■20 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUKE AND eOTTAGE GABPENER. 



December .".0, lfC9. 



Turkey, or Lee's Perpetnal, White Iscbia, and White Mar- 

 seiliea utias White Oenoa, seemed to be the most prodactire ; 

 and Castle Kennedy, Mr. Juhnston stated, bore a close resem- 

 blance to Brunswick, although larger, and positively refusing 

 to bear in a young state. 



Melons are grown to great perfection by Mr. Johnston, and 

 occupy some of the three-quarter span-roofed houses of this 

 range, which are particularly well adapted for the purpose. A 

 length of about 80 feet, divided into four compartments of 

 20 feet each, was tilled last season, three compartments with 

 Melons, and one with Cucumbers. These houses, or pits as they 

 might be called, are about n or lU feet in height, and 10 feet in 

 breadth, having a pathway in the centre, and in front a bed 

 about ;) feet wide, heated by hot-water pipes below; in this 

 the Melons, &o., are planted. They are trained to a trellis 

 overhead, and thus magnificent crops are produced. Melons 

 and Cucumbers have a charming appearance when grown in 

 this way. The soil in which they are grown is the same as 

 that used for the Vines, and it seemed to answer exceedingly 

 well, for more healthy and vigorous Melon plants we scarcely 

 ever remember to have seen. With regard to the soil, Mr. 

 Johnston said it appeared to suit almost every plant, every- 

 thing growing with much vigour in it, and certainly his pro- 

 ductions did not belie the character he bestows upon it. 



We now come to plants and flowers, which do not occupy 

 nearly such a prominent position in these gardens as fruits ; 

 but they tra sufficiently numerous, and, in general, so well cul- 

 tivated as to form an important feature. The firtt two houses 

 in the centre of the maguiticent vinery range, one on each side 

 of the middle entrance gateway, are stoves 40 feet long, 22 feet 

 wide, and 18 feet high. In the centre of the houses is a flat 

 slate stage, with a walk all round, and narrow stages in front. 

 These houses are principally occupied by ornamental-foliaged 

 plants, very good examples being present of various Palms, 

 which we are glad to see coming so much into cultivation, 

 Ferns, Coleuses, &c. A prettily-fruited plant of Podocarpus 

 purpureus, with its charming light violet berries, was very 

 striking. Planted-out and trained to the back wall were some 

 remarkably large and tine plants of Allamandas, which when 

 in flower must be glorious. Euphorbia jacquinia:flora grown in 

 the same manner, had made shoots upwards of 10 feet in 

 length, fully 4 feet of which seemed to be set with flower-buds. 

 This is a chaste and charming flower at all times, and as the 

 smallest portion is always pleasing, what must be these plants 

 of Mr. Johnston's when they are in full flower? Four feet of a 

 floral garland of this gem I Fancy a plant 10 feet in height, and 

 as much in diameter, leafy to the ground, and full of flowers. 

 Bongainvillea lateritia and spectabilis were also doing well, 

 and on the roof various climbers were growing vigorously, the 

 flowers of Passiflora kermesina enlivening the scene with their 

 pleasant tints. Shading is provided for these houses by hang- 

 ing up in the interior, close to the roof, broad pieces of thin 

 tiffany. This when fixed in a graceful sort of festoon is very 

 pretty, and prevents the disfigurement of the houses outside by 

 covering them up, as is generally done, with tattered shading. 



In the other range of houses, the centre three-quarter-span 

 is called the show house, a sort of conservatory of greenhouse 

 flows rirg plants, 40 feet by 22 feet in width. Here were a very 

 fair assortment of Pelargoniums, &c., and some plants in full 

 flower of that pretty gem Statice profusa, which is always to 

 be seen in such abundance at Dalkeith. To the right of the 

 show house is the Camellia house, of the same dimensions ; in 

 this the Camellias are planted-out in beds, which in a few 

 years will prove very beautiful. Three smaller houses at the 

 extreme end of this range, corresponding to the Melon and Cu- 

 cumber pits at the other, are devoted, one to the propagation 

 of bedding plants, another to collections of small stove plants, 

 and the other to Heaths, &c. 



We would just notice, in conclusion, that the whole of the 

 hothouses at Glamis are heated by one boiler — a tubular 

 saddle, manufactured by Messrs. G. H. & 0. NicoU, of Dundee. 

 It is composed of twelve 5-inch tubes, and its length is 10 feet. 

 The extent of piping attached, Mr. Johnston informed ns, was 

 about 12,000 feet, and the whole or any part of this enormous 

 extent can be heated with the greatest ease. How many 

 hatsf ul of coals may be required to effect this our informant told 

 ns not. Here is a boiler, however, about which little fuss is 

 made, with the powers of a giant, and we would recommend it 

 to the attention of our "bigwigs" in that line. We would re- 

 commend them to take a look at this before introducing any 

 more of their multitudinous fancy foime, which serve both to 

 perplex and to mislead the public. 



