Jane U, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



443 



Bristol : — " I have a small garden sloping to the south and 

 mnch sheltered from north and east winds. Last spring I 

 sowed some seed of Eucalittos globulus, and in August I 

 planted-out the plant in a warm corner under a south wall. 

 It has stood this winter well. A shelter was placed over it 

 during the late frosts, but in the frost in November it had no 

 shelter whatever. Many of your correspondents write and 

 give their experience, but do not give the name of the place 

 they write from ; so one cannot gain much from their expe- 

 rience when there is no clue as to whether their letters are 

 from Yorkshire or Cornwall." 



" Botanical Tables for the Use of Junior Students, 



by Arabella B. Baekley," is a useful litde compendium. 



WINTERING ALTEENANTHERAS. 



JuDGiNo from the loud lamentations made by gardeners 

 hrongh the columns of the Journal of Hortindlitrc and the 

 other gardening papers this spring, many of them have lost 

 all, or a good part, of their stock of this most valuable of our 

 foliage summer bedders. Having been successful in keeping 

 a fair stock of plants through one or two winters, I may 

 perhaps usefully describe how I have managed. 



I only grow one sort — maguifioa, and my first attempts at 

 preserving a stock through the winter in the orthodox way of 

 keeping them — that is, cuttings struck in autumn and kept in 

 their pots in the Cucumber or other hothouse until the spring, 

 then placed in bottom heat to make them shoot out, and so 

 make cuttings, and thus be propagated, was a comparative 

 failure. Well, I lost so many that it pains me now to think 

 of it ; but fortune smiled and came to me in a way I did not 

 expect. One autumn the frost came upon me suddenly. I had 

 a less quantity of cuttings struck than usual. There was 

 nothing for it but taking up the old plants. I did so, and 

 casting about for an asylum for them, as they were being 

 forced ont of the ground in this hot haste, I bethought me 

 of the (at that time) unused propagating box at the hot end of 

 my warm fernery. I placed them there in lines in the soil of 

 the bed as thick as I could pack them, and from a pressure of 

 work I could not attend to them for some time. When I did 

 notice them I saw that they were comfortable and enjoying 

 themselves, so I let them remain. As winter came on they 

 began to look rather shabby but not unhealthy, so I let them 

 ttiU remain. As soon as they began to (|uicken into growth 

 in the new year, assisted thereby by a little extra fire heat, I 

 had them all taken up and split into small pieces, pricked uut 

 into toil in cutting boxes, and placed in the Cucumber house. 

 They struck every one, and a finer batch of Alternantheras I 

 never saw, so that now I never strike cuttings in autumn, but 

 I secure all the old plants before frost damages them, and pack 

 them away in the propagating box aforesaid, split them up in 

 the new year, and put out into boxes, and they are no more 

 trouble. I record this manner of keeping them now that those 

 who like may make a note of it and try the plan when the 

 proper time comes for them to do so. — X. 



RHODODENDRONS AT DUNEEVAN. 



Having a vivid recollection of the extreme beauty of Mr. 

 Mcintosh's Rhododendrons last year, I visited Duneevan this 

 year almost with an impression that I shoald be disappointed. 

 No love, it is said, can equal the first love, and no sight can be 

 so imposing as the first. I thought also of the long-continued 

 deluge of the past winter and the protracted cold of the suc- 

 ceeding spring, and felt that the effects of such weather would 

 be visible on the Rhododendrons. I shall never again visit 

 this charming garden with other than sanguine expectations, 

 for in spite of the weather and of the great display of last year 

 I found the garden aa beautiful and as enjoyable as ever. The 

 view from the bold natural terrace to the lawn below — inter- 

 spersed as it is with stately Conifers and specimen deciduous 

 trees, with here and there a splendid standard Rhododendron, 

 and all around bold clamps containing thousands of these 

 gorgeous shrubs in all the finest varieties of the day, with the 

 bright broad stream (the Broadwater) glimmering through the 

 vistas of foliage and flowers — is one not soon to be forgotten. 

 Mr. Mcintosh's garden has, by its iutriuaic beauty and perfect 

 keeping, forced itself into fame, and now its owner is paying 

 the penalty of its great attractions by having to spend much 

 of his time in the pleasurable occupation of conducting round 

 the visitors who come to inspect and admire. 



The Rhododendrons are planted in large beds. Towering 



from amongst them are a few specimen Hollies and standard 

 Variegated Maples. Near the margins of the beds and at 

 regular intervals are standard Roses in exuberant health, and 

 between the Roses are clamps of the Gold-rayed Japan Lilies 

 — Lilium auratnm. These have been referred to before and 

 will be heard of again, and it can only be said now that, 

 although they have been checked by the frost, the stem of 

 one of them is 4 inches in diameter. 



