August 17, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



125 



flowers which will always be sure to prove satisfactory on 

 arrival ; for this purpose it happens that some of our very pret- 

 tiest and moat papular of garden flowers are not well adapted, 

 Geraniums and Fuchsias lor instance ; but the flowers of this 

 Linaria would, I venture to think, be well suited for such a 

 work at this time of year. Few flowers would, I believe, be 

 better adapted for arranging for variety in many glasses of cut 

 flowers. It would be a better yellow than most of our Calceo- 

 larias, and the fact of its being but a species of our own native 

 flora should not detract from its other great merits. I intend 

 to grow a good quantity of it nest year, and I hope others may 

 inspect it for themselves, and, if they fiad it useful, give it also 

 a place. — R. Mackellae. 



[Why should not this beautiful plant be used as a bedder 

 instead of Calceolaria ? and, being a perennial, it would not 

 require renewing every year. — Eds.] 



A BIT OF SOUTH DEVON.— No. 4. 



** You ought to have nightingales in such woods as those of 

 Berry Pomeroy." "No, they are afraid to come among us 

 ' Devonshire Sirens ' — we are so called because we excel them 

 in singing." I am quite willing to believe the adage, and shall 

 not reveal who uttered it ; but be it true or be it not true, the 

 said Sirens — excepting only those who preside at the turnpikes, 

 ■lor they are elderly, and extort sixpences profasely — are such 

 fair, rosy, round-faced, plump damsels, that they ought to have 

 soft sweet voices to match. Even the little woman who for 

 twenty years has been the portress of Berry Pomeroy Castle, 

 whither I was about to wander when I closed a previous note, 

 is so kindly that I think she must have been a Su'eu thirty 

 years ago, at all events she is still pleasant, and led me winningly 

 to "The Wishing Tree." She told me that i£ I walked thrice 

 around it "without a word, smile, or sigh," whatever I wished 

 would and should occur, and sundry jolly girls proceeded to test 

 the ef&cacy of the charm. I also clambered round it — walking 

 is an impossibility, for it is on the edge of a declivity — but it 

 was for the less mystical purpose of measuring its girth, which 

 I ascertained is 22 feet at 4 feet from the surface, and the 

 height of the tree must be 80 ; the branches overshadow a vast 

 -circle. It is a noble Beech tree. Many Beeches may have trunks 

 larger, b"ut they are hollow, and this is perfect — not a decayed 

 spot is to be seen on it. Let me ask, Why does not the Ivy 

 usually climb up the stem of the Beech ? Is it because the 

 bark is so smooth that there are no crevices for the Ivy*s 

 ■flbriles to penetrate ? I know of no chemical constituent in the 

 bark that can be oSensive. The day of credence in plant-anti- 

 pathies is passed, or we might conclude that the Ivy hates the 

 Beech, as the Romans believed the Vine hated the Onion. la 

 lihis freedom of the Beech observable elsewhere ? I never re- 

 member noticing the subject until I saw here the Oak, Ash, 

 Elm, Sycamore, and the Pines, clothed profusely with Ivy, but 

 the Beech never. An Ivy plant now and then is seen trying to 

 ascend one, but always weakly. Nowhere does Ivy grow more 

 luxuriantly than over parts of Berry Pomeroy Castle, and the 

 stems are gigantic. It completely envelopes the towers and 

 chapel-room of the noble gateway, and fittingly hides from view 

 the arms of the founders — the Norman Pomerais — men that 

 should be blotted out of memory, for they are renowned only 

 for deeds of murder and suicide. The old ruin, vast and noble, 

 retains so much stability and entirety as if for a memorial, that 

 not time but a retributive power had wrought its downfall ; and so 

 tradition tells, for the Protector Somerset sought to sustain and 

 enlarge the edifice, but the lightning scathed and overthrew it. 



Passing over a few miles of Devon lanes, skirted by cider 

 ■orchards, a ruin of a very different kind is to be visited. It is 

 at Watcombe, the ruin of a residence never erected. This is no 

 paradox. About twenty and two years since, Brunelthe younger 

 saw here a coombe, from the high grounds around which most 

 •extensive views inland and seaward are commanded. He pur- 

 chased that coombe and its surroundings, wisely commenced 

 planting forthwith, that the trees might be growing whilst the 

 house was erecting. In the valley he plotted out the flower 

 garden ; on the hills around he planted his arboretum ; he 

 built a gardener's house; he formed an Italian garden, and 

 adjoining it laid the foundation of a residence. It is said that 

 foundation cost him three thousand pounds, and then he pro- 

 ■ceeded no further. Why he stayed proceedings your penman 

 knoweth not, but he does know that some one needing a man- 

 sion and grounds suitable to his wealth should become the 

 purchaser, and complete the work. When Mr. Brunei died the 

 estate was purchased by two brothers named Yickery, residing 



at Newton Abbot ; but they only purchased to sell it again for 

 a fairer price. 



