262 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 21, 1876. 



two years' use, an exchange of 46 per cent. ; oak sleepers im- 

 pregnated with chloride of zinc, after the same period, an ex- 

 change of 20.7 per cent. In all the cases observed the condi- 

 tions were very favourable, the bedding material being good 

 and pure and perfectly permeable. Specimens cut from 

 slee pers which after the times indicated still remained on the 

 line , showed perfectly sound surfaces of cross section. 



" Along with these results obtained on German railways with 

 impregnated wooden sleepers, M. Huber communicates in an 

 Austrian journal the results of observations made for a num- 

 ber of years back on ihe Kaiser Ferdinands Nordbahn in 

 Austria. The amount of renewal necessary was : In unimpreg- 

 nated oak Eleepers, after twelve years' use, 74.48 per cent. ; in 

 oak sleepers impregnated with chloride of zinc, after seven 

 years, 3.29 per cent. : in oak sleepers impregnated with tar-oil 

 containing creosote, after six years, 0.09 per cent.; in pine 

 sleepers impregnated with chloride of zinc, after seven years, 

 4.46 per cent. 



" The impregnated pine sleepers were placed in 1869 at the 

 stations of the Hahriech Schlenisehen Nordbahn. Since the 

 years 1869-70 there have been laid on the Kaiser Ferdinands 

 Nordbahn only oak sleepers, which were impregnated either 

 with chloride of zinc or with tar-oil containing creosote." 



WIMBLEDON HOUSE.— No. 1. 



THE RESIDENCE OF SIR HENRY Vf. PEEK, BAET., M.P. 



Few public men have a higher reputation for diligence in 

 business and for the active support given to every good work 

 than Sir Henry Peek. His name is familiar to all who are 

 interested in the social amelioration of the country, for there 

 are few organisations for the public good which do not have 

 the benefit of his patronage and assistance. As in general so 

 also in local measures having a beneficial tendency Sir Henry 

 Peek can, amid his parliamentary and other duties, find time 

 to preside at meetings for the advancement of, and distribute 

 prizes which are offered for the encouragement of cottage 

 gardening, and he is ever ready to foster and promote a taBte 

 for those wholeEome pursuits which are to be found in a 

 garden however Bmall it maybe. Besides a disposition to sup- 

 port any measure having for its object the increase of know- 

 ledge on matters pertaining to gardening, he, with the aid of 

 Lady Peek, is assiduous in inculcating lessons of humanity in 

 the animal world. 



As proof of Sir Henry's readinesB to aid in the works 

 mentioned may be cited his recent distribution of prizes on an 

 extensive scale for cottage gardening on the Shaftesbury Park 

 estate, where small gardens are numerous, and are managed 

 with great taste; and, as the character of a man is perhaps 

 beBt seen in small things, we may note also the privilege 

 which Sir Henry affords to the gardeners of the district of 

 meeting once a fortnight during the long winter evenings in 

 the young men's rooms at his gardens, where the men not 

 only have the advantage of profitable and congenial discussion, 

 but are further generously supplied with an ample social meal 

 to render their enjoyment complete. This act of kindness — 

 which should be, and doubtless is, highly appreciated — dates 

 not from yesterday, for the meetings have been established for 

 pome years, and from them has sprung the more extensive 

 Gardeners' Society which has been frequently mentioned in 

 these pages. The public Society has not been instituted to 

 Bupplant the private gatherings, but, on the contrary, there is 

 every probability of the latter being better attended than 

 before, in consequence of the impetus that has been given by 

 the larger meetings to the promotion of unity amongst 

 gardeners and the discussion of subjects with which they are 

 connected. The resuscitation of these useful meetings is in a 

 great measure due to the energy of Sir Henry's head gardener, 

 Mr. Ollerhead, who has zealously endeavoured to render them 

 successful, so that they may in the fullest manner possible 

 answer the purpose for which they were established. 



Sir Henry Peek is also a patron of horticulture on an extensive 

 scale and in its higher branches. When we find a gentleman ex- 

 pending £30,000 in the erection of glass structures, a gardener's 

 cottage, young men's rooms, stabling, and other adjuncts of 

 his estate which are under the control of the gardener, it is 

 sufficient evidence that the practice of the art of gardening is 

 not neglected. On that point, however, judgment shall not be 

 deduced from inference, but we will look at things as they are 

 and note the garden, its condition and management, and thus 

 decide how far such are worthy of a liberal owner and the 

 comparatively young manager now in charge. It may, how- 



ever, be mentioned that if Mr. Ollerhead is ycung in years 

 for such a position, his practice has been dtrived from good 

 gardens in England and Scotland, and " four years at Tren- 

 tham," if coupled with intelligence and activity, must always 

 weigh heavily in the scale of a man's qualifications. 



