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JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ Febraary 25, 1875. 



observation and Bcientifio inquiry. Perhaps chemistry might 

 do much towards makict' clear to us what now is enveloped 

 in mystery. 



I find also that Peas, especially the early ones, suffer greatly. 

 I had a crop of EinRleader sown for seed totally destroyed — 

 at least so far injured when about to 9 inches high that they 

 never recovered. They appeared as if a hot blast from a 

 furnace had passed over them, browning all the leaves and 

 cutting off the young growth, so that the weeds got master, 

 and the crop was ploughed-up. 



Mangold AVurzel and Turnip planted for seed also suffered; 

 but Potatoes much nearer the kilns did not show the slightest 

 trace of injury. Of Corn crops I have found Barley the most 

 susceptible of damage, and have traced the browned and 

 blanched flag to a yard in a line where the current has passed 

 over the crop ; and at the time of cutting, the Barley was shorter 

 and the ears smaller than those parts of the field unaffected. 



I may just add that the owners of other brick-kilns, from 

 which I have also suffered, deemed it advisable, to put a stop 

 to further damages, to build a new kiln and erect a shaft about 

 70 or Sll feet high. This they have done, and I am glad to 

 say that since then I have not experienced any annoyance nor 

 noticed any injury ; so at any rate it is preveutible. — Charles 

 Pbnnell, Lincoln Nurseries. 



EAELY POTATOES. 



At the .January meeting of the Fruit and Floral Committee 

 of the Eoyal Horticultural Society, Mr. Batters, gardener at 

 Chilworth Manor, Romsey, exhibited a very fine sample of 

 new Potatoes, which took some members of the Committee by 

 surprise. Before giving any award the Committee was desirous 

 of knowing how these had been produced, and the following 

 is Mr. Batters' reply. We need hardly say that upon being 

 informed of the skilful way in which the new Potatoes were 

 produced the Committee at once awarded them a cultural 

 commendation. 



" The varietyis Rivers's Royal Ashleaf, dug fromopen ground, 

 Jen), 1.S74. They were laid thinly in a spare upstairs room, 

 and on October 2Qd were potted in 32-sized pots. Placed first 

 on the back shelf of a Melon house, they were afterwards re- 

 moved to the back shelf of a cold house on October 20th, being 

 then 9 inches to a foot in height. They remained in the cold 

 house until November 'iith, having plenty of air during the 

 day, and then removed to a small Fig house, through which a 

 little piping runs on its way to early Vines. I shifted a few 

 into larger pots at this latter date (November 21th), but found 

 no benefit from the shift. 



" I sent the first dish to my employer's table on January 1st, 

 1875, about the average size of thope sent up last week. My 

 employer and her guests told me they were beautiful, and not 

 at all close. I potted another lot this month, January 23rd, 

 and another yesterday. I find one can accommodate a dozen 

 or two puts when one cannot command a frame, and you can 

 also imitate summer with the soil better in pots than in a pit. 



"I am trying Vegetable Marrow from cuttings put-in in 

 autumn. With your permission I will communicate the result 

 by-and-by.^J. B.\ttebs, Clulicortli Manor, Romsfj/, Eanip>iJiiri'." 



PACKING FLOWERS. 



I ODSEBVE in your issue of February 18th a description of a 

 plan of packing flowers to send by train or long distances. I 

 have the produce of gardens and glass houses sent up to London 

 each week, and my hampers and boxes leave the house in the 

 country at eight o'clock one morning, and after jogging in a 

 country cart eight miles to the nearest station reach London at 

 twelve o'clock the next day, thus passing twenty-eiglit hours 

 closely shut-up. After many unsuccessful attempts I have at 

 last adopted a plan which succeeds perfectly. My carpenter has 

 made two common deal flower boxes 8 inches deep, with two 

 trays each, which fit into the insiJe by a very simple con- 

 trivance, and leave space between each of 3, 21, and 2.1 inches. 

 Upon these trays the gardener lays as many flowers as he can 

 without putting one over the other, and when they are un- 

 packed and have been in water for a few minutes tliey are as 

 fresh as if newly gathered. Camellias, Eoses, splendid double 

 Hyacinths, Orchids, and Ferns, carry in this way most satis- 

 factorily. The carpenter has put hinges and a lock with two 

 kfys to each box, and painted the address in full on the out- 

 side, and I have now for a few pence weekly the full enjoy- 

 ment of all the flowers grown 1.50 miles away. I venture to 



recommend this plan to others, as it is in every way desirable 

 to keep as much as possible en rapport with establishments 

 which are frequently left for eight months out of the twelve 

 without the supervision of the owners. I adopt also the same 

 plan for fruits and butter, leaving the vegetables to bo sent in 

 a common hamper, alteiing the dimensions of the boxes and 

 the spaces between the trays to suit the dift'erent articles put 

 inside. — A Constant Reader. 



