234 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[September 1, 1888. 



been so admirably managed as to break and give 

 variety to the rather flat natural features. 



Surrounding the mansion are extensive lawns, 

 on which fine old Beeches, Oaks, Spanish Chest- 

 nuts, and other ornamental deciduous trees are 

 studded with fine effect. Conifers as a rule do 

 not thrive as do deciduous trees. Much has been 

 done by the late and the present proprietors to 

 establish some of the best types of Conifers, but 

 success has not attended their efforts. There 

 are, however, some excellent specimens of Abies 

 Alberti and Cedrus atlantica, which bid fair 

 to give satisfaction, judging from their health 

 and dimensions to-day. Some of them are from 

 20 to 30 feet in height, and well furnished and 

 vigorous. 



Rhododendrons are a special feature in 

 the furnishing of the grounds. They thrive 

 everywhere, and are of good types, from choice 

 named hybrid forms to selected seedlings of R. 

 ponticum and catawbiense. With these, and the 

 fine masses of deciduous flowering shrubs, Lilacs, 

 Thorns, &c, judiciously distributed as they are, 

 the place must be one of the most gay in spring 

 and early summer. 



Memorial Trees. 

 Of these there are many of national interest — 

 as, for instance, a fine thriving Lime, planted on 

 September 27, 1875, by the late Prince Leopold 

 on the occasion of his first visit to Blythswood ; 

 aid a pair of Sycamores standing near each 

 oJier, one planted by the same Prince when 

 Bake of Albany, and the other by the Buchess 

 o : Albany, on October 17, 1882. They are both 

 fine young trees, of about 25 feet in height. 

 Two Limes were planted on August 24, 

 one by the Queen, and the other by Her 

 Grand Bucal Highness, Princess Alice of Hesse. 

 And yet another — a stout Sycamore — was planted 

 by the Marquis of Salisbury on the occasion of 

 his visit to Blythswood on October 4, 1884. 



The Gardens. 



Lying to the east of the mansion, and a con- 

 siderable distance from it, are the gardens. The 

 way to them leads the visitor through beautiful 

 shrubberies, and over lawns enlivened by trees of 

 much beauty, and chiefly deciduous, till the 

 beautifully situated house of Mr. Methven, the 

 able and trusted gardener, is reached. Around 

 are found fine specimens of Cupressus Law- 

 soniana in considerable numbers, many of 

 them having a height of 20 feet, and which, 

 unlike other Conifers here, are healthy in ap- 

 pearance. 



Immediately beyond a fine gateway opens on a 

 vista leading into the flower-garden. This is a 

 charming spot, surrounded by luxuriant banks of 

 Rhododendrons, and by walls entirely clothed, 

 sd as to appear a living screen of shrubs, with 

 Ivies in rich variety, Ceanothus, Cotoneasters, 

 and many other foliage and flowering plants. It 

 is of large extent, and is laid out in a free and 

 natural style, the only feature at all approaching 

 formal or geometric character, being a large 

 central bed with a quadrangular base but 

 scroll-like outline which forms the termina- 

 tion of the vista, and which is planted tastefully 

 with characteristic foliage and flowering plants. 

 Surrounding this, on the opposite side of a 

 gravel walk, are two beautiful hedges of Golden 

 Yew, in faultless order and symmetry. Many of 

 the beds and borders are filled with useful things 

 for cutting, such as Stocks, Carnations, Picotees, 

 Pinks, &c, which, while they help to fill the 

 vases indoors, give an air of sweetness and variety 

 which no mere arrangement of bedding plants 

 eoiild impart. 



