AKDGOWAN 



Snowdrops possess one virtue which is appreciated 

 by all who take note of flowering herbs ; the accursed 

 rabbit, which is responsible for incalculable destruc- 

 tion and for the extirpation of much of our native 

 flora, cannot digest them. What the repellent 

 property is nobody seems to know. The Amaryllis 

 family, whereof the snowdrop is a member, differs 

 only from the Iris family in having six stamens 

 instead of three ; yet rabbits will devour every shred 

 of crocus, sparaxis and sisyrinchium iridaceous 

 bulbs while they leave snowdrops and daffodils, 

 true amaryllids, severely alone. In daffodils the 

 protective agent is known to consist, not of any 

 chemical poison, but of numerous minute crystals of 

 lime, called raphides, contained in the sap, which prove 

 so powerful an irritant as to upset even the digestion 

 of a rabbit. Whatever be the corresponding pro- 

 vision in the snowdrop's slender growth it is one for 

 which all lovers of the country must feel grateful, 

 for it has been the means of preserving the chief 

 ornament of our woodlands when the days are at 

 their darkest. 



Nowhere may you realise this more fully than 

 at Ardgowan, the Renfrewshire home of Sir Hugh 

 and Lady Alice Shaw Stewart. Nowhere else shall 

 you find snowdrops more abundant or more 

 charmingly disposed millions of them among 

 sloping woods on the shore of the Firth of Clyde. 



The garden proper at Ardgowan is notable in 

 many respects, and bids fair to become still more 



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