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JOURNAL OP HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENEE. 



[ Febraary 6, 1874. 



I walked over to the house, not for the purpose of viewing the 

 interior, but of seeing the grounds and gardens. And now 

 how shall I venture to attempt any description of the varied 

 beauties and immense collections of this wonderful place ? 

 But in looking round I came to the conclusion that there were 

 two specialities of the place which in their way are unique, I 

 mean the grand Palm House and the Victoria Tank House. 

 " Unique ! " some one may say fresh from reading the glowing 

 description of the Palm house at Kew in the " Edinburgh." 

 Yes, unique ; for while both are Palm houses they are essen- 

 tially different. It seems a necessity of a public garden that 

 artistic arrangement must give way to utility. It is not ar- 

 ranged for the pleasure of few or many, but for the benefit of 

 science and the world at large. Now science scoffs at art. 

 What are all the glories of pencil or taste of arrangement com- 



pared with the gathering of one soientitic fact ? And so Kew 

 Palm house, whUe possessing many noble specimens, is to the 

 general spectator muddly, dirty, and inartistic. Happily at 

 Chatsworth it is the other way : science is not, as we know 

 from its records, neglected, but taste predominates. Where 

 in a public garden, for instance, could be arranged that cross 

 avenue of Musas which makes one almost fancy oneself in 

 some tropical forest ? Look, too, at those grand hanging 

 baskets, suspended all along from the roof, 5 feet in diameter, 

 and fiUed with Achimeues crowded with their lovely flowers 

 and hanging over on all sides of the basket. I never believed 

 this plant to be capable of such things until I saw it here. 

 Again we come on a forest of Agaves, suggesting at once 

 Mexico. Then look at these noble specimens flanking the 

 centre walk ; Chamierops, Phfcnix, Livistona, and other Palms 



towering up to reach the lofty roof. Here, again, are fine 

 plants of Cycas 'revoluta, and in another place a charming 

 rockery from'^which a cascade falls, and around which tropical 

 plants send forth their lovely foliage. But stay, what is this? 

 — that'brilliant scarlet flower displaying itself some 8'or 10 feet 

 up — can this bo the puzzle of many an Orchid-grower? Yes, 

 it is Renanthera coccinea, at which many a good gardener has 

 shaken his head and s:iid he could do nothing with it. Mr. 

 Speed, however, has found out the way to make it display 

 its beaijties. He placed a green pole in the Palm house, 

 planted the Renanthera close to it, up this it climbed and flow- 

 ered ; then another higher pole was placed near it, and then a 

 third, so that now it has run up about 10 feet, and displays 

 its brilliant coloured flowers most profusely. It is a triumph 

 of Bood culture, of which Mr. Speed may justly be proud. 



Stove climbers have hero an opportunity rarely afforded to 

 them. We see AUamandas confined in pots, or else allowed a 

 single ratter to climb upon ; here they wander at their own 

 sweet will, and most lovely objects they make, their rich golden 

 blossoms showing themselves most conspicuously. Tree Ferns, 

 too, have a grand opportunity of displaying their beauties, and 

 the whole aspect of the house is one of evpr-changing and 

 varied beauty. Nor will the gardener who is botanically inclined 

 or fond of curious forms be at fault. There is a fine collection 

 ''' '^pcf,' '•anged along the side of the house, and many rare 



forms of Agave'and Beauearnea scattered'thronghout|it ; while 

 lovely masses of Adiautum ou the rockwork, and other Ferns, 

 relieve by their tender and elegant foliage the more rigid 

 forms just enumerated. Altogether this Palm house is a thing 

 of beauty ou which one delights to dwell, and which must 

 be a great source of pride to the gardener in whose charge 

 it is.— D., Deal. 



MY BIRD DIAEY 1873. 



In May last, when I sent you my bird diary for the first part 



1 of 1873, 1 promised to send my report again at the end of the 



I year, but I have so little of interest to chronicle, that, had it 



! not been for my promise, T should hardly have ventured to 



trouble you with the following lines. 



■Jul)/. — I mentioned that in May several cuckoos were con- 

 stantly in my farm garden, and that they kept down the 

 grub which "devours the leaves of the Gooseberries ; as a 

 rule they disappear at the end of .Tune, indeed so regularly 

 i that there is a saying in these parts, that " the cuckoo always 

 buys a horse at Pershore Fair (the 28tb .lune), and rides away." 

 One, however, a full-grown young bird, was left behind this 

 year, and I saw him frequently till the ISth -July, when he 



From a photogiaph by Mr. Clarke, Pliotogropher, Matlock Bath. 



