September SO, 1876. 1 



JOURNAL OP HORTIOULTDRE AND OOTTAQE GARDENER. 



297 



again in different parts of the grounds) fly tip and take the 

 crumbs from the mouth of their friend and preserver, and 

 alight and eat them on the lawn. What patience and training 

 on the part of Mr. Mcintosh ! bat then, what a reward ! — W. 



A VISIT TO AEKLETON.-No. 1. 



At a time when more than a common amount of interest is 

 evinced in Grape onlture, and especially in the production of 

 the leviathan bunches which have lately startled the horticul- 

 tural world, a brief record of a visit to Arkleton — the home of 

 some of the most extraordinary Grapes on reoord — cannot fail 

 to possess a measure of interest. 



I am indebted for my Arkleton visit, which was a Septem- 

 ber one, to the kindness of a Scottish laird— W. E. Malcolm, 

 Esq., of Bumfoot, under whose hospitable roof I spent a few 

 memorable days. Shall I say a word about Bumfoot ? It is 

 a charming spot situated on the banks of the foaming, tum- 



I name this as an honour to a man whom success has not 

 spoiled, and as a lesson which almost every instance of success 

 teaches — that he who wins must work. 



Arkleton is the residence of John JarJino, Esq., situated in 

 one of the most picturesque parts of Eskdale, about five 

 miles from Langholm, and about 500 feet above the level of 

 the Solway. The grounds and gardens were planned by Mr. 

 Little, of the firm of Messrs. Little A Ballantyne of Carlisle, 

 and were executed by the present gardener, Mr. Dickson, in 

 the years 1863 and 18(J1. The subsoil is gravel ; indeed, when 

 Mr. Dickson entered on his duties the greater part of the 

 kitchen garden was little more than a gravel bed. As a rule 

 fruit trees thrive well here; very few standards are grown, 

 but the walls are covered (both iuside and outside the garden) 

 with a very good selection of Pears, Plums, Cherries, and 

 Apples, and healthier and better-looking wall trees are seldom 

 to be met with. 



The vineries consist of two houses (Shaw's patent), each 



Fig. C7.— Bdnch of stbian orapeb at aekleton. 



bliug, rollicking Esk. The mansion is sheltered by trees 

 which would be fine but for the majestic hills on every side, 

 which make trees look small and men feel puny. In the 

 gardens Roses grow with great luxuriance. Gladioli possess 

 extreme vigour, and the Calceolaria amplexicaulis I have never 

 seen excelled. The healthfulness of the plants named is doubt- 

 less a consequence of the heavy rainfall of the district, so heavy 

 that Wheat cannot be grown to advantage. In the garden also 

 were excellent crops of fruit, and very good Grapes. But 

 although the grounds are delightful and the garden well 

 managed, no attempts are made to produce anything beyond 

 the daily requirements of the household. Mr. Malcolm there- 

 fore, to supplement the ordinary culture of his own garden, 

 afforded me the conveniences of his stable to see the extra- 

 ordinary Grapes of Arkleton ; for this I publicly reoord my 

 acknowledgments, and I will now endeavour to describe what 

 I saw. I saw not a great place of aristocratic mein, but a 

 snug, small, uuimposing home of a retired country gentleman. 

 I saw not an extensive and sumptuous garden with a superin- 

 tendent having unlimited means and men at command to 

 carry out his every wish, but a plain square enclosure of about 

 an acre, and the man who has grown some of the most extra- 

 ordinary Grapes in the world digging-up old Cauliflower stalks. 



30 feet long ; the Vines are planted inside, but there is an out- 

 side border as well. Each of the borders are Hh feet wide — 

 that is, the houses are 14^ feet in width, and the outside border 

 the same. Mr. Dickson is a great advocate for inch bones 

 mixed with fine fibry loam ; of this compost he gives the 

 Vines a liberal top-dressing every year, and during the grow- 

 ing season he gives the borders liberal waterings of liquid 

 manure water taken from a tank in the farmyard. He never 

 allows the Vines to make any growth beyond what he considers 

 proper for keeping them in a good healthy condition. He 

 generally leaves three leaves beyond the bunch, and keeps 

 them at that, going over them perhaps once a-week, taking off 

 all unnecessary growth. After the fruit is all out from the 

 Vines he gives the borders a good soaking of water, not think- 

 ing it good for them to be kept so dry as many people keep 

 them at that stage; indeed, he believes that they should never 

 become very dry, and that Vines require more water than is 

 commonly supposed. The borders never have a covering of 

 any kind, although an average of 01 inches of rain falls in the 

 year. This year there has been no semblance of thrips, red 

 spider, nor any other disease to which Vines are Eubject. 



The Vine that carried the bunch of 25 lbs. 15 ozs. when 

 weighed in Edinburgh, but which Mr. Dickson states weighed 



