136 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICDLTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



t AugOMt IS, 18W. 



> we are infomied on the best authority — in a temperatare 

 of 55° to C0°, which snits B. boliriensis, there can be no diffically 

 on the Bcore of ealtivation. 



" Begonia Sedeni is a softwooded plant, with erect hairy 

 purplish red stems. The leaves are obliquely ovate-lanceolate, 

 tapered to a lonpj point, duplicately serrate, of a dull green, with 

 pale-coloured veins, and red hairs which show as a reddish 

 fringe at the edge. The cymes are three-flowered, axillary, on 

 reddish peduncles 4 inches long, bearing a pair of bluntly-ovate 

 bracts subtending the three pedicels, which are about Ij inch 

 long. The central or largnr flower is male, and has two ovate 

 Bepaline divisions an inch long, and two oblong ovate petaline 

 ones 1 i inch long, while in the centre is a tnf t of yellow stamens. 

 The two lateral flowers are female, somewhat smaller, with five 

 oblong segments, and three contorted yellow stigmas, surmount- 

 ing a three-winged ovary, which has one of the wings prolonged. 

 It is most floriferous, the yonng plants, when only fi inches high, 

 developing blossoms freely." — (Flurht and Pomoloaist, 3rd s., 

 ii., 169.) _^ 



COMBE ABBEY, 



The Seat of the Earl of Cravek. 

 Tms fine place, which has taken such a high position in the 

 gardening world by the splendid fruit which has been exhibited 

 by Mr. Miller, occupies a position in the midst of that level 

 tract of country which surrounds the ancient and interesting 

 city of Coventry. The visitor after leaving Coventry finds 

 himself in a district purely rural in all its features, corn fields 

 waving with the breeze alternating with pastures, with here 

 and there a plantation of well-grown trees, showing that the 

 fertility he perceives in the cultivated grounds results from 

 natural influences as well as from the industry of the occupiers. 

 Good roads bounded by hedges carry him in a south-westerly 

 direction until he is told he has travelled upwards of four 

 miles, and this without encountering any eminences worth 

 mentioning. He then finds indications of his being in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of the mansion of some wealthy 

 gentleman ; in fact, tokens of that have been visible before in 

 the shape of schools, extensive workshops, itc. By-and-by a 

 glimpse of the mansion is obtained on the left, and here, it 

 must be confessed, the first impression is not good ; the expecta- 

 tion of meeting with some monastic building, altered only in- 

 ternally to meet the requirements of its present occupants, is 

 not fulfilled, neither is the site such as in most cases was 

 chosen for religious edifices. A low secluded position in a 

 hilly district was common enough, perhaps more so than an 

 elevated one ; but a low place in a flat neighbourliood presents 

 but little that is enviable. On a nearer approach, however, it 

 has a better appearance ; for the eye on discerning the base 

 of the building perceives that the position is only on a level 

 with the ground in the neighbourhood, and the trees and rich 

 pasture land in the extensive park attract the attention else- 

 where, and confirm in some degree our notion of the prudence 

 of the monks of old in pitching their abode where the produce 

 of the earth would be at all times bountiful. The mansion, 

 though not outwardly attractive, is large, and I believe fitted 

 np with every luxury and convenience that can bo desired. 



In giving a rough idea of the features of this remarkable 

 place, it may be said the carriage front of the mansion faces 

 west, or rather the main entrance through the park is from 

 that direction, while dressed grounds occupy the other three 

 sides. The kitchen garden and the forcing houses are a short 

 distance to the east of the mansion, but united to it by dressed 

 grounds, shrubberies, &c., while extensive pleasure grounds 

 also extend to the north and north-west sides, where a large 

 piece of ornamental water forms the boundary between them and 

 the park. Pleasure grounds, including a very fine croquet 

 ground, also stretch from the mansion along the southern side 

 of the kitchen garden, where the latter is bounded by some 

 trees of older date, screening and sheltering the whole from the 

 violence of the south-westerly gales. Large trees also serve 

 the same purpose on the east and north sides ; in fact, it may 

 be said the whole is nearly surrounded by trees, excepting that 

 a portion of the pleasure ground on one side juts out into the 

 park, and is, consequently, more open. It must not be 

 inferred that the shade and other influences of the old trees 

 referred to extend where not wanted ; on the contrary, they are 

 at a sufficient distance to cause no injury to the more delicate 

 objects they protect, while they must be of infinite service, and 

 give the whole a clothed and sheltered appearance. 



