Novembep 4, 1869. ] 



JOUKNAIi OF HOETICDLTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



361 



grafted, and now we have the inflnence of the pollen of neigh- 

 bouring sorts charged with being the disturbing cause. Other 

 observations on these points are needed. — [Utica Herald.) 



VINERY HOUSE, ALLERTON. 



Lancashire, especially that part of it in which Liverpool is 

 situated, has acquired a world-wide reputation for the excellence 

 of its Grapes, mainly through the Garston Vineyard, the most 

 celebrated in the world for the production of Grapes by arti- 

 ficial means. Besides Garston, there are other places in the 

 neighbourhood of Liverpool where the Grapes grown, if not 

 equalling those produced at Garston, follow at no humble dis- 

 tance. One of these places is Vinery House, Allerton, Liverpool, 

 the residence of Mr. T. 0. Clarke. 



Vinery House is not different from many of those convenient 

 family residences which are erected in the neighbourhood of 

 large towns. In fact, the house is not remarkable except for 

 this — that though built four or iive years ago, owing to a family 

 bereavement it remains almost as it was when built. Mr. 

 Clarke was his own architect of the glass erections, and super- 

 intended everything about the place. The house seems to be 

 built in a very substantial manner, and fitted up with every 

 convenience. The cornices selected by Mr. Clarke for the 

 rooms, struck me as being chaste and elaborate. A boiler in 

 the cellar heats the conservatory and greenhouse, and there are 

 pedestals in the entrance hall and other rooms on the ground 

 floor containing hot-water pipes for beating the rooms. A 

 boiler behind the kitchen fire supplies hot water for the bath 

 room, and heats the rooms on the second or bedroom floor by 

 means of hot-water pipes. Owing to the cause I have men- 

 tioned, the works in the grounds have not been pushed forward 

 aa they otherwise would have been, but the shrubs and groups 

 of trees are planted and appear to be flourishing. 



If there be any deficiency as regards the pleasure grounds, it 

 is fuUy compensated for by the portion chiefly occupied by 

 glass structures. It is on these that Mr. Clarke rivets his 

 attention, everything being presided over by him, and the prin- 

 cipal part of the work being done by his own hands. The 

 extent of the glass must be many thousand feet, and the several 

 structures are so lofty and substantially constructed that they 

 must have cost a considerable sum. The bricks, however, were 

 made on the spot, the soil being a rather strong loam with a 

 clayey or marly subsoil, and the red sandstone underneath. 

 The removal of the clay for making the bricks has made a 

 reservoir for water, so that in the driest summer water is always 

 conveniently obtained, and is ornamental besides. 



The situation is generally flat, though somewhat undulating, 

 and portions are even low. The garden, however, is on the 

 rising ground, the dwelling en a gentle eminence, and the houses 

 at the back of it are on even higher ground. Those for Vines 

 are on the highest ground. The situation is so bleak that the 

 back wall of the vineries was blown down three times whilst it 

 was being built ; but this, and other mishaps and obstacles, 

 have been surmounted by the perseverance of Mr. Clarke, who, 

 iudging from what I saw, has paid dearly for his experience. 

 Being a self-taught amateur, he is free from those prejudices 

 which professed gardeners often entertain against anything 

 new, and which cause them to pass over many things as value- 

 less without giving them a trial. It is only those who strike 

 out of the beaten track who attain anything grand. 



The first house I was shown was a conservatory, originally 

 intended to have been connected with the house by a glazed 

 corridor, but this intention has not been carried out. In it 

 were some good examples of Vallota purpurea in large pots, 

 and there being several bulbs in each pot there were many 

 Sower stems, and the effect was very fine. This plant is not 

 grown so much as it deserves to be. It is the best autumn- 

 flowering Amaryllid, stands smoke well, and succeeds well as a 

 window plant and in every greenhouse. The chief points to 

 be attended to in order to flower it successfully are not to pot 

 often nor remove the offsets, but to obtain a potful of bulbs. 

