September 9, 1875. J 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



229 



Messrs. Eobertaon & Galloway, Ingram Street, Glasgow ; Mr. 

 McPherson, Polmuir, Aberiieen ; Messrs. .Tames Cocker & Son, 

 Aberdeen. 



Though there was a greater competition the fruit was inferior 

 in qnality to that shown last year. Councillor Moncur (ex-Baillie 

 Moncur) was as usual very suocesbfiil, his gardener, Mr. George 

 Reid, winning no less than seven prizes in Grapes. Mr. Wm. 

 Eddie, gardener to J. F. White, Esq., Castle Huntly, won the 

 first prize for heaviest bunch of Grapes, his bunch weighing 

 8J lbs. 



Tlirough the effects of the unpropitious spring the vegetables, 

 though abundant, were decidedly inferior. The Parsley of last 

 year would have swamped the greens of this year in bulk. Mr. 

 Peter McArthur, gardener to John Leng, Esq , Kinbrae, New- 

 port (managing proprietor and editor of Dundee Advertiser), 

 gained the first prize for a basket of vegetables, ten varieties. 

 Mr. McArthur won other five prizes in vegetables. Mr. D. 

 Ross, gardener to Col. Macdonald, St Martin's Abbey, who was 

 first.laet year, came in second; Mr. Jobnetone, Ashladie, third. 



I are figures of various animals out in Box. Upon a level plot 



stands an Acanthus (now known as an Acacia), bo pliant that 

 I I had almost said it was flowing ; round it is a walk bounded 



by a dense evergreen hedge out into different shapes 



There are walks divided in some places by grass plots, iu other 

 ! places by Box trees cut into a thousand shapes, some of which 



are letters forming my name, and others the name of my 



gardener (Topiarius)." 



Wherever they acquired territory the Romans introdacod 



their arts and customs. Their gardening was no exception, 

 : and long after they had left our land their style of gardening 



remained. The earliest records of our extensive gardens show 



that part of their adornment was " opere topiario." 

 This practice long continued predominant, lingered on de- 



spite the preference for landscape gardening, and still lingers. 



Peacocks and other devices cut in Yew and Box are to be seen 



in the gardens of many old residence?. Not very many (years 



Tl riAIlV ViUEK AT ELVAsTuN CAslLi:. 



The villagers of Baledgonno in the Carse of Gowrie again dis- 

 tinguished themselves by carrying offjno less than thirty prizes. 

 The Show was in all respects a great success. 



TOPIABT WOBK. 



Many modern mansions are dropped as it were in the middle 

 of a park — the turf comes up to their walls. This we consider 

 very bad taste. The gradation from the architecture to the 

 unadorned ground should be gradual. A terrace, or sueeession 

 of terraces, succeeded by a lawn studded with flower beds should 

 intervene between the house and the park. We are so far 

 from objecting to the terraces being bordered with mathema- 

 tically-cut evergreen hedges, that we prefer them in many 

 instances to stone balustrades. The taste for such hedges 

 and other sixteenth-century garden forms is reviving ; mazes, 

 herbaceous borders, and old-fashioned flowers are iu the as- 

 cendant. 



With the Romans, one of our teachers in the fine arts, 

 Topiarius was an ornamental gardener, and Toiiia the art of 

 cutting shrubs into various forms, and forming other garden 

 decorations. Pliny, in describing his Tuscan villa to his friend 

 Apollinaris, tells that " Before the portico is a terrace adorned 

 with various figure.-=, and bounded by an edging of Box. Below 

 this is a slightly descending gravel walk, on each side of which 



since the motto of the.'order of the Garter — Honi soii qui mal 

 1/ pense, was composed in Box in the garden of New College, 

 Oxford. Such topiary work is still well exemplified in parts 

 of the gardens of Elvaston Castle, as shown in the engraving 

 we publish to-day. 



London goes further than we can follow, for he advocates 

 as appropriate to parterres iu the ancie7it style figures formed 

 of wirework, with evergreens trained over this, and gives as an 

 illustration a man iu a modern beaver hat with his arm round 

 the waist of a female ! 



EXTRACTS FKOM DR. HOOKER'S REPORT ON 

 THE ROYAL GARDENS AT KEW durixg 1874. 

 The number of visitors to the Royal Gardens continues to 

 increase annually, amounting to (369,420 in the past year, 

 which is 15,5.5(3 in excess of 1873, the highest number pre- 

 viously known. 



Botanic Gardens. — In this department the hardy Fernery 

 has been constructed and planted. It occupies a winding path 

 40 yards long, which has been made in continuation of that 

 which runs along the front of the rockwork. About 560 species 

 of Alpine plants were grown upon it last year. The Ferns are 

 planted on both sides of the pathjamongat loose stones, which 