Wimbledon House — its grounds and gardens— have, it 

 appears, long enjoyed the fostering care of owners having 

 horticultural tastes and inclinations. This place is figured 

 and described in Loudon's " Villa Gardener," from which the 

 following extract is taken : — " This estate, which once belonged 

 to the celebrated Bond Hopkins, Esq., and was laid out for 

 him about the middle of the last century, consists of about 

 100 acres of table land, slightly varied on the surface, not by 

 undulations, bold swells, deep valleys, or precipitous declivities, 

 but by unconnected hollows or large gullies — of little beauty in 

 themselves, but capable of producing considerable effect when 

 filled with water, as the principal one now is. The chief merit 

 of the place as a suburban residence consists in its complete- 

 ness, the whole lying compactly within a ring fence, and there 

 being a most commodious mansion with complete domestic 

 offices, a park, a farm (including a dairy and a poultry-yard), 

 a kitchen garden, and a flower garden ; the latter, perhaps, un- 

 rivalled in the neighbourhood of London for the number of 

 species and varieties of herbaceous plants that it contains. 

 Mrs. Marryatt (the successor of Mr. Hopkins, and the prede- 

 cessor of the present owner) has long been an enthusiastic 

 admirer of flowers, and especially of such as are sufficiently 

 hardy to make a display in the flower garden. She also main- 

 tains a good collection of greenhouse and hothouse plants ; 

 and many of these, as well as hardy plants, have flowered at 

 Wimbledon House for the first time in England. Among the 

 more beautiful and remarkable greenhouse plants which have 

 flowered for the first time at Wimbledon is the Tacsonia pin- 

 natistipula, one of the most elegant, and at the same time 

 singular, of climbing shrubs." In addition to the plant above 

 named may now be seen in the aquatic house the original 

 plant of Tabernsmontana coronaria, which was introduced 

 from the East Indies in 1770. 



Mr. Bond Hopkins sold Wimbledon House to Mons. de 

 Calonne, then a French political refugee. The estate was sub- 

 sequently purchased by the Right Hon. Earl Gower, aterwards 

 Marquis of Stafford. The Marquis sold it in 1798 to Sir 

 Stephen Lushington. • In 1810 it became the retreat of Louis 

 Joseph de Bourbon Prince of Conde, who married while in 

 England the Princess Dowager de Monaco, who died at Wimble- 

 don in 1813. After writing the life of his illustrious ancestor, 

 the great Conde, the Prince died in Paris in 1818, his son 

 modestly refusing to take the title, as considering himself un- 

 worthy to succeed his father, " who eo long commanded the 

 French nobility in their glorious exertions to dtfend the 

 cause of monarchy." In 1815 the estate became the property 

 of Joseph Marryatt, Esq., who died in 1824. His widow Mrs. 

 Marryatt, F.H.S., continued to reside here until 1854, and 

 devoted much of her time and money to the formation and 

 cultivation of her beautiful gardens, and in introducing new 

 and rare trees and plants. After the death of Mrs. Marryatt 

 (who was the mother of our celebrated novelist Capt. Marryatt), 

 the estate was in Chancery for two years, when it was pur- 

 chased by the present proprietor, who has not been lesB liberal 

 in effecting improvements than his predecesEors. 



A lofty and substantial brick wall very nearly encircles the 

 estate ; it was a costly fence no doubt, but certainly it is 

 a permanent one. Within the wall are large trees, notably 

 Elms, which, however, have been denuded of their branches as 

 a precaution against accidents. Other trees which are especi- 

 ally remarkable are Evergreen Oaks. With these the place 

 abounds, many of them having attained to gigantic timber 

 trees. There are also good examples of the English Oak, pic- 

 turesque groves of Beeches, and venerable Cedars and Yews. 

 The soil appears to be a light loam, and within 2 feet from the 

 surface is gravel, the bed of which is many feet in thickness. 

 In this soil the trees named have grown freely, and apparently 

 will continue to do for years to come, for they are in perfect 

 health. 



The park is surrounded by an enjoyable walk, which is com- 

 pletely embowered in foliage, principally from the Evergreen 

 Oaks. The undergrowth of these trees is principally of Rho- 

 dodendrons, which grow luxuriantly, the dark foliage of these 

 evergreens being relieved here and there by a variegated Holly. 

 Aoross the walk at intervals are formed rough arches of masonry 

 after the manner of ancient ruins. Through openings in the 

 trees are afforded picturesque glimpses of hill and vale, water 