We recommend our readers to visit Glamis, and see its noble 

 Grapes ; they will there meet with a kindly welcome from ita 

 talented gardener, Mr. Johnston, who is a credit to his pro- 

 fession. We thank him for our own kind reception. We only 

 hope we have done justice to our self-imposed task — a task 

 begun on a day of fog and rain, raining as it can only do 

 (sometimes) in Scotland — a "day of real Scotch mist." 



■WAYSIDE JOTTINGS.— No. 'i. 



Early in the summer of the present year I decided upon 

 devoting a holiday to the examination of Tallentire Hill, an 

 elevation which, under diSerent names, stretching from east to 

 west, separates the valley of the itiver Ellen from that of the 

 Derwent. For this purpose I left the early morning train from 

 Carlisle to Maryport, at I'earham Bridge station, about two 

 and a half miles eastward of the latter town. I sauntered 

 along the banks of the Ellen for some distance without discover- 

 ing much to interest me in a botanical point of view, except, 

 perhaps, the pretty heads of Anthyllis Vulneraria, or Lady's 

 Finger, which seemed to spring up spontaneously upon the 

 loose banks of the disintegrated and mouldering rock which forms 

 the slopes of the railway cuttings and embankments of the line 

 over which I had travelled, and which runs parallel to the river 

 for some miles towards the Maryport end. On the southern 

 bank of the river, where the elopes are pretty abrupt, and where, 

 in consequence of the steepness, largo patches of similar debris 

 appeared quite destitute of vegetable covering, the idea suggested 

 itself to me that, supposing this plant possessed any value as a 

 grazing or forage herb, it might be utilised by cultivation in 

 such situations. 



On reaching Crosby Mill I crossed the river, but before quit- 

 ting its banks I stopped to admire the rugged and broken 

 manner in which the carbonifereus strata of rocks appear de- 

 nuded at various points of my morning's walk along the valley. 

 Had great upheavings of the'earth's upper crust not taken place, 

 much of the mineral treasure of coal, lime, building stone, Sec, 

 which now constitute the wealth of the neighbourhood, must 

 have remained hidden at unattainable depths. Pursuing my 

 walk I next ascended a ravine down the bottom of which a 

 small brook, almost dried up at the time of my visit, flowed in 

 the direction of the river. 'The slopes were covered with under- 

 wood, principally composed of Hazel intermingled with the wild 

 Dog Rose, several varieties of which were in full blossom. 

 Under the shade of this bru.-h wood I found the Sanicnla europaea. 

 Wood Sanicle, growing in profusion. A few stems of Serratula 

 tinctoria. Saw-wort, were also springing up at intervals, though 

 the flowers were not yet developed. At the top of the ravine, 

 en its western side, was a patch of springy turf, the glossy 

 green of which was relieved by spikes of the bright yellow 

 flowers of Genista anglica. Petty Whin. Along the edge of a foot- 

 path, too, I noted an abundant growth of Plantago maritima ; 

 but its flower spikes had not made their appearance. 



A little way higher up I found myself upon the high road, 

 which I followed up to the village of Tallentire, on entering 

 which I saw some old hedgebanks of rude stonework apparently 

 raised by bygone generations, covered with the pretty little 

 flowers of Geranium lucidum. Shining Cranesbill. The leaves 

 and stems, as well as the flowers, showed a glowing crimson tinge, 

 which contrasted well with the framework of grey lichen-covered 

 stones, that pushed their venerable heads at intervals through 

 the surface of the bank ; all the more graceful that no work- 

 man's hammer or chisel had sought to rob them of Nature's own 

 polish. Turning sharply to the left, and ascending a steep in- 

 cline, I found myself at the white stone quarries from which 

 much building stone is procured. The strata of rock appear 

 much distorted, and the working of the quarry must be a task 

 of considerable difficulty. A little way above the quarry, on 

 the sloping bank, studded with Cowslips innumerable, I found 

 a few fronds of Botrychium Lunaria, or Moonwort, a species of 

 Fern occasionally met with in elevated pasture ground like that 

 on which I was just entering, and where the soil is seldom very 

 fertile or the herbage luxuriant. A little to the southward of 

 the summit level I stumbled upon a bed of the pretty dwarf 

 Dark-winged Orchis (0. ustulata), just peeping above the 

 scanty herbage of the " Tamities," as the extensive pasture is 

 called. Some of the clusters of imperfectly developed flowers 

 appeared at first sight more like little maroon-coloured fungi 

 than Orchids, such as a nearer examination proved them to be. 



Following the summit level along the ridge, I greatly enjoyed 

 the fine prospect on both sides which my elevated position com- 



