l^S 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGK GARDENER. 



C Auguat 22, 18u5. 



to give " a croquet," that in the ladies' short for a croquet 

 party ; but as all such thiugs are not equally well m-.iuaged, 

 hit me describe one at which I was, hajipily for myself, present 

 ». short time since. Suppose a lawn on which were placed 

 S:ov5^s for three games to be played at the same time ; the 

 »fiailets and balls were tastefiilh' arranged at each starting point. 

 In order to know one ground from another, and to prevent any 

 dispute in the games, each ground had been clearly marked out 

 fcy a narrow line of scattered bran rim round the edge. On a 

 S.ible were laid the prizes, these are frequently flower-vases, 

 photographic albums, or anything elegant and durable. The 

 p-arly liad been planned for some weeks, there were to be players 

 and lookers-on. Three sets of eight had been chosen by one 

 T-ell laiowiug the play of all. Each captain of a side was pre- 

 .•i?ntcd with a paper, upon which the names of his jmrty, and 

 Hiteir opponents were written. A little time is consumed in 

 Retting the players togetlier, at last a dilatory gentleman who 

 ejraes panting in at half-past three, instead of three, has 

 arrived, and then the lawn is alive with players. Gay silks and 

 jjlack coats are intermingled, happily those odious tlress coats 

 are not required to be worn. Dress coats, the horrors ! making 

 «]erg.ymeu look like footmen in moumiug. 



To return, the games proceed merrily. I thought I noticed 

 a little flirting, and somebody looking across at another set, and 

 wishing somebody had been |)la.iing in her set. Still all went 

 on pretty well, and as each game nears its end, and that end is 

 often long in coming, spectators gather round the stick almost as 



. -eager and as excited as the players themselves. The glorious 

 tmeertainty of croquet is now seen, for the skill that had been 

 fcehind all the time now makes a spui't. .A. good hit follows, by 

 which the best player of the hitherto successful side is knocked 

 out of the game. All is excitement, and, lo ! the lately de- 

 a;jonding ones win. So the eight are reduced to four. But just 

 at this jimcture dinner is announced, and here a croquet party 

 is again seen to advantage. It is a cold dinner, and what so 

 suitable in summer time ? Long naiTow tables extemporii^ed 

 for the day by the carpenter, run along the sides of the room, 

 leaving a hollow square in the centre, and making a small 

 dining-room a large one, or at least capable of containing a 

 great number of gue.sts, which is just the same. Brightly 

 S"iis'i,en the viands, being for the most jiart glazed marvellously, 



. tiierc arc the substantial viands, there are the lighter viands, 

 with dif.hes of juicy fruit iutersocrsed. semi-transparent (h-apes, 

 fclooming Plums, and downy Peaches. But commend me (after 

 I have dined) to the iiower decorations, shapely Ferns in rustic- 

 looking pots. Fuchsias with Chinese-lantern-like flowers, with 

 the earth hidden by m^any a rare device ; then the cut flowers, 

 to Rrrange wliich employed the morning of the young ladies ; 

 .care and time well spent, for the result was giving happiness 

 to all who Ijehcld them. (Jh ! the exquisite taste shown in 

 £rra:;giug the colours, and the dainty sprays of Variegated 

 Ivy made to climb the narrow stems ! Man ! man ! thou 



^ art a very bungler in such matters ! I could only look on and 

 wonder at what the slender fingers bad wrought. " WTiat 

 ^o:ild any entertainment be without flowers?" Granted, 

 bnt what would the flowers be without woman's arranging 

 iiaud? The dinner is over, that portly old gentleman has 

 Huished at last. How some old gentlemen do enjoy their 

 ■riinnere ! Back to crocjuet ; the games of four, two on each 

 fiide, are soon over; then come the duels, when the two 

 firm friends all tb.rough, who have adrised each other in soft 

 accents, now become deadly enemies. Now they are at it, the 

 hiiy is croqueted, but she does not despair ; up she comes 

 jigiiiu. The gentleman bungles at the first stick, the lady 

 ^advances ; be is after her. Another miss — ah ! but she has 

 lirtfully wired herself. "He will win." "No, she wiU." 

 "Hurrah! the lady has it." The other games are advanc- 



. •sag to their end. Mammas sip their tea, and hope the grass 

 is not damp; the daughters say, "Oh dear no," but it is, 

 though the young ladies are incredulous. The last game is 

 over, the heroes cjf the day are congratulated, and advance for 

 diieir i^rizes. They draw lots for the best, and receive them in 

 order, with a heightened cheek, and a tremulous hand. Even- 

 .ing is now advancing rapitUy, and all praise to health-giving 

 croquet, its parties end when others begin. Croquet causes 

 11 5 late hours, an I bangs no headaches. The groups are thin- 



. ■ling, ; nd soon the Ust carriage wheels out of the gate. 



