September 12. 1865. 1 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AKD COTTAGE GARDENER. 



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to Alton you can either tako tlie main road to Oakainoor, or 

 perchance a civil word to the keepers of the loilye gates may 

 fortunately obtain you permission to jiursue your way along 

 the undulating and romautic drives of Alton Towers, the resi- 

 dence of the Earl ui Shrewsbury and Talbot. There is a damp 

 coolness and aristocratic grantleur about the approaches to 

 these places wliich (ills one with a quiet and revorentml awe. 

 The noble trees, through whose stalwart brandies the .sun 

 scarcely over iioiietrates ; the lichen-covered stones by the side 

 of the drives, with the water oozing over and between them— 

 all bes])i)ak ago and years of undisturbed growth and luxuri- 

 ance, which naturally command respect when we contrast the 

 constant changing of owners and the consequent unthriftiness 

 of many email estates and farms which are daily witnessed. 

 Tbo very Mosses and Ferns in tliese woods and drives look as 

 though thev felt their superiority to the Ferns and Mosses of 

 the bank without the g^.tes. I believe there are_ Dives and 

 Lazarusos amongst llowers as well as human beings. The 

 scent of the turf hero is such as one only finds in spots where 

 wealth reigns over all, and where everything is carefully tended 

 and looked after. As I pass nnder the w all or hedge of a strange 

 garden I rejoice in this uudclinalile but well-kuown scent : it 

 portends that better tilings are to be found within. One 

 expects to see the mowing-machine at work, and gardeners 

 hero and there busily employed. It speaks of cool shrubberies 

 of which the walks are green— those dear, old-fashioned, wind- 

 ing -walks which one seeks in vain in new gardens ; the seats, 

 the stump of some old tree, in the interstices of which thu 

 Ivy still makes its way. Here the love-tale was told, and on 

 the trees the initials were carved, which will outlive the cai-ver 

 and the loved one ; and liere one wandered in loneliness when 

 the carver became estranged and false ; and here also one wept 

 in silence for the soul which had just departed from the one 

 who had watched oiir earhest years, and who had with dying 

 lips blessed us and left us to fight the world alone. 



There is no comparison betw.een new and old gardens. The 

 scent of which I have been s]]eaking above, and which clings 

 to old lawns and sliruljbcries, s])uaks of grass ever green, which, 

 if the clouds witliheld their showers, were never allowed to 

 become parched and dry ; and it also surely sjjeaks of moss, 

 almost imperceptible, but still there, inseparable from the 

 grass. How the Ferns revel in the moisture and shade of 

 those Alton woods ! and how broad and healthy are the leaves ! 

 AH up the hiUs to the right they grow. Then comes at their 

 feet the lichen-covered stone, then the winding drive, then 

 again more Fems covering the descent to the river, and beyond 

 the river, rising to our left, are Fern-covered hiUs. 



We were long in passing through this place, although I was 

 rather eager to reach Oakaraoor, having heard that the Oak 

 Fern was to be found there. I had heard its praises so loudly 

 sounded, that I qiute feared lest by any misadventure we 

 should not gain admittance to the wood in which these trea- 

 sures were obtainable. The descent to Oakamoor is charming, 

 there is no view of the little picturesque village until you are 

 quite upon it. The only thing which rather mars the beauty 

 and simplicity of the scene, is the fact of a horrid silk factory 

 which thrusts itself in view just as you are descending the hill : 

 there it is with its busy workers in the vaUey beneath. We 

 had hoped that we had left behind us in Tean and Cheadle, 

 with their large tape factories, all the bustle and confusion of 

 machinery and looms ; but there it was again, the ringing bell, 

 and its answering stream of hm-ryiug pale-faced workers. We 

 were glad to see them disappear down the valley, and turning 

 oiu" backs on them fancy such things had never been, as we 

 drove over the bridge to put the horse up at the adjacent inn. 

 My husband had some engagement in another part of the 

 Tillage, and I meantime called upon some young ladies who, I 

 had been assured, would show me the locality of the Oak Fern. 