By the foregoing it will be seen that the kitchen garden is at 



a convenient distance from the mansion, being only separated 

 from it by a breadth of dressed ground and shrubbery. With 

 the exception of the large trees and some old shrubs near the 

 mansion, the whole has the stamp of quite a now place ; and so, 

 in fact, it is. A small garden of no great importance occu- 

 pied a part of the site of the new one, but that was done away 

 with, and the present garden formed, which has in point of 

 excellence few equals anywhere. It is of an oblong shape being 

 longest on the east and west sides. The principal entrance 

 is in the centre of the west end, where a singularly constructed 

 edifice forms the gateway. Possibly this may be in harmony 

 with some other things, but it differs from all similar openingB. 

 By it we enter upon a fine broad walk, 12 or 16 feet wide, 

 leading straight to the east end, where Mr. Miller's cottage 

 is, and which with some other buildings forms a portion of 

 the east-end wall of the garden. A fine range of vineries and 

 other forcing houses occupies the whole, or nearly so, of the 

 north wall, and at the east end of the garden near Mr. Miller's 

 house is a series of houses running north and south, their 

 ends or entrances facing the broad central walk alluded to. 

 Some of these houses stand back to back — that is, one faces 

 east and its fellow west — and are devoted to various purposes. 

 One hiuse was full of flowering plants, and others were em- 

 ployed in forwarding plants for succession, or contained those 

 whose flowering was over. There was a good crop of Melons 

 in a house, which, no doubt, did much service in winter. The 

 two structures fucing the west entrance were of a somewhat 

 imposing appearance. Peach houses, or what some call glazed 

 walls, the glass being as high as the wall, and about G feet or 

 more from it, with a sort of span-roof of an ornamental kind, 

 presented a striking appearance from the entrance. Very fine 

 Peaches were ripening in one of them at the time of my visit, 

 but Mr. Miller said the crop of the later Peaches was not 

 nearly what he expected ; he, like many others, trusting to the 

 trees setting their fruit without artificial heat, and this few 

 have done in the present year. As it was the crop was good for 

 the season, and the early kinds bad produced most abundantly; 

 but as your readers are likely to be most interested in hearing 

 of Mr. Miller's Grapes, I shall at once advert to these. 



On taking a cursory survey of the vineries occupying the 

 north wall, the external appearance is not very different from 

 that of similar houses elsewhere, only they are larger and more 

 lofty than many, have improved means of ventiUtion, and are 

 glazed with somewhat larger squares of glass than are often 

 met with, although not by any means remarkable in this re- 

 spect. The heating is by hot water, with a smaller number of 

 bailers than in many places, but not on the one-boiler system. 

 The glass and painting seemed in excellent order, and external 

 neatness prepared me for the sight which met my gaze on 

 entering, for having seen samples of Mr. Miller's Grapes at 

 the metropolitan shows, I was expecting to find a house bat 

 thinly cropped, as is frequently the case where show Grapes are 

 the order of the day ; on the contrary, the crop in all the 

 houses was heavy, and had I witnessed such a crop under the 

 care of a less experienced cultivator than Mr. Miller, I should 

 have entertained grave doubts respecting the future ; but as 

 Mr. Miller says he has had several such crops from his Vines, 

 I must take it for granted that the present crop will be followed 

 by others of a like kind. The crop, not of one kind of Grape 

 only, but of all, was most abundant ; even that shy bearer, the 

 Barbarossa [Gros Guillaume] had a plentiful supply of bunches 

 on it, and these, as might be expected, were very large. 



For the information of those who are anxious to know the 

 details of Grape management at a place in which good fruit 

 has been supplied every day during the last six years or more, 

 I hope Mr. Miller will give us some further information than 

 could be gleaned by a rather hasty visit ; but I may here state 

 that Mr. Miller is no advocate of giving bottom heat by arti- 

 ficial means; on the contrary, be condemns it, and having 

 for so long furnished good Grapes all the year round, he has 

 strong grounds for his views. Other matters have also to be 

 taken into consideration in the production of good Grapes, 

 and there is one on which, perhaps, more depends than on 

 bottom heat to ensure fine well-grown fruit, and that is the 

 character of the border, which in some esses is determined by 

 circumstances over which the cultivator has little control ; but 

 Mr. Miller's borders have been formed entirely by himself, and 

 with a result which is well known. Let us, however, speculate 

 how far local circumetances may have aided judicious manage- 

 ment in producing such results as those which have been 

 achieved. 



Taking a casual survey of the district, its appearance where 



