320 



JODBNAIi OP HOBTIOULTOBE AND COTTAQB GABDBNBB. 



[ October 29, IB68. 



some open spot, where an Arauoaria or other choice tree stands 

 out above the well-hhaven turf, and in other cases the opening 

 points to some important object. Near the mansion a large 

 open space had been devoted to flower beds, but at the time of 

 my visit some further additions had been commenced. It is, 

 however, more especially to the kitchen garden that I would 

 direct attention. 



At an easy distance from the mansion, on the north-east 

 side, is situated the kitchen garden, almost entirely surrounded 

 by trees and shrubs, yet none of them sufHciently near to prove 

 injurious by their shade. The space enclosed by high walls is 

 about four acres, and there is a large plot adjoining the eastern 

 wall of neatly the same size, with slips and other surroundings. 

 The site of this garden, like that of the mansion, is a table 

 land between two valleys, wliich unite at the ornamental water 

 in the park ; and this elevation ensures dryness, and no doubt 

 to a considerable extent immunity from spring frosts, to the 

 destructive influences of which the garden would be exposed if 

 on a lower level. 



Good walls 12 feet high, and in some places even of greater 

 height, surround the principal garden, which I ought also to 

 observe is nearly level, slightly inclining to the south-west 

 perhaps. In shape it is not square, having, in fact, several 

 corners, which afford many aspects for wall trees. The soil 

 has long been the envy of neighbouring gardeners, being one 

 of the very best of those resting on the limestone formation, 

 for Kentish rag crops out in various places in the park and 

 woods. I believe a considerable portion of the kitchen gar- 

 den was once a quarry, aud it is the debris from this, over- 

 laid by an unusual depth of soil, that gives so much fertility to 

 this garden. There are but fow crops which do not thrive in 

 it. Most fruit trees succeed remarkably well, aud the same 

 may he said of vegetables of all kinds. 



Most of the walls which present a south, east, or west aspect 

 are devoted to the culture of Peaches, Nectarines, and Apri- 

 cots. Against tlie north wall were some magnificent Morello 

 Cherries in cooditioa for the dessert, for which, when well 

 ripened, they answer very well, losing all the sharpness they 

 possess when first ripened. These walls were covered with a 

 tine description of hexagon netting to keep flies and wasps at a 

 distance. Some choice Plums, such as the Washington, Jef- 

 ferson, Coe's Golden Drop, and other varieties occupied a 

 portion of an eastern wall, and where the crop had not been 

 gathered the trees were loaded with fine fruit. 



It is, however, more particularly to the Peach trees that I 

 would call the attention of the cultivator, for they were all that 

 could be desired by the admirer of that fruit, and were growing 

 under circumstances in which of late years it has been asserted 

 it is impossible to produce good Peaches ; yet the result has 

 been so successful that the champions of glass walls or glass 

 houses must admit that their theory of the deterioration of our 

 climate is oj: en to considerable doubt, and that the old-fashioned 

 method of growing Peaches will still maintain its reputation, 

 despite the mass of new contrivances adapted for the same 

 end at a cost at least tenfold that of the old system. The 

 length of time during which Peaches have been so grown here, 

 and on the same trees too, must convince the most strenuous 

 advocate of glass that fine fruit can be produced without its 

 aid ; for although the Peaches were not so large at the time I 

 saw them, the latt week in August, as they had often been in 

 former years, the healthy condition of the trees, and the abun- 

 dant crops they were loaded with, showed that there was nothing 

 wanting, except additional moisture in the ground and atmo- 

 sphere, to have made them all they were in previous years. 

 The wall was in all cases well covered, and the trees fruitful to 

 the bottom ; and although many of them were evidently very 

 old, yet in most cases their trunks or collars did not show those 

 symptoms of decay we so often meet with in aged trees. 



