270 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTITEE A^T> COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



t October 6, 1863. 



Tropaeolum Eclipse. The borders in this half of the gai-den 

 are again j^lanted with Geraniums, Verbenas, Calceolarias, 

 and Heliotropes on the cross. The beauty of the garden is 

 fiu'ther enhanced by a rastic fountain (home-made), summer- 

 house (ditto), and a neat little greenhouse, 24 feet by 11, 

 chiefly the work of the same industrious pair of hands. 

 Wherever there is a spare space or an unoccupied corner, up 

 goes a rustic bed in stages, or some little device, to be ren- 

 dered brilliant when the bedding season comes by its ap- 

 propriate plants. A space around the little chapel, rather 

 lower than the rest of the garden, had Spergula planted on 

 it, to form a tiny lawn; but Spergida has gone to the rubbish- 

 heaj), and " Requiascat in pace," says Mr. Oughtou, and so say 

 I, and welcome the bi-illiant flowers in its place. Looking 

 with ever so critical an eye on this display, including the 

 cai-pentering, glacing, fountain, and gardening, with the 

 little forcing-place and large fruit and kitchen gardens at 

 the back, the visitor must be astonished at what an enthu- 

 siastic amateiu' can, almost unaided, accomplish. And when 

 I say to my brother readers of The JoaaNAi, of Hof.ticul- 

 TUKE, many of the suggestions from whose pages I here saw 

 admirably can-ied out, "Go and (try to) do Ukewise," I must 

 add, for thefr encouragement, that ten years ago the worthy 

 workhouse-master hardly knew one end of the spade from 

 the other.— J. P. K. 



EECOLLECTIONS OF A VISIT TO NOETH 

 EODE HALL, 



THE RESIDENCE OP MBS. DAINTRY. 



This beautiful place lies about fom- mUes from Congleton. 

 five or six from Macclesfield, and is easy of access by the 

 North Stafibrdshire EaEway, as there is a station at North 

 Eode, about one mile from the mansion. Having frequently 

 heard of the high-keeping of the gardens at North Eode, 

 and only residing some half dozen miles from the place, I 

 resolved to make a personal inspection of them. I, there- 

 fore, journeyed into the neighbourhood in the early part of 

 the month of May, and can testify that the reports were so 

 far from being Ul-founded, that the gardens much exceeded 

 my expectations, and I promised myself another visit further 

 on in the summer. I paid my second visit towards the end 

 of August, and, notwithstanding the previous wet week, I 

 found every part of the grounds in the best possible con- 

 dition. 



I entered the pai-k near to the village church, a beautiful 

 edifice, with everything surrounding it indicating wealth 

 well expended. The park is well studded vrith trees, many 

 of them young in years, and some few bearing the marks of 

 a venerable old age. 



On entering the gardens I met with Mr. Chaplin, the re- 

 spected head gardener, near to a number of span-roofed 

 houses. The first we entered was the stove. In this house 

 there are some fine specimen plants of Croton angustifoUum, 

 Croton variegatum,CaladiumBelleymeu, Caladium argyrites, 

 Caladium bicolor splendens, &c. I also noticed some well- 

 grown Ferns down one side of the stove, which was devoted 

 to their growth, and the warm end was set apart for Orchids, 

 all of which were in the highest luxuriance. There were 

 also a few pets of Anoectochilus growing under bell -glasses, 

 and which were doing well. Cyanophyllum magnificum 

 would soon be too lai-ge for the house, and Alooasia metaUica 

 was growing into a beautiful specimen. Some of the flowering 

 plants were going out of bloom, and many others were being 

 gi'own on to supply the conservatory which adjoins the 

 mansion. 



We next entered a low span-roofed house, which was ofi- 

 gfinally built for a pinery, but that idea having been aban- 

 doned, it has been converted into a house for the growth of 

 greenhouse plants to supply the conservatory above named. 

 This house is plain in its constriiction, yet admirably 

 adapted for the purpose to which it is devoted. Of the 

 kinds of plants grown, I may mention Fuchsias, Geraniums, 

 exhibition and Zonale varieties ; shrubby and herbaceous 

 Calceolarias, Chorozemas, Epaorises, Boronias, Con'eas, 

 Hibbertias, Leschenaultias, Tremandras, &c. Near to tliia 

 house were also cold pits, in which were gi'owing large quan- 

 tities of Primulas and Cinerarias of the best named sorts. 

