November 7, 1865. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



377 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Uny 



Doy 



of 

 Wuek. 



To 

 W 

 Tll 

 P 



S 



Sun 



M 



NOVEMBER 7—13, 1BC5. 



Hooded Crow arrives. 



Asli Icrtfless. 



Princc of Wales BonN, 1841. 



Hautin[^''R note ceases. 



Plane leaves fall. 



23 Sl'XDAY AFTER Tp.IXITY. 



Apricot leafless. 



Averatfo Tcmperatnro 

 near London. 



Ilnin in 1 



last 

 38 years. 



Day. 

 5'2.4 

 51.1 

 50.0 

 50..'> 

 50.7 



,';o.4 



49.U 



Nisht. 

 37.5 

 35.0 

 84.4 

 S-1.9 

 34.7 

 !W.7 

 35.5 



Mean. 

 45.0 

 4S.1 

 42 2 

 42:7 

 42.7 

 42.0 

 42.6 



Dnvs. 

 18 

 IS 

 15 

 22 

 15 

 16 



Sun 

 lUsea. 



on. b. 

 Cnf7 

 8 7 



Sun 

 Scig. 



5Ioon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sole. 



33 



h. 

 8 

 9 



45 10 

 51 11 

 morn. 

 5fl 

 68 1 



m, h, 



13 11 



56 11 

 after. 



1 



25 1 



50 1 



13 2 



Moon'E 

 Age. 



Days. 

 19 

 20 

 21 

 < 

 23 

 24 

 25 



Clock 

 aft er 

 Sun. 



15 55 



IS 48 



15 40 



15 :;j 



Day 

 ot 



Year 



an 



812 

 318 

 314 

 315 

 816 

 317 



From obsorrations taken near London during the last thirty-eight years, the average day terapor.aturo of the week is 50.7^, and its night 

 temperature 85.1°. The greatest heat was 63^, on the 12th, 1841 ; and the lowest cold, 18^, on the 9th, 1854. The greatest fall of rain was 



1.16 inch. 



FOUR HOURS AT CIIATSWORTH. 



HERE is always sometliing 

 to see at Cliatsworth ; and 

 as no two observers look at 

 things in the same way, a 

 few notes I made a week or 

 two ago may not be without 

 interest. Fortunately, the 

 day that I selected for my visit was most hrUliant ; and as 

 if on pui-pose to give an extra gi'atification, the great foun- 

 tains were set phij'ing. Tliis was in compUmont to a 

 large party of tlie Social Science Congress, wliich had 

 come over from Sheffield to exaiiiine tlie inniunerable and 

 adnrirablo treasiu'es contained in the HaU, as well as to 

 enjoy the beauty of tlie gardens and pleasure gromids. 

 The fountains are wonderfully tine. The great jet called 

 the " Emperor," in compliment to the Czar Nicholas, who 

 once visited Chatsworth. throws tlie water to tlie immense 

 height of 240 feet ! On a fine simshiny day the rainbows 

 play about in its mimic rain, three or four at a time, some- 

 times forming perfect arches, tlien fragments of arches, 

 and changing their angles in the most beautiful manner, 

 accorcUug to the direction given to the spray by the wiad. 

 Viewed, as this lovely spectacle is, from the foot of tall 

 trees, the effect is magical. 



Going in the first instance tlu'ough the kitchen garden, 

 the visitor to tins grand place cannot fail to be struck by 

 the Pines, wliicli are gi-own in large quantities, and are in 

 the finest possible condition. Some of the plants' ahnost 

 deserve to be called gigantic. 'When the pits for them 

 were dug, it would appear that the earth was tlu-owu into 

 one great heap, for alongside of them there is literally a 

 '• Strawberry hill," the mound of earth being shaped into 

 circular terraces, the edges of which are supported by 

 miniature palings, and the plants disposed so as to let the 

 frait be sustained liigh and di-y, almost as if grown against 

 a wall. Whetlier such were tlie origin of the moimd or 

 not, it has been taken advantage of in the most ingenious 

 manner, and is a capital model for those who would gi-ow 

 Strawben-ies to perfection. Under glass was the Cape 

 Gooseben-y, Physalis edutis ('?), in flower and fruit ; also a 

 pretty variety of the Love Apple, named Tomato de Lave. 

