516 



JODRNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Jane 29, 1876. 



like thoBS of the Pistacia, and are eaten in Germany by children. The 

 fluweiB contain a great deal of honty. and are very attractive to bees. The 

 plant is increased by Bide tuckers, by catticps pot in dnricc the month ol 

 September, or by seeds, which are riiened in abondance. The seeds ought 

 to be sown as soon as they are ripe ; becauee, aa they contaia an oil, they very 

 soon become rancid. They will come up the lullowitig Jane, with two large, 

 Unce-shaped, seminal leaves; though Bometimes they do not come up for 

 two years. iO.P.).—Yon ought to have sent leaves aUo- (IV. B.).— The 

 white flower is Chrysarithemum Leucanihemum. Sfctdaflower of the Viola; 

 it ie lit**'^'^ tricolor, (i:. J. Bo/mfsi.—l, Koea rubella; 2, Tiavella cordifulia; 

 e, Veronfca rcpece, D.C. ; 4, Saxifraga elatior; 5, Saxifraga ceratophylla ; 

 6, Saijfraga biita; 7, Ytronira, specimeo too incfmplttp ; 8, Veronica 

 pentiftcoideB. (Somfrst'fi.— Lietera ovata. [J. L , Nottinfjham).— The white 

 flower isOmphalodea liuiijlia, aud the other Veronica poliia. {E. H. Burge). 

 — Af-phodeluB ramoBUs. (R. L. Dashicood).—Sci\\A peruviana. (Susaex).— 

 Poljpodium Phymatodea or anear ally. (B. E. H.).—i, Lygodium japoni- 

 cum; 2, Pteris tVemnla; 8, Pteria crelica ; 4, Aspidium falcatum. 



POULTEY, BEE, AIJD PIGEON OHEOIIIOLE. 



LES BASSES-COURS D'ANGLETERRE. 



Chapiek Vll— early wood. 



We hardly know where to begin, for we leel we can never Bay 



too much in praise of the beauty or the excellence of Mr. CresB- 



well's yards and birds. Whether we go to Ascot station and 



connected with them, and around which we conld linger for a 

 long time — some plant picked on some inacoessible-to-most- 

 people Swiss mcnntaia top, or a cactus which has grown from 

 a slip picked in some fair Italian garden and brought home in a 

 hatbox. There are many things which we ehould delight to tell 

 of, but we feel that "basse-cour" ia only French for poultry- 

 yard and not for pleasant matters generally, and so we will try 

 to deforibe the yards and birds in this immeuBe establishment. 



Well, to try and begin once more, as we drive under the 

 avenue of limes, which nearly meet overhead though still quite 

 in a state of youth, we Bee to the right a tield containing per- 

 haps seven or eight acres, and round the sides we see houses, 

 some standing in enclosed wire yards, and some not; and then 

 as we get farther up the drive we catch the first full view of the 

 establishment, and that view we give in the sketch which ac- 

 companies this chapter. A sweetly pretty peep is this of the 

 best ooiuer in the field, for there in the front ia one of the 

 ranges of runs, and at the right side is the Turkey and Goat 

 house, and on the left is another habitation, while the chimneys 

 of the house itself are just seen through the firs; behind are 

 the stable and Pigeon houses, and in front of the range of 

 houses is the principal cooping ground. We can only say, ex- 

 cellent though the sketch is, it in no way gives the beauty of the 

 place its proper due, for a more charming spot it is impossible 

 to imagine for a poultry-yard. We mast state here that the 



Fig. 129. — Mb. c.ie33well"s poultry lstablishme.nt. 



walk the two miles over Ihat open heath land with all the pic- 

 tnref que villas nestling on the bill sides crtong the pine trees; 

 cr whether we come from Fsrnbcrougb stalion and diive along 

 that seven miles of road through the old village town r.f Bag- 

 fhot and past the Penny Hill eftate, eo famed for its Welling- 

 tonias and Ebcdodendrons; or whether we go to Snnringdale 

 station and tkirt the famous " Noble " nurseries, which make us 

 long for some of the specimen shrubs there growing — whichever 

 way we approach there ia something to see, and each road pos- 

 Eesses individual charms. But leaving public thoroughfares 

 and external objects of interest, let ns pass through the gates 

 which lead us to the home of the celebrated Dorkings— Coloured, 

 White, and Silver-Grey. 



Everyone who fiequents our poultry shows knows Mr. Cress- 

 well, and very many other poultry fanciers as well who have 

 never been inside the doors of an exhibition; and all wlio know 

 him, whether personally or by correspondence, know him to be 

 as upright and enthusiastic a fancier as ever owned a bird, and 

 BO this short account of bis birds and yards will be read, we 

 think, eagerly by all. As we said before, we hardly know where 

 to begin, for apart from the live stock, which ia bo peculiarly 

 interesting to us, there are rare specimen conifers and shrubs 

 we should like to tell of, and also well-grown and wellsbaped 

 ornamental trees as may seldom be elsewhere seen, all groaing 

 together in luxuriant bealthineBs ; and then in the greenhouses 

 there are plants which have a little history, many of them. 



illustration was very kindly drawn for us on wood by Miss Cress- 

 well, who is one of those lady fanciers we think so highly of, for 

 in the absence of Mr. Cresswell she is indefatigable for the good 

 cause, and is able in the case of an emergency, which at times 

 will come upon every large establishment, to know just what 

 to do for the best. Such a person ia invaluable, and we often 

 think some cf the great Early Wood winners owe a portion of 

 their health, or size, or condition to Miss Cresswell aa much as 

 to her brother. In bird portraiture this lady, too, is a rival of 

 Mr. Ludlow's, and no mean one either, for fcome of the birds 

 which she copied from life in water colours at the late Crystal 

 Palace Show are simply admirable. 



In the block of runs facing us in the illuBtralion are five com- 

 partments, and we found in them White Doikings, Coloured 

 Dorking', and Black Rose-combed Bantams. The latter are of 

 Mr. Cambridge's strain, and, although perhaps a trifle too large, 

 are exquisite iu colour and shape. The cock running with the 

 hens was the bird first at the Bath and West of England 

 meeting at Croydon, and a little beauly he is. The Coloured 

 Dorkings were very good, and Mr. Cresswell seems paying as 

 much attention to them this season as to his famed While and 

 Silver-Greya. We should suppose there was ro t slablisbraent 

 iu the kingdom where so many Dorkings, especially Silver-Greys 

 and Whites, possessing so much quality belon^ied to one gentle- 

 man. Behind this row of houses is a smooth lawn, and to the 

 left of that a large run enclosed by wire-netting taking iu the 



