Jnne 13, 1865. ] 



JOURNAi OF HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 



441 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



ol 



.M'nth 



17 



Week. 



JUNE 13-19, 1865. 



Average Temperature 

 near London. 



Rain in 



last 

 38 years. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 after 

 Son. 



Day of 

 Year. 



13 

 14 

 15 

 16 

 17 

 18 

 19 



Tn 



Tn 

 F 



8 

 Sbn 

 M 



Upright Brome Grass flowers. 



Floating Meadow Grass flowers. 



Wo.idy Niffhtahado flowers. 



Henbane flowers. 



Corn Cockle flowers. 



1 Sunday after Trinity. 



Viper's Bogloss flowers. 



Day. 



71.8 

 72.3 

 72.9 

 72.5 

 72.9 

 72.7 

 70.9 



Night 

 48.4 

 48.6 

 48.8 

 490 

 48.0 

 49.9 

 49.2 



Mean. 

 60.1 

 60.5 

 60.3 

 60.2 

 60.5 

 61.3 

 60.0 



Days. 

 18 

 17 

 16 

 17 

 21 

 19 

 21 



m. h. 

 44af3 

 44 3 

 44 3 

 44 3 

 44 3 

 44 3 

 44 3 



m. h. 

 15af8 

 16 « 



16 8 



17 8 

 17 8 



17 8 



18 8 



m. h. 

 50 10 

 19 11 

 45 11 

 morn. 

 12 

 39 G 

 U 1 



m. h. 

 13 8 

 29 9 

 44 10 

 after. 

 17 1 

 35 2 

 51 3 



20 

 21 



22 



2<4 

 25 

 26 



m. s, 

 17 

 4 

 ObefS 

 21 

 34 



47 



1 



164 

 165 

 166 

 167 

 168 

 169 

 170 



From observations taken near London during the last thirtv-ei^ht years, the average day temperature of the week is 72.3", and its night 

 temperature 4S.S'. The greatest heat was 93° on the 19th, 1846; and the lowest cold, 30°, on the 15th, 1830. The greatest fall of rain was 

 0.84 inch. 



COMBE ABBEY, 



The Seat of the Earl of Ceaten. 



BOUT four mUes from Co- 

 ventry is this beautiful an- 

 cient Abbey. It was erected 

 on the site of a religious 

 house of the Cistercian or- 

 der founded in the reign 

 of King Stephen, and is said to have been the first settle- 

 ment of the monks of that order in this country. Of the 

 ancient monastic pile a portion of the cloisters only 

 remains ; the greater part of the present building was 

 raised by Lord Harrington. On the west side of the 

 house is a large addition, which, though externally of a 

 heavy appearance, contains some noble apartments. The 

 rest of the edifice is of the Elizabethan style. An his- 

 torical interest attaches to this building. It was here 

 that the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of James I., the 

 beautiful and unfortunate Queen of Bohemia, passed the 

 early days of her life under the tuition of the accom- 

 plished Lord Harrington. From this spot the Guy 

 Fasvkes conspirators had formed a scheme to remove 

 her. A party under the pretence of hunting were to 

 assemble near the house, seize the person of the Princess, 

 and by proclaiming her Queen, use her name in stilling 

 and composing the minds of the people. The enterprise 

 was confided to Sir Everard Digby, but the attempt 

 failed, and the Princess escaped to Coventry. The Abbey 

 has altogether that air and those vestiges of old times 

 which must, independent of its connection with the 

 Queen of Bohemia, give it great interest in the eyes of 

 the lovers of old English homes, and of the traces of past 

 generations. 