 The frait was perfectly globidar. the size of a large marble, 

 and grew ui racemes of six or eight. A White Mulberry, 

 Morus alba, gi-ows against one of the walls — a most extra- 

 ordinaiy place for it if planted there in expectation of 

 fruit. I 



The stoves and greenhouses belonging to tliis part of the 

 establii5hment are crowded T\ith cm-ious plants. On enter- 

 ing the first, we liave a perfect veil of Pitcher-plant stems 

 and foliage, with scores of the strange little receptacles 

 alluded to in the name. The luxuiiance of these plants 

 No. 241.— yoL. rx., New Sesies, 



appears to be in a large measure referable to theii- being 

 grown m living sphagnum, the siufacc of whiri looks as 

 gi-een and fresli as if it were only just transit. /"d from its 

 native swamp. Close by is the famous plant o; .Vinherstia 

 nobiUs, to hold which this house was specially built. It is 

 tlie largest example in Eiu-ope, thougli even here onh' a 

 couple of yards or so in height from where the branches 

 spring, and -iritli the exception of the plant at the late 

 ^Irs. La^^Tence■s, is believed to be the only one that has yet 

 bloomed in England. Nothing, said i\Lr. TapUn, could ex- 

 ceed the gorgeousness of its appearance early iu the spiing 

 of the present year, when tlm-ty-two gi-eat racemes, a yai-d 

 m length, of red and yeUow flowers, were suspended among 

 the enormous pmnate leaves. The young leaves have a 

 peculiar brown tinge, and liang down as if half dead, re- 

 muiding us in the former character of the yoimg leaves of 

 the Browneas, wliioh, imlike these, however, stand erect. 



Li the next house is a capital collection of such rarities 

 as the ,b.-notto Tree (Bixa orellana), and the Ebony Tree, 

 Diosp\Tos ebenum. The plants are not large, but serve 

 their ptu-pose perfectly well. Ficus elastica, on the other 

 hand, is almost rampant : a noble plant truly is tliis. gi-ow- 

 uig 5 or 6 feet in a smgle season. There is a fine 'jomi'r 

 .specunen, also, of the Upas tree, ^ioitiaris toxicaria, and 

 one of that very elegant-leaved ally of the Nettles, though 

 without then- stmgs— the Ai-tantlie. The blade of the leaf 

 of tliis plant resembles that of the Ehii, in comiu<» do^vn 

 fm-ther upon one side of the petiole than it does upon the 

 other. Many plants show the same thhig m some degi-ee, 

 but there is none, perhaps, in wlrich it is so noticeable as 

 m these two. Ehus, however, are by no means constant 

 in the obliquity of theii- leaves, examples being often met 

 with in wliich the base is quite symmetrical, while others, 

 on the contrary, have a bare stem of half an inch or more' 

 The herbaceous plants in tliis house include several of 

 those pretty little ctiiuosities the Peperomias, inth minute 

 gi-een flowers, disposed in long and slender spikes that 

 exactly resemble the tails of mice or other diminutive 

 quadrupeds. The jVi'tanthe produces its blackish green 

 flowers in a spike of sunilai- tigiu'e. Quite as interestSig is 

 the Nardoo-plaut, now becoming common, and so quaintly 

 like an Oxalis -ndth quaternate leaves. 



Next into that glorious flower-palace, the Victoria-house. 



The first time we entered it ^I'as by the light of the full 



moon, which, sliining upon the water, and the great oval 



leaves, and the one liuge white blossom iu the nudst, made 



a fauy scene of it not soon to be forgotten. This year the 



Victoria has done remarkably well at Chatsworth. At the 



. end of September there were no less than seventeen full- 



j grown leaves afloat, and m one part of the tank they were 



I becoiiung so crowded as to requii-e no thinmng. The 



flower of the Victoria opens in the evening, and is fragi-ant 



I for some time after expansion. The next day the li-agrance 



is less powerfiU, but the loss of odour is compensated by 



the increasing beauty, which attains its maximum on the 



second evening and then declines. Only one blossom is 



I seen in perfection at once, but there is a long-continued 



succe.ssion of them. The contrast tliis noble plant presents 



wi:h its regal relative the Nelumbium speciosmn is most 



No. S93.— Vol. XXSIV., Old Sep. e;. 



