September 10, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



187 



on the south front of them, is a broad walk about 10 feet wide 

 running from one end of the garden to the other. The houses 

 are all on the upper or north side of this fine walk, and on the 

 south side is a border, in which is planted a row of pyramidal 

 fruit trees, consisting of Pears, Apples, Plums, and Cherries. 

 In front of these is planted a miscellaneous collection of sweet- 

 gmelling plants and ordinary bedding plants, with numerous 

 hardy and half-hardy herbaceous plants. 



The first house I entered, on the west side of the garden and 

 just opposite Mr. llutland's dwelling-house, is a noble span- 

 roof, about 30 feet long by 22 feet wide, having a bed in the 

 centre, and also a bed back and front. This house is filled 

 with a choice collection of Tea-scented, Noisette, and other 

 Rosea suitable for winter-flowering. Here the plants looked 

 remarkably healthy, and gave promise of producing a fine dis- 

 play of Boses during the coming winter and spring. The house 

 is well heated, and I should think very suitable for the purpose. 

 From a house of this description a large quantity of Koses may 

 be gathered at a time when even the commonest flowers are 

 scarce, and at a trifling cost, for very little fuel will be required 

 to produce the amount of artificial heat required by the queen 

 of flowers during the winter months. This house must therefore 

 prove a greater source of pleasure to Mr. and Mrs. Kelk than 

 any other on the place. 



Leaving the Rose house I entered a large greenhouse, in 

 which there is a general collection of New Holland and other 

 plants, all in a good state of cultivation. Between this and the 

 extensive range of vineries. Fig, Plum, and Cherry houses, are 

 two fine ranges of Pine stoves, in which I noticed splendid 

 examples of Pine-growing. Here were to be seen as fine a 

 stock as any in the country, in various stages of growth and 

 fruit, from the fresh-planted sucker to the largest Queen and 

 Providence. I noticed some handsome Queens in various 

 Stages, with the tiers of pips one above the other as regular as 

 if they had all been cast in a mould, and one or two fruit which 

 I saw cut could not weigh less than 7 lbs. These ranges are 

 three-quarter-span, with the walk at the back under- the short 

 light ; but in one of them the visitor is obliged to put himself 

 into a very uncomfortable position in order to get along, for 

 overhead the whole space is covered with Cucumbers in great 

 quantities, which during the hot weather looked remarkably 

 cool and inviting. These houses are a very interesting and 

 instructive sight, and they proved conclusively that Mr. Rutland 

 is a perfect master of the art of Pine-growing. 



After passing through the pineries I came out on the walk 

 leading to the door by which I first gained access to the garden. 

 Crossing this towards the east we enter the largest and most 

 important horticultural structure in the garden. It was built 

 as nearly as I can recollect about twelve years ago, and is one 

 of the finest ranges of glass in the country. It is span- 

 roofed, 151 feet long, and about 18 feet wide, and is built 

 parallel with the walk which extends from east to west. It 

 is in five divisions ; straight through the centre of four of 

 these the walk passes, and there is a bfcrder on each side, in 

 which are planted the Vines, Fig trees, &c. The Vines would, 

 doubtless, by this time have been some of the finest in the 

 country but for a slight mistake in their management a few 

 years after they were planted. This arose from overfeeding, 

 one of the worst evils that can happen to the Vine. The 

 borders were made with every care, and regardless of expense. 