Some of the trees occupied a length of upwards of 30 feet of 

 the wall, which is 12 feet high, and one of them, a fiue speci- 

 men of Boyal Eensington [Grosse Mignonue], covered a space 

 quite 40 feet by 12, and had in several years brought to perfec- 

 tion upwards of sixty dozen Peaches, more than seven hundred 

 in 8 year. A fiue specimen of Moutaul>an was somewhat less, 

 but also good, while Eoynl George, Noblesse, and Late Ad- 

 mirable were equally well represented, and had been bearing 

 well for an average hfetime, for Mr. Luckhurst, the intelligent 

 and energetic gardener, had managed them for more than 

 thirty years, and some of them — the large tree of Royal Ken- 

 sington for one — were not young at the commencement of that 

 period. I understand that the tree just referred to is in a 

 much better condition now than it was thirty years ago, and 



judging from its appearance, it may, if no accident occur, last 

 as long again, if proper care be taken, and the other conditions 

 to its success be still afforded. As most of the trees against 

 these walls were old, and the whole in good condition, the 

 question naturally arises. How does it happen that we often 

 meet elsewhere with Peach trees that seldom reach the age of 

 ten years before they have to be replaced, having either fallen 

 into a hopeless state of decrepitude or died ? So very common 

 is this, that many are of opinion that the seasons, which fifty 

 years ago were favourable to the growth of the Peach out of 

 doors, are no longer so, but that glass in some form is neces- 

 sary. The trees here are a contradiction to that theory, so 

 that we must look for another explanation of the fact. 



The good quality of the soil at The Mote is doubtless one of 

 the causes of the Peach doing so well at that place, but there 

 are others, perhaps, still more important. The trees seem to 

 be well managed and cared for : during the past dry summer 

 when so many trees presented a foliage much of the hue of 

 Golden-leaved Pelargoniums, the leaves of those at The Mote 

 were mostly green ; the syringe or engine had been timely at 

 work to keep red spider down, and had accomplished its object ; 

 protection to the blossom in spring had also been afforded by 

 means of broad projecting boards attached to the wall coping. 

 These boards are 18 inches wide, and if the trees had not looked 

 so well under them, I should have thought that keeping the 

 boards on all the summer would have done harm by preventing 

 dews and the midday sun reaching the upper part of the wall, 

 but as the trees and their crop were so good, this opinion must 

 give way before the facts. The boards form an excellent ledge 

 from which to hang the hexagon netting, and with this at the 

 time cf my visit the whole wall was covered to exclude flies, 

 wasps, &c. There was a narrow path near the base of the 

 wall as usual, but the border seemed to have been fully cropped 

 with various early vegetables, so that the trees had not the 

 whole of the border to themselves ; their success must there- 

 fore be attributed to the natural good quality of the soil and 

 the care bestowed on them. Mr. Luckhurst has repeatedly 

 explained his mode of treatment at the monthly meetings of 

 gardeners held for mutual improvement at Maidstone. Its 

 principal features are careful attention to the first appearance of 

 insects, destroying them at once, adopting precautionary mea- 

 sures to prevent their attacks, and other attentions to the 

 wants of ihe trees, especially to little matters that are often 

 neglected, but which, if not looked after, often lead to the worst 

 consequences. 



When I described the soil as being well adapted for most trees, 

 I ought also to have stated that the subsoil ia the same ; in 

 fact, in the growth of trees of most kinds, I always think the 

 subsoil is of more importance than the surface soil ; but the 

 latter is said to be so good that there is very little difference 

 perceived at the depth of 3 feet, and for many feet below that 

 the porous character of the understratum is favourable to the 

 roots, being plentifully interspersed with stones, the value of 

 which is too often underrated even when at the surface. In 

 large portions of this garden I am told that the understratum 

 had been broken up when the ground was worked as a quarry, 

 hence the more free action of the roots ; besides which, the 

 absence of stagnant water and other impurities, renders it safe 

 for the roots of trees to descend any reasonable depth without 

 continuing growth so late in the autumn as to endanger the 

 ripening of the wood. I imagine if we could trace the rootlets 

 of many of the fine trees of the Peach and other fruits, we 

 should find them interlacing the stone shatter. 



The Moorpark Apricot here is liable to the same evil which 

 befalls it at other places, for large limbs die off, but certainly 

 not to the extent I have seen elsewhere, but the trees in general 

 fruit well, and so do the finer kinds of Plums, while Morello 

 Cherries are grown almost by the bushel against a north wall, 

 and, when covered with hexagon netting, will hang a long time. 

 The only tree I noticed as being short of a crop, was a fine 

 specimen of GansePs Bergamot Pear, covering every inch of a 

 piece of wall 00 feet long by 12 high. This tree had but a 

 thin crop upon it, while adjoining it BeurrS d'Aremberg and 

 Duchesse d'Angoulcme were bearing heavily, thus showing that 

 Gansel's cannot always be depended upon for a crop. 



Some choice kinds of Apples and Pears were grown on espa- 

 liers near the garden walks, the border between the trees and 

 the walk being cropped with Strawberries, and to keep the fruit 

 of the latter clean the ground was covered with pebbles or 

 broken stones, about the usual size of road metal. Mr. Luck- 

 hurst has a high opinion of The Lady and Marguerite Straw- 

 berries. The collection of Apples contains most of the leading 



