January 18, 1877. J 



JOURNAL OF HORTICOLTDBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



49 



of the family until the reign of James I., when it was alienated 

 to the Rev. Charles Fotherbye, Archdeacon of Canterbury, 

 from one of whose descendants it passed to Sir Edward Daring 

 by marriage. It was afterwards the seat of Lord Kingsdown, 

 and now belongs to Roger Leigh, Eaq. 



Barham Court is thus an " old place." Its mansion is old 

 and plain, its trees ancient and gigantic. It is also a " new 

 place." Former proprietors have done their part in the pic- 

 turesque planting of " ancestral trees," and the present owner 

 has done his part in making a modern garden. 



Few places in its district are more worthy of a "gardening 

 Tisit " during the summer season than this. The drive from 

 Maidstone to Barham is a pleasant drive of four miles. It is 

 through a district of Cherry orchards and llop plantations, 

 which on the lefthand side of the road are oonspicnons over 

 a great extent of landscape. On the righthand side the 

 ground is higher, and on one of the highest parts of the ridge 



Barham Court is situated. The view from the front of the 

 mansion is commanding and beautiful, embracing a wide- 

 stretching undulated vale of great fertility and well wooded. 

 The mansion is not " embowered in trees " obstructing the 

 view, but the trees have been judiciously planted or thinned so 

 as to show to the greatest advantage their own beauty without 

 veiling the natural attractions of the surrounding district. 



The lawn is extensive and open, the trees being in isolated 

 groups — a rugged fringe, as it were, to the desmesne, with vistas 

 through which many " delicious peeps " are obtained. The 

 trees are Elms, Oaks, Beeches, a few Piuuses, and very notice- 

 able a fine Magnolia and Cedar of Lebanon, the stem of the 

 latter girthing 21 feet. Rhododendrons appear to floarish 

 well, and have been freely planted in the shrubberies. On this 

 large lawn and associated with these noble trees flowers are 

 sparsely (and it must be admitted wisely), represented. Parallel 

 with the terrace walk on the south side of the mansion are a 



«^^— 



Fig. 7. — Baeuam couet. 



series of chain beds, and between the walk and the building 

 is a border where in the summer " carpet bedding " is carried 

 out. This is the extent of the lawn flower garden, small yet 

 Bufficient. 



Adjoining the mansion is a conservatory, and in connection 

 with this structure is a commodious exotic plant stove. These 

 at the time of my visit were en deshabille, both plants and 

 houses undergoing a thorough cleansing, and the prominent 

 feature at the moment was soap and water. The plants, how- 

 ever, it was easy to see, although huddled together for the 

 convenience of the workmen, were both extensive in variety 

 and excellent in condition. 



At some distance from the mansion, at the skirt of the lawn 

 and hidden from it, U what may bf termed the flower garden 

 proper. It is small — an ornamented dell, reached by winding 

 walks, and it comes suddenly into view as a " pleasant sur- 

 prise." This is a subtropical garden — a miniature Battersea 

 Park. There are the raised mounds, the sheltered hollows, 

 the informal beds, the artificial rocks, and the irregular pool 

 as at Bittersea. Indeed it seemed a? if the best part of 

 Battersea was reflected at Barham. The subtropical plants at 

 both places were almost exactly similar, and were similarly 

 disposed. It may be true, as Mr. Abbey has said, that Lichens 

 and other forms of vegetation will not cling to artilicial rooks ; 

 it may be equally true, aa Mr. Peach has suggested, that these 



rooks are but vain mimics of the " bones of nature ;" but it is 

 also true that when tastefully constructed and appropriately 

 placed — not obtrusively prominent, but partially hidden and in 

 subservience to other objects of decoration, that these " rocks " 

 with the water near them, and the aquatic plants flourishing 

 about them, enhance considerably the beauty of a "garden 

 scene." The rocks at Barham have been tastefully arranged 

 and answer their purpose admirably. In such places the 

 object is not to convey a lesson on geology, but to complete a 

 picture of varied interest and attractiveness. The " rocks " in 

 question were " made," I think, by Mr. Pulham. They do 

 either that manufacturer or someone else considerable credit. 

 Such is an outline — a " general idea " of the pleasure-ground 

 character of 33arham Court, and I will now glance — it can only 

 be a mere glance — of what was ti me, as it must be to all 

 gardeners, the far more important department of fruit-growing. 

 I am indebted to Mr. Record for the disappointment of a 

 visit to this place — a disappointment, however, not of a kind 

 that one often hears expressed after a visit of this nature. My 

 disappointment did not arise from the fact of there being 

 nothing to see worthy of notice, but because there was so 

 much to see so striking and intrinsically good, and so little 

 time for seeing it. Had I been aware of being within an boar's 

 drive of a fruit garden so complete and novel I should have 

 disturbed the early morning slumbers of my host, and instead 



