350 



TEE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[Septembeb 29, 1888. 



great beauty and delight, perfectly retired 

 though bounded on one aide by the high road 

 on its entrance into Maidstone. The Len runs 

 for a distance of 2 miles through the park, ex- 

 panding into a lake before the house, and 

 entering the Medway at Maidstone immediately 

 after quitting the domain. A principal lodge 

 and entrance gate stands almost in the town, and 

 from that spot a walk or drive, whichever it may 

 be — only it ought to be slow for the sake of pro- 

 longing the pleasure — passes up the valley of the 

 Len, through a charming park of 600 acres, 1 mile 

 to the house and 1 mile further on to the spot 

 where the park commences. It is a path 

 of changing levels free from monotony, 

 and the timber, planted probably about the time 

 when the house was built, is better than if it 

 were ancient, since the trees, growing as they do, 

 in rich, deep soil in the " rags," of Kent, are 

 young and vigorous, yet they are already great 

 and sometimes grand in size. There is a great 

 variety of timber, and it grows tall, as the Apples 

 in the orchards do in Kent. It seems that 

 branches run up in proportion as roots run down : 

 the Oaks and Elms accordingly are taller than 

 on poorer soils. 



In passing up the carriage-drive I observed 

 the Turkey Oak, Acacias, Sweet and Horse Chest- 

 nuts, Tulip trees, and Planes, all large handsome 

 trees, with the White Thorn and Laburnum 

 sometimes growing singly, sometimes inter- 

 twined. I passed an Elder of unusual size, 

 several Catalpas coming into flower, and Ailan- 

 thus glandulosa, which flowered freely last year. 

 The shrubberies around the house afford an 

 interesting lesson in arboriculture and botany, 

 from the great variety of plants that have been 

 introduced. 



The house, gardens, and shrubbery cover about 

 40 acres of ground, the vegetable garden occu- 

 pying 7 acres, and yet it does not produce more 

 than is required for the different establishments 

 of the family, though it would be difficult to 

 conceive a garden more productive. The garden 

 proper," exclusive of the park, employs twenty- 

 five gardeners under the care of Mr. Charles 

 Davies. The extensive ranges of houses, which 

 existed three years ago, were described in the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle, October 10, 1885 ; but 

 since that date they have become much more 

 extensive, so that there is much that is new to 

 notice. The walk round the garden with Mr. 

 Davies must be a rapid one. Quitting the 

 kitchen we crossed a lawn, and then entered an 

 orangery ventilated thoroughly and very cleverly 

 by a contrivance invented by Lady Howard de 

 Walden herself. We then passed along a broad 

 walk a quarter of a mile in length, and passing 

 straight to the door of the house on the east 

 side. One would like to saunter here very 

 slowly to observe not only the flowers and shrubs 

 which fill the borders of the walk, but the just 

 proportions both of the pathway and its borders. 

 The former is 15 feet wide, each border is 20 feet 

 wide. 



At the back is a row of Wellingtonias, looking 

 very well at present, but they do not much like the 

 Kentish rag, and are apt to show their objections 

 a? they grow older. In front of these is a row of 

 Rhododendrons. Azaleas, and Kalmias, and then, 

 next the gravel, beds of flowers edged with the 

 dwarf Euonymus (radicans variegata), Heaths, 

 Retinospora, and other suitable evergreens. The 

 long borders are filled with herbaceous and other 

 plants, some of which are changed during the 

 summer, so as to produce a display of flowers 

 always at i he best, and often varying. There are 

 Pentstemons, and Pelargoniums, and many more 

 favourite plants, with the Gladiolus and Lilium 



auratum in pots for removal. Bulbs for spring 

 flowering are planted in their season. 



A terraced garden on the south side of the 

 house is planted with banks of Rhododendrons 

 and beds of Roses, Asters, Lilium auratum, her- 

 baceous Phloxes and Petunias, the terraces being 

 divided by lines of Hedgehog Holly, Golden Yew, 

 and Golden Retinospora, 6br 8 feet high, and very 

 rich in colour, which is characteristic of this 

 spot. Leaving the terrace we entered a walk, 

 which passes for the length of a mile through 

 that part of the 40 acres, which is devoted to 

 shrubbery. It is a delightfully cool walk, shaded 

 by good old sorts of trees and shrubs, such as 

 Tews, Hollies, Box, Laburnum, and many less 

 common, though not perhaps less beautiful. 

 Five acres of orchard, planted by Mr. Davies on 

 the Kentish plan, are enclosed by the shrubbery, 

 and we passed this orchard in our way. We 

 passed, too, several clumps of stately Elms, with 

 seats beneath, very tempting on a hot day. There 

 are various Conifers dotted about, but at a certain 

 age they die at the top. Apple trees grow as tall 

 as you please and continue to bear abundantly 

 when as big as timber trees. It is said that their 

 roots run down deep into the fissures of the rag- 

 stone, which, on the contrary, Conifers cannot 

 tolerate. 



