164 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 19, 1815. 



Not lesB beantifal, but in a different way, and like the Elder, 

 is perhaps offensive in the odour it emits, is the common 

 Privet, which blooms abnndantly, and when allowed to do it 

 produces abundance of shiny black fruit or berries in conical 

 clusters of great beauty in autumn ; while in the wet and 

 marshy places the Alder may be met with, producing its 

 globular seed vessels in abundance with its bright green leaves, 

 to be succeeded by a fruit vessel or husk, that looks weU the 

 following year if allowed to remain on the tree. Amongst 

 still lower growths we have the Bramble, ornamental when in 

 ripe fruit ; the Clematia while ripening its seed vessels, and 

 when its bleached remains clothe some rugged hedge or cop- 

 pice with tufts of cottony-looking down, appropriately called 

 the Traveller's Joy ; while descending still lower we have 

 Heaths. 



Enough has been said to draw attention to the merits of 

 gome of our most common trees and shrubs, the most, if not 

 all, of which are of British origin, and consequently in gene- 

 ral within nearly everyone's reach ; and the part they are 

 all capable of taking in assisting the now-a-days all-important 

 duty of ornamenting a table, room, or other given space, is 

 Buoh that unless we have the means of falling back on some- 

 thing that can be had in great abundance, there is a fear our 

 exotics will fall short of what is required of them. It is, 

 therefore, with a wish to call attention to the merits of very 

 common thingi that the above is penned, and possibly a return 

 to the subject by way of calling attention to other hardy plants 

 and their claim to notice may be acceptable ; and who knows 

 but amongst the vagaries of fashion our ditches and wastes 

 may have to take their turn in furnishing materials to decorate 

 the drawing and dining-rooms of the great and wealthy, and 

 after the Antipodes have been ransacked of their Horal 

 treasures it may be found that many at our back doors are still 

 good? Some good may, perhaps, be obtained by urging the 

 attention of those concerned in that direction. — J. Eoeson. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

 Mb. Edward Lcckhurst writes from near Uckfield in Sussex : 

 — " The whole of the Peach and Nectarine Trees here are 

 in splendid condition, and the crop is abundant and fine. Early 

 Beatrice Peach ripe the middle of July, and a daily dish of it 

 Bent to table till last week. Early Rivers Peach keeps up the 

 supply ; the first ripe fruit August 2nd. Lord Napier Nectarine 

 is a fine crop; its fruit is just colouring, and some of it already 

 measures nearly 8 inches in circumference. Early Elvers Plum 

 ripe the last week in July, and plenty of its fruit still upon the 

 trees. Early Eivers Damson planted last season also has ripe 

 fruit upon it ; this is a great advance upon the older kinds." 



We have received from Messrs. Thomas Kennedy and 



Co., Dumfries, yellow frnit of Eed Aston or Warrington 

 Gooseberry, arising from a bud sport on a bush of the normal 

 red form. This occurred between thirty and forty years ago in 

 the garden of Mr. Archibald Gorrie of Annat Cottage, Perth- 

 shire, who propagated the shoot producing yellow fruit, from 

 which plants were raised which continued to preserve this new 

 character, and which became known as Yellow Aston. 



■ The collection of stove and greenhouse plants, the 



property of A. Basset, Esq., Sister House, Clapham Common, 

 were sold on the premises by auction by Mr. J. C. Stevens on 

 the 5th and Gth inst. Azalea Eclatante was knocked down for 

 £i 10s. ; and A. Extranei for £i 15s. ; A. Mrs. Fry, £(', 1(U. ; 

 A. Madame Ambroise Verschaffelt, £7 10s. ; Croton undula- 

 tum, £7 7s. ; Alsophilasquarrosa, £i 10s. ; Dendrochilum fili- 

 forme, £5 ; Masdevallia Veitchiaua, £5 15s. lid. ; Camellias 

 Countess of Derby and Princess Bacciochi, £7 7s. each ; 

 Camellia Mathotiana alba, £14 14s. ; Ehododendron Princess 

 Eoyal, £7 17s. M. The 535 lots sold for £1006. 



A CORRESPONDENT informs us that Mr. Sowerby, the 



head gardener at Hackness Hall, of which we recently gave an 

 account, completed on the 8th inst. his fiftieth vear in the 

 .SERVICE of the Johnstone f amUy. He is still hale and vigorous, 

 and to all outward appearance likely to continue his services 

 lor many years. It is a noteworthy fact that there have only 

 been three head gardeners since the formation of the gardens, 

 which took place in 1795. 



