Angnst 12, 1869. ] 



JOTJRNAIi OF HORTICDLTURE AND COTTAGK GARDENER. 



127 



enltivated, and in some measnre the character of its herbage 

 when left to nature, or, in fact, we may say the weeds, I am 

 led to the conclusion that one of the elements said to have an 

 important influence on fertility is certainly not very abundant, 

 and that is lime, or what the learned call calcareous matter. 

 This material, which at one time was thought so essential in 

 the cultivation of the Vine, has of late years been thought not 

 so well of ; in fact, it has been broadly hinted that many of 

 the failures in Vine management may be traced to an undue 

 proportion of it. Now, as most people are expected to make 

 their Vine borders of the materials to be obtained at home, 

 mixed or amended in some way, we may fairly conjecture that 

 Mr. Miller's borders were in a great measure so composed. 

 Although I have known the ingredients for a Vine border 

 brought eighteen miles, yet generally it will be found that when 

 a district consists of a soil naturally favourable to the growth 

 of this fruit, it is much better than when an artificial mixture 

 has to be prepared ; in the latter case we have a poor chance 

 of so evenly balancing the ingredients which compose it, as to 

 constitute a whole capable of meeting all the requirements of 

 the plant it is intended to support, and ia the case of Vine 

 borders I am inclined to think the lime or lime-rubbish mania 

 has in many cases overrun its mark ; certainly, to outward ap- 

 pearance, the soil which constitutes the kitchen garden at 

 Combe Abbey is not overcharged with lime, and I concluded 

 that the Vine border was not overdosed cither. Assum- 

 ing it to resemble in some degree that of the kitchen garden, 

 I would regard it rather as a stiff loam than a too open one ; 

 at least, sand did not prevail to the extent it does in the rich 

 deep soils which border many of our rivers, the Mersey for 

 instance, the valley of which is composed in a great measure 

 of a dark sandy soil of considerable fertility, but possibly less [ 

 enduring than the soil at Combe Abbey ; in fact, there seems i 

 by Mr. Miller's report to be great " staying " powers in the 

 soil of which the Vine border is composed. Let us now take a 

 peep into the inside, and judge for ourselves how far the border, i 

 and the management the Vines are subjected to, are in accord- 

 ance with their wants. j 



The vineries, as already observed, are large, as far as height 

 and width are concerned, and some of the most important | 

 seem devoted to Grape-growing only ; others, as is often the 

 case, have a bed inside, and Pines or plants are grown as well. 

 In the latter case the roof is not so heavily covered with 

 Vine foliage as where Grapes only are cultivated. Separate 

 houses are devoted to Muscats and Lady Downe's, but most of i 

 the other varieties are more or less mixed. Black Hamburgh, 

 of course, predominating. I must again remark, that in every 

 instance the Vines were heavily cropped, certainly more so ' 

 than I should have advised, and the bunches were at least 

 one-third more numerous than in the generality of places ' 

 where good Grapes are produced ; yet Mr. Miller assured me j 

 they had been as heavily cropped every year, and with the same ■ 

 Snccessful result. Even the Barbarossa was yielding such mag- ' 

 nificent bunches that I refrain from making any suggestion as 

 to their ultimate weight, in the hope I may learn it hereafter. 

 Other Grapes were equally good. A ncble house of Muscats 

 was well worth seeing, and scarcely less interesting was one of 

 Lady Downe's, which, however, I should like better to see ia 

 January than in July, but in the latter month it seemed all 

 that could be desired, though in general it is not attractive as 

 long as Hamburghs and similar varieties are to be had. The pro- 

 priety, however, of having it in a house by itself was here 

 manifest, and a healthy, clean foliage insured a good finish-off. 

 Even the foliage in the early house was clean, and there was a 

 plentiful supply of laterals in robust health, less juicy, perhaps, 

 than those in the later house, but the foliage equally green. 

 Of course the Black Hamburghs that were just coming on 

 were the centre of attraction ; bunches large and well-shouldered, 

 with berries as large as would be convenient for those who 

 had to eat them, were advancing fast to maturity. Occasion- 

 ally a bunch of extraordinary size presented itself, one of those 

 aptly described as all shoulder. This feature in an overgrown 

 btmch of Black Hamburgh is, perhaps, too much admired, as 

 indicating extraordinary vigour ; but a more shapely bunch is 

 certainly more agreeable to look upon, and there were plenty 

 of such in the Grape houses at Combe ; in fact, plenty of both 

 Mnds. 



