19S 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 6, 1877. 



and west sides ; on the north is the carriage entrance, directly 

 opposite to the side moat prominent in the engraving. This 

 top walk forms what may be termed the top or first flat. From 

 this a large glass terrace slopes down and finishes at the edge 

 of another very wide long walk. To the east, at the foot of 

 the bank, there is a large flat laid out and planted as an 

 American garden. On the opposite or west side of the Castle 

 there is another flat similar, but it is planted with Stocks, 

 Carnations, and many sweet-scented flowers. Between both 

 of these pieces and the broad walk before mentioned there is 

 a chain border resembling the one at Dalkeith, which is planted 

 with grand effect. The further side of the big walk from the 

 ■Castle is supported by a wall over 12 feet high. Many kinds 

 of both new and old-fashioned climbers cover this wall. Along 

 the bottom of it there is another narrow walk, and green ter- 

 races slope down from this. At the bottom of one of these 

 slopes, and directly facing the Castle, there is a large flat of 

 •flower beds surrounded with an elaborate border of Heath. 

 This is named the White Sand Garden, and is well represented 

 in the annexed illustration. The Heath is brought from some 

 of the distant hills seen in the background in the Castle view. 

 It is only allowed to grow about 2 inches high ; it is clipped 

 smooth, and the surface resembles green velvet. Between 

 the Heath figures white sand broken fine is laid, which gives 

 the whole a very chaste appearance. Looking down from above 

 on this the effect is truly magnificent. This is much the 

 prettiest, but not the largest design in the garden. To the 

 right of the view is seen a terrace ; on the top of this there is 

 another large flat known as the Wilderness, and planted with 

 fine specimens of Hollies, Tews, &c. Further down than the 

 Sand Garden indistinct traces of other beds are seen, but be- 

 tween them and the Sand Garden there is another large ter- 

 race. The part at the bottom is very extensive, and is known 

 as The Scrolls, owing to the beds running in the form of scrolls. 

 To the left of the Sand Garden other beds are visible ; these 

 are of great extent ; another large flat of flower beds is close 

 ■to these. Dark-foliaged Yews of great age line the bottoms of 

 some of the terraces, and monstrous Chestnut trees shade 

 some parts of the walks. Choice trees are dotted here and 

 there on the grass, and beds of rare Rhododendrons appsar as 

 backgrounds to the flower beds ; but no one feature predomi- 

 nates over another. Although there are so many flower beds 

 they do not cover anything like the extent of ground there is 

 in grass, and the number of trees, high slopes, and other eleva- 

 tions conceal one mass of beds so much from the others that 

 no sameness, nor too great a glare of colour, occur at one place. 

 Thousands of Violas are used for flower-garden decoration 

 here, as they are found to stand the wet much better than 

 Geraniums. 



The views obtained from the highest terrace close to the 

 Castle are splendid. On a clear day objects can be seen quite 

 distinctly down the valley eighteen miles away ; and the river, 

 which flows past not far from the Castle, is seen winding down 

 through the green fields and wooded knolls nearly all this 

 distance. 



This, be it understood, is a very imperfect sketch of Druni- 

 lanrig. To notice everything in a proper way would more than 

 £11 a weekly number of the Journal. Names of plants, modes 

 of cultivation, and many other notes of interest I have left 

 untold ; but to make up for this deficiency in as short a space 

 as possible let me say that those who go home from Carlisle 

 without seeing Drumlanrig will miss what many good judges 

 consider as being the finest, most complete, and best-managed 

 garden in Britain. — F. R. H. S. 



taking them all together are remarkably healthy. The altitude 

 of this place is 332 above sea level. — J. Gadd. 



FRUIT PROSPECTS. 



I have just taken stock of the wall fruit here (Thorndon 

 Hall, Essex), and find that on about S000 superficial feet of 

 good wall there are about twelve dozen of Peaches and Nec- 

 tarines, and about twenty dozsn of Paars. Of these Napoleon 

 on the east and Gansel's Bergamot on a south aspect have 

 the largest crop in proportion to the area covered ; the latter 

 was protected by a 10-inch coping board, to which I attribute 

 the result. Plums not more than four dozen, three dozen of 

 which are the Imperatrice on a west aspect. This useful old 

 Plum is seldom seen now, yet it always bears more or less. I 

 wonder it is not more grown. Such a light crop of fruit is but 

 a poor look-out where there is a large family to supply ; but 

 all are alike in this locality, and we therefore sympathise with 

 each other, and hope for better things next year. At any rate 

 4ha trees have a good chance to reinvigorate themselves, and 



FRENCH ROSE GARDENS.— No. 2. 



