92 



JOURNAL OF HOETIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



( July 29, 1875. 



every tree required eupport to enable it to bear its load. I 

 obaerved to the owner that the bnsheg appeared to be singu- 

 larly free from caterpillars, and he then challenged me to find 

 a single one on the trees. He next called my attention to 

 the quantity of weeds growing amongst the trees, and said he 

 attributed the immunity to the weeds. The garden was an 

 open one, in no place sheltered by larger trees, and surrounded 

 on three sides by tields of hay grass. In another garden some 

 30 yards away were two or three Gooseberry bushes around 

 which were no weeds. These had scarcely a leaf left upon 

 them, and were badly infested with caterpillars. — Beta. 



FLOWERS OF HAEDY TREES AND SHRUBS 



AVMLABLE FOE DECOEATI\'E PURPOSES.— No. 1. 



It would certainly be limiting the term " beautiful " to a 

 very restricted class of flowering plants was it confined merely 

 to those to which a great deal of care is required in the cul- 

 tivation, yet somehow we are very liable to underrate the 

 merits of those which owe nothing to us for the highly orna- 

 mental appearance they put on in their respective seasons, 

 very often, in fact, arraying themselves in their inimitable 

 garb in spite of our neglect, if not absolutely ill-treatment. 

 Fortunately, however, these beauties are not entirely wasted, 

 for the poet and naturalist have long admired our woodland 

 scenery, and have depicted its attractions. 



As instances of Nature's decoration we have wild flowers a 

 considerable part of the summer, and trees are ever beautiful ; 

 some, as the Oak, that are not conspicuous in their inflorescence 

 in spring are highly so in the fall of the leaf in autumn ; while 

 the wild Cherry is very remarkable at both periods. The 

 beautiful crimson tint the autumn leaves put on render its 

 appearance ever grateful to the admirer of autumn foliage, and 

 the wonder is it is not more patronised ; the spring flowering 

 being especially rich, and the tree not by any means fastidious 

 as to situation, while when arranged in its white apparel in 

 April and early in May it is a striking object, and well worthy 

 a place at the back of a shrubbery, or front of a plantation or 

 wood. Not less ornamental is the common Hawthorn. And 

 how many gentlemen's parks are beautified by old venerable 

 Thorns scattered about in all directions, each one vieing in sym- 

 metry with the best-managed exhibition plants ? The Thorn, 

 however, has been augmented with innumerable varieties, 

 but the common one, nevertheless, is still amongst the most 

 beautiful; perhaps the Double White may be equally good, 

 and some late-flowered varieties are also showy. We omit the 

 other members of this great family, but the Blackthorn de- 

 mands a passing notice as being much earlier and consequently 

 hardier. Its blooming is often delayed by the cold weather 

 which it has to encounter ; a few days, or perhaps a whole 

 week of that time, receiving the name of the " 131ackthom 

 winter " in many districts from the very common occurrence 

 of a cold wintry period at that time. But the Blackthorn falls 

 short of the Hawthorn in beauty or practical interest, but 

 associated as it is with the Plum and Damson, and flowering 

 when they do also, it is deserving of notice. The Crab (thanks 

 to cultivation) is but rarely met with now-a-daye compared 

 with what it was formerly. The object of rendering it useful 

 has induced some one or other to graft them, very often when 

 in anything but a promising place, and a good Apple is sub- 

 stituted for the Crab. Now and then, however, the original 

 is found, and when in flower it is needless to say is very 

 handsome. 



But we must turn to something else, and as a harbinger of 

 spring what is more welcomed than the soft silky tufts of 

 inflorescence we are accustomed to call " Palms ?" How many 

 old-fashioned hedgerows and coppices do they give a charm 

 to in early spring? Many of the species are exceedingly 

 handsome, some in which the claims of beauty rest with the 

 male specimen, others again in the female. I believe Dr. 

 Hogg has studied this genus with great success in the way of 

 pointing out the most showy species, and I have a faint recol- 

 lection that the male variety of Salix vitelUna and the female 

 of S. amygdalina are especially handsome when in flower. At 

 all events the presence of palms forms an epoch in early spring 

 alike cheering and interesting to all who are any way connected 

 with country life. 