The KircHEisf Garden 

 is of considerable extent and well walled, the 

 walls being well furnished with fruit trees in 

 good order, but, unfortunately, this season they 

 are not — as they usually are — well cropped, the 

 only really good crops being Morello Cherries, 

 spring frosts and adverse weather since then 

 having destroyed almost everything else. Novel 

 among wall fruits we observed some remarkably 

 fine American Blackberry Wilson Junior fruit- 

 ing abundantly. My opinion of this much 

 lauded and equally condemned fruit rose 

 considerably on seeing what it was capable of 

 here. Small fruits, such as Strawberries and 

 Currants, are abundant. 



The indoors requirements of the garden are 

 met in numbers of Peach-houses, vineries, early, 

 succession, and late Fig-houses ; several houses 

 devoted to Plums, Cherries, and Apricots, Melons, 

 Cucumbers, and Pines, all the contents of which 

 bear testimony to Mr. Methven's skill as a 

 cultivator. 



Two houses are devoted to Passiflora edulis 

 and Stephanotis floribunda, the latter with the 

 remains of a fine crop of bloom upon it, and the 

 former with plenty of fine fruit coming out. 

 Numerous pits are devoted to succession Pines, 

 of which the stock is fine and promising, and to 

 the production of stocks of flowering plants of 

 the usual stamp for winter supplies. In some 

 also are planted out Gardenias, which were in 

 rare health, and thoroughly clean ; and in 

 Others numerous Tea Roses, planted out, which 

 are the special favourites of Lady Campbell. 



Hardy herbaceous plants form a considerable 

 feature in the borders surrounding the quarters 

 of the kitchen garden and other parts in con- 

 nection with the flower garden. Alpine Straw- 

 berries are grown largely, and Strawberries for 

 forcing, which were being potted up in their 

 f ruiting-pots, are done by the thousand. 



New or Noteworthy Plants. 



ODONTOGLOSSUM HRUBYANUM, n. sp* 



I have before me a five-flowered lax raceme. 

 The flowers are as large as those of a very good 

 Odontoglossum lseve. Sepals and petals cuneate 

 lanceolate, deep sepia-brown to horse-chestnut, with 

 yellow tops, and the bases of the lateral sepals of the 

 same colour. All those organs are bent down. 

 Colours very pallid outside. Lip with a stalk adnate 

 to the column at the base. Lamina pandurate, 

 slightly acute, denticulate on the anterior side, 

 light ochre, with a bilobed horse-chestnut-brown 

 blotch before the basilar callus. Callus whitish, 

 strong, bidentate in front, upright; an apiculus on 

 each side at its base ; a tumour on each side of the 

 very base. Column compresso-trigonous, curved, 

 with nearly obliterate very narrow crenulate wings. 

 The portion near the stigma is much dilated. 

 Colour whitish ; lateral limbs of fovea reddish- 

 brown, and a spot of the same colour under the 

 fovea, quite transverso-pandurate, viz., bilobed 

 towards the base and towards the apex. Anther 

 with a keel over the mid-line. 



A very careful drawing is at hand, prepared by 

 Mr. V. Fans, the enthusiastic and very skilful grower 

 of the possessor of the plant. It shows a plant com- 

 parable with an Odontoglossum Pescatorerei, yet the 

 bulb is said not to be ventricose, as it is seen some- 



* Odontoglossum Hrubyanum, n. sp. — Racemosum ; sepalia 

 tepalisque cuneato lanceolatis acutis deflexis (semper?), 

 labello ab ungue gracili partim columnx adnato pandurato 

 obsolete acuto lateribus denticulato deftexo; callo valde 

 antice bidentato in basi, apiculo utriuque basin versus addito, 

 tumore bisi utriuque columna juxta, foveam ampliata; alis 

 prope obliteris crenulatis. Ex Peru mis. Hiibsch, imp. exc. 

 F. Sander, (lorentum misit exc. liber Baron Hruby de ft-elenyi. 

 ff. G. Rchb.f* 



times in that plant. There are two ligulate acute 

 leaves under the bulb, and two, one nearly attaining 

 a span, on it, It is compressed, pyrifjrm, with furrow 

 5 centimetres high by 3 wide. 



