JOUllNAL OP HOltTICULTUKE AND COTTAGK GAKDENEE. 



[ May 9, 1872. 



acres, exclusive of a slip on the south side, bounded by a hedge 

 ou the parU side. The valley stretches east and west, aud the 

 ground inclines both from the north and south to the centre, 

 but slopes most from the north. A wall extends across the 

 middle of the ground, but without uniting with the outside 

 walls ; and against it the forcing houses are placed on one 

 Bide, and the sheds and offices on the other. A broad walk or 

 roadway passes through the garden, in front of the sheds, to 

 large doors in the outer walls. The soil is perhaps rather too 

 sandy, and some vegetables suffer from a dry summer like that 

 of 1870; but most root crops thrive remarkably well , and at 

 the lime of my visit an excellent yield of Potatoes of the fol- 

 lowing kinds were being dug up : — old Ashleaf and Eivers's 

 Eoyal Ashleaf, so much alike that it was impossible to distin- 

 guish a difference ; Eatford Kidney, a second early, good, 

 although cooking a little yellow; MDky White, also good; 

 Lapstone Kidney, very poor and unprofitable ; Gloucester 

 Kidney, better. Amongst newer hinds Bresee's King of tlic 



Eai'lies was not satisfactory. Bresee's Prolifie yielded 236 lbs., 

 and Bresee's Peerless 277 lbs. each, from 5 lbs. of seed, and 

 ])romised well. Paterson's Victoria, York Regent, and Dal- 

 mahoy, grown to a much larger extent in the fields, were all 

 good, aud promised to maintain their gi'ound against the new 

 comers. Some other lands were also grown. Carrots, I'ars- 

 nips, and other things were also good, but the Cabbage tribe 

 seemed to suffer from the waul of lime in the soil. The season 

 had been a disastrous one for fniit. The late spring frosts 

 told with gi'eater severity in this garden than in any other I 

 know. The fact of its being surrounded by high ground 

 would seem to favour if not invite frosts ; aud as a proof of 

 the gi'eat liability to this, I was told the thermometer ou the 

 morning of the day I was there (August 22nd) had been down 

 as low as 33', and I am not sure that there had not been a 

 frost every month during 1S70. Gardening is, therefore, 

 carried on under difficulties, as the season is necessarily short 

 for siidi erop-j as Scarlet Eunners aud Dwarf Kidney Beans. 



Even Potatoes 'suflor in the tpihig. The'wiuter frosts are very 

 severe. The Poach trees on;; the waUs were in better condition 

 than I have often seen trees in more favoured gardens, showing 

 that climate rather than soil was the cause of there being no 

 crop. There had been an excellent crop of Peaches in the 

 houses. The Pines also looked well, and I believe there 

 was some good fruit cut last season. The Grapes were not 

 so good, the A'ines being worn-out and wanting renewing. The 

 liou.ses were being renovated, the Vine borders were in course 

 of formation, and other alterations being carried on. Coals 

 can be obtained at less than a couple of miles awav for 5s. per 

 ton, and this circumstance makes a wonderful difference in 

 foreiug as compared with the south. A large basin or pond of 

 water occupied a position in front of the house, supplying all 

 the requu-ements for garden purposes, and a considerable 

 stream or brook that runs down the valley was carried under- 

 neath the surface, the sm-plus water of tlie pond alluded to, 

 derived from anotlier sonrce, running into this brook. 



As the kitchen garden is in the middle of the park I wUl 

 now take agl.ance at the latter. A brief inspection is sufficient 

 to show that it is both large and mucli varied. The verdure 

 of the smooth grass land immediately adjoining the house 

 changes into the waving Fcra as we progress westward, and 

 the latter creeps np very near to the kitchen garden. The 



home park contains the deer, of j which there is a fine head. 

 In the outer park Fern predominates almost exclusively, and 

 trees of great size and age are scattered over both. Perhaps 

 the more ancient-looking trees are in the outer park ; one of 

 the Oaks is upwards of 81 feet in circumference at 5 feet from 

 the ground, and others of nearly equal size are met with in 

 various places. Now and then there is a scraggy-topped Holly ; 

 but these, the old people say, have been dying fast out tlie 

 last forty or fifty years. The soil on which these venerable 

 old Oaks are growing is singular, and may be best judged of 

 by its herbage. Fern abounds almost everywhere, but just 

 around the largest and finest trees grass alone would seem to 

 grow, although Fern approaches as far as the extremities of 

 the boughs. How is this ? We all know Fern doss not object 

 to shade — rather enjoys it than not. The qnestiou then arises, 

 Is the soU different where these venerable mouarchs of a bygone 

 age still erect their heads, or has the frequenting of their 

 sliade by sheep and other animals driven the Fern away ? 

 This is a question well worth iuquu-uig into. There were a 

 few Birches, still fewer Scotch Firs, the Hollies arc said to 

 be disappearing fast ; and although one Yew is mentioned as 

 being very near to the large Oak, its fcEows arc few and wide 

 apart, and the scarcity of yoUng trees would indicate that at 

 a period not far distant this extensive tract will be dcsiitute 



