222 



JOUENAL OF HOETICDLTUEE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEK. 



[ September 21, 1871. 



reached to the top. Smooth trees it does not ascend bo rapidly, 

 no doubt owing to the Bmooth enrface. 



Bicton is a model in all the departments of gardening, and 

 ■when the errors of the past are rectified, which they will be in 

 a year or two, no place will excel it in gardening. All the 

 minor details are cared for, and we will here quote Mr. Begbie's 

 own words — " For this I give great credit to the old workmen 

 employed in the gardens, old men, some of them born and 

 reared about the place, and who have such an abhorrence of 

 weeds in all shapes, that they never require to be told to keep 

 them underground. I wish it to be put on record that they are 

 industrious, hard-working, and obliging men, of whom I am 

 proud ; and I have great pleasure in ascribing three parts of 

 the merit of keeping the place, as it should be, clear of weeds 

 and rubbish, to them. I have yet another word to say of my 

 foremen and young gardeners, for to them is due much of the 

 merit of having cleaned out mealy bug and other filthy insects 

 from the houses and plants. Noble fellows I shall call them, 

 that have never thought of the hours they so freely toiled on 

 from sunrise to long after sunset, and that without fee or re- 



ward. All honour to them, I shall ever regard them as ' friends 

 in need, therefore friends indeed,' and I have great pleasure in 

 recording my feelings regarding them." 



We have paused to consider whether we could by our pen 

 do jastice to the ornamental garden around the house, and 

 have concluded that we could not. If there were arrangements 

 of ribbon borders, or systematic combinations of beds, we could 

 have drawn plans and detailed the planting. But the beauties 

 of the Bicton flower garden are not so constituted. They arise 

 from rich flower beds, placed so as to agree with the very varied 

 surface of the turf ; therefore we called in the aid of the 

 draughtsman, and the views with which he has supplied us 

 will enable our readers to estimate that which we should fail if 

 we attempted to describe. Adjoining the mansion is a temple 

 facing the church, from which there is a view of much of the 

 ornamental garden — our artist has represented this, and the 

 view from the church up to the temple. 



We will conclude with a few desultory notes. 



The whitening applied to the glass for moderating the light, 

 and heat from sunshine is toned with Brunswick green. Thea. 



viridis is in the open air, and unprotected throughout the 

 winter. Coffeaarabioa was in berry in the stove. The Bamboo, 

 Bambusa arundinacea, had thrown up stems 12 feet high this 

 year, though killed down to the surface last winter. Many 

 bush Camellias endure the winter without protection, and so 

 does Abutilon vitifolium. It bloomed last April. We saw 

 stored away the old stems of Bananas entirely coated with the 

 relics of mealy bug. Those now growing in the stove are among 

 the most healthy we have ever seen. The system of culture 

 is to cut down the stem as soon as it has perfected fruit, its 

 place to be supplied by one strong sucker which has been 

 fostered by its side. Cyoas revoluta endures the winter. AI- 

 pinia nutans grown out of doors was in flower in mid-August. 

 The fernery is very well stocked with small but vigorous speci- 

 mens. 



In the figgery three crops are ripened annually — namely, in 

 March, July, and October. 



Among the specialties now at Bicton is the culture of Ginger 

 for preserving, and Mr. Begbie has obliged us with the follow- 

 ing details of its culture. " The desserts have to be supplied 

 with home-grown Ginger during the year. I have endeavoured 

 to calculate how an acre of glass devoted to the growth of this 

 plant would pay. From 10 to 12 lbs. yearly have been con- 

 sidered as an ample supply, which has, I believe, been gene- 

 rally grown in a pigeon-holed Melon pit, and at other times in 

 a deep frame; the modus operandi, I am informed, having been 



to keep the Ginger roots in boxes of dry earth, which wars- 

 placed in the Palm house during the winter months, and so 

 placed that the heat did not get too low in winter. In early 

 spring — about the 1st of March — the roots were overhauled and 

 planted in pans or pots, and put into one of the Pine stoves to 

 vegetate. When the plants had made from 2 to 3 inches of 

 growth they were then divided, potted into 3 or 4-ineh pots, 

 and were afterwards grown in heat until the pots were well 

 filled with roots, and then planted out in a deep pit or frame 

 on a bed of leaves, over which suitable soil to the depth of 12 tO' 

 15 inches had been placed, so as to get warmed sufficiently foi? 

 the reception of the plants. After planting, all that was re- 

 quired was to take proper care in airing, watering, and syringing,, 

 as the case may have been. The Ginger harvest is past, and 

 about a quarter of a hundredweight of Ginger sent to the house 

 for preserving purposes. This leaves me with ample stock for 

 the acre of glass, if such a project was likely to lead to fortune. 



" My stock is all grown in 10-inch pots, and when full of 

 Ginger the pots contain from half a pound to one pound each, 

 I begin about this time (mid- August) to withhold water very 

 gradually until the tops are well matured, as well as the roots •,. 

 afterwards, which will be early in September, the pots are laid 

 on their sides, being dry and properly ripened. 



" The winter treatment is precisely the same as for Caladium8> 

 which should be kept in a temperature not under 60°. 



" Now all will be right until early spring, say March let. 