It is a Sanderian introduction. Mr. Fans tells me 

 it came from Peru in 1883 through Mr. Hiihsch. 



It bears the name of Baron Hruby von Gelenyi, 

 of Peckau, near Kolin, to whom it is dedicated with 

 much satisfaction and gratitude. Amidst all the 

 numerous collectors of the Continent the Baron and 

 Consul Kienast Zdlly, of Hierslanden, Zurich, bear 

 an especial stamp by their enduring love, steadiness, 

 high intelligence, and long experience. H. G. Schb.f. 



Oncidium Jonesianum flavens, n, var. 

 This very fine variety has the spots on the 

 sepals and petals yellowish-green, and the hue on 

 the lip and column is yellow too. It was kindly 

 sent by Mr. B. S. Williams, of Holloway, London, 

 who had obtained it from T. Slatter, Esq., Stand 

 Hall, Whitefield, Manchester. H. G. Bchb.f. 



THE 



DEPEECIATION 



CHINA TEAS. 



OF 



The rapidity with which the taste for Indian and 

 Ceylon Teas has spread in England is making itself 

 seriously felt in the older Tea growing country of 

 China. The British Consul at Hankow, referring to 

 this subject, says : — Comparing the season 1880 — 

 1881 wfth that of 1886—1887, we find that the 

 decrease in the exportation of China Teas was 

 23,800,000 lb., and the exportations of 1887— 1888 was 

 20,000,000 lb. less even than this. The cause is evi- 

 dent ; it is the increased production of better Tea in 

 other parts of the world, especially in British India, 

 Ceylon, and Java. 



The falling off in the export of China Tea is a 

 most serious loss of profit to the native producer 

 and merchant, and a loss of revenue to the Chinese 

 Government. The authorities in Peking have felt 

 the matter to be so grave, that the Commissioners of 

 Customs at Hankow and at the other Tea exporting 

 ports, have been directed to make enquiries in order 

 to find out the causes of this decline, and to suggest 

 a remedy. As a result of these enquiries the follow- 

 ing conclusions have been arrived at : — That Indian 

 and Ceylon Teas are better than Chinese, although the 

 Shanghai Tea tasters assert that China Tea has natu- 

 rally the better flavour. All admit that the Indian Teas 

 are better grown and better prepared ; that they are 

 stronger and stand more watering. On the other 

 hand, the balance of evidence is in favour of the 

 China Teas keeping longer than the Indian, probably 

 because they have had more moisture extracted, the 

 absence of which prevents fermentation. It is said, 

 too, that the removal of moisture means the removal 

 of tannin, glucose, and other elements which make 

 Tea unwholesome, whence it follows that the drink- 

 ing of Indian tea, in which these hurtful substances 

 exist, is more deleterious than the use of China Teas 

 from which they have been eliminated. 



In India and Ceylon the Tea plants are grown 

 with an amount of care and attention which would 

 strike a Chinese Tea grower as superfluous, if not 

 ridiculous. A soil is selected at least 3 feet in 

 depth, so that the tap-root of the Tea plant may 

 suck moisture from the subsoil in seasons of drought. 

 The plants are grown in rows, so that the bushes 

 may touch each other at the sides, while room is left 

 at the back and front for the pickers to pass. Each 

 bush is allowed to grow to a maximum height of 

 5 feet. Fertilising and pruning are carefully attended 

 to. The latter is done with such thoroughness that 

 as many as twelve and sixteen pickings can be got 

 from a single bush in a year, and thus an acre of 

 ground is made to produce the largest obtainable 

 crop. It is said that an acre of Indian Tea garden 

 will produce 600 lb. of Tea annually. The leaves 

 are picked before they are overgrown, and are 

 bruised and rolled into balls with the hand that fer- 

 mentation may take place. Then the balls are 

 broken up, and the first firing is done — if possible, 

 on the very day that the leaves have been picked, in. 



