November 24, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



597 



Nursery Notes. 



ST. OSYTH PIUORY. 



Visitors to Clacton-on-Sea (which is a rapidly 

 " improving " and even now a very popular seaside 

 resort), who are admirers of beautiful flowers, and 

 interested in objects of historic antiquity, should 

 not fail to visit the village of St. Osyth, with its 

 ancient Priory, and the seed grounds of Messrs. 

 Carter & Co., the well-known seed merchants of 

 High Holborn. St. Osyth lies some four or five 



mands a fine view of the German Ocean. It has a 

 very extended and fine sloping beach, with an excel- 

 lent pier nearly 1300 feet long. The houses are of 

 superior character, and the streets, as well as the 

 footpaths, are wide, the latter being mostly formed 

 of cement. The streets are all planted with trees, 

 as are also numerous avenues, which are expected to 

 ere long form part of the town. The trees consist 

 mostly of the Elm, the Lime, and species of the Poplar, 

 and, notwithstanding the proximity of many of them 

 to the sea, they all appear to be doing succeeding 

 well, although several other species have, we believe, 

 been tried, but which were not found to do so well. 



is fixed a strong stake, which stands some 5 or 6 

 feet high, secured at the top and in the middle by a 

 light wooden frame, of similar dimensions to the 

 space on which the tree stands; by means of soft 

 string the stems are secured to these stakes, in such 

 a way as to prevent them from chafing upon the 

 stakes, while a broad splint is perpendicularly fixtd 

 between each stake, and this effectually preserves the 

 stems of the trees from external injury. Altogether, 

 this appears to be a very cheap, and certainly a mcst 

 effectual tree protector. 



The seed -grounds of Messrs. Carter & Co. 

 are some 100 acres or more in extent, and lie on each 



Fig. 82. — eucalyptus viminalis : flowers white, (see p. 5'JG.) 



miles north-west from Clacton-on-Sea, and about 

 the latter a few words may here be said. It is some 

 seventy miles from London, and has, as it were, 

 sprung into healthy existence as a watering place 

 within the last fourteen or fifteen years. It is 

 considered an exceedingly salubrious locality, on 

 account of its invigorating breezes, pure air, com- 

 bined with the advantages of an abundant supply of 

 excellent water, a moderate rainfall, and its (so said) 

 comparative immunity from violent atmospheric 

 disturbances. 



The town appears to be very judiciously laid out, 

 with a southern aspect, and stands upon cliffs some 

 40 or 50 feet above the level of the sea, and com- 



The Elm appears to be the tree most extensively 

 used, and very close to the sea are several stunted 

 specimens of some variety of this tree, having very 

 small leaves, which at a distance have more the aspect 

 of Scotch Firs than deciduous trees ; these have evi- 

 dently been hedgerow trees a few years ago. A line 

 of Fig trees is also growing vigorously in front of 

 the " Royal " Hotel, which is close to the sea, but 

 they are bearing no fruit this season. The street 

 trees are all planted on the margins of the footpaths, 

 which are about 25 feet wide, and are thus placed at 

 a proper distance from the buildings. Each tree stands 

 in the centre of a small triangular space some 

 IS inches in the side, and in each angle thus formed 



side of the public road, just before entering the 

 village of St. Osyth, and are entirely devoted to the 

 production of flower-seeds, and of choice culinary 

 vegetables. The land is light but rich, and doubtless 

 well adapted to this [purpose ; and notwithstanding 

 the cold and sunless character of the present season, 

 which can hardly be considered to have been 

 favourable for the purpose of seed growing, few 

 if any of the crops at the time of our visit (early in 

 August) appeared to have suffered from the unfavour- 

 able weather. 



Those of your readers who may have seen and 

 admired beds or isolated plants of some of our 

 finest annual flowers, may imagine the effect pro- 



