•474 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTTJKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



f June IS, 1872. 



not be well to plant them with tliis I^ine ? I am 2'ersnatled 

 that at 4 feet apart it will withstand all winds, and not be 

 moved an inch out of the pei'pendicular. For planting in ex- 

 posed places the trees should be small, and not gi-own thickly. 

 This applies to all plants for exposed situations. Young trees 

 from 12 to 1.5 inches high arc sufficiently large, but those I 

 plant for shelter are stifi' plants, from 2 to 3 feet high, grown 

 tlmily. If thej" have been gi'own thickly, and are drawn up 

 weak, they are dear at any price. 



The Corsican Pine has leaves twice the length of those of 

 the Scotch Fir, of a deeper green, and twisted or curled, while 

 the Austrian Pine has straight leaves, not so dense, but still 

 sufficiently so to foi-m a block. The plants differ very ma- 

 terially in habit : some are more branched and denser than 

 others ; the form is that of a pyr-amid with a broad base and 

 the branches at right angles to the stem, but our-vLng up- 

 wards as the tree increases outward. I give the height ef two 

 young trees, also of one of the Austrian Pine, and of the 'RTrite 

 Spruce, to show the rate of gr'owth. The numbers relate to 

 jears of growth, the first being calculated from the ground to 

 the first branches. 



Corsican Pines. Austrian Pine. White Spruce. 



10th. .. 1 5 .. 1 6 



11th 1 10 



12th- .. .. .. .. .. 2 2 



I have put the asterisk to indicate the years of planting. It 

 ■will be seen that the annual growth is checked by the removal. 

 The Austrian Pine was moved twice. The removals are, of 

 course, u-respeetive of nursery transplantations. The Corsican 

 Pines are 7 feet through at 3 feet from the ground, and the 

 Austrian Pines 10 feet. The Corsican Pine is the quickest- 

 growing Conifer I know in an exposed spot, and it grows 

 straight as an an'ow. 



The Austrian Pine is also good for shelter, but it must take 

 a secondary position in competition with the Corsican, for it 

 is of slower growth ; it is more dense in habit, but this is no 

 gain, for the wind ha\ing a greater effect upon the trees, they 

 have a tendeucy to lean to one side. It also does not escape 

 the attacks of hares and rabbits. 



As a deciduous tree for shelter there is none that I have found 

 equal to the common Sycamore. Like the Corscian Pine it is 

 of quick growth, forms a dense leaf growth, and even when 

 leafless is useful as a break, as it has many stiff branches and 

 twigs. 



I may mention Pinus excelsa and Abies alba as quick-gi-ow- 

 ing evergreen trees, not attacked by hares and rabbits, and 

 which are suitable for shelter; both are fine ornamental sub- 

 jects. Pinus montaua, a dwarf-growing or rather spreading 

 Jdnd, is very hardy, and is never so much at home as on an 

 elevated spot. — G. Abbey. 



SPEING GAEDENING AT LOWEE ASTON, 

 BIEMINGHAM. 

 If I have protested somewhat strongly against the extra- 

 vagance of the bedding-out mania, I have, I think, also ac- 

 knowledged that in some places there is ample scope for it. 

 In a large demesne, where pleasur-e grounds of all kinds can 

 be an-anged, then assuredly it may be well to have a portion 

 laid out in this style, and in every place a modified form of it 

 may be sanctioned. I think no one can question that in such 

 places as Kensington Gardens, and the London parks generally, 

 it affords an admu-able opportimity for making a display which 

 would be impossible under any other style, for we know well 

 what a miserable thing the herbaceous or mixed border is 

 when it has been exposed to the fogs, blacks, dust, and dirt of 

 a London winter. To be able, then, to keep the beds clean 

 until blighter days, or to plant them with bulbs or other spring 

 flowers which can be taken up, gives an advantage which has 

 been admirably seized upon by our a'dUes of late years. The 

 same may be said of such a place as the Lower Aston grounds 

 at Birmingham. As a caterer for the general public of the 

 great iron metropoUs, it is Mr. Quilter's object to tempt people 

 out of doors when they would otherwise be unwiUing to believe 



that it was worth while to sth- out ; and then also, of necessity, 

 to have them gay in the summer season, when al fresco enjoy- 

 ments are so thoroughly entered into by the inhabitants of 

 Birmingham and the Black Country generally. 



I had heard a great deal of the extent and success of Mr. 

