Fe-hruary C, 1808. J 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULrUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



113 



Koorg in the I'lftst luJies, ^-aa reatl on the dcstraction of Coffee trees 

 by the larvie of a licetlo uouied the ColTec-tree Boror, and on the 

 means of preveutiug its rrtvaj,'os. Siiccinieus of the injured wood and 

 insect were forwarded : the hitter proves to hulonR to the family Ce- 

 ramhyeida?, and has been described under the name of Clytas nia- 

 cacusis. 



The Secretaiy made some observations on tlio law of priority in 

 nomenclature as apydicablo to certain Hiiecies of Buprcstidie from 

 Australia, of which short descriptions liad been printed and circulated 

 by the Ilcv. K. W. Hope, but wliicii had never been ref^ularly pub- 

 lished and sold : the insects havin;^ subsequently been described and 

 ti|rared by other authors with other names, which under the circum- 

 stances Mr. Dunning considered as entitled to priority over Mr. Hope's 

 names. 



Mr. MacLachlan exhibited a very beautiful species of Caddice Fly 

 new to this country, which had been taken at IJishops' Wood, in Staf- 

 fordshii'e, by Mr. Chappell, of Manchester. It is the Nouronia clath- 

 rata of Kolcuati. 



Mr. Howitson communicated a critical revision of Mr. Wallace's 

 memoir on the Pierideous Butterflies of tlie Malayan Archipelago, 

 recently published in the Society's Transactions. 



A new part of the Society's Transactions was announced to he ready 

 for delivei*y to the members. 



FLOORS CASTLE. 



[The following notes on this magnificent residence were 

 written by one of our correspondents in the autumn of 18()5, 

 and should then have appeared. I'ublio attention, however, 

 has recently again been directed thither by Her Majesty's visit 

 to its noble owner, and also by Mr. Kose, the very able gar- 

 dener there, being appointed to the management of the Royal 

 Gardens at Progmore ; so we now place before our readers au 

 account of the garden and grounds, and would more especially 

 call attention to the fine range of glass houses, presenting 

 features not often met with, and well worthy of being copied.] 



To the tourist from England who enters Scotland for the 

 first timo by the East Coast route, the lameness of the scenery 

 .at the boundary of the two countries is disappointing, the 

 town of Berwick itself having little to recommend it, while the 

 Tweed, the stream of whose beauty poets have so often sung, 

 seems only to resemble a wide shallow canal, especially when it 

 is low water. The country, too, is more interesting to tho 

 farmer and utilitarian than to the lover of Nature, as good farm- 

 ing, large fields, and straight fences, with few or no plantations 

 of any importance, give rather a bleak than a clothed appear- 

 ance. But follow that river up its course, and then its real 

 character and beauties appear — its clear limpid stream, now 

 expanding itself between meadows of the richest green, now 

 hemmed in between high banks overhung by woods, both 

 natural and artificial, with ever and anon a rock opposing its 

 rugged base to the onward course of the stream, which murmurs 

 at the impediments in its way. The scenery on the banks is 

 likewise ever changing. Now and then is seen a modern mansion 

 replete with all the comforts the wealth of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury can command ; while, e-xternally, well-dressed grounds, trim 

 fences, and good roads, attest the advance which taste and in- 

 dustry have made ; and probably not more than a gunshot from 

 this residence may be descried the remains of some feudal 

 fortress, with its keep and ponderous walls, interesting 

 by its historical associations. Farther on a less imposing 

 memento may remind the traveller of au encounter between 

 the people of the countries on the opposite banks of the river, 

 or, perhaps, most interesting of all, he may meet with the re- 

 mains of some religious edifice, which even in its ruin shows 

 that the skilled artizau of the present day is in many respects 

 inferior to his brother craftsman of some four or five centuries 

 ago, as the adornments among the ruins of Melrose Abbey, for 

 instance, bear witness. Leaving the tourist, however, to journey 

 through a district of such historical and poetical interest, let us 

 retrace our steps a few miles downwards from Melrose, and we 

 find ourselves in the immediate neighbourhood of a residence 

 almost regal in its proportions and remarkable for its beauty. 



Floors Castle, the principal seat of the Duke of lloxburghe, is 

 beautifully situated on the left bank of the Tweed, and about a 

 mile from the thriving town of Kelso. The present structure 

 is a castellated building of large dimensions, which was con- 

 siderably improved and enlarged a few years ago, the original 

 structure having been built from designs by Vaubrugh, soon 

 after the beginning of the last century. The approach from 

 Kelso partly passes through and partly skirts a wood of large 

 and healthy Oaks, Silver Firs, and other trees, ample space 

 being allowed for the carriage road, as well as for its margins. 