BOUKQ-LA-REINE. 

 Theke is no difficulty in finding the way to these gardens. 

 " J. Margottin Fils, Horticulteur," is conspicuous on the pretty 

 little house amongst its Rose beds even before the train from 

 Paris glides into the station. Starting from the Place d'Enfer, 

 the Sceaux line runs to the little town of Bourg-la-Reine in 

 twenty minutes. This side of Paris is comparatively bleak and 

 uninteresting. Acacias, the tree of the place, edge the line. Huge 

 forts frown on the left, and a tall aqueduct is passed half way 

 that really would not be unworthy of the times of the Romans. 

 Then rows of Briars and Manettis begin to appear. I dis- 

 embark, and am directed by a board to the garden of M. Mar- 

 gottin pere. Again I am unfortunate. He is not at home. A 

 lady under an umbrella painting a yellow Tea Rose from 

 Nature is the principal object in the central pathway of tall 

 Roses fastened to long lines of wire. A young man in blue 

 is deputed to guide me, but though willing enough, neither 

 does he impart nor can I acquire much information. I acknow- 

 ledge his services in the usual way and retire. I try M. Mar- 

 gottin fils. Here I am more fortuuate. I ring at the tall 

 iron gates. A pleasant-looking madame from an upper window 

 bids me enter. She will send for her husband. At last I find 

 myself face to face with the proprietor, a fine specimen of the 

 shrewd and energetic Frenchman of the period. This is the 

 original Jules Margottin, as I presently discover. I suggest 

 that he and the Rose must be about the same age, but he 

 states that his namesake was born in 1855. I do not push my 

 inquiries. Now why is it that they always will speak English 

 to you in France ? Can anything be more aggravating than to 

 have an elaborately constructed French sentence answered 

 shortly in your own language ? I suppose they like to air 

 their English just as we do our Frenoh. I must admit, when 

 pushed back in this way into my own language, I sometimes 

 take the mean advantage of speaking it very fast, which some- 

 times occasions a relapse on the other side. On the present 

 occasion the conversation was strictly in English. 



The rain had been as trying here as elsewhere — for the 

 Roses good, but bad for the Grapes ripening. The low hedges 

 of Vine plants, sometimes a cordon, are very pretty. Here 

 there was still a considerable show of Rose bloom, but looking 

 as Hybrid Perpetuals must do everywhere in August. Evi- 

 dently they had been very fine. Had he any new seedlings ? 

 Yes, an especial twuveaute, a seedling coming into commerce 

 this autumn. Mr. George Paul had seen it and at once 

 ordered a dozen. Colour bright rose, habit robust, almost as 

 large as Paul Neyron, but keeps its shape, and far freer bloomer, 

 called Boeldieu, after a well-known French poet, whom not to 

 know, I had to confess, argues myself unknown. This gave 

 me an opportunity of interceding on behalf of shorter names. 

 We were getting tired in England of such very distinguished 

 titles. Two names are as much as any Rose has a right to; 

 One is still better. I was also shown what is to be an im- 

 proved Sir Joseph Paxton — a very bright crimson, a free 

 bloomer. M. Margottin considers that we run too much 

 now upon exhibition Roses, that for general garden purposes 

 good old Baroune Prevost is worth more than half the no- 

 velties, and will last as a plant more than five titneB as long. 

 He admitted the high excellence of the General Jacqueminot 

 strain, Chas. Lefebvre, Camilla de RohaD, Louis Van Houtte, 

 &a., but did not think that any of these were very lasting. In 

 this I did not altogether agree with him. He thought Duke of 

 Edinburgh weak in form, though he admitted the high ex- 

 cellence of its colour. He told me that his father had nothing 

 new for this year, probably next year there would be two or 

 three new seedlings. I left him amongst his men all hard at 

 work budding. 



His ground is evidently very good, finer Briar stooks could 

 hardly be 6een. I was much interested in their mode of bnd- 

 ding. Many of the buds inserted were hardly visible. He did 

 not seem to think they were the worse for being dormant. He 

 objects to the use of worsted, and still more of cotton. What 

 he employs is a kind of rush ; he could not tell me its English 

 name, only that it grows in water. It has this great advantage, 

 that it breaks with the Briar growth and drops off of itself 

 after the three or four weeks' binding-up, which he seemed to 

 think was quite sufficient. This would not matter for an 

 amateur, but when the budded stocks count by thousands it 



