FROGMORE. 31 



The early Cherry-house is also made to answer the purpose of a 

 late Vinery, in which the St. Peter's variety of Grape is grown ; 

 and when the crop of this is cut, the vines are turned out, and 

 the Cherry-trees and Strawberries for forcing are introduced. 



A new sort of Strawberry (Ingram's Prince of Wales) answers 

 well for forcing, and it also yields a second crop. Plants of this 

 sort forced last spring, and which had been planted out of the 

 pots ipto beds in the open ground, were bearing a good crop for 

 the period of the season, September 7, and the fruit was of fine 

 size and colour. 



There are two ways by which forced Asparagus may be 

 obtained. The established plants in beds must either be taken 

 up and brought into heat, or heat must be applied to the beds. 

 But the latter mode is that by which the finest shoots are 

 produced; for the roots of Asparagus are so brittle, that it is 

 impossible to take them up without a deal of breakage, and small 

 shoots are the consequence. At Frogmore, pigeon-holed brick- 

 work forms the sides of the bed, which are seven-and-a-half feet 

 wide ; the brickwork forms a cavity between the beds eighteen 

 inches wide, and in this hot-water pipes are placed. This cavity 

 or chamber is closely covered over, and the pipes are furnished 

 with stop-cocks, so that heat, more or less, can be supplied to the 

 beds, or to such of them as it may be desirable. In short, the 

 arrangement is such, that the beds can be forced in succession. 



In an Orchid-house, with a north aspect, the plants were 

 thriving remarkably well ; and in the same house a plant of 

 Amherstia nobilis, which flowered in 1852, has branches extending 

 ten feet. It has been shifted, and is likely to flower again next 

 season. In the houses where ornamental plants are grown at 

 each end of the principal range, Mandevilla suaveolens, Alia- 

 manda cathartica, and Ipomcea Leari, were in splendid condition : 

 the healthy appearance of the foliage, the vigour of the plants, 

 and the profusion of their flowers, were remarkable. These 

 plants are being trained so as to contrast the colours of their 

 respective flowers. In one of the Cherry-houses there were a 

 number of seedling Pelargoniums, of the scented-leaved species, 

 so much esteemed by many persons. 



The walls for fruit-trees are twelve feet high. The trees were 

 planted in 1843, and in seven years from that time the Pear- 

 trees were in most instances completely covering their allotted 

 space on either side, and quite to the top of the wall. Cherries 

 covered the space in five years. The greater part of the trees 