 Quilter's bedding-out, but I can honestly say that it entirely 

 surpassed all my expectations, and that it was the very prettiest 

 piece of spring gardening I had ever seen ; and as it is just 

 possible a portion of it may be left until the meeting of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society, I have thought that it might not 

 be uninteresting to state what I saw there on my visit to Bu'- 

 mingham lately. 



The portion of the gi'ounds which Mr. QuUter has devoted 

 to the caiTying-out of his plans is that which originally fonned 

 the waUed-in kitchen garden of Aston Hall. It is nearly 

 square, and every portion of it — the borders round the walks, 

 the raised banks in the centre, and all available spaces — is 

 used ; so that it may be well imagined that things are done on 

 a scale of no ordinaiy magnitude. Some idea of this may be 

 given when I say that of Daisies alone .500,000 plants were put 

 in. The great merit of the whole aiTangement is that the 

 effect is gained by so few and such inexpensive materials ; and 

 when I say that the plants employed are 1, Cliveden Pansies, 

 2, Daisies, 3, Aubrietia, 4, Golden Feather Pyrethi-mn, and 

 -5, Cerastium tomentosum, I think this will be fully admitted. 

 I omit the Forget-me-nots, for these were in back places and 

 formed no part of the grand coiiji d'lcil. The Daisies were 

 white, red, and pink ; the Pansies yellow, dark blue, and 

 white ; and by a successful combination of these colours the 

 most charming effects were produced. Down the centre of the 

 garden are what may be called walls of Ivy, which is growing on 

 wire and wood fences and completely covering them. The dark 

 rich gi'een of the Ivy is an admirable foil to throw out the 

 colour's in the beds. Few of the beds or borders are on the 

 level, but slightly inclined, and for such dwarf-growing plants 

 as are employed this is a manifest advantage. The value 

 of the Golden Pyrethrum is more evident here than in any 

 place where I have seen it before. A great jjortion of the 

 tracing of the beds was formed by it, and at this season the 

 pale yellow gave a lighting-up to the beds which nothing else 

 could do. 



Of course there is a great variety of pattern in these beds 

 and borders, and the ingenuity of the aixangement consists in 

 the manner in which the few colours used ai'e grouped together. 

 For example, there is a long border formed of semicii'cles 

 placed oijposite to each other. They are formed of Alyssum ; 

 the first pan- in the series being filled with white Daisies, the 

 second pair' with pink Daisies, and the space formed by the 

 semicii-cles with a dark Pansy. There is another, a circular 

 border foi-med in zigzag ; the lines of Ciolden Feather, and the 

 spaces fiUed-iu with white, red, and pink Daisies in succession. 

 We have again the semicircular pattern, but here formed of 

 Golden Feather; the centre white Daisies, the compartments of 

 red Daisies and Aubrietia alternately. Then there was a more 

 elaborate border — a sort of ribbon wave ; the Unes fonned of 

 Pyi-ethrum ; the ribbon of a row of white Daisies, then one of 

 dark Pansies, and then one of white Daisies ; the nearly circular 

 spaces left being fiUed in mth red Daisies at the top, and the 

 lower spaces with Pyrethrum. Then there was a charming panel- 

 Ung done with panels of Aubrietia and pink Daisies alternately, 

 bordered with white Daisy, and edged with Pyrethrum. The 

 combinations were endless, and, as in all such cases, the best 

 description gives but a very faint idea of the reality. 



There is unquestionably here the hand of one who thoroughly 

 understands what he is doing, and I have no doubt that the 

 summer bedding is of that superior character I was assured it 

 was. No one who has had the opportunity of seeing such 

 spring gardening as this can doubt of its effect or value for 

 such places ; and mj- object has been, not to induce everj'bod^- 

 who has his few yards of ground to try what he calls spring 

 gardening, and so hold himself up to the ridicule of all men 

 of taste, but to indicate where something really good of its 

 kind can be seen, and to induce others to visit a gar-den which 

 reflects so much credit on its spuited proprietor. — D., Deal. 



PELAEGOXIUM CUTTINGS. 

 It may be desirable to make cuttings, as recommended by 

 " AiucHNE," on the 1st of June, but from what plants are 

 these cuttings to be made ? The plants from the cuttings of 

 the bedding Pelargoniums of the preceding year are at this 

 time being bedded-out, and if sufficient cuttings for the next 