Other kinds of Grapes were also well represented, Mr. Miller 

 having a partiality for a white one, not so much cultivated as 

 it deserves to be — Foster's White Seedling, which has a prettily- 

 shaped bunch, with globular rather than long berries, and in 

 appearance ranks high as a white Grape, of course not so i 



large as Trebbiano, or its eynonyme The Child of Hale, but 

 much superior in flavour. Trentham Black was also in good 

 trim ; but this Grape is not a general favourite elsewhere, 

 although good where well managed. The Alicante and West's 

 St. Peter's were also well grown, and what were equally inter- 

 esting, were some good bunches of Bed Frontignan — a Qrape 

 which, by the smallness of its bunches, many growers think 

 spoils the appearance of their other productions. New kinds 

 were also being tried, and I believe canes of Mrs. Pinee's 

 Black Muscat Grape were in bearing ; but I forgot to inquire 

 for it. The Vines and their bunches were all in most excellent 

 order, clean and healthy, no shanking, and any insidious 

 attempts of red spider or other enemies to gain a footing were 

 at once counteracted. The fruit from the earliest houses had 

 all been cut, that in the others affording a succession, and 

 Vines in pots were being prepared elsewhere for early forcing 

 next year. Many of the houses contained stove and other 

 plants, which, as specimens, might have appeared at a metro- 

 politan show with advantage. Amongst the latter were some 

 excellent plants of a good variety of the Willow-leaved Croton. 



The flower garden proper is situated between the mansion and 

 kitchen garden, or rather to the north of the mansion. Some 

 excavations elsewhere had given Mr. Miller material with which 

 to throw up banks. These were taken advantage of to plant 

 shrubs, and lay out a series of beds, partly irregular and partly 

 forming a regular design. At the time of my visit they were 

 well filled, while a long border in front of the south wall of the 

 kitchen garden was converted into a handsome ribbon border 

 by lines of very choice plants, its height and width giving it 

 more importance than most similar borders. I cannot state 

 the exact length, but it could not be less than 800 feet, and the 

 surface being level, the extent produced its full effect. In this 

 neighbourhood was the croquet ground, almost large enough 

 for a cricket ground. Some specimens of Conifers were also 

 here, including some memorial trees, but the trees and shrubs 

 were mostly at the margin of the dressed ground, leaving the 

 large space alluded to for bowls, croquet, and other games. 



The kitchen garden, it is scarcely necessary to observe, was 

 well cropped ; good order and cleanliness everywhere prevailed. 



The gardener's cottage at the end of the central walk or 

 avenue entering from the west, presents nothing remarkable in 

 its appearance, but it is a comfortable and convenient dwelling, 

 and I hope it may long form the home of its present energetic 

 and intelligent occupier. Suitable apartments for the young 

 men also exist, as well as the other ofliees required for a large 

 garden establishment. Mr. Miller drew my attention to one 

 place, and it is one to which visitors are rarely invited, yet it 

 is as indispensable as the flower bed or forcing house, and 

 that is the rubbish heap. The worthy writer of the 

 "Doings of the Last Week," " B. F.," very often calls the 

 attention of his readers to the due management of this un- 

 fashionable department ; but Mr. Miller goes many degrees 

 further than "E. F." contemplates, and I should have much 

 liked him to have been of the party who inspected Mr. Miller's 

 rubbish heap. Instead of an out-of-the-way place being 

 reached, where barrowload after barrowload of the garden re- 

 fuse lay scattered over the ground in endless confusion, await- 

 ing a sort of a clearing-up day, there was a tidy, well-propor- 

 tioned yard, with cow shed and milking house in it, and a 

 milch cow and two young heifers stared ns in the face, while 

 two pigs, on whom the good things of this world had told their 

 tale, seemed less inclined to recognise strangers ; a suitable 

 domicile for them was found at one corner, and comfort and 

 contentment seemed to pervade the happy family, which was 

 not complete without a due proportion of fowls. Here, then, 

 was the rubbish ; here the basketfuls of short grass from the 

 lawn, the waste Lettuces, Cabbages, and other garden refuse 

 were transformed into the best of manure, ready for the garden 

 again. To say nothing of the other good things the fowls and 

 four-footed animals furnished for the use of their careful 

 tenders, the economy of material is highly creditable to Mr. 

 Miller and his better half. 



Coventry is the most convenient railway station for Combe. — 



J. EOBSON. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



OxE of our contemporaries is angry with ns because of some 

 observations we made last week on the HoKiicnLxuRAi, Con- 

 gress held at Manchester. In making these observations it 

 was not our intention to give offence to anybody. The Horti- 

 cultural Congress, hke any other horticultural subject, was one 



