March 23, 1912.] 











;- 



THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE. 



181 



but the descent may be made by sloping walks at 

 the northern end of the terraces or by a long 

 flight of stone steps on the south. Half-way 

 -down, the beautiful stone figures of tw T o 

 musicians standing conspicuously on the para- 

 pets of the terrace wall, are playing for ever 

 to the valley below. The terrace walls are 

 covered with climbers— Akebia quinata, many 

 beautiful Honeysuckles, and others. One 

 slope is left as a grass bank, from which 

 spring bold groups of German Iris and sprays of 

 Wichuraiana Roses. At the bottom are four 

 fish-ponds, winch are planted with Water- 

 Lilies and divided by level grass. Chains of 

 Roses supported on pillars run alongside the 

 water's edge. These terraces and ponds were de- 

 signed and laid out by the Earl of Plymouth's 

 father. The photograph (see Supplementary 

 Illustration), taken from the bottom, shows how 

 clearly and beautifully chimneys, gables, terrace 

 walls, and statuary appear in the placid depths 

 of the pools ; while the illustrations taken from 

 the musicians' terrace (figs. 77 and 79) show 

 the long afternoon shadows creeping over the 

 upper part of the glade. Some attempt has been 

 made to ornament the banks of the stream which 

 feeds the ponds with natural stonework, and 

 it is intended to form a rockery some dav, 



walls. Eriobotrya 



japonica 



japonica 

 " Japanese Medlar ' 



(syn. Photinia 

 or "Loquat "), 



and the Chinese species, P. serrulate, are already 

 hne specimens. Buddleia Cclvilei, with its red 



Pentstemon-like flow 



ers, is 15 feet up, and I 



n ^ S 1 *** w *"ks, and near the top is a maze— oi 

 not very intricate design. 



Beyond this about 100 acres of park have been 

 recently taken in to form a new kitchen garden, 

 a French garden, more tennis courts, and 





to which 



delightful 



setting could 



a more o M 



hardly be desired. The stream divides and flows 

 around an island, and the great blocks of dolo- 

 mitic conglomerate of the sort known locally as 

 ^Radyr stone" are sufficient to suggest how 



This fine 



fine an effect may be accomplished, 

 stone mav be seen in manv f the 



local 



may oe seen in many 

 railway bridges— (Templemeads Station, Bristol, 

 is built of it). It is very effective, the 

 lines of stratification being easily imitated 

 with it, but it is hardly porous enough to 

 be an ideal stone from a cultural point of view, 

 t mbellularia californica (Californian Sassafras) 

 has wintered out on these terrace walls ; it pos- 

 sesses an odour of camphor, and in its native 

 home makes a useful timber tree, and grows to 

 * height of 100 feet. Jasminum primulinum does 

 well, and a later Jasmine called J. Wallacianum 

 was in full flower in June, following J. primu- 

 linum most opportunely. Schizophragma hydran- 

 geoides is climbing an Ash in the orchard. The 

 new terraces are in a somewhat unfinished con- 



FlG. 7g._ ST. FAGAN'S CASTLE : THE NEW TERRAC 



noticed a good specimen of Indigofera. At the bot- 

 tom another pond has been constructed, and, in 

 place of stone, two walls of Cupressus macrocarpa 

 flank the western side. The other side of the val- 

 ley is wooded, and at the fringe by the pools a 

 group of Gunneras is situated. Polygonum cuspi- 

 datum also sends up its ornamental leaves. The 

 wood contains some fine Tulip trees and Scotch 



Cedars 



some very interesting experimental plantations 

 of forest trees. A public footway intervenes, so 

 that a subway leads to these new grounds. Beech, 

 Oak, Ash, Spanish Chestnut, Tulip trees, and 

 wild Cherry have been planted in woods sepa- 

 rated by broad rides, which will make for th* 

 generations to come a miniature forest quite close 

 to this fine old home. Caltha. 



j... ' .- — — "^~ *#%#«- anu xiuoiiiau i mc , ucudio, jj^an, dim liei OI nne 



on » but man y g°° d shrubs already adorn the stature clothe the elope ; above and below are 



THE BULB GARDEN. 



HIGH PRICES FOR GLADIOLI. 



Hoi- 



Gladiolus " Glory of Noordwijk," raised 

 by Mr. Alkemade, of Noordwijk, in 

 land, in 1909, is a pure yellow variety. Mr. Alke- 

 made found occasion recently to sell his stock, 

 and the price realised was 20,000 guilders. A 

 " guilder " is worth about Is. 8d. in English cur- 

 rency. The whole stock of corms weighed only 

 a little over a kilo. (1 kilo, equals 40 ounces). A 

 few weeks ago, 20 young corms (kralen) of the 

 same variety sold for 500 guilders. 



At a recent sale at Beverwiyk, one corm of 

 Gladiolus <c Meteor/' raised by Mr. J. B. Bos, 

 of Overween, was sold for 89 guilders. 



NARCISSUS FOR FORCING. 



At present, Narcissus Golden Spur, raised in 

 Holland, on the Backersho^on Estate, near the 

 Hague, is largely employed for forcing. Dutch 

 growers are now of opinion, however, that the 

 English-raised variety King Alfred is far better 

 for the purpose, and it will shortly supersede 

 Golden Spur. The two varieties were shown 

 together a short time back at the Beverwiyk Ex- 

 hibition, and it was evident that King Alfred was 



the better sort. 



HYACINTH PAUL KRUGER. 



This variety is the result of a cross between 

 Czar Peter and La Grandesse, and 



raised 



g. 78. — ST. fagan's castle: an enclosed garden with flag-stoned PATHS. 



was 

 by Mr. J. Beumer, at Hessenheim, in 

 Holland. It is an extremely fine flower, beauti- 

 fully formed, and of a clear porcelain-blue* 

 colour. G. P. Po8thumu8. 



