568 



JOURNAL OP HORTICDLTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



( December 24, 1874. 



piotnte on that side, a balustrade forming its boundary on the 

 western side ; but both beyond that and also on the east side 

 the pleasure grounds extend some distance, embracing some 

 choice shrubs and Conifers, while the abundance of fine Oaks, 

 by which slielter is given to everything, give the whole the 

 elothed appearance which is ,so essential a feature in all dwell- 

 ings having any claim to importance. The principal ap- 

 proach to the mansion is on the east side. The offices, which 

 are very capacious, ar(i on the north side. The mansion itself 

 is also lai'ge ; a dressed brick of a pale cnlonr, with stone 

 ilreseing, is what it is built with, and its quiet uuimposing 

 tone harmonises x9oll with the surrounding laass of foliage by 

 which it is enclosed, forming, as a whole, a noble residence, 

 wherein internal comfort lifls not been saci-ificed to outward 

 display. 



The kitchen garden and forcing houses are handy to the 

 mansion ; a walled-in space of considerable extent, with the 

 usual slips and other outside appendages, are all conveniently 

 placed for utility. The general contour of the ground sloping 

 gently to the east, and the walls being plentiful, are duly 

 made use of in the niowUi ..f Iho lluor fruits, while the glass 

 structures are all fully occupied. One houso especially, de- 

 tached from the rest, fitrucl; us as being remarkable ; it was 

 a span-roofed vinery, small in every sense excepting in the 

 size and number of liunclies of Grapes growing in it, and in 

 this respect it was certainly most remarkable, and was justly 

 regarded so by many good judges that happened to bo there at 

 the same time, soiue estimating the total weight of fruit to 

 approach COO lbs., and that in a house apparently not more 

 than 40 feet long by 12 feet wide ; but I speak more by guess 



Fig. IJii.— LATUrEHS. 



after leaving the place than by judgment on the spot, yet I 

 never saw a finer lot of Grapes in a small house anywhere. 

 Many of the bunches would weigh 1 and 5 lbs., which is heavy 

 enough for any purpose, and I don't think there was one bunch 

 under 2 lbs. in the house; and the house being low, the whole, 

 or nearly so, were within reach from the central pathway run- 

 ning along the middle of the house underneath the ridge. 

 The kinds grown were Burkhardt's Prince, widely distinct from 

 the ordinary Black Prince; Royal Ascot, very good, better 

 than I have ever seen this variety, which does not seem a 

 favourite amongst Grape-growers ; Jfadresfield Court, and 

 Alicante, both in excellent form, as was Mrs. Pince's Muscat, 

 which was certainly better than the Barbarossa, although the 

 crop on the latter belied the usual character given it of beiog 

 a shy bearer, while here it was all that could be desired. The 

 all-important Lady Downe's was also present in good form, as 

 was also the stiU more popular Black Hamburghs, of which 

 there were some excellent bunches of a deep jet black. Whito 

 Grapes were Muscat of Alexandria and Trebbiano, both good, 

 and possibly there might be another kind or more ; but all 

 being good, the number of varieties is of less consequence. 

 What struck me as being remarkable was the fact that the 

 house in question had produced similar crops for two or three 

 years past without any signs of abatement of quality, more 

 than one of the neighbouring gardeners who had witnessed 

 them affirming this ; and certainly taken in all its parts the 



whole did Mr. Donaldson, the very able gardener here, the 

 greatest credit as a Grape-grower. I suppose the border in 

 which the roots found a becoming home is the secret of the 

 success ; and if we bo guided by what appeared to be the 

 general character of the soil of the neighbourhood, a rather 

 dark-coloured loam interspersed with gravel of a flinty kind, 

 but not overdone with this ; and at no great distance from the 

 garden I noticed that amongst standard fruit trees Cherries 

 seemed to attain a larger size than they do in most places ; 

 while in the park the Oaks were unusually healthy and fine. 

 There were good Grapes also in other houses, and in a house 

 devoted to the cultivation of greenhouse plants I noticed a 

 vei-y fine Camellia, which must at the time when it is out be a 

 handsome object, while other plants were also well represented ; 

 but as Mr. Donaldson had removed so many to ornament the 

 large tent in which the cottagers' productions were being ex- 

 hibited, and the season also being one in which plants in 

 houses are but little cared for, the plant houses were necessarily 

 thinner than usual, but all were in good order. — J. Eobson. 



NOTES ON- VILLA .\nd SUBURBAN GARDENING. 



Frost and snow having come upon us in real earnest it is 

 best to stop most of the operations on the ground, for working 

 snow in with the soil or treading upon it when in a wet state, 

 such as it is just now in most places, is calculated to make it 

 work unkindly, and will prove a drawback to succesfful culti- 