One final remark. I think it is a mistake to give prizes at 



croquet parties. Like chess, croquet should stand as a game 



on its own merits. The pleasant gathering, the Idnd hospi- 



>-'^ality, the good g.ame are enough. Prizes make feelings too 



kf ea, And a little mar the general pleasure. Human nature is 



human nature, even when dressed in crinolines, or black frock 

 coats. Dear me ! how I have run away from my text, which 

 on turning back I see, for I had forgotten it, is, " How to make 

 a croquet ground a garden ornament." Well, I am not the 

 first clergyman who has run away from his text, that's a 

 comfort ; besides, does not Miss Augu.sta Gushington declare 

 that such run-off sermons (I have not rim off the line, I hope) 

 are freer, more natural, more inartistic ? &e. 



But now to my text in all earnestness. A croquet ground 

 with the earth at the edges running any way, is ugly — it 

 is no ornament, that is certain. The prettiest I know is 

 oval, this shape suits the game, it opens out beyond a small 

 geometric garden, and has a grass bank all round save at the 

 entrance and e.xit, this bank varies in height, but the average 

 is 2 feet, then on either bank is a flower-border planted with 

 standard Eoses, Geraniums, Asters, A-c, the side near the road 

 has at the back a thick row of Convolvulus major, neatly 

 trained as a screen. Some one asked a few weeks since, " How 

 to make a croquet ground," but I purposely did not read the 

 reply, and so speak simply my own ideas. The bank aroimd is 

 a gi'eat feature, the oval shape meets the eye pleasantly. Be- 

 sides the bank prevents the balls rolling too far, and as ground 

 has usually to be levelled, the spare earth is used on the spot. 

 If flowers are not thought advisable, there are flowering shrubs 

 in abundance for choice, or have old-fashioned border plants, 

 why not ? Croquet cannot be allowed to become a garden de- 

 stroyer, and little square fields with nothing round them are 

 very objectionable. — Wiltshire Eectok. 



DESTROYING MILDEW— PREVENTING THE 

 SPREiM) OF THE POTATO DISEASE. 



The article of "A CotixxKY Curate," at page 105, appears 

 to call for some remarks from myself. One side of this house 

 is covered with Esperione Viues, of which I am excusably 

 proud, and I have never allowed other hands than my own 

 to interfere with their management, excepting once last year 

 when I had nearly blinded myself by the frequent application 

 of flowers of sulphur. In 18C"2, 18G3, and 1864, these Vines 

 were very sulqect to the mildew. In the first year of their 

 being attacked, a muslin bag was made to do duty as a sulphur- 

 duster ; but in the spring of 18BH, jiassing through the Pan- 

 theon, in Oxford Street, I stopped short at a stall to examine a 

 sort of little mop with a cotton-wool head that caught my eye, 

 and which was called a bottle-cleaner. I thought that it would 

 do to dust flowers of sulphur over my Vines, and bought it. 

 The bottle-cleaner answered the purpose, but it was so tire- 

 some to be constantly clinging to a ladder by one's legs, with a 

 soup-plate in one hand and flourishing the little mop about 

 and under the fruit and leaves with the other, that it made me 

 determine to carry out a threat I made against the Vine mildew, 

 in Vol. XrX.. page 3(i8. In the beginning of July I filled the 

 washing-copper with pure sewage from the tank and heated 

 it, between nine and ten o'clock at night, to a temperature of 

 more than Uif, and with this heateil sewage I syringed the 

 Vines most thoroughly without any dilution at quite 140'. I 

 dislike a bad smell quite as much as our good friend Mr. Fish 

 himself, and the heating process did bring out the fumes. I 

 was awake by daybreak next morning, and eager to witness the 

 effect. The blue mildew had turned quite black, and so it re- 

 mained to the last on both the fruit and the foliage. The hot 

 syringing with the sewage had entirely killed it, and what is 

 better, not one particle of the disease has been seen upon the 

 Vines this season. 



As regards Roses, whenever I see a leaf disposed to mildew, 

 and my Eoses have been several times threatened with it 

 this season, I place on the kitchen fire in the evening my 

 special saucepan, which holds about a gallon of sewage, and 

 when this becomes heated to 140°, I take the pot to the bush 

 or tree affected, and syringe from it at once without any dilu- 

 tion of the sewage, which is the same as that mentioned by 

 "A Country Cckate," at page 105, and then I can, in nine 

 cases out of ten, say good-bye to the mildew. I do not usually 

 now, and I did not in the case of the Vines, syringe with clean 

 water afterwards, as the fine glaze of health on the foliage, 

 after the overhead liquid manuring, seemed to indicate that 

 tU'h a course was unnecessary. It is, I conceive, the ammonia 

 abiiut the plant that benefits it and renders it distasteful to 

 mildew and insects. 



I have only used an ounce of tobacco this season for fumi- 

 gating for brown aphis, which had attacked some Nectarines 



