392 



J0U3NAL OF HOBIICCLTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



( Juue 10, 18S9. 



appear a matter of little moment that half the beat from the 

 coals burnt under a boiler is lost ; but where fuel is expensive, 

 or where the houses are numerous, it is a matter of importance. 

 My coal bill is between £100 and £200 a-jcar, and a boiler that 

 will do double the work with the same consumption of fuel as 

 those I have in use, will be very valuable. 



To those who feel any interest in the subject, I say Come and 

 see it, and if yon do not say it is an enormous advance on any 

 yet out, I shall think — well, I wo'n't say what.— J. E. I'eabson, 

 Chilwell. 



VISITS TO GARDENS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE. 



MADRESFIELD COUBT, THE BEAT OF EARL liEACCHAMP. 



The name of this place has been so much before the public 

 lately, in conneelion with the new Grape raised there, that it 

 was not to be wondered at, when at Malvern on business, I 

 should have pleasure there too, and trudged out to eee the place 

 and its surroundings. I was fortunate in finding Mr. Cos at 

 home, and under his guidance was enabled to see all that has 

 been done, and is now doing there. A few brief notes on the 

 subject may be interesting — to those, especially, who are growing 

 the Grape which he has raised. 



Madresfield Court is situated about two miles from the town 

 of Great Malvern, in the rich plain that lies at the foot of the 

 Beacon Hill. It is so shut in by the ample foliage of the park, 

 that very httle of it can be seen until you are quite close upon 

 it. The house was a fine specimen of Tudor architecture, but 

 having fallen into a dilapidated condition, was some years ago 

 pulled down and rebuilt. The front part of the house remained ; 

 this, too, was pulled down, but in order to preserve the 

 character of the old Court, was rebuilt with the same materials, 

 thus perserving its antique character. The house is entirely 

 surrounded by a moat, and an old biidge spans it at the en- 

 trance. There is a small terrace garden, and then on a lower 

 level a large grass garden, which has just been planted with 

 bedding plants, bordered by a bank of lihododendrons, and 

 fenced ofi with Yew hedges. Amongst the bedding plants I 

 noticed Viola lutea, very good, and an old Tricolor — Glowworm, 

 which seemed to be bright in colour. Around the house every- 

 thing is iu a state of transition. Stables are to be pulled down, 

 avenues to be made, pinetums to be planted ; while one avenue, 

 formed of Picea nobilis, and called Countess avenue, because 

 each of the trees was planted by a lady of that rank, has been 

 made, and it is proposed to continue it with another of Pinus 

 Nordmanniana. 



Between the house and the kitchen garden there is a wilder- 

 ness of about four acres, which is shortly to be planted, and by 

 the judicious use of a stream which runs through it, some good 

 effects will be produced. The kitchen garden is entirely new, 

 and contains about three acres. The old kitchen garden was 

 near the house, and obstructed the view, but about three years 

 ago it was dismantled, and the present one has been laid out 

 under the plans and directions of Mr. Cox, so that everything has 

 a new appearance. The Vines are all young, many of the 

 quarters hardly laid out, but all having the appearance of ex- 

 treme neatness, and evidencing a master's hand. Here I saw 

 Madresfield Court Muscat in nearly all its stages, in pots, as 

 two-year-old Vines, and as yearlings, and in all it gave promise 

 of fulfilling the expectations formed of it. It sets well, is pro- 

 lific, and carries large, well-shouldered bunches of handsome 

 Grapes. It is, as is well known, a cross between the Black 

 Alicante and the Muscat of Alexandria, retaining the colour of 

 the former and a long oval berry. I tasted it last autumn at 

 Kensington, and then considered it good, and although the 

 berries 1 tasted here were not quite lipe, yet they were rich 

 and luscious in flavour, with a decided " whiff " of Muscat. 

 The whole of Mr. Cox's Vines are admirably managed, and I 

 have never seen finer examples of growth than these Tonng 

 Vines exhibit. They have been rather hardly worked, too, in 

 the matter of fruit, so that their appearance is the more 

 creditable. Fruiting and succession Pines were good, while 

 Fig, Peach, and Nectarine trees were producing good crops, 

 although so recently planted. In the plant houses were many 

 well-grown specimens of Heaths, Azaleas, &c., and I have not 

 for a long time seen such grand plants of Leschanaultia biloba 

 major as here, covered with their splendid deep blue flowers 

 In these days, when bedding-out so taxes the energy and time 

 of most of our gardeners, they have but little leisure to attend 

 to such plants as these. 



I have not seen for some years so fine a piece of British 

 Queen Strawberries as Mr. Cox had, and along with it I noticed 



some rows of a Strawberry I do not recollect having seen before 

 (but which, he says, was sent out by Mr. Turnc-r, of Slough), 

 called Oxonian. It was remarkable for its lateness, for while 

 nil other Strawberries were in full bloom and setting their fruit, 

 this has shown no flower yet. It is in this way valuable also 

 for forcing, as it comes in between the Keens' Seedling, Prin- 

 cess Alice Maude, &a., and the earliest out-of-dcor fruit. Bed 

 Currants are here grown as pyramids ; and as eac'u tree occupies 

 a square yard only of ground, and produces a gallon of fruit, 

 it may bo at once seen that it is an excellent plan. 



It is always a matter of regret to me that in noticing these 

 places my visits are always so hurried, that my notes are 

 necessarily biief. I might, of course, easily spin-out a yarn, 

 but as my object is to give simply the more salient points, and 

 perhaps, after all, it is more likely to be profitable than a long- 

 winded story, I have only to add now that I exfeiienced from 

 Mr. Cox the same courtesy and kindness which I have always 

 experienced from those interested in gardening wherever I have 

 found them. — D., Dcul. 



THE PORTABLE ORCHARD. 



[Contimicdfrom page 359.) 

 Fig. 24 is a common case of a tree sent from a nursery 

 garden. It is a very difficult matter to correct the miscbief of 



Fig. 24. 



early neglect, and in many cases it is quite impossible to make 

 shapely trees of nursery stock. In the present ease, by cutting 

 away the branch p, we shall obtain a tolerably regular form, 

 having the defect of a rather too long stem between the ground 

 and first tier of branches. Obsarvc, also, that the snags have 

 not been removed in several places ; these must be cut ott' clean, 

 and at once. You may be thankful to procure as good a tree as 

 this at the ordinary price, for gardeners cannot aflord, at their 

 ordinary prices, to bestow such pains as I have been advising to 

 do ; and, besides, trees must have plenty of free space to enable 

 them to grow well on all sides. I do not complain of gardeners 