CULFORD HALL. 



CcLFOED Hall, the seat of the Rev. Edward Eichard Benyon, 

 is about four miles N.N.W. from Bary St. Edmunds. The 

 estate includes the five parishes of Timworth, Ingham, 

 Wordwell, West Stow, and Culford, and exceeds in extent 

 12,000 acres. The land varies in character, but is mostly 

 light, upon a subsoil of gravel or chalk. This manor appears 

 to have been given at an early period to the Abbey of 

 St. Edmund, but afterwards became the property of the 

 Bacon family. The Hall is a large handsome mansion, and 

 was built in 1591 by Sir Nicholas Bacon, and passed with the 

 estates by marriage into the noble family of Cornwallis. 

 It was purchased about the year 1823 from the executors of 

 the last Marquis by Richard i3enyon de Beauvoir, Esq., uncle 

 of the present proprietor. It is surrounded by a park of 

 some five hundred acres in extent, which is remarkably well 

 wooded, containing fine specimens of ancient Oaks, Elms, 

 Beeches, Horse Chestnuts, Aa. It is also embellished by a 

 fine piece of artificial water on the south side of the Hall ; 

 this is formed by a tributary of the river Lark, and was de- 

 signed by the celebrated landscape gardener Eepton, and its 

 skilful disposition gives evidence of the talent of its designer. 

 At about a quarter of a mile west from the Hall the water is 

 spanned by an extraordinary massive iron bridge, which was 

 erected at an enormous cost by the first Marquis of Cornwallis 

 on his return from India. The chief approach to the mansion 

 was made to cross the river by way of this bridge. But the 

 principal entrances are now in the village of Culford. 



The church stands in the ple^asure grounds a short distance 

 from the Hall, and is exceedingly neat and ornamental in 

 appearance, being built of flint, with facings of Caen stone. It 

 is furnished with a square tower of very chaste proportions. 

 It was rebuilt in 185G on the site of a former church, which 

 was of great antiquity, and contained many ancient and 

 interesting monuments to different members of the Bacon and 

 Cornwallis families, all of which have been carefully preserved. 

 It is worthy of mention that the present proprietor of these 

 estates has, since he came into possession of the property, 

 rebuilt or restored the church of each of his five paris'ues, and 

 has also built an entirely new one for the benefit of the in- 

 habitants of the northern portion of the parish of Culford, 

 which is five miles in length. 



The conservatory stands near to the Hall, and has a small 

 flower garden and fountain in front of it ; while in the rear of 

 the structure, and communicating with it, is an exotic fernery 

 containing fountains, waterfalls, &a. ; and a wilderness or hardy 

 fernery occupies a position near to the gardens. 



In the grounds are some good specimens of the Cedar of 

 Lebanon, the Deodar Cedar, Wellingtonia gigantea, Picea 

 Pinsapo, Irish Yews, &c. The gardens are situated on the east 

 side of the Hall, and at a distance of some 500 yards from it. 

 They contain upwards of eleven acres, and slope gently to the 

 south, and are surrounded and intersected by brick walls of 

 various heights. These gardens also contain about 1500 yards 

 of Yew hedges, which vary in height from 4 to 12 feet. The 

 principal walks are 10 feet wide, and the walls are pierced 

 where necessary by circular arches of the same width. 



There are a considerable number of glass structures of 

 various kinds — viz., two epan-roofed orchard houses each 

 90 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 12 feet high, chiefly devoted 

 to the culture of Peaches, Nectarines, and Cherries. A lean-to 

 Fig house, 220 feet in length; 200 feet of wall, on which 

 Apricot trees are trained, and dwarf standards planted in 

 front of them at a distance of 5 feet from the wall, and so 

 arranged that a glass roof is placed over them when the trees 

 begin to bloom, and taken off when all danger from frost has 

 passed. By this means a crop of fruit is always secured. The 

 ripening of the fruit of the standard trees succeeds that of the 

 trees trained to the wall, and by this means the season of this 

 useful fruit is greatly prolonged. There are also a greenhouse 

 30 feet long, a plant stove, Melon house. Cucumber house, and 

 Strawberry house ; an early Peach house, two small vineries 