In enumerating a few of the more striking varieties of this 

 unique collection of Rhododendrons they may be referred to as 

 they are grouped, for Mr. Mcintosh has given personal attention 

 to their arrangement, and to the tasteful way in which the 

 colours have been mixed is due in no small measure the pre- 

 sent imposing effect of the whole. Many of the more choice 

 varieties are planted in pairs or triplets, the interspaces con- 

 taining other colours, which heighten the effect of the more 

 commanding sorts. For instance : we find a triplet of James 

 Bateman, clear rosy scarlet ; Parity, white, yellow blotch ; and 

 Nero, dark rosy purple, heavily spotted. Then we find Purity 

 associated with the rich crimson scarlet of John Waterer. We 

 find Charles Dickens, dark crimson scarlet, supporting the 

 lovely Mrs. John Clutton. Another pair of undeniable beauty 

 is Lady E. Cathcart, rosy scarlet finely spotted ; and Perfection, 

 blush and yellow, and worthy of its name. Stella, pale rose, 

 chocolate blotch. Album elegans, and Purpureum elegans, one 

 of the best of the purples, constitute a fine trio. Such is the 

 manner in which they are arranged ; but as space precludes 

 the many groups being particularised, only a few more of the 

 leading varieties — the choicest of the choice — can be noted. 

 These are The Queen, white, a majestic flower; and nearly 

 equally good, indeed very similar, is Exquisite. Mrs. Holford, 

 rich salmon, is in grand condition, it is qnite one of the fore- 

 most. Madame Carvalho, white, is equal if not superior to 

 The Queen ; and Miss Owen, blueh, maroon spot, is extremely 

 chaste. Another grand white with yellow blotch is Mrs. 

 Thomas Agnew ; while Mrs. William Agnew, white, shaded 

 with pink, is one of the most striking in the collection. Of 

 the same type is Gloriosum, truly a glorious flower, white, 

 flushed with rose. Cyaneum is a fine purple flower ; and Kate 

 Waterer, rosy pink, is unsurpassed by any of that colour. 

 Ellen Waterer, white and scarlet, is lovely thongh small ; and 

 Frederick and John Waterer are equally sterling varieties. A 

 few more, as good perhaps as any which are mentioned, are 

 Lady Armstrong, Mrs. Joseph Shuttleworth, James Mcintosh, 

 Mrs. Russell Sturges, Crown Prince, Pelopidas, Mrs. Thomas 

 Longman, Agamemnon, Iron Duke, Duchess of Mecklenburgh 

 Strelitz. Lord Eversley, John Walter, Princess Mary of Cam- 

 bridge, Countess Granville, Raphael, and Titian. The finest 

 standards are John Waterer, one of the richest of all ; Archi- 

 medes, Scipio, and Joseph Whitworth. These are on stems 

 about "i feet high with heads .5 feet in diameter, and average 

 more than a hundred trusses on each. The varieties men- 

 tioned may be regarded as amongst the best in cultivation, 

 and as seen at Duneevan — for there are many specimens of 

 each variety— the effect is magnificent. The beauty of the 

 flowers is enhanced by the high keeping of the lawn, for not a 

 blade of grass is out of place nor a Daisy is to be seen. 



Mr. Mcintosh has recently added considerably to his garden 

 by the erection of a splendid range of glass by Mr. Gray of 

 Chelsea. This range is liO feet long, and consists of three 

 vineries. Peach house, and Lily house. Another range nearly 

 of the same length of half span-roofed forcing pits is also quite 

 new. In these pits are Cucumbers, Melons, French Beans, 

 Ac, Tender and True Cucumber being in such condition as 

 would gladden the eyes of its raiser Mr. Douglas. Amongst 

 the Melons, which include all the newest sorts, Eastnor Castle, 

 green flesh, is the earliest and best setter. The Melons are 

 grown and trained like Vines — that is, each plant has only 

 one main stem. The crop is a very fine one. 



There is a good collection of pyramid Apple and Pear trees, 

 but little or no fruit, owing to the severity of the frosts ; but 

 bush fruit is fairly plentiful, and Strawberries are highly 

 promising. 



Duneevan is owned by a gentleman who is an ardent horti- 

 culturist and possesses both practical knowledge and good 

 taste, and he is aided by a skilful and industrious gardener in 

 Mr. Taylor : hence it is that there is so much in the garden 

 worth seeing, and whoever visits Duneevan now will not be 

 disappointed. It is a mile and a half from Walton station on 

 the London and South-Western railway. 



N.B.— Do not take dogs, for the small birds at Duneevan 

 are ss tame as poultry ; thrushes feed at the feet of their 