We next come to the Gorse, Whin, or Furze, an object 

 widely different, and of late years much persecuted. The taking- 

 in of vast tracts of land, the abolishing of commons, and agri- 

 cultural and wayside improvements have done away with vast 

 tracts of Gorse land that used to be in a certain degree public 



property ; but enough remains to prove its beauty to the most 

 casual observer, and when in fuU bloom where is the culti- 

 vated plant that can compete with it in gorgeousness ? a vast 

 breadth of it giving a more close and compact body of golden 

 colouring than can be given by the best-managed bed in the 

 parterre. The charm of a mass of Gorse in bloom need not, 

 however, be dilated on further, and that of the Broom may 

 be added in the same category, as both in some degree par- 

 take of the same character of liking dry etoney ground. 

 Possibly the Broom is disappearing faster than even the Gorse; 

 for apart from the persecution it receives from the lords of the 

 creation, game attacks it where it abounds, that it is with 

 difliculty preserved where hares and rabbits exist, there being 

 nothing they are more fond of. On its handsome bright yellow 

 flowers it is needless to dilate. Usually where it is found in 

 great quantities the Rhododendron will be found to succeed 

 pretty well. 



In my next I will take a glance at higher-growing objects, 

 and note that even the most common trees possess a certain 

 amount of beauty when examined carefully, which is not 

 generally admitted or sufiiciently appreciated. — J. Roeson. 



THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The Prince of Wales presided on the SSrd, at Marlborough 

 House, over a meeting of Her Majesty's Commissioners for 

 the Exhibition of 1851. There were present the Duke of 

 Buccleuch, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord Spencer, Lord 

 Carnarvon, Lord Granville, Lord Aberdare, Sir Staiiord North- 

 cote, Sir Bartle Frere, Sir William KnoUys, Mr. Playfair, Sir 

 William Anderson, Sir Francis Sandford, Mr. Edgar Bowring, 

 Mr. John Evans, Mr. Field Gibson, General Ponsonby, General 

 Probyn, and Major-General Scott, Secretary. Sir Henry 

 Thring attended the meeting at the request of the President. 



The Commissioners considered a proposal from the Council 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society to the following effect : — 



" 1. That the Society should raise its annual income from 

 subscriptions to £10,000, an amount that would provide ad- 

 equately for the promotion of the science and the encourage- 

 ment of the practice of horticulture, and for the efficient main- 

 tenance of the gardens. 



" 2. That the Commissioners should waive the imminent 

 forfeiture of the lease for non-payment of rent for a suflioient 

 period to give the Society an opportunity of re-establishing 

 itself." 



The Commissioners accepted this proposal as the basis of an 

 arrangement. 



REDLEES, ISLEWORTH, 



THE EESIDENCE OF W. F. 'WATSON, ESQ. 



James's Calceolarias, Cinerarias, and Prolific Marrow Peas 

 have attained a very deservedly wide reputation, and have be- 

 come what may be termed household words in every garden. 

 Redlees has by them become celebrated, and a brief notice of 

 the garden cannot fail to possess interest, and, it may be, afford 

 instruction. Like so many other places where the best of 

 gardening is to be met with, this is not an extensive and showy 

 demesne, but is the suburban villa of an affluent and liberal- 

 minded gentleman, who by the encouragement he has given to 

 the good keeping of his own garden has raised the standard 

 of some of our most popular flowers, has stimulated their 

 culture, and made them better to fulfil their purpose in the 

 adornment of other homes. 



The mansion is a commodious red brick building, to which 

 is attached a spacious conservatory. The grounds are gene- 

 rally flat and park-hke, containing a few fine old specimens of 

 Cedars of Lebanon and numerous other Conifers of less vene- 

 rable aspect. Wellingtonias are very numerous and healthy, a 

 belt of these and the best sorts of Cupressuses probably a roile 

 or more in length, forming an attractive boundary to the 

 grounds. These have only been planted about nine years, and 

 the progress they have made is remarkable. The soil is not 

 only good — a medium hazel loam — but it was thoroughly and 

 deeply trenched, and the plants were planted when in a small 

 state. Mr. James worked on the principle that small plants 

 well planted are more satisfactory in their progress than are 

 large specimens which receive a check by removal from which 

 they are often a long time recovering. 'The size and condition 

 of these specimens now prove that he was right. 



The lawn is of considerable size, and is not overcrowded with 

 flower beds, these being mostly arranged by the sides of the 



