44 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
{ July 18, 1878. 
the judges would haye to trust in the honour of competitors, 
but I hope that there are not many true Rose lovers who are 
not men of honour. 
LT have noticed that soft soap has a very bad effect on light- 
coloured Roses ; for instance, John Hopper and similar sorts, 
turning the edges of the petals a bluish purple and withering 
them.—C. C. 
GRAPES SCALDING. 
WE are approaching the time when late Grapes will be 
passing through the stoning process, and “scalding” is likely 
to occur, as it often does, owing to the false economy of dis- 
pensing with fires, which results in a low night temperature 
and consequent deposition of moisture during the night, which, 
from the powerful rays of the sun drying up the moisture, 
causes the destruction of the skin of the berry so acted upon. 
Scalding may also have its cause in too scant foliage, as in the 
case of Muscats, which, unless the foliage is good, not infre- 
quently scald, or rather scorch, when they are hurried into 
ripening early in the season. This may be entirely prevented 
by hexagon netting drawn over the roof for a few hours in the 
hottest part of hot days. ‘The best preventive of scalding is 
admitting air early and plentifully by day, and providing a 
night temperature of 70°, not omitting to maintain that tem- 
perature by day in a dull moist period, for in a hot time 
following a cold and moist one, and no fire heat being em- 
ployed to supply the deficiency of natural heat, scalding is 
almost always prevalent.—PRACTICALIST. 
THE ROCK GARDEN AT ST. ALBAN’S COURT, 
WINGHAM, 
THE RESIDENCE OF W. 0. HAMMOND, ESQ. 
WHEN my friend Mr. Hammond wrote, ‘ Will you come and 
see my rockery next week?” I felt glad to be able to fulfil an 
engagement long since made, as I was sure from all that I had 
heard that I should have a real treat, and hoped also to be 
able to let the readers of our Journal know something con- 
cerning it; for although a florist I am not by any means 
insensible to the charms of Alpine and herbaceous plants, and 
do, indeed, endeavour in my own small way to grow them. 
There are gradations in all these things, corresponding to the 
tastes and capacities of the owners, and ruled more or less by 
that very important factor the purse; and although after 
seeing such a rockery as this my own sinks into insignificance, 
it is some consolation to think that Mr. Backhouse has reached 
an eminence no amateur is likely to attain. 
St. Alban’s Court is situated close to the village of Nonning- 
ton in Kent, about four miles from the Adisham station of the 
London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, in the midst of the 
chalk downs which give their character to the whole neigh- 
bourhood. The house, which is a very old one, is coming down, 
and Mr. Hammond is now building in a more elevated position 
a hous» which will be when completed a very perfect specimen 
of Tudor architecture, for no trouble has been spared to obtain 
accurate models for it throughout; and its owner’s consum- 
mate taste, which is never at fault, will, I feel confident, make 
it what it professes to be, and no modern sham of “ architects’ 
improved Tudor.” 
The gardens present no special object of interest, but the 
Rock Garden is, next to Mr. Backhouse’s, the best that I haye 
seen. It is made in the form of an amphitheatre. The red 
sandstone rocks of which it is composed have been obtained 
from Tunbridge Wells and Hawkhurst, and are well adapted 
for the purpose. They are very naturally arranged, and placed 
go as to afford suitable houses for the various tribes of plants 
cultivated. On the more elevated portions Saxifrages, Sedums, 
&c., grow in profusion; others are placed on the face of the 
rocks, while there are boggy places in which Cypripediums, 
Pinguiculas, &c., find their home. In all the earlier months 
of the year such a garden affords a continual source of interest 
and pleasure, and for months a succession is kept up. When 
I went the Primulas, Gentians, &c., were over, but they were 
succeeded by many equally interesting. Take for example 
the well-known Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum), dear to 
all who have travelled in Switzerland as a memento beautiful 
in itself of many enjoyable days. This, the result of Mr. Ham- 
mond’s own wanderings, is to be found growing quite at home 
in various places in the rockery. And here let me say that 
the owner’s interest in this garden is not that merely of one 
who likes these plants, but of one who makes frequent expe- 
ditions in search of them, and many of them haye a personal 
history. Here, for example, are splendid groups of the lovely 
