The mansion stands on a piece of table land formed on the 

 flattened summit of one of those spurs or buttresses which 

 project some distance into the valley of the Trent. The soil 

 is light, in consequence of the sandstone rock being close to 

 the surface, in fact cropping out in many places ; and in the 

 pleasure grounds it has been turned to good account both in 

 plant-growing and as an ornamental feature. In the latter way 

 it has been emploj-ed with the best possible results. 



The mansion, placed as I have stated, on an eminence com- 

 manding the valley to the north of it, has its most important 

 frontages in other directions ; that to the south looks upwards 

 over a diversified park, in which plantations of some twenty 

 or thii'ty years' growth are vieing with trees of older date, the 

 whole judiciously gi'ouped so as to leave the important view of 

 distant places uninterrupted. The view eastward extends over 

 a large part of the Trent valley, with rich grass lands and trees, 

 and cornfields on the rising grounds. Westward is the carriage 

 entrance, and immediately in front of that part of the mansion 

 is a neat flower garden, the beds on the turf. At the time of 

 my visit these were weU fiUed with choice plants. Beyond 

 these was an irregular belt of Rhododendrons, while groups of 

 the same plant are met with elsewhere in the grounds, which 

 extend a considerable distance to the south and west of the 

 house, in the former direction rising gently, and a considerable 

 part is open lawn planted with specimen Conifers. AmOngst 

 others I noticed Picea Nordmanniana very good, and Pinus 

 austriaca equally so. As Interestiug to the general visitor as 

 anything were some vei-y fine plants of the ordinary variegated 

 Aloe in large tubs, placed near to the carriage entrance and 

 elsewhere around the mansion. I must not omit to mention 

 a fine piece of water at the lower end of the flower garden on 

 the west side, and which added considerably to the general effect. 