 They were made in accordance with instructions furnished by 

 my friend Mr. .J. Drewett, whose magnificent bunches of Muscat 

 of Alexandria, Canon Hall Muscat, and Trebbiano caused 

 such n sensation when they were exhibited at St. James's Hall, 

 about the time, or a year or so after, this fine range was built, 

 and I am certain that no Grapes of these varieties so well 

 grown and in such condition were ever exhibited before or 

 have been since. I well remember poor Mr. Beaton throwing 

 up his hands and exclaiming, " No man ever grew such Grapes 

 before, nor will the like be seen again." Living near the 

 Priory at the time, I had frequent opportunities of seeing the 

 borders during their formation, and I am quite sure Mr. Drew- 

 ett's instructions were carried out to the letter. A work of 

 this description, in which I always took so much interest, was 

 likely to be visited on every occasion which presented itself, 

 and these thoughts occurred to my mind on seeing the kind of 

 material the borders were made of, the preparations and 

 precautions taken for draining the borders, the stylo the house 

 was built in, and the excellent mode adopted for ventilating it — 

 surely with a moderate amount of skill Grapes equal to those 

 exhibited by Mr. Drewett will some day be grown in these 

 houses. (Many of the Vines planted in them were raised from 



Mr. Drewett's stock). How I wished at the time that the 

 management of such a splendid range of vineries had fallen to 

 my lot, for the greatest ambition I then had was to produca 

 Grapes equal to those shown by Mr. Urewett. The mistake 

 which I mentioned occurred, and although very fine Grapes 

 have been grown, and are still to be seen in these houses, the 

 standard of perfection has never been reached, for the constitu- 

 tion of the Vines has been seriously impaired, and now, whea 

 they should be just at their best, they are showing signs of 

 weakness. I may be pardoned, perhaps, for digressing a littla 

 from my description of these gardens, for I could not help 

 recounting a little of the past history of this noble structure 

 and its occupants. 



The first division of the house is devoted to the growth o£ 

 the Fig. It is completely filled with the best varieties in cul- 

 tivation, and a perfect thicket they are. Their branches ara 

 laden with quantities of fruit in all stages of development. 

 The second division is planted with Muscat Vines. They 

 are bearing a very even crop, which at the time of my visit was 

 looking very promising. The third division is planted prin- 

 cipally with Black Hamburgh Vines. These also looked pro- 

 mising, and were likely to bear a very useful crop. In the 

 fourth, or West's St. Peter's division, the Vines were better 

 than in either of the preceding houses. The bunches wera 

 large, handsome in shape, and the crop a very even one all 

 over the house. The Grapes in the last three divisions will 

 come in at a very useful time to furnish the winter and spring 

 supply until new Grapes shall be produced. 



What I consider would wonderfully alter the condition o£ 

 the Vines, and what I should do if they were mine, would bo 

 to raise the pipes in the inside borders to the level of the wall 

 plate ; I should also cut the arches away close to the wall plate, 

 leaving only the buttresses or pillars between the arches to 

 support the house ; I should then raise the border both outsida 

 and in. This would add about 2 feet in depth to the border, 

 would be the means of throwing life and vigour into the Vines, 

 and would cause them to bear finer fruit than they have ever 

 yet produced. It would also add along period to their lifetime, 

 and increase the pleasure and interest which they would afford 

 both to the gardener and to their owner. 



The fifth and last division is filled with Plum trees, and_a 

 magnificent sight they were, being literally covered with fruit 

 of first-rate quaUty. There is certainly no more useful house 

 in any establishment than a Plum house, for if care and fore- 

 thought are exercised to plant varieties which will do well 

 under glass and produce a good succession, the supply of fruit 

 both for culinary purposes and dessert may be continued for a 

 long time. 



On leaving the Plum house we enter a large stove, in which 

 a magnificent lot of plants are grown for the decoration of tha 

 large conservatory, the description of which I must leave to 

 my next paper. After casting a hurried glance over the fine 

 collection of plants which this house contains, for time would 

 not permit me to linger so long as I wished, I passed through 

 into the corridor which leads to the conservatory. In this, fine 

 plants of Camellias were trained against the wall, and in front 

 of these were placed specimen Camellias and other plants. 

 This corridor forms a convenient and pretty connecting length 

 between the conservatory and the stove, and from thence into 

 the large range of houses described above, and so on through 

 the whole series of houses, enabling the family to walk through 

 them without inconvenience in bad weather. 



I must here retrace my steps into that portion of the garden 

 lying below the long walk, in order to describe the appearance 

 of a fine lot of Analeas, which owe their present healthy state 

 to the application of Standen's Gardeners' and Amateurs', 

 Friend — a manure which on a former occasion I strongly re- 

 commended for Azaleas and other plants. I was naturally 

 anxious to see the plants when Mr. Pvutland told me ha 

 had been using it, and the result was highly satisfactors^ 

 They were on a north border at the bottom of the garden,' 

 models of beauty and pictures of health. I am sorry this 

 most valuable manure is not more appreciated than it is. Tha 

 effect which it produces on some kinds of plants may be seen 

 at the Ashburnham Park Nursery.— J. Wills, F.E.H.S. 

 (To be continued.) 



LEEDS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



SCNLET V. MHBECK (sECKETARY). 



!:< the Leeds County Court, Mr. Ferns, who was for the plain- 

 tiff, stated that at the Show held in the Mayor's grounds, last 