Ramondia pyrenaica in far greater abundance and beauty than 
I have ever seen it before. ‘This,’ says Mr. Hammond, “ first 
made me a lover of Alpines. I was travelling in the Pyrenees 
and saw it growing above me on the face of arock. I marked 
the spot, and on my return mounted on my friend’s shoulders 
and secured it.’ It is grown here in the shade of the rocks 
with comparatively little soil, and seedsabundantly. Amongst 
the Saxifrages were to be found S. longifolia, undoubtedly the 
queen of Saxifrages ; but no plant here was equal to one which 
Mr. Hammond had some time ago, which measured 14 inches 
across. I have a very fine one myself, now, alas! in flower, 
the stem quite 2} feet high, but killing itself, I fear, with the 
effect. §. Burseriana, with its silvery compact tufts; S. caly- 
ciflora, with stiff, cylindrical, silver-edged rosettes; 8. oppo- 
sitiflora, of course now past, but evidently thriving, and earlier 
must be a thing of beauty. Some of the mossy section were 
also very luxuriant, forming dense cushions of velvety green 
and covering the surface of the rocks. In a deep boggy piece 
to which a supply of water can be let on were found a quantity 
of the Butterwort (Pinguicula), which had been brought from 
Scotland. Cypripedium spectabile, the beautiful North Ame- 
rican species, was doing well, as was also our pretty English 
one C. calceolus. The Androsaces, as all lovers of Alpines 
know, are difficult to manage, but one of them at least— 
A. lanuginosa with its woolly foliage—is grown well here, 
having been raised from seed, as also does Saponaria czespitosa. 
Geranium cinereum is one of the prettiest of an extensive 
genus, bearing large and handsome pink flowers veined with 
red on plants 2 to 6 inches high. Geranium argenteum is 
another low-growing, almost prostrate species. Of the Drabas 
glacialis, cuspidata, and gigas were in full vigour, as were also 
the Soldanellas and Globularias. Then the lovely little Lychnis 
alpina, delicate enough for a fairy’s bouquet, was in flower. 
There were also large masses of the beautiful Silene acaulis, 
which forms so lovely a contrast to the brilliant blue of Gen- 
tiana verna, but these had past. The latter had been success- 
fully grown by placing it amongst some minute-growing Alpine, 
as it has done with me amongst Arenaria balearica. 
However, it is needless to run through the names of the 
Alpines to be found here. Suffice it to say that whatever is 
really good is sure to find its way to this garden, and whoever 
really loves flowers for their own sake ought to try and extend 
such a taste as this. If a man be strong and young, then the 
records of many an expedition will bring to his mind as he 
goes through his garden many pleasant memories and afford 
unceasing pleasure, as I know they do to the owner of St. 
Alban’s Court.—D., Deal. 
MY CHRYSANTHEMUM HOUSE IN SUMMER. 
THE winter bloom of Chrysanthemums past I prepare the 
borders by trenching and working into them a quantity of 
good rotten dung for a summer display of Fuchsias which I 
have ready for planting. They are struck in a cold frame in 
June the previous year, and are nice little plants about a foot 
in height. I plant three rows in each border, keeping free 
growers in the back rows, mixing the colours, and planting - 
them alternately about 16 inches from plant to plant. When 
planted and the borders well watered I pot off all bedding 
Geraniums and any other small plants requiring potting and 
place them on the surface of the border, taking care not to 
smother the Fuchsias. Of course the Fuchsias would be as 
well without them ; but space under glass is valuable, and the 
treatment required for young Fuchsias just suits the newly 
potted plants, such as keeping the house pretty close and 
sprinkling often. In April I remove all the bedding plants 
to cold frames. The Fuchsias by this time are growing pretty 
freely, so I hoe and clean the border, pinch and stake any 
that are inclined to run away from their friends, fumigate if 
required, and give the borders a good watering. In regard to 
water, the Fuchsia, like the Chrysanthemum, must get plenty, 
and occasionally manure water, besides sprinkling overhead, 
The planting-out system reduces this labour one-half, besides 
saying pots and the time taken up by the different pottings, 
prolongs the time of flowering, gives finer blooms, and is 
altogether the most natural. Last season the Chrysanthemums 
were bloomed in another house as I wanted to renew the 
borders of this one, and instead of being thrown out in the 
autumn were left for a time, and at Christmas there was still 
a good show of Fuchsias. I keep the flowers picked off till 