 This conservatory was gay with well-grown Fuchsias trained in 

 the form of cones 6 or 7 feet high ; one of that size. Souvenir 

 de Chiswick, was very fine, and I do not see that we have any 

 improvement on it in the newer kinds. An equally fine plant 

 of Sir Colin Campbell reminds one of the little advance on this 

 presented by the new varieties we are inundated with every 

 year. A seedling raised by Mr. Clarke, a cross between Sir 

 Colin Campbell and Duchess of Lancaster had flowers twice 

 the size of those of Sir Colin Campbell, with a double purple 



corolla and bright scarlet, well-reflexed sepals — the best double 

 Fuchsia I have seen. The foliage, of a pale golden hue wh«n 

 young, is twice the size of that of Sir Colin Campbell, and more 

 plentiful, and the habit slightly drooping and compact. This 

 variety is very distinct, and quite an acquisition. There were 

 also Tea-scented Koses in pots, as Devoniensia, and some 

 China Eoses ; and in borders at the end, trained to the division 

 between the conservatory and the greenhouse, as well as over 

 the roof, were Lapageria rosea in splendid bloom, and Tecoma 

 jasminoides, with its bright glossy foUage, and blush flowers 

 having a crimson eye. I likewise noticed Acacia Drummondi, 

 8 feet high and 8 feet in diameter, and Acacia armata, 8 feet 

 high and 6 feet in diameter. 



In the adjoining gieenhouse were good plants of Azaleas of 

 such kinds as Flag of Truce, Stanleyana, i-c, and Camellias 

 well set for bloom, the foliage clean and having a bright glossy 

 appearance. Solanum jasminoides in a border appears a good 

 white-flowering climber, the flowers being succeeded by clusters 

 of highly ornamental red berries. 



The conservatory and greenhouse are span-roofed, and both 

 are heated by hot-water pipes from the boiler employed for 

 warming the mansion, which will have attached about 800 feet 

 of 4-inch piping in addition to the connections. Along each 

 side of these houses there is for specimen plants a stage with 

 octagonal projections twice the width of the side stages — i.e., 

 the stage and projection are double the width of the stage where 

 the projections do not occur, and this does away with the 

 monotonous straight face of ordinary stages, whilst the dis- 

 advantages of a wide stage are avoided. There being free access 

 to the stage between the projections, the plants are not so liable 

 to be neglected in respect to watering, &c., as they are on wide 

 stages. The stages are of stone supported by ornamental iron- 

 work, and have a cornice or facing of iron, which has a neat 

 appearance. The pots are placed on gravel, with which the 

 stages are covered. The centre of the house is open, affording 

 plenty of room to examine the plants. In the greenhouse is a 

 tank which receives the water from the roofs ; and a pump, so 

 small that one would scarcely notice its lever-like handle — the 

 only part visible — were it not shown, supplies the water as 

 required. These houses are detached, and divide the pleasure 

 grounds from the kitchen garden. 



I next entered a late vinery, a lean-to, 52 feet long by 20 feet 

 wide, but having a short back light. This house is very 

 lofty (15 feet high), and is well ventilated at the back by a 

 lever and crank moving the whole length of the ventilators, 

 and in front the whole of the front lights open by means of 

 a rack or wheel. Thus it is but the work of a moment to in- 

 crease or diminish the amount of ventilation throughout the 

 length of the house. The roof is of wood, well supported by 

 iron, and though streng has a light appearance while, as tha 

 panes of glass are large, light is abundant. Wires are strained 

 lengthwise of the house to train the Vines to, and it is a neater 

 and more efficient as well as economical mode of wiring a 

 vinery than the old plan of iron brackets screwed to the rafters, 

 and strung with No. 6 wire, strong enough to hold a hundred- 

 weight each. No. 10 wire is quite strong enough to hold 

 bunches of G or 7 lbs. weight, as may be seen here. The bor- 

 der is the full width of the house inside, except that there is 

 space for a walk along the back ; and in addition to the inside 

 border there is a 12-feet border outside, the front wall being 

 built on arches, so that the roots may pass out if disposed to 

 do so. The border, both inside and outside, is vaulted or arched 

 with brick underneath, and in the chambers thus formed are 

 hot-water pipes for supplying bottom heat, so arranged that a 

 man can examine every pipe and repair it in ease of leakage. 

 By means of side passages from the chamber communicating 

 with the house in the back walk, perfect control is obtained 

 over the heat in the vault or chamber ; it is allowed to escape 

 if it become too great, and it is not lost, as it warms the air of 

 the house. Nine rows of 4inch piping supply the top heat, 

 and an equal number of pipes in the chamber supply bottom 

 heat, and these, with the cross pipes and connections, give a 

 total of 1000 feet of 4-inch piping. Mr. Clarke is in favour 

 of plenty of piping ; he likes the heat given off by pipes at a 

 low temperature, especially for the roots, these requiring an 

 imperceptible warmth, and not a dry, parching temperature. 



The Vines were planted in 1864. The result in 1869, though 

 not equal to that obtained in 1868, is a good crop ; indeed, I 

 think too heavy, considering the age of the Vines. Lady 

 Downe's carries twenty-three bunches per Vine. The bunches 

 are of good size, the berries are evenly and well set, of good 

 size, and of a colour and bloom that would put Sloes in tha 



