October 7, 1875. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



313 



In Bubmitting to Mr. Dickeon the opinion as to these hnge 

 Grapes being produced by chance he repUed — " I am aware 

 that a considerable number of people are of the opinion that 

 these monster bunches are produced by chance ; but if that be 

 so what is the use of all the heavy manures used to produce big 

 Cabbages, big Loek", and many other things in the vegetable 

 kingdom ? And again in the animal world, why are flock- 

 maaters at so much expense for feeding material to produce 

 fine fat sheep, cattle, Ac. I have very little faith in the word 

 chance, and none whatever in it having any connection with 

 the growing of large bunches of Grapes." His achievements 

 during his whole career of Grape-growing fully justify him in 

 the expression of that opinion. 



The general arrangement of the gardens at Arkleton as to 

 flowers, plants, and vegetables, as well as Grapes, is evidence 

 that skill is devoted to every department. 



All who are interested in Grape-growing will join me in 

 thanking Mr. Dickson for his willingness and generosity in 

 permitting his practice to be detailed for the benefit of others. 

 Like Mr. Hunter he has shown true greatness, not only in 

 growing great Grapes, but in telling others how to grow 

 them. 



His chief points of practice may be summarised thus — per- 

 fect drainage, generous soil, abundant supplies of water, heat, 

 air, cleanliness, and raising his canes from healthy and vigorous 

 stocks. — J. W. 



NOTES BY THE WAY. 



Wetbridoe. — The skies were not propitious on the day that, 

 in the fulfilment of an oft-repeated invitation, I went from 

 Cooper's Hill to Weybridge to visit the garden of my friend 

 Dr. Henry Bennet, so well known to all horticulturists by the 

 descriptions of his charming garden at Mentone which have 

 been given in the Journal, and to scientific men by his valu- 

 able books. When we left Cooper's Hill it bid promise of finer 

 weather than we had had in the morning; but by the time 

 that we reached " The Ferns " the rain descended in such a 

 steady downpour that it was the pursuit of garden-seeing under 

 difficulties indeed ; and yet I saw much that interested me, 

 and heard and saw much that was new to me. What shall I 

 aay of "The Ferns" itself? Simply this, that every nook 

 and corner of the house is a study in itself ; that everything 

 is in accordance with the most refined taste, and that gems of 

 art in pictures, china, bronze, &a., meet the eye in all direc- 

 tions. Long residence abroad has fostered a taste which gives 

 a foreign aspect to the rooms in their elegance and arrange- 

 ment, while English comfort has not been forgotten ; and I 

 shall not be guilty, I hope, of intruding on the sacredness of 

 the home when I say he has a most willing coadjutor, whose 

 own room is a perfect gem. I suppose it is known to many of 

 the readers of the Journal that sixteen years ago Dr. Bennet, 

 overdone with the demands of a wide and important practice, 

 had to seek in the genial climate of Mentone a relief from the 

 cold and damps of an English winter, and that he may literally 

 be said to go and return with the swallows. As soon as October 

 begins there comes that restlessness for a southern clime which 

 it is said the swallow shows, and when there is prospect of 

 brighter skies he wends his way back to find, as the swallow 

 finds, his nest prepared in England for him ; and in both 

 places he carries out his favourite hobby. We have read what 

 he has done with a barren rook at Mentone and have seen the 

 views, which must give but a very faint idea of the beauty of 

 his garden ; and while of necessity there can be nothing of 

 the kind at Weybridge, yet he is not one to rest content with 

 mere commonplace gardening, but must be trying to mark out 

 something new. 



Dr. Bennet believes it to be possible to utilise Palms for the 

 summer decoration of the garden even in England, and has 

 been trying it with the Date Palm, Chamserops, &a. ; and cer- 

 tainly nothing could well be more vigorous and healthy-looking 

 than those he had plunged out in his garden this season ; yet 

 for eight months in the year they are kept in a coach-house, 

 and for the remaining four are plunged out of doors. Through 

 this coach-house he has carried a flue from his greenhouse, 

 and this gives sufficient heat to exclude the frost. He has 

 done this fully believing that we lose a great deal of heat in 

 our ordinary heating apparatus which might well be used to 

 good purpose. This year he purposes putting a glass side to 

 the coach-house, so as to give the plants more light. But here 

 is an instance of how seeming impossibilities may be overcome. 