There is a charming bit of romance about the recent 



wedding of Harry, the eldest son of Mr. Charles Turner, the 

 florist of Slough, to Miss Elizabeth Poole, only daughter of 

 the late Samuel Bacon, M.D., of Camden Town. The young 

 couple met Bome years since, boy and girl, when the gallant 



youth presented to the blushing maiden a Golden Apple 

 plucked from the garden of the Hesperides — or, to put it more 

 prosaically — an Orange. From the seed of tliat Orange, sown 

 fcy her own hand, sprang an Orange tree. When the Orange 

 tree bloomed for the first time, from its tiny branches were 

 plucked the blossoma which adorned the hair of the bride at 

 the Savoy Chapel. 



An old English garden — 



*' The wholesome Sage, the Lavender still grey, 

 Kauk-smellm^ Rtie and Cummin go'xi for ejcs, 

 The Rosea rei-^uioj:: in the pride of May, 

 Sharp Hyssop good for green wound's remedies. 

 Fair Marigolds and bees-aUuriog Thyme, 

 Sweet Marjoram and Daisies decking prime. 

 Cool Violets and Orpine growing still, 

 Embathed Balm, and cheerful Galinsale, 

 Fresh Costmary and brea'hful Caraomile, 

 DoU Poppy and drink quickening Setulae, 

 Vain-healing Vervain and bead-purging DiU, 

 Sound Savory and Basil hearty hale, 

 Fat Coleworts and comforting Perseline, 

 Cold Lettuce and refreshing Rose marine." 



We have received the " system of classification " of 



the United States Centennial International Exhibition, 

 which is to be held in Philadelphia in 1876. There are twenty- 

 five classesforhorticultnre, including ornamental trees, shrubs, 

 and flowers; hothouses, conservatories, graperies, and their 

 management; garden tools and accessories of gardening ; and 

 garden designing, construction, and management. Pomology 

 comes in under the department of agriculture, and consists of 

 two classes — fruits of temperate and semi-tropical regions, and 

 tropical fruits. 



WEN8LEY. 



Well, what of Wensley, and where ia if? It is the capital 

 of Wensleydale in Yorkshire, so much celebrated for its cheeses. 

 It is a small, neat, picturesque village on a declivity on the 

 northern bank of the river Yore, sheltered from the north and 

 exposed to the fnll sunshine of both summer and winter. 

 What struck me as interesting was the neat cottages and well- 

 kept gardens enclosed by iron fencing, displaying their floral 

 occupants to every passer-by. 



There are two triangular vUlage greens ; on one stands a 

 monster Elm, the girth of bole at -1 feet from the ground being 

 20 feet 6 inches, one of the principal branches being 10 feet in 

 girth near the bole, extending 85 feet, the circumference of the 

 branches being something near 250 feet. Round the base of 

 this tree stonework is erected, fastened together with iron 

 brackets in lead, forming a piece of solid masonry, where in 

 days long past formed the gathering-place of old and young 

 when the toils of the day were ended, or probably on those 

 festive occasions when the peasantry and their lords used to 

 mingle in old athletic sports, or may be ages past when the 

 " guid housewives " of the dale here vended their dairy and other 

 produce beneath the shade of this forest tree. In all proba- 

 bility this is one of the oldest trees extant. They used to be 

 seen on all the village greens in the dale, but this la the only 

 one that has braved the storm and ia now glorious in decay. 

 Beneath its shade stands the town pump in a atone case of 

 huge dimensions, and which must have stood for many genera- 

 tions past. 



The beautiful entrance to Bolton Park is close by. The 

 other green with the fine clump of trees open to the road 

 forms a delightful retreat for the children of the village. Many 

 of the trees here are of immense size, especially Elms and 

 Sycamores : such trees I have seldom seen. Many of the walls 

 in the village are partly covered with Asplenium Ruta-muraria, 

 Sedum acre, S. album, and Saxifraga tridactylites. Following 

 the road at the foot of the hill a magnificent stone bridge 

 spans the river Yore, whose banks are fringed with beautiful 

 forest trees ; this with the church close by forma one of the 

 loveliest landscape scenes that eyes can look upon. It seems 

 strange that the water-power of tbe dale haa not been utilised 

 for manufacturing purposes, as that power is immense. There 

 are lead mines in the neighbourhood, but I believe they are 

 capable of greater development. Crossing the bridge on the 

 south side of the river I saw on the bank Sweet Cicely, or 

 Myrrhia odorata, in abundance. The hedges and roadsides 

 are flower gardens themselves ; such masses of Origanum 

 vulgare and sheets of Bluebells (Campanula rotnndifolia), and 

 the Giant Bellflower (Campanula latifolia), Vicia oracca, and 

 Ononis arvensis are seldom met with ; there are also Geranium 

 pratense and other native plants. 



I did not attempt to resist the desire to entei the ohuioh- 



