480 JVal/c ronnd the Garden of 



are at the back, and tlirec project in front sonic feet beyond the line of the 

 rantje of ghiss houses. In tlie central or larger of the three siiles in front, 

 a glass door with foKling halves is placed ; and, in the lateral sides, windows 

 of the like construction, all opening to the ground, and enabling egress to 

 be inaile at once upon the gravel-walk which traverses along the front, and 

 from thence to the lawn, all the beauties of which are seen through the 

 glass iloor and side windows, or to any part of the garden. This room is spa- 

 cious ; and from having no glass in its roof, and from its ceiling being lofty, 

 is a luxurious place of retreat from the heat of sunnner. In it, on stands, 

 a few select potted |)!ants in fiower are successively ilisplayed, but not so 

 numerously as to encumber. A fine iieaithy plant of the fan aloe (J'loe 

 plicatilis) is now blooming there, and the plant is thought to be from 

 twenty to tiiirty years old : it is j)ossibly not more, as it seems by its wood 

 never to have been checked in its growth ; but, for its age, this is a very 

 fine specimen. I have only seen one finer specimen, which is in the con- 

 servatory of the Cambridge Botanic Gartlen, and is very much older. In 

 this tea-room, during winter, is kept one of the finest plants of /fcacia 

 arniata I have ever seen. Its stem, at the surface of the soil, is 5 in. in 

 diameter; its topmost boughs are at least 7 ft. from the surface of the tub, 

 which is of itself 3 ft. or -i ft. ileep. being a cube of about this gauge. The 

 branches of the plant are mostly on one side, and ()roject 5 ft. or G ft. from 

 the centre of the tub ; and, in early spring, are headed abundantly w ith 

 balls of golden blossoms, wiiich, besides rendering the plant a glorious 

 object to that floodgate of our delights, the human eye, effuse an agreeable 

 odour very obviously perceptible on entering the apartment. 



Leaving the tea-room for the green-house, you enter its end through the 

 glass doors mentioned; and find it (the first one) occupied by a judicious 

 selection of the more beautifully blossomed plants, which, though quite 

 gay two months or more ago, are not now numerously in Howcr. The 

 body or back part of the second green-house is occupied by a choice col- 

 lection of the superior varieties of CamelhV/, admirably grown; and among 

 their gorgeous display of blossoms which, each spring, they make, few 

 excel in splendour the C. japonica Vandes« and \'andes« superba, two 

 varieties obtained from seeds in this truly delightful garden. The pits in 

 front of the green-houses are occupied by plants in i)ots of the frame-plant 

 class. Dianella ca^nilea and Arthropodium cirratum are now blooming 

 finely here ; as is the beautiful Dietes bicolor, recently publisheil in the 

 Botanical lic^hter, t. l-K)+., as /Vis bicolor. 



It should iiave been remarked, that, in front of the tea-room, this 

 range of pits is interrupted ; and as it was remarked that the tea-room's 

 front projects some feet, it will he perceived that a recess is formed, which 

 receives this range of pits, witliout reiulering thcni obji'cts too consjiicuous. 

 The pits in front of" the stove arc now occupied by bloomingpelargoniiuns, 

 which have j)assed the heyday of their this year's beauty ; aiul by nume- 

 rous seedling plants raised from seeds purchaseil of Mr. llugii Cunnning, a 

 recent importer of a copious Huj)ply of the natural prt)ducts of Chile into 

 England. From the seeds [)urchased, ami which must have been judiciously 

 selected by the |)urcliaser, nnuiy matters of promise have been raised. Of 

 these, I collected notices of the following: — 



Calceolarias, five shrubby kinds, all with foliage diflering from those in 

 connnon cultivation; one of these shows yellow blossoms. (.)f herbaceous 

 species, one has purple flowers, anil its lower li|), or slipper-front, is laid 

 in plaits : this is a beautifid kind, and clearly distinct from C. pur- 

 purea; it has lanceolate toothed leaves, suffused with a very slight degree 

 of whiteness. Another herbaceous species has leaves somewhat plantain- 

 like, stems nearly 2 ft. high, branched in the u|)|)er part, and bearing nume- 

 rous-flowered corymbs of blossoms of a rich full yellow colour. A third 

 iierbaccous kind has stems about 1 ft. high, bearing corymbs of blossoms 



