September 8, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTITRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



191 



be given in winter when the beds are empty, when farmyard 

 maniu-e may be applied tolerably freely ; and we have found 

 this the best kind we have ever tried for Geraniiun Golden 

 Chain. In places, however, where this rather bulky manm-e 

 cannot always be applied, a dressing of guano may be of 

 service, or an application of bone manui-e, wood ashes, or 

 soot ; and we have seen much good done by an application 

 of salt to a ch-y soU of the kind in question. In fact, those 

 manui-es which in reality are composed of the necessary 

 ingredients that will support the healthy existence of the 

 jilauts to be cultivated are the kinds to be made use of; 

 and as some of these contain the necessary quantities 

 in a concentrated form, it follows that they may be used 

 with less trouble than the others ; but their use in a highly 

 concentrated condition is not to be recommended, for the 

 like reason that the strongest ovei-proof spiiits ai-e unfit to 

 be drunk. It is, therefore, advisable in most cases where 

 convenient to give the preference to quantity. Maniu-es, 

 however, in less quantities must not be despised; and, 

 though we have not tried all the kiuds now in the market, 

 we may say that guano of one or two kinds is good, as 

 likewise is a sort of blood maniu-e, bone dust, or rather 

 crushed bones, wood ashes, and the charred bui'nt stuff of 

 the rubbish-heap which contains as much burnt earth as burnt 

 wood. ^Ul these and many other manures are good in theu- 

 way, and so is Ume when the soil is stiff and requu-os it, and 

 for once it is useful on a dry soil; and, as all or most of 

 the above can be given to the plants when in a growing 

 state, by scattering them over the ground and slightly 

 working them in, there is no difficulty in their application. 

 Perhaps the most convenient of all for the above piu'pose are 

 wood ashes, soot, and guano. 



It may be here mentioned that a very useful way of pre- 

 serving flower-beds from the effects of drought, and also of 

 benefiting them, is to cover them with short dung — such, for 

 instance, as is often gathered up by childi-en on the public 

 roads. This substance, short and not unsightly, may be 

 spread on the bed between the plants, and it will to a 

 certain extent jirevent the evaporation of moisture from it, 

 while the first rain washes its fertilising properties iato the 

 sou. Irlr. Fish uses the old dung from his Mushroom-beds 

 for a Uke purpose, and I have no doubt with a like beneficial 

 result. The object aimed at is not to prevent the proper 

 warming of the ground by the sun's rays, but to an'est 

 excessive evaporation, which robs the ground of that moistiu'e 

 the crops so much re,quire, and which it is the interest of all 

 good cultivators to retain in time of drought. At another 

 time it may be parted with advantageously ; but when the 

 sou available to the roots of plants becomes fully occupied, 

 which it is when closely cropped, it then becomes necessaa'y 

 to husband all its resources, and nothing conduces more to 

 this than jireserving its moisture, and, at the same time, 

 giving it more when its wants are so ui'gent as to call for 

 artificial help. — J. Eobson. 



GAEDENS m GEEAT BRITAIN. 



I AM glad you have commenced giving a list of the best 

 gardens in the kingdom, and hope your pm-pose will be ably 

 seconded by those of your con-espondeuts who r aside in the 

 <iifferent localities. I herewith add my mite to the collection 

 in the form you have adopted at page 9 of the oui'rent 

 volume ; and as the present month is one in which gardeners 

 axe less busily engaged at home than in the earlier summer 

 months, it not unusually happens that those possessing the 

 means take a triji in some direction to see what is doing in 

 other counties. In such cases the lists you purpose giving 

 wiU be of great service to those not acquainted with the 

 topography of these counties. 



In mentioning the gardens recorded below I by no means 

 assert that they are all the best the respective counties 

 contain ; but they are such as are worth visiting and such 

 as I am acquainted with. Possibly there may be many 

 others in the respective neighbourhoods equally good, and 

 some better ; but, not being acquainted with them, I must 

 leave them for others to report upon. Tour remarks on the 

 propriety of admitting gardeners to visit gardens at all times 

 are very good, and I hope you will urge on the employers 

 of gardeners the propriety of providing their gardeners with 



the means of visiting other gardens than those in theii' ow 

 immediate neighbourhood. They will in the end be th^ 

 gamers by such a prudent outlay, for theii' servant will 

 come home a better and a wiser man. As August is jDerhaps 

 the least busy of all the summer months, the plan for the 

 jom-ney ought to be laid at once, and its results duly recorded. 

 Subjoined I give a list of some of the gardens I have visited, 

 omitting those mentioned in your former article. — J. Y. 



BEDFOP.DSHIEE. 

 place. Proprietor, Gardener. Town. 



