Janaaiy 3, 1865. ] 



JOUBNAL OP HOE.TICULTUEE AlfD COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



9 



and one or two plants of Rhododendion were pointed out 

 that tad absolutely died from the drought ; but in general 

 all was luxuriance and health. 



The good keeping of the place reflected the greatest 

 uredit on ]Mr. Whitehead, the gardener, to whose courtesy 

 I am also indebted for the information above ; and before 

 leaving I must accompany him to the kitchen garden, which 

 lies in the valley to the north of the mansion. Good high 

 walls surroimd it, and some useful Grape-houses occupy 

 the north wall. Peaches and Nectarines had been in great 

 abundance on the walls. Strange to say, some fruit were 

 growing in a glass case facing the south which were later 

 than the same kinds on the open waU. The glass case con- 

 sisted of tall sashes reared against the waU, the bottom 

 being about 4 feet from it, and the trees were trained against 

 the glass rather than against the wall, and, consequently, 

 exposed to the back di-aught, which had neutralised all the 

 advantages of the glass. The fruit here, as well as on the 

 walls, was good ; but the latter was said to be the better 

 flavoured. Mr. Whitehead had also been very successful in 

 Mushrooms, and in fact the general condition of every 

 crop was good, considering that a very dry period had been 

 passed thi-ough. Unfoi-tunately my visit to this department 

 was a hm'ried one, but I saw sufficient to convince me that 

 Mr. Whitehead had not accomplished all that was done 

 without difficulties, and that these had been successfully 

 overcome ; while the liberal manner in which the choicest 

 Pinuses had been planted about, and the general formation 

 of the grounds reflected the highest honour on his employer, 

 who, I hope, may long occupy Bury Hill, which, with its noble 

 sheet of water, its slopes, its secluded and romantic walks, 

 its varied and interesting views, as well as choice plants 

 and good keeping, has a claim to attention which few places 

 possess. — J. EoBSON. 



WATEEING NIGHT. 



*' A little water is a dangerous '.hiog : 

 Give much, or none, from the Alcinoan spring." 



—Old PARonr. 



I SUPPOSE that every one who has lived in a coimtry village 

 knows something about " watering night " in summer time. 

 Simpkins had for many years been a curate. A'isita- 

 tion after visitation Mr. Simpkins had been called over as 

 "curate of the same." At last the bishop, at the instance 

 of the archdeacon and some of the superior clergy, as well- 

 to-do rectors are called, gave him a living — not a very fat 

 one, but stall it was an advance on the curacy, and enabled 

 the Simpkinses to take up gardening in a modest way. 

 They began floriculture with two dozen standard Eoses". 

 There was besides a little lean-to greenhouse, in which, 

 alas '. there was very little " green.'' 



Let us take an "inwentory," as Tom Tix expresses it in 

 "Sichoias Nickleby," when reviewing Madame Mantalini's 

 goods under an order from the sherrS'. 



Here is the old Black Hamburgh somewhat bigger than 

 Elder berries ; here are pot-bound Pelargoniums (Geranium 

 is a better word, it is more like the Greek for crane's-bOl) ; 

 here is in fact a burnt -up specimen of " something, every- 

 thing, and nothing." 



It is watering night both under glass and outside of it. 

 Eobin, who had lived with them when S. was curate, now 

 advanced to head gardener at 12s. per week and house rent 

 free (expected to wait at table, though, party nights), is 

 summoned. " Eobin, have you forgotten it is watering 

 night ? Tell Eliza to bring down my coalscuttle bonnet 

 with gipsy frill, and do you fetch my watering-pot (aside, 

 about the size of two teapots); with long snipe spout. I 

 am going to copy, as Mr. Eadclyffe has adyised us, ' a 

 thunderstorm.' " 



Eobin had not forgotten " watering night." No night did 

 he dread so much as "thunderstorm" night, and so answers 

 somewhai; suxlUy, "Oh, yes, ma'am, let us copy a wonder- 

 storm.'' He had nearly got out the words "and forked 

 lightning," when a look assured him that if he attempted 

 to be pyrt she would teU his master and have him discharged. 



"jSow fetch a bucket of water, and don't be disagreeable." 