The gardens and plantations are kept in excellent order by 

 Mr. Helatone, the intelligent and obliging gardener, and those 

 plantations are worth a journey to wander among. The whole 

 estate includes sixty acres, and of these the pinetum occupies 

 twenty, and the Cratreguses nearly two acres. The Conifers 

 are perfect specimens, so vigorous, so clothed with branches to 

 the very soil's surface, and so well apart, that on every side they 

 are symmetrical. 



Mr. Heletone obligingly furnished me with a list of the 

 three chief coUeetiona of trees. Those of the Goniferas to which 

 an asterisk (*) is prefixed are all well furnished with cones this 

 year, and he thinks several will perfect seeds for the first time. 

 He has raised thousands of seedlings, from seeds ripened here, 

 of Capresaua macrocarpa and Pinus insignia. 



C0NIFEK3 ON WATCOMBE ESTATE AND HEIGHTS. 



Abies alba, 2' feet high 

 Klauca 

 *Dou2lasii. 50 feet 

 tftxif olia, 20 feet 

 excelsa, 5) feet 



Clanbrasiliana, 2 feet 

 stricta 

 elesans 

 Gregoi-ii 

 ^Menziesii, 35 feet 

 ■I'yiovmda. 

 *nit^ra. 20 feet 

 orient alia 

 *Arau(^aria imbricata, 35 feet 

 Biota orientalia 



anrea, 3 feet 

 compacta 

 glauca 

 incurvata 

 meldensis, 10 feet 

 tatarica 

 Cedi'us arjentea variegata, 20 feet 

 Deodavft, 40 feet 



viridia, 20 feet 

 Libani, 30 feet 

 Cephalotaxus drupacea, 10 feet 

 Fortunii 

 Harrint^onii 

 Cryptomeria japonica, R5 feet 

 Lobbii. 20 feet 

 nana, 5 feet 

 CapreBsns Comeynna 

 elegans, 20 feet 

 Goveniana 

 Lambertiana 

 Uhdeana 

 torulosa 



lusitanica, 10 feet 

 Lawsoniana 

 macrocarpa, 50 feet 

 Juniperus chinensia, 12 feet 

 hibernica 

 excelsa 



reenrva, 12 feet 

 thurifei-a 

 Bphcerica 

 Sabina, 2 feet 



Quercus penclula 

 a^rifolia 

 castaneifolia 

 Cerris 



heterophylla 

 Lucombeana 

 variegata argentea 

 variesrata 

 coccifera 

 coccinea 

 densiflora 

 fasinea 

 glabra 

 Fordii 

 dentata 

 latifolia 

 rotuQdifolia 

 salicifolia 



Libocedrus "Doniana, 3 feet 



chilensis, 10 feet 

 Picea argentea, 20 feet 



bracteata 

 ^ cephalonica, 35 feet 



Fraseii 



laaiocaroa, 10 feet 

 ^ nobiliR. 2ij feet 

 ^' Nordmanniana 



Pmsapo 

 ■■'Webbiana 

 Pinas austriaca, 30 feet 



Laricio 



Mugbo, 15 feet 



•oiiginosa 



muricata 



Pinea. or the Stone Pine, 20 ft. 



pumilio, 10 feet 



Eenthamiana, 30 feet 



insignia, 35 feet 



Gerardiana, 20 feet 



Jeffrey! 



pondei'osa 



Sabiniana 



iube'rculata 



ayacahuite 



Cembra 



excelsa 



Hartwesii 



Tjambertiana 



MoniezumjB 



monticola 



Strobus 

 Hetinospora eriooides 

 Taxus adpressa 



b&ccata 



canadensis 



fastigiata 



Dovastoni 



elegantissima 

 Thuja gigantea, 10 feet 



Lobbii 



variegata 

 Thnjop-sis borealis, 20 feet 



dolabrata, 5 feet 

 WcllJDgtoma gigantea, 30 feet 



Quercns MirbecMi 



Ilex seri-atifolia 



iialustris 



peduncnlaLa 

 asplenifolia 

 purpurea 



nigva 



pterifolia _ 



p^Tamidalia 



maculata 



marginata 



rubra 



Suber 



Turneri 



imbricata 



taraxacifolia 



sideroxyla 



Tirens 



HAWTHORNS. 



Cratsegns apiifolia 



Aronia 



ceccinea 



crenulata 



Crus-galli 



Donglaaii 



flava 



frlandnlosa 



heterophylla 



intermedia 



latifolia 



lobata 



lucida 



Macnabiana 



macrantha 



Osyacantha 

 melanocarpa 

 fructu-coccineo 



Celsiana 



Crataegus neapolitana 

 nigra 



odoratissiraa 

 orient alis 

 ovalifolia 

 mexicana 

 coccinea 

 Guthrieana 

 laeiniata pendula 

 penduia alba 

 plena alba 

 stricta 

 prunifolia 

 parpurea 

 pyrifolia 

 {ilabra 

 tomentosa 

 trilobata 

 Virginian a 



BEECHES. 



Fagns betuloides I Fagus sylvatica pendula 



asplenilolia, or aalicifolia ' purpurea 



From those plantations T wended my way back towards 

 Torquay, and one of my companions, had he known the per- 