 We next entered a small Melon-house, in which were grow- 



ing the second crop of Melons on the same plants that pro- 

 duced the first crop. Judging from the appearance of the 

 second crop wliich was fast approaching maturity, the first 

 must have been extraordinai-y. In the Peach-house the fruit 

 was nearly all gathered, but the crop had been excellent. 



From the Peach-house we entered the vineries ; and here a 

 scene presented itself which I must confess my humble pen 

 is unable to pourti'ay : the crops of Grapes, especially the 

 Muscats, were such as any gardener in the kingdom might 

 be proud of. A more regular and even crop I never saw, 

 the rafters were filled from top to bottom, and with as great 

 regularity as if the bunches had been placed on by the hand 

 of an artist. The benies were extremely fine, and well 

 coloiu-ed, and the bvmches of large dimensions. 



In close proximity to the vineries is a large span-roofed 

 house, and, as Mi'. Chaplin informed me, he puts it to innu- 

 merable purjjoses. In the centre was a trellis running the 

 whole length of the house from the bottom to the top ; to 

 this trellis were trained two large Apricot trees, planted in 

 the open border, and loaded with beautifiU finiit. In autumn 

 large quantities of late Cauliflowers and eaily BroecoUs are 

 lifted in the kitchen garden, and brought into this house, 

 which may be termed a winter kitchen garden. The Broccolis 

 are succeeded, I believe, by a crop of Potatoes that come in 

 early, herbs, salads, &c. After the vegetables are over, it 

 is used for Azaleas, CameUias, &c., that have bloomed in the 

 conservatory, as these plants will not do very well out of 

 doors in this neighboui-hood. 



On leaving this house we walked thi-ough the kitchen 

 garden, and here I noticed that the crops of vegetables and 

 the smaller fruits were excellent : in fact, they were as good 

 in proportion as the more choice fruits were under glass. 

 Mr. Chaplin is not one of those who in striving to grow 

 good crops of Grapes, or fine specimen plants yet neglect 

 their kitchen gardens, in which you can scarcely see the 

 vegetables for rank luxuriant weeds. On the coutrai-y, 

 every part of the kitchen garden was scrupulously clean and 

 neat, with scarcely a weed to be seen. The varieties of 

 Strawberries grown were Oscai', Elvers' EHza, Wonderful, 

 La Constante, Sir HaiTy, and a few others that escape my 

 memoiy at the present moment, the latter invariably bear- 

 ing a heavy crop. I also noticed a niunber of young Apple 

 trees, of the variety Lord Suffield, trained as espaliers, 

 which were doing well, some of them bearing nice crops of 

 fruit. Mr. CliapUn told me that he considered this Apple 

 invaluable at this season of the year, and more particularly 

 in a season like the present, when the Plum crop may be 

 considered a faUiu'e. As soon as the smaller fruits are over 

 this Apple comes into use, and keeps up a supply till nearly 

 Christmas. 



From the kitchen garden we passed on to a winding walk 

 by the bi-ink of a beautiful lake leading to the pleasure 

 grounds. On this walk there are many objects of interest 

 to the visitor. The fii-st was a nice boat-house by the water's 

 edge containing three good-sized boats, each capable of 

 conveying large parties on the lake. A little distance 

 beyond the boat-house to the right was the ice-house. On 

 this alone an article might be written. It is simply con- 

 structed, and yet effective. I suppose it then contained 

 upwards of fifty tons of ice. A little further on was the 

 hai-dy fernery and rockery, where the water was trickling 

 down the stones, and where a lover of these beautiful plants 

 would wish to linger. 



Leaving this lovely dell we came on to a raised terrace 

 walk, where the undulating scenery is stretched before the 

 eye like a charming panorama. Far away in the western 

 horizon might be seen the lofty heads of the shire hills ; in 

 the north a hazy glimpse of the Derbyshire hills might be 

 seen in the neighbovirhood of Buxton, while to the right in 

 an easterly direction might be seen a MU called The Cloud — 

 so called, I shoidd imagine, from its immense altitude — and 

 which I suppose is the highest hiU in the county. 



From this walk we entered the flower garden, and here 

 a blaze of beauty meets the eye of the spectator, every bed 

 was full to overflowing. Mr. Chaplin has a happy method 

 of blending coloirrs, and I do not remember two beds being 

 planted alike. 



Mr Chaplin had tried the Coleus Verschaffelti as a bed- 

 ding plant, but it would not answer, and it had been suc- 

 ceeded by the Amaranthus melancholicus ruber, and that 