 The water fetched, the pot with snipe spout is filled, and 

 .-down comes the "thunderstorm." "There Eobin, I think 

 1 have done it now." 



"Oh, yes, ma'am, if the Giant and Baronne don't bloom 

 now I'm a Dutchman." 



"Now Eobin, don't use offensive similes; I caution you 

 once more. Fetch another bucket of water; let's begin de 

 novo.*' 



" Oh, yes, ma'am, as you say, let's begin again de Jcvo." 



"Eobin, don't you see dear S. looking out of the ' studio' 

 window ? I have only just to hold up my little finger and 

 he will come : length of servitude wo'n't serve you. Come, 

 be good-tempered, Eobin. JBonos mores makes a man, or as 



dear S. says when he hears my voice, ' ■ emolUt mores, nee 



sinit esse feros.' Come, fetch another bucket and Parkes's 

 fork, and, as Mr. Eadclyffe advises in his learned articles, 

 let us ' touch all the points of the roots.' " 



At this Eobin chuckles with delight. He is always spite- 

 ful thunderstorm nights, and is glad of an opportunity of 

 doing as much mischief as possible. Accordingly he timibles 

 the baked ground, and breaks off as many roots as he can. 



Now, if Sirs. S. had stooped down and examined this 

 tumbled ground she would have discovered that her thun- 

 derstorm had not penetrated the depth of a sheet of Bath 

 vellum, and that Eobin had effectually touched the points 

 of all the roots with Parkes's fork. She has, however, had 

 enough of it for this night, and exclaims, " Well, I never ! 

 It's teatime, dear S. is beckoning. There, Eobin, I forget 

 and forgive. Go in and get a pint of beer, and don't try 

 my patience another time." 



Eobin cheers up a little, but he does not like watering 

 night ; and in a few days he has his revenge, and runs in 

 with smothered delight to say that the Giant and Baronne 

 are both dead, and that there is nothing like touching all 

 the points of the roots with Parkes's fork and missus's thun- 

 derstorm. 



In fine, whether a plant be in a pot or in the open ground, 

 it is useless watering unless sufficient water penetrates to 

 touch all the points of the roots. A little moving of the 

 ground the day after with Parkes's fork will be serviceable, 

 but beware of touching all the points of the roots. — ^W. F. 

 Eadclttfe, iJws/iion. 



WES'TEEING BEDDES^G PLANTS. 



Foe the last two winters I have preserved my bedding 

 plants in ordinary Cucumber-frames, by placing a small 

 petroleum lamp in the centre of the fr-ame, with a square 

 piece of tin, above the flame, nailed to the frame. The 

 lamps, which cost Is. or Is. 6d., are sold by all ironmongers. 

 The spfrit costs 3s. per gallon, and the consumption is not 

 great, as the wicks are small. I adopt the additional pre- 

 caution of surrounding my frame with straw about a foot 

 thick ; the glass is also covered at night with straw mat-s. — 

 G. C, Chadlington. 



FRENCH TEEsrs ENGLISH ASPAHAGUS 

 CULTUEE. 



Mb. Watsojt, at page 510, finds fault with me for giving 

 my opinion on the French system of growing Asparagus as 

 applied to the climate of England. I can only restate my 

 conviction, after growing Asparagus on both systems — 

 English and French — that " there is no benefit in the 

 French system," for we do not measure the value of Aspara- 

 gus in England solely by its appearance, but according to 

 its utility. 



Growing Asparagus with a blanched shoot is no new 

 practice even in England, and it is one not I'lkely to take 

 with the English, though it may be in request at aldermanic 

 dinners. I have eaten French Asparagus, and though it be 

 a little more tender than that of English growth, after dis- 

 cussing about 3 inches of the tips the lower part reminds 

 me of what I used to find a stick of liquorice in my youth, 

 exceedingly woody. 



As to my thinking nothing can be good out of England, 

 I know, however much some jjeople can see in other 

 countries, that England, and especially her gardeners, are 

 looked upon as patterns of that which is good. It has 

 been said that we should never be able to raise as good 

 Eoses here as in France, but ,Tohn Hopper, King's Acre, and 



