PINE CULTURE IN SOUTH WALES. 279 



day." Those gardens situated near the sea have the advantage 

 of a degree or two milder temperature, but that is all, and even 

 that advantage is counterbalanced by tlie denseness of the atmo- 

 sphere, especially during the winter season. 



At Dowlais (Lady Charlotte Guest's), the garden is very 

 unfavourably situated, having smelting furnaces on two sides, 

 and so near as to completely illuminate the garden on dark 

 nights. The smoke and sulphurous fumes from these is at times 

 so dense and strong, that wall-fruit trees will not grow at all ; in 

 fact, no trees except the common Poplar will exist near this 

 garden. It will therefore be seen that " that best of all Pine- 

 growers," Mr. Jones, derives no advantages from local pecu- 

 liarities, but on the contrary, I think his Pines, so far as situation 

 is concerned, might as well be situated in Smithfield or Seven 

 Dials, Neither can he boast of any of the so-called modern 

 improvements of sheet-glass, &c., the houses being very old and 

 in a very dilapidated state. Whence then the superiority of his 

 productions ? I will answer the question in a very few words, 

 viz. : a good foundation properly carried out, by proper attention 

 at the proper time and untiring assiduity. The plants, however, 

 I may remark in passing, were generally not so large as I expected 

 to see them, or as they had been described to me, but some few 

 plants were very strong indeed. Ripley Queens more than four 

 feet in height and strong in proportion, and a Providence more 

 like a Yucca with recurved leaves than an ordinary Pine-plant. 

 It was the opinion both of Mr. Jones and myself that this plant, 

 if not larger, contained more stufif than the plants atGunnersbury 

 from which Mr. Mills produced the celebrated Pines ; indeed 

 nothing could exceed it in magnificence of appearance — it was in 

 a word perfection of Pine-plant growing, and if Mr. Jones can 

 only apply the finishing strokes of cultivation with his usual 

 success, why I think Mr. Mills must look to his laurels. The 

 plants described are growing in pots not remarkably large, but I 

 suspect directly they indicate the fruiting time they will be planted 

 out in some snug corner where everything they require can be 

 readily supplied to them. 



The plants in the general stock are not large (and, indeed, 

 one of the chief and most remarkable characteristics of the 

 Meudon Pines was their smallness, as compared with the fruit 

 produced), but they were strong, thick, hard, and healthy, 

 brimful of life-invigorating sap, which only requires husbanding 

 until the proper season to develope itself in fruit of first-rate 