Mr. Bennett, gardener at Brandon HaU, kindly volun- 

 teered to accompany me to Combe Abbey. The first 

 impression of the place was very striking. Having 

 walked along what to all appearance was a straight 

 avenue a mile long, we entered the park. Combe Abbey 

 being visible in the distance. The park of 460 acres is 

 well wooded, with several avenues of very old trees 

 diverging from the house. Having passed by the lake 

 (which was being enlarged by Mr. Nesfield), in front of 

 the house, and, through the pleasure ground, the first 

 object that attracted attention was a ribbon-border on 

 the south side of the garden wall 233 yards long ; it was 

 planted with standard Hoses at back, then following in 

 successive rows — Trentham Eose Geranium, Purple Eing 

 Verbena, Christine Geranium, yeUow Calceolaria, blue 

 Lobelia, Cerastium tomentosum, and then a broad verge 

 of grass. On the west side were similar borders, 40 yards 

 long, at each side of the entrance to the kitchen garden, 

 No. 220.-Voi. -vm.. New Sbbim, 



with a chain of circles planted in the following order : — 

 Christine Geranium, Baron Hugel Geranium, Flower 

 of the Day Geranium, yellow Calceolaria, Tom Thumb 

 Geranium, with Ageratums, white, scarlet, and purple 

 Verbenas, edged with Cerastium, planted in squares 

 around the circles. Each side was planted alike, and a 

 row of noble specimens of Humea elegans filled up the 

 background. This arrangement had a beautiful effect. 



The kitchen garden is entered through an ornamental 

 screen composed of varnished oak, and erected in the 

 medifeval style. It is in the form of a paraUelogram 

 from east to west, with a walk 12 feet wide running up 

 the centre and terminated by a new and beautiful gar- 

 den-house, and a cross walk divides it into vegetable 

 quarters. At both sides of the main walk are borders, 

 8 feet wide, planted ribbon-fashion, with Trentham Eose 

 Geranium at back, then a row of Lord Eaglan Verbena, 

 then Flower of the Day Geranium edged with the small- 

 leaved Ivy from the woods. This Ivy is also employed 

 for edging all the walks in the kitchen garden, and very 

 suitable it is for the purpose. In the centre of the cross 

 walk, and parallel with the main walk, is a large circular 

 basin furnished with five jets ; the ribbon-borders are 

 carried round the basin and along each side of the cross 

 walk, and are planted similarly to those by the main walk. 

 From this spot a bird's-eye view of the park is obtained 

 through a pair of iron gates on the south side of the 

 garden. 



Against the north wall, and facing the south, is a noble 

 range of glass in eight divisions. The two end divisions, 

 or the first and eighth, are each 50 feet by 12, and are 

 planted with Peach and Nectarine trees taken for the 

 most part from the walls in June, 1862 ; they are fine 

 healthy-looking trees. The second and seventh divisions 

 are succession-houses, each 40 feet by 15, planted with 

 Buckland Sweetwater, Black Hamburgh, Golden Ham- 

 burgh, Pope's Hamburgh, Victoria Hamburgh, Black 

 Prince, and Sweetwater. The third and sixth divisions 

 are also vineries, each 45 feet by 12, planted with Syrian, 

 Canon Hall, Muscat of Alexandria, Passe Musque, and 

 Bowood Muscat. The fourth and fifth divisions are late 

 vineries, each 50 feet by 18, containing Champion Ham- 

 burgh, Victoria Hamburgh, Barbarossa, West's St. 

 Peter's, and Lady Downe's. They are all planted inside 

 the houses with arches to allow the roots to pass partly 

 outside. The borders are composed of good maiden 

 loam resting on about 9 inches of rubble. In the middle, 

 and in connection with the range, is a corridor in which 

 are two tanks that hold about four thousand gallons of 

 water each, having a four-inch pipe, flow and return, 

 passing through them ; thus affording, when necessary, a 

 constant supply of hot water for the use of the houses. 



Midway between the fountain and the east end of the 

 garden was a cross wall, and instead of pulling it down 

 Mr. Miller, the head gardener, very judiciously converted 

 it into two Peach-cases, leaving an opening in the centre 

 26 feet wide, and carrying the front glass the height of 

 the wall, and covering it with a flat span-roof. The trees 

 are planted in front, and trained along the middle of the 

 No. 872.— Vol. XXXIII., Old SiBuree. 



