October 20, 1863. 



JOXTENAL OF HORTICULTURE AlfD COTTAGE GARDENER. 



309- 



each is ftirmslied with a plug to shut or open at pleasure. 

 These drains ai-e all at right angles mth the front waU, 

 and I believe, but am not certain, that they ai'e not con- 

 nected with each other. The ends entering the house ai-e 

 on a level with the hot-water pipes, and are, consequently, 

 likely to receive the heat imparted by these pipes ; while 

 the house can be refreshed with ah- fr-om the outside, which 

 travels readily enough inwai'ds thi'ough the drains when the 

 outside plugs ai-e open. I believe this ingenious contrivance 

 was introduced by Mi-. Fox, a former gardener at this place, 

 and it is certainly the simplest method of applying fii'e heat 

 to a border that has yet been adopted. I am not certain 

 whether the drains thi'ough the border are of brlekworli or 

 of earthenware piping, but there is no doubt but tlie latter 

 would do well. Certainly the good quality of the Grapes 

 indicated that their general treatment was good ; and I have 

 no doubt that the warmth imparted to a border by means 

 of pipes or drains traversing it as above is much better 

 than when the border is completely cellared underneath. 

 The latter plan, having failed in more jjlaces than one, is of 

 questionable utility. This subject, however, is deserving 

 of being fui'ther inquired into, and it would be well if some 

 who have been successful in heating their borders, so as 

 to secur-e eai'ly Grapes for a number of seasons in succession, 

 would report the mode by which the object was effected. 

 At Torry Hill, I believe, it has not been usual to commence 

 forcing so eai-ly as has been done in some places, but the 

 condition of some of the Vines when I saw them showed 

 tliat they had been tolerably eai-ly. 



The Pines grown here were mostly Black Jamaica, a kind 

 much less grown in the south of England than in the north. 

 It is, unquestionably, the best winter fruit, but opinion is 

 much divided as to it or the Queen for summer use, the 

 more compact growth, and, perhaps, hardihood of the latter 

 commending it to more general use. At the table the Black 

 Jamaica is as gi-eat a favourite with those who pai-take of it, 

 though not, perhaps, with those that do the decorating, as 

 the crown is often small. This, however, is foreign to the 

 object now in hand, and I have no doubt but the Black 

 Jamaicas are gi-own at Tony Hill for then* good table quali- 

 fications. Good Melons were also gi'own in pits heated 

 by stable-dung, and some Cucumbers in excellent health 

 and beaj-ing well in one of these pits were pointed out as 

 having borne fruit for ten months and as being- likely to keep 

 on doing so for some time longer. 



In the flower garden I noticed a fine batch of Centaurea 

 candidissnua doing remarkably well ; and Mr. Newman, the 

 intelligent gardener, had a quantity of cuttings of it put in 

 ■with evei-y appearance of their rooting and doing well. Too 

 much has not been said of this handsome plant, which far 

 exceeds anything in its v/ay that has yet appeared. There 

 were also some compai-tments in a large bed fUled with 

 Amaranthus melancholicns, which at the time I saw it left 

 nothing to wish for. In fact, the only drawback to the 

 general well-doing of everything in the flower garden was 

 the Lobelia, which had not done so well, and with the ex- 

 ception of Verbena Pui-ple King, the other kinds were here, 

 as elsewhere, in most places that I have seen this season, 

 only sparingly planted. Geraniums of the Scarlet, Pink, 

 and Variegated sections were in most repute ; and as they 

 ■withstand periods of di-y weather, siich as we are often liable 

 to have in Kent, -without impairing their beauty, it is likely 

 they ■will maintain then- reputation. It is only necessary to 

 add, that the whole was in excellent order, including the turf, 

 ■walks, flower-beds, and other compartments, and reflected 

 great credit on the worthy gai-dener and his assistants. 



To those interested in the construction and heating of 

 new hothouses, I may state that those at Ton-y Hill, and 

 they were i^retty numerous, were all built of wood, except that 

 some iron was used in the curved roof whei-e wanted. The 

 glass was partly sheet and partly rough plate, some of the 

 latter much thicker than is generally used. The whole were 

 heated with hot water, the cannon and tubular boilers being 

 mostly used. Some useful mechanical contrivances in the 

 way of gi-ving air were introduced, and the workmanship of 

 the whole seemed well done. The lofty conservatory adjoin- 

 ing the mansion and communicating with the di-awing-room 

 ■was constructed so as in some measui-e to resemble the 

 mansion in the exterior; but this had not in the least m- 

 teirfered with the liberal supply of light, and the admission 



of air, as well as the heating, Ac, and the plants turned 

 out for permanent purposes showed they were quite at home. 