LutouHoo J. S. Leigh, Esq Mr 1-raser ...Luton 



BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 



Cliveden Dowager Duchess of 



Sutherland Mr Fleming.Maidenhead 



Dropmore Lady Granville ...Mr Frost Maidenhead 



CORJTWALL. 

 Moan'Edgecumbe.Earl of MountEdgecumbe.Mr Foley ....Plymouth 

 Port Eltot^ Earl St. Germans Mr Lynch. ..St. Germans 



CHESHIEE. 



Tatton Lord Eijerton Mr Cliff Ashley 



Abney Hall Sir J. Watts. Mr Smith ...Cheadle 



Eaton Hall Marquis of Westminster. ..MrColllnson.Chester 



DEVONSHIRE. 



Saltram Earl of Morley Mr Snow ....Ply.^pton 



DERBTSHIEE. 



Chat.^worth Duke of Devonshire Mr Stewart. Rowsley 



Elvaston Lord HaiTington ...Mr barren. ..Bon'owash 



HEETFORDSHIEE. 



Woodhall Abel Smith, Esq Mr Beale ...Welwyn 



Panshanger Earl Cowper Mr Dawson. Hertford 



Gorhambuiy Earl of Verulara Mr Bjgue ...St. Albans 



Putteridgebury ....Colonel Sowerby Mr Fish Luton 



Hatileld Marqui* of Salisbury Mr Burton... Hatfield 



Youngesbury W. G. Pulk-r, Esq., 'm. P. ..Mr Terry ...Ware 



KENT. 



Clipstead — Perkins, Esq Mr Pryor ...Sevenoaks 



Cobham Earl of Darnley Mr Budd ...Gravesend 



Chevening Earl Stanhope Mr Coe Sevenoaks 



Earl Sutton Sir E. Filmer, Bart., M.P. Mr Skinner .Staplehurst 



Hunton Cuurt H. Bannerinan, Esq MrGodda-d.Marden 



Preston Hall E. L. Belts, Esq Mr Bradley. Aylesford 



Linton Park Lord Holmesdaie Mr Hobson .JIaidstone 



Mereworth Lord Falmouth Jlr Todd Waterint^bury 



Montreal Earl Amherst Mr Smith ...Sevenoaks 



Fair Lawn — Ridgeway. Esq Unknown ...Sevenoaks 



O-tenlioath Sir W. Geary, Bart Mr Wicker .Tonbridge 



Eedlcaf W.Wells, Esq Mr Cox Penshurst 



Lullmgstonc Sir P. Dyke, Bart Unknown ...Farniugham 



LEICESTEESHISE. 



Belvoir Castle Duke of Rutland Mr Ingram .Grantham 



LINCOLNSHIRE. 



Beltoa Earl Brownlow Mr Ingram .Grantham 



Syston Sir J. Thorrold Unknown Grantham 



LANCASHIRE. 



Knowsley Earl of Derby. Mr. Freeman.Huyton 



Haigh Hall Earl Crawlbra ic Balcarres.Mr Hannan .Wlgau 



Latham House Lord Skelmersdale Mr Thorow- 



good Bnrscough Bridge 



Worsley Hall Earl of Eliesmere Unknown.. ..Eccles 



SUSSEX. 



Eridge Castle Earl of Abergavenny Unknown. .. .Tunbridge W'ella 



STAFEOEDSHIEE. 

 Trentham Duke of Sutherland Mr A. Hen- 

 derson ....Trentham 



Alton Towers Earl of Shrewsbury Unknown.. ..Alton 



Enville Earl of Stamford and War- 

 rington Unknown. ...Stourbridge 



YORKSHIRE. 



Studley Royal Earl de Grey and Kipon...Mr Clarke... Ripnn 



Ripley Castle — Ingilby, Esq Mr I'owler .Ripley 



The Great Aloe of Veea Cruz. — There is now in flower 

 in one of the conservatories of the Oxford Botanic Garden 

 an unusually fine plant of the Vera Cruz Aloe (Agave lu- 

 rida). It has a flower-stem upwards of 20 feet in height, 

 bearing on its numerous lateral branches many hundreds of 

 pale green Bowers, which, although not particularly showy, 

 are of great rarity and interest. The only recorded instance 

 of a plant of this species producing flowers in this country 

 appears to be that which flowered in the Royal Gardens, 

 Kew, in the summer of 1811, and was figured in the "Bo- 

 tanical Magazine," t. 1522. The plant in bloom is of about 

 eighty years' growth, thus going far towards verifying the 

 frequent assertion that plants of tliis genus (Agave), flower 

 but once in a century. This idea is, however, more espe- 



