January 38, 1875. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE QABDBNER. 



75 



I could see it answers admirably. Mr. Fish has at the same 

 time had all the internal fittings of wood removed and sub- 

 Gtituted them with stone, elate, and iron, so that no wood- 

 work is exposed to the wet and heat of a stove temperature, 

 which in a very few seasons make sad havoc with the best 

 pine wood. The occupants of the house are of the usual de- 

 scription of well-furnished stoves. Euphorbia jacquinifeSora is 

 grown extensively, its small bunches of brilliant flowers are of 

 great value at this season. Adiantum conoinnum was very 

 pretty, and Platycerium grande, the best of the Stag's-horn 

 Ferns, was also in fine condition. Marantas, of which by far 

 the finest was M. Veitcbii. Monstera delieiosa fruiting freely. 

 Some of the best and most useful of Palms and Cycads are 

 also grown. There is also a fine plant of Quisqualis indica 

 planted out : this is a very useful evergreen stove climber, 

 which was introduced to our hothouses from Iowa in the 



Waterloo year ; it is of easy culture, and is admired for the 

 brilliancy of its sweetly-scented orange-red flowers. 



The next house is of corresponding size, and is now cool. It 

 contains amongst many other fine things a number of very 

 healthy plants of Daphne indica on their own roots, a mode of 

 culture Mr. Fish prefers to grafting them, as they are usually 

 done, on the D. Mezereum. My own experience coincides with 

 his in this respect. I find the plant is readily propagated by 

 cuttings, they make bushy plants, and flower at every point. 

 The plants stand on slate platforms, on which in summer the 

 soil is placed to grow the Cucumbers and Melons. The house 

 I could see was well adapted structurally for them, but Mr. 

 Fish also informed me that they did well with only about 

 i inches of mould being placed on the slates. I had always 

 been accustomed to grow Hoya bella and AUamanda in a high 

 temperature in winter, but they are both wintered in this cool 



Fig. 21. — llARDWIUliE. 



house, and I was informed after their long rest flowered very 

 freely. The first vinery entered was in use as a forcing house, 

 and what of the Vines meanwhile ? They are tied-down near 

 the base of the top lights, and by a simple arrangement of the 

 front sashes are speedily turned outside. It is done in this 

 way : A shelf 18 inches wide is fixed at the base of the rafters, 

 another of corresponding width level with the wall-plate. The 

 Vine rods are tied between the two shelves, and the sashes are 

 brought in from the front to the back of the shelves, where 

 they are fixed until the time comes round for the Vines to 

 start into growth. There is a bed of leaves in the house, ao 

 that any quantity of spring-flowering shrubs, such as Lilacs, 

 Deutzias, &c., may be forced. On the back wall are trained 

 Fig trees, which very seldom feel the pruning-knife. Mr. Fish 

 believes that the trees fruit much more freely if they are 

 allowed to grow freely ; the growths are trained one over the 

 other, so that the branches are three and four deep. I could 

 see plenty of fruit-bearing wood, and have no doubt that 

 abundant crops are produced. Mr. Fish showed me a number 

 of Fig trees trained on the walls and roofs of some out-build- 

 ings near the garden. The growths of these were tied loosely 

 in the same manner, and the crops are enormous. I believe 

 the knife had been seldom or never used on the trees. On 

 one of the vinery walls was a large seedling Loquat ; it flowers 

 annually, and sometimes produces fruit. 



On the back wall of the Muscat house are trained plants of 

 Lapageria rosea and the more recent variety L. alba. The 

 Vines in this house are planted both inside and outside, but 

 they have not given satisfaction in either position, a fact 

 which is doubtless traceable to the character of the soil, as no 

 pains have been spared in making borders for them. The 

 soil does not seem to be heavy, and the subsoil is chalk. 



Passing through a small house filled with Camellias well 

 set with flower buds, we enter a Peach house. It is a lean-to, 

 and both planting and training have the mark of originality 

 about them. On the back wall Figs are planted. Over the 

 path at intervals arches have been placed of very stout iron 

 rods. Between the path and front of the house is the border 

 for Peaches and Nectarines. The trees are planted in a single 

 row about 6 feet apart in the centre of the border, each tree 

 being provided with a trellis formed of wires strained hori- 

 zontally from the front to the path at the back. The trees 

 can be readily got at by the man who has to prune and train 

 them, and they annually produce good crops of fruit. In the 

 next house, a small one, Passiflora edulis is cultivated for its 

 fruit, which is here esteemed useful for dessert. The next 

 house to this in the same range has Peach trees planted out 

 and trained to the back wall. Stanwick, a very uncertain 

 variety, does well on this wall ; the fruit ripens without crack- 

 ing, and the flavour is excellent. The house is also used for 



