348 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



[ Apiil 25, 1872. 



I must now leave tbis well-varieJ scene, and ilescendmg a 

 little to the north I come to the various; plant houses whence 

 Mr. Chapman draws his supplies to fur}iish a conservator}' on 

 a little higher ground, and also now :,nd theu to astonish the 

 visitors at the London e.\hihitions. The conservatory — or at 

 least one of them, for there aj-e more than one — is so built as 

 to coutaiu a large breadth of natural rode, which is turned to 

 good Account as a home for trailing and rock plants, with a 

 number of Ferns. One of these houses contains a lai'ge central 

 mass of natural rod;, while the side shelves are more ai'tificial, 

 but the two blend well. Another conservatory in character 

 more like others elsewhere. 



The mansion and gi'ounds are on the north side of a sand- 

 stone liill. The .stone has been cut out at one place to form a 

 grotto or cavern, arid at another it appears to have been quanied. 

 These two ravines, as they may he called, form the best out- 

 door ferneries I ever met with. Rustic paths intersect them, 

 now ascending, theu descending ; at one time passing under- 



neath an arch, at another through a dark tunnel, and on 

 emerging at the other side a fresh scene is brought to view. 

 This labyrinth of tortuous walks and varied scenery is highly 

 interesting to the young and enthusiastic, and hardly less so 

 to those more advanced in life. Water also is not wanting for 

 dripping wells, and treacherous fountains are here and there 

 to be met with. The rich luxuriance of the Ferns indicated 

 that the material in which they were growing suited them well. 

 This interesting fernery and natural rockwork formed the 

 intervening links between the dressed gi'ounds and the kitchen 

 garden and plant houses ; even the latter form a link between 

 the useful and ornamental, for in passing through the rock 

 and fernery we meet with some of the houses devoted to the 

 growth of plants. These structures, however, like many 

 others in' which good exhibition specimens are grown, present 

 little, if auvthiug, different from other houses ; on the con- 

 trary, they are very common places, proving good results in 

 plant-cultivation are due more to the sMll and attention be- 



stowed upon them than on the character of the house. I re- 

 member some years ago seeing some very indifferent-looking 

 houses, belonging to a gentleman near Manchester, whose 

 gardener took fir-st prizes at most of the shows at which he 

 exhibited, and it was much the same at Hawkcsyard. In these 

 houses were some of the filiest specimens of plants in the 

 Idugdom. At one place was a noble example of that singular 

 plant, Gloriosa superba, covered with bloom, and at another 

 one of the best Lasiandras I ever met with, and one which I 

 beUeve Mr. Chapman has turned to good account. A well- 

 bloomed Lapageria rosea and L. rosea alba on lai-ge wire 

 trellises were very fine, as also a Phcenocoma, Dipladenia 

 amabihs and crassinoda, and the AUaniaudas. Some Orchids 

 were also gi-oivn, a Phaloeuopsis being very fine, but the 

 decline of dayUght prevented my seeing more. Mr. Chapman 

 remarked that it was of little use to exhibit anything old or very 

 easy to manage, as many old plants are now passed over — for 

 example, the Statice, Bhynchospermum, and Kondeletia — so 

 that only the more recently-introduced subjects, or old ones of 

 more than ordinary merit, ai'e now admissible as takers of 

 first prizes. Of such there were some excellent specimens. 

 The water plants were very attractive ; a large t:uik, occupying 

 nearly the whole of one house, was set ap.art fur them. Kym- 

 phffia gigantea, a line blue, was in excellent form, as was also 

 N. Devoniaua, a good red ; there were also some Pitcher-plants 



and other subjects requuing the moistiu'e of a tank without 

 being immersed in it. 



Several houses were, of coui-se, devoted to other descriptions 

 of plants, and I was agreeably surprised to find some excellent 

 examples of Hm'st House Seedling Pine Apple, the fruit promif - 

 ing to attain the weight of 8 lbs. or more, with scarcely any 

 crown, and what was more remarkable, the plants were gi'own 

 in pots standing on a stage or shelf without bottom heat. 

 There being no pinery proper, Mr. Chapman merely grows a 

 few in one of the plant stoves. It is but seldom one finds good 

 fruit in such a place, sickly diseased plants ai'e often seen, but 

 I do not remember having noticed such fruit before. With 

 many Pme-gi'owers the introduction of some choice or favourite 

 stove plant into the jjinery is looked on with alarm, and for 

 my own part I have a decided objection to the jiractice. That 

 the Pines throve so well was a good evidence of the cleanli- 

 ness of the plants in general ; and the only difference thej' ex- 

 hibited, as compared to those grown in b;uk or other bottom- 

 heated pits, was their having scai'cely any crown. Large 

 crowns are often a consequence of too much bottom heat, but 

 here the case was reversed, and larger crowns would have been 

 desu-able. Onl.y a few Pines were grown at one end of a plant 

 house. 



Those who grow plants for exhibition have generally the 

 means of transporting them from place to place without adopt- 