 Most persons would have said, " But I have no place for Palms, 



my houses are full." Not so Dr. Bennet : he seizes on a very 

 unlikely place and bends it to his purpose. 



" The Ferns " abuts on the wood or forest which stretches 

 down to Bigshot, and Dr. Bennet has rented a few acres con- 

 tiguous to his residence, where he has carried out another 

 experiment worthy of noting. All the ground here is covered 

 with Heather ; but as we know, Heather grows tall and strag- 

 gling, and to obviate this he has cut it down with a hook close 

 to the ground, so that a close and beautiful carpet of Heather 

 clothes his laud, and next year this will ba mown. It will be 

 at once seen how very charming this must be when in flower, 

 the whole ground covered with its brilliant blossoms as closely 

 set together as the blades of grass upon an ordinary sward. 

 Then he had to run out a kitchen, &a. Under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances we know what an ugly adjunct this is to a house 

 with its slate roof. But this would not suit the ideas of taste 

 prevalent at " The Ferns," and so it was mide with a flat 

 roof, and over this roof has been raised an iron trellis, on 

 which are trained Roses and other climbing plants of a deci- 

 duous nature; so that it will form in summer a charming 

 arbour, while, as the leaves will have fallen in winter, it will 

 not engender any dampness in or about the house. 



The plants grown in the houses are principally for decorative 

 purposes, and hence are not grown in collections. In the large 

 house I noticed some Tomatoes, and was told that they had 

 been so grown for years, not for the sake of the fruit, but because 

 the strong smell of the leaves kept the wasps from the house. 

 Have any of our readers any experience of this matter? It 

 would be a simple plan indeed if it were found generally suc- 

 cessful. These were a few things I noted in a hasty run 

 through the garden. I hope at some future time, when Jupiter 

 Pluvius is not in the ascendant, to see more of it. 



Being at Weybridge I could not omit a call at a garden 

 whose owner has made it famous — Mr. George F. Wilson. 

 Alas ! he was not at home, so that I could only see how much 

 he has added to his herbaceous garden, and what gems it must 

 contain in spring and early summer ; that he is still as earnest 

 as ever over Lilies, and that his orchard house is, as he has 

 ever made it, productive and satisfactory. The trees were all 

 out of doors. Peaches, Nectarines, &c., had borne their crop, 

 while the Pears and Apples were full of fruit. Surely such an 

 orchard house as this is worth having — D., Deal. 



OLLEEHEAD'S ROSE HURDLE. 



On entering my present situation I found a quantity of iso- 

 lated Roses worked on Manetti stocks, and planted in small 

 beds along each side of one of the principal walks in the flower 

 garden about 6 feet from the walk ; each plant was traiued-up 

 two rough stakes about a foot apart, with pieces of tar cord 

 from one stake to the other. The idea occurred to me that 

 something could be done to improve their appearance, which 

 led to the hurdle which I will now describe. 



The sides of the hurdle erj made of half-inch round iron 

 rods 5 feet high, with claws or feet 1 foot long, and braced 

 together at top and bottom with rods three-eighths of an inch 

 thick and 18 inches long. The space between these uprights 

 is laced with diamond network made of No. 9 bright wire, 

 •5 inches apart, and twisted round the side of the hurdle, and 

 where the wires cross each other they are tied together with 

 lacing wire, so as to make the whole of sufficient strength to 

 resist any pressure in tying strong shoots, &o. 



These hurdles are of simple construction, and can be made 

 by any country smith at a small cost, and where stakes have 

 to be purchased, as in our case, they will soon pay for them- 

 selves — being durable. They will last for years, and where 

 such things are required they certainly have a far neater ap- 

 pearance than a lot of rough stakes. — James Ollebhead, The 

 Gardens, Wimbledon House. 



A TRIP TO LONDON.— No. 2. 



THE CET3TAL PALACE GARDENS. 



It is with a keen sense of enjoyment that one turns from 

 the unfinished aspect of the grounds of the Palace at Muswell 

 Hill to those of the stately structure at Sydenham, which are 

 constantly increasing in richness, beauty, and interest. The 

 shrubs. Conifers, and other trees are annually assuming more 

 prominence. Mark how charmingly the Deodars — flourishing 

 in rude health and vigour — relieve the formality of the south 

 wing by the bright greening which presents itself so agreeably 

 in the symmetrical outlines of the trees and the graceful sweep 