 I fortunately foiuid them at home, and in a kind and ladylike 

 manner they offered to point out the spot, though, they added, 

 so many friends had applied to them for roots of this Fern, 

 that they almost feared my success in secm'ing any, par- 

 ticularly as it was very late in the season. Passing through a 

 farmyard, and over some meadows which were abundantly sup- 

 pUed with plants of the Ophioglossum vulgatum, we reached 

 the " jiromised land." No sportsman's heart could have re- 

 sponded quicker to the " view haUoo," than mine to the first 

 assm-ance of " a find,'' by my new friends of the plant of 

 which we were in search. As I said before, it was late in the 

 season, and the fronds were brown at the edges, which were 

 also knocked about and broken. Still what a lovely plant it 

 was, so dehcate and transparent ! No fructification was visible 



on tlie fronds we procured that day. It was stooping under 

 the Nut boughs that we found this Fern. In its secluded habits 

 it reminded nic of the Violets. I was so greedy of my new ac- 

 quisition that I secured a baskiitful of tlie tuberous roots, 

 whether they liad leaves on them or not, and I planted one of 

 the large baskets which we have in this neighbourhood full of 

 jilants, putting broken pieces of brick, &c., at the bottom, and 

 filling it with the earth in which I found the plants. How 

 much I looked f.irwurd to my next year in Tean, when these 

 carefully-planted roots should be siiringing into growth ! I had 

 many of these baskets planted with various Ferns, but I behevo 

 this 'would have exceeded thein all. We left the village, and 

 gave my baskets in charge of a shopkeeper there, but ho took 

 no care of them, and when I applied for them, he said tho 

 basket had "rotted away." Having kept them a much longer 

 time myself, I suspect he had emptied out the contents, and 

 made use of the baskets. — Alice. 



PItESKNT.VTION TO MR. THOMSON OF 

 DALKKITll. 



Ox the occasion of the International Exhibition at Edin- 

 burgh on Weihiesday last, nine of those who had been foremen 

 to Mr. Thomscni at i)alkeith, but who are now in situations for 

 themselves, took the opportunity of presenting him with a 

 substantial testimonial of their regard for him. and as an ac- 

 knowledgement of the benefits they had received from him 

 during the period they were in his employment. All of them 

 had become head-gardeners in first-class situations on the re- 

 commendation of Mr. Thomson, and the subscription to the 

 testimonial was strictly confined to those only who had acted 

 in the capacity of foremen at Dalkeith during Mr. Thomson's 

 time. The presentation took place in the Douglas Hotel, St. 

 Andrew's Square, in presence of seven of the subscribers, and 

 a number of Mr. Thomson's friends, and it consisted of a very 

 handsome and valuable gold watch, on the back of which was 

 a chaste device, in the centre of which was engraved— " Pre- 

 sented to Mr. WiUiam Thomson, by nine of his late foremen," 

 and artistically incorporated with the sm-rounding decoration, 

 were the initia"ls of the donors, who are— Mr. H. Kosc, Floors 

 Castle, N.B. ; Mr. Dell, Stoke Kochford, Grantham ; Mr. D. 

 Brown, Corehouse, N.B. ; Mr. John Mcintosh, late of Kaby 

 Castle ; Mr. W. Prentice, Shugborough Hall, Ilugeley ; Mr. 

 William Dick, Wynyard Park, Durham ; ilr. .James Morrison, 

 Auchincruive, N.B. ; Mr. Harry Knight, Chateau Pontchar- 

 train, near Paris ; Mr. John Simpson, Wortley Hall. 



Such a presentation as this is ivnhke the ordinary testi- 

 monials which are too frequently contributed by those who 

 know comparatively httle of the recipient. It is an expression 

 of the gratitude of those who had every opportunity of seeing 

 and experiencing the merits or failures of him with whom they 

 served, and it is greatly to tlie honour of Jlr. Thomson, that 

 these nine of his late foremen should unanimously have resolved 

 in paying so high a tribute to his worth. May he Uve long to 

 receive those expressions of friendship and regard to which ho 

 is so justly entitled. 



THE BOTANIC GARDENS AT ST. PETERSBURG. 



The Botanical Gardens of St. Petersburg are situated on the 

 north side of the Neva, on the Aptekarskoi Ostroff, or Apothe- 

 cary's Island, at a little more than two English miles from the 

 centre of the town . Although the gardens and houses are very 

 well kept up, there being about seventy men constantly em- 

 ployed in them, they are not much visited. In the first place, 

 it is too far to walk ; for in spring, when one natiurally feels a 

 desire to see flowers and foliage, the roads are next to impas- 

 sable — mud and slush having entire sway ; and in the heat of 

 s nmin er one does not feel able to move out so far. Then, 

 again, in St. Petersburg every house is profusely — more or less 

 so, according to the means of the owner of course — decorated 

 with green plants and foliage of all kinds. .Those who can 

 afford to do so employ a florist, who seizes the opportunity 

 when it offers, and changes all the plants, so that they never 

 look drooping ; others, again, take care of their own, having 

 greenhouses in the country, and by that means keep their 

 town houses gay. I ought to say that — now I am speaking 

 merely of the town houses of the nobility and gentry — naturally 

 enough their country seats (or ilatschas) are always beautifully 

 furnished with the finest ornamental plants and shrubs. I 