 The house, I believe, was only finished in the eai-ly part of 

 the present summer. 



The grounds presented the usual feature of Pinuses of 

 the most approved sorts, including some very good "WeUing- 

 tonias, an excellent specimen of Picea cephalonica, and 

 other favourite species, and certainly not the least import- 

 ant thing was a number of Rhododendrons fi-oni seed that 

 had been sent home from Thibet. The plants, I understand, 

 had been kept in pots for several years, but had eventually 

 been turned out in despair of their flowering, which they 

 have not done yet, althougli it would be difBcult to conceive 

 healthier and more likely plants to do so. Even as ever- 

 greens they are handsome, the foliage of some of them being 

 as large as that of the common Laurel but more blunted 

 and the growth slower and more compact, wlule the buds 

 that are formed. Mr. Newman said, only produced wood in 

 former years, although as stout and plump as the flower- 

 buds of other Rhododendi'ons. Perhaps if grafts were taken 

 of them and worked on stocks of other kinds better adapted 

 to the climate they might be induced to flower. In habit and 

 appearance when not in flower they equal the best varieties 

 oiur gardens possess, though, as above stated, they differ 

 much from them. Perhaps some one having gi-o-wn these or 

 similar kinds wiU be able to throw some light on the subject. 



The neai-est railway station to Torry HiU is Sittingboume, 

 which is also, I believe, the postal address ; and lovers of 

 ancient fruit lore are told that it was in the neighbourhood 

 of Sittingbourne that the Cherry was first cultivated as an 

 orchard fruit, and some old orchards are stiU visible in places. 

 Neither is the district destitute of remarkable trees, for 

 at the village of Borden are some fine old Yews, and at 

 no great distance from the same place one of the largest 

 common Junipers that I ever saw was pointed out to me. 

 Its position was not in the di-essed ground of a nobleman's 

 garden, but simply in the corner of a field where, however, 

 some lover of old trees had supplied it with a prop to arrest 

 its evident inclination to assume a pi-ostrate condition. The 

 stem, which was quite naked for some 8 or 10 feet, had the 

 proportions of a small timber tree, being- about 30 inches in 

 gu'th at the smallest part, and the top showed those signs 

 of good health that iadicated that it was not unlikely to out- 

 live several generations of the human family. The soil was 

 flinty, but I believe chalk was not near the surface. 



J. ROBSON. 



DAHLIA FLOWERS BECOME WHITE. 



Will you tell me how it happens that about fifty Dahlias, 

 which bloomed well, of various and glowing colom-s last 

 year, are this season uniforn-Jy white to om- great disappoint- 

 ment and vexation — for the monotonous repetition of gi'een 

 and white, and white and green in borders on either side 

 of a broad gravel walk is tu-esome and melancholy ? The 

 gardener protests no change has been made, and that they 

 are the veritable roots which he took up and preserved; 

 and I honestly confess we doubted his word, until, regretting 

 the cold white look to a lady one day this week, I heaird' 

 that her own took the same sportive turn last season. My 

 friend labelled her roots herself, and knew that the same 

 were planted the follo-wing season. But alas ! how changed 

 — aU cold white ! 



Pray, sii-, may we hope that any of the former rich colour- 

 can be restored by any treatment, or, in the common course 

 of events, will they appear in brilliant costume as at first ? 

 The Dahlias are all vigorous and healthy-looking ; the 

 fohage of a rich dark green colour ; the flowers well-shaped 

 and perfect, swarming with earwigs, as they always are, 

 and blooming fi-eely. — An Old Lady. 



[We cannot possibly believe anything else in your case 

 than that you have been deceived in some way with your 

 Dahlia roots. That fifty Dahlias of diflerent glowing colours 

 should one an-d aU be changed by any process of nature or 

 art is perfectly inconceivable to us. At all events, if suek 

 be the ease we must confess being perfectly ignorant of 

 wnat has been the cause or what can restore them from white. 

 Just examine the flowers and foliage, and see if in shape 

 and build the flowers are not all identical, which could not 

 be the case even granting that the supposed change ia 