 The mansion stands on a gentle eminence, the ground receding 



from it towards the south and east, the approach alluded to 

 being from the latter direction. Making a slight clrtuur the 

 visitor is carried to the north side of the building, which, as in 

 most other residences of a like character, is made the carriage 

 entrance ; but my object being to visit tho garden, which is 

 a little to the west of the mansion, I contented myself with a 

 hasty glance at the noble residence. I was astonished at its 

 extreme freshness of colour, the pale freestone looking as if it 

 had not been more than a week out of tho quarry, and this cir- 

 cumstance, coupled with the emerald green of the turf, and the 

 healthiness of the vegetation arouud, would imply a purity of 

 atmosphere and fertility of soil not often met with. 



At a convenient distance to tho west of tho mansion is the 

 new kitchen garden with its various appurtenances. Some 

 fine timber trees, interspersed with shrubs, form a sort of link 

 between it and what may be called dressed ground. There is 

 also a very extensive area on the north side of the mansion, and 

 a much larger space on the south and south-eastern sides; in 

 fact, the extent of what may truly be called lawn would 

 appal any one not conversant with mowing machines, for ap- 

 parently every inch of the space seemed excellent grazing land, 

 capable of producing any number of good crops without dimi- 

 nutiiin from the dry weather, which in the south of England is 

 sometimes such a drawback ; but here winter only would seem 

 to cause any cessation of growth. Leaving this beautiful scene, 

 a very few minutes' walk brings us in sight of a garden wall, 

 and the first look confirmed what I was led to expect from 

 preceding objects — that the kitchen garden and all its accom- 

 paniments are entirely new. I now made the acquaintance 

 of Mr. Kose, the highly intelligent gardener, a difficulty easily 

 overcome where courtesy and hospitality are so abundantly 

 exercised as it is by him. 



A cursory survey enables us to see a kitchen garden of four 

 acres or more in extent, of a long rectangular shape, and sur- 

 rounded by high walls, on each side of which are planted suit- 

 able trees ; while the southern side of the south wall is covered, 

 or partly covered with glass. Some intermediate ground, partly 

 dressed, unites this part of the garden with a wood a short dis- 

 tance still farther to the south, but too remote to do any harm 

 by its shade. Mr. Rose's cottage, situated at the north-eastera 

 corner of the garden wall, is well placed, so as to look into 

 the kitchen garden, a new tlower garden, and an extensive range 

 of forcing and plant houses, as shown in the plan, and of 

 which the top is the north side. 



The kitchen garden, with its slip on the south side, forms 

 the western portion of what may he called the gardener's 

 domain, his cottage being at the north-east corner. Separated 

 from the north garden wall by a convenient space is the range 

 of glass structures referred to, the house at the back. No. 8, 

 being about on the same line as the north garden wall, and 

 tlie other houses all at right angles to this. Some trees 

 shelter the whole, as well as conceal the heating apparatus 

 and various back buildings. These glass structures are all 

 span-roofed, and excepting the back of the long one. No. 8, 

 which is a blank wall, all the sides of the others, as well as 

 the front of the long house, are glass almost to the ground ; 

 and being all of a size in both length, width, and height, they 

 unite to each other and form a noble and attractive whole. 

 From what few observations 1 was able to make, it would ap- 

 pear that a multiple of 20 is the ruling figure in the arrange- 

 ment, each house, including the back one. being 20 feet wide; 

 the interval between the houses is also 20 feet, and the length 

 of each (JO feet, making the back one 200 feet long. I am not 

 sure whether the doorways to the long house. No. 8, are en- 

 closed by ornamental porches or not ; but 1 believe they re- 

 semble those entering the other houses from the front, each 

 being simply a good-sized door in the centre of the gable, which 

 also exhibits some suitable ornamentation, but not such as to 

 detract from the appearance of the structure as a whole. The 

 lantern at top gives sufficient air at that part, and ventilation 

 is also afforded by openings at the sides. The houses are heated 

 by hot water, and from the number of pipes in each house the 

 heating, no doubt, is very effective. 



A broad path passes through the centre of each of the 

 houses numbered from 1 to 7, and communicates with the back 

 house ; and to support the roof, a series of cast-iron ' 

 piUars, arched at top, and imited by braces to the |-<J]>, 

 rafters, as shown in the accompanying section, give f] 

 both strength to the building and beauty to the in- 

 terior, for they form a sort of archway on wliich Vines or 

 climbers are trained, and as they are only underneath alternate 

 rafters, they are not too numerous to bo in tho ■n-ay. I am not 