In the course of our stroll we passed a speci- 

 men of that handsome shrubbery ornament, a 

 bank of the common Cherry Laurel cut close so as 

 to form a dense green ground covering. Then by 

 way of variety the path passes between hedges of 

 Rhamnus alaternus and Arbutus, and after that 

 we came to a Rose garden, or rather a herbaceous 

 garden planted with abundant Roses, Honey- 

 suckles, Clematis, Syringas, Peach trees, Pinks — 

 anything, in fact, that is attractive and capable of 

 yielding a flower in its season. Remembering 

 the variety of the specimens it may readily be 

 imagined what a very delightful walk this must 

 prove to those who are interested in trees and 

 shrubs and flowers. I have omitted to mention 

 that the New Zealand Veronica Traversi, with its 

 pale flower, is here quite hardy and grows well 

 under the shade. As the long path is well kept I 

 was glad to see a bit of it under repair, and I am 

 now able to say that a gravel walk, soft to the 

 feet and without a weed, may be made by boiling 

 some tar, mixing it with gravel, spreading the 

 hot mixture 2 inches thick, and covering that 

 layer with an inch or two of gravel. Such 

 a path will never require weeding. 



The end of the shrubbery walk brought us 

 close to the principal entrance of the kitchen 

 garden, where we commenced a two-hour walk — 

 and not a lounging one — through the various 

 houses. There are five vineries — two Muscat 

 houses, two for Hamburghs, and a late house 

 planted with Alicante, Lady Downe's, and Gros 

 Colmar. Mr. Davies is evidently a master of the 

 art of Grape-growing. He has a large Muscat 

 house, whose many hundreds of bunches would 

 average 3 lb. each, many of them weighing 6 lb. 

 or 7 lb. 



Among the flowering houses there is one con- 

 taining 300 tuberous Begonias, most brilliant in 

 appearance ; another is devoted to Fuchsias, 

 Campanulas, Hydrangeas, Crassulas and Phloxes. 

 Another is filled with Mr. Veitch's greenhouse 

 Rhododendrons, with Taylori in flower as well as 

 President, which was sent out this year, having 

 pale salmon-coloured corollas and purple sta- 

 mens. 



Another house is filled with Ferns and Palms, 

 with the curious flaring spathe of the Anthurium 

 lighting up the greenery here and there. In the 

 same house is Messrs. Veitch's Gymnogramma 

 Pearcei robusta, which received the Royal Horti- 



cultural Society's First-class Certificate this year, 

 with several other of Messrs. Veitch's recent 

 introductions. 



A Camellia-house, 70 feet long, came next, 

 and then an Azalea-house of the same size, a 

 Bougainvillea house, three early Peach-houses, 

 and a house for pot Vines, which are very 

 successfully grown here, each Vine in a 13- 

 inch pot, and bearing a high average weight of 



In the Tomato-house we found the crop gone 

 and the plants about to be cut back for fresh 

 growth, and to bear fruit during the winter. 

 Cucumbers are bearing well here in the refined 

 society of Gesneras and Eucharis. Another 

 house produces winter Cucumbers, and is now 

 planted with Melons. I must not omit the house 

 containing, among other good specimens of 

 Amaryllis, a capital seedling raised by Mr. 

 Davies. Other houses I must pass by. I suppose 

 if a few of them were carried away by some 

 genii of the Arabian Nights someone on the 

 premises would miss them, but they are too 

 numerous for me to enumerate them ; nor must 

 I dwell upon the pits and frames, where a vast 

 amount of useful work is done. 



I have passed on rapidly in order to mention 

 the series of Orchid-houses, commencing with a 

 house for Odontoglossums, another for the same 

 coming from a warmer climate, an intermediate- 

 house ; then a Cattleya-house with C. Gaskelli- 

 ana in blossom, and Laslia elegans Turneri (true) 

 with a good lip, and a Moth Orchid in blossom ; 

 then an East India-house, containing Calanthe 

 veratrifolia tectoria in flower, without a spot in 

 the centre, as well as Peristeria elata (dove 

 flower), and a variety of Cypripedium (Slipper 

 Orchid) in flower. Another Leelia-house fol- 

 lowed, with Cattleya Leopoldi in flower, and a 

 Lycaste-house. A house of 40 feet in length is 

 devoted to the varieties of Phalaenopsis, the 

 Butterfly Orchis, with a number of foliage 

 plants arranged with great taste, and Ficus repens 

 covering the back wall. 



Kitchen-Gabden. — I must be content with 

 a brief visit to the kitchen garden. Apples and 

 Pears are grown here on cordons planted in 

 November five years since, and now 10 or 12 

 feet high, and yielding a crop every year, 

 through the protection of what is known in 

 the trade as "No. 3 shading." A single row 

 of cordons was left unprotected this year, and it 

 now carries a dozen Pears, while the protected 

 rows bear a full crop of about seven sieves each, 

 worth in many seasons as much as 30*. per sieve. 

 The plan of protecting fruit trees, specially 

 adapted as it is, to cordons and low bushes, is an 

 old one, but it is not so common as it should be, 

 and I may therefore mention the ease and cheap- 

 ness with which it is carried out here. Two 

 rows of cordons are planted 10 feet apart, and 

 outside each row is a rail to carry the " shading,' 

 which also rests for additional support on a wire 

 that runs up the centre between the two rows. 

 The shading is left on from the first opening of 

 the blossom till the foliage becomes sufficient to 

 protect the young fruit. Cordons are planted 

 18 inches apart on walls having a wooden coping 

 of 18 inches, to which is fastened a fish-net that 

 hangs down in front of the trees. A wall 

 covered with Plums and Morello Cherries 

 has a border 22 feet wide planted with 

 bush fruit; and wall and border are both 

 covered with fish nets, as protection from 

 frost and birds. Each season the nets, covering 

 the length of 200 feet of wall, are put up by two 

 men in a day. There are wooden uprights in 

 front of the border, 5 feet high, and 10 feet 

 apart, with wire running to the wall to carry the 



