September 18, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



215 



younger Vines are established to sustain the supply, when the 

 older will be removed by degrees, for some of them are beyond 

 renovation. It is necessary to proceed cautiously in this 

 matter, for there must not be any failure in the supply during 

 any day in the year. Neither is there likely to be ; for it is 

 certain, judging from what has been already accomplished and 

 the soundness of the preparations for the future, that the 

 supply of Grapes at Frogmore, ample as it may have been in 

 the past, will be still greater and better in the future. The 

 young Vines which have been planted are making excellent 

 growth, and some of them are bearing wonderful crops. Late 

 Grapes continue until the 1st of April, when the first house of 

 fruit from Vines in pots are ripe : and so the work goes on in 

 one continual round. On the back walls of some of the houses 

 Tomatoes are grown and in others Guavas, and even the little 

 porches between the houses are filled with Grapes. Behind 



this range of glass (in the centre of which is the gardener's- 

 commodious residence, in which Her Majesty has private rooms) 

 are the young men's living rooms, reading room, fruit stores,. 

 Mushroom houses, packing sheds, and other offices requisite 

 for the conduct of the establishment. 



Between this chief range and the boundary wall is a large 

 enclosed space filled with smaller houses for Vines, Cherries.. 

 Cucumbers, Melons, Strawberries, Kidney Beans and plants., 

 together with a great extent of pits for Pines, Potatoes, and 

 general purposes. Pines are grown in deep brick pits, no path 

 inside. The bottom heat is afforded wholly by leaves, and 

 the plants are all planted out. Their number is great and 

 their quality still more striking. Nowhere in the Queen'e 

 dominions are finer Pines grown than in the Royal Gardens. 

 They are Smooth Cayennes, and it is not now and then onlyr 

 that a fruit of 8 and 9 lbs. weight is cut, but such fruits are 



Fig. 45. — WrsDscm castle — View FBoai the terrace. 



the rule. The simplicity of culture adopted, and the uniform 

 and great success achieved, is something that the manager and 

 his assistants may juBtly be proud of. They may be equally 

 proud, too, of some houses of Grapes. They are half-span- 

 roofed houses. The Vines are in splendid condition, the crop 

 enormous and excellent, and the roots a network of feeders 

 close to the Burface of the ground. They afford a remarkable 

 instance of the power of mulching, and these Vines afford 

 altogether a fine example of Grape-growing. 



Houses are devoted to Azaleas, ornamental-foliaged plants, 

 flowering plants, and Ferns. There are also a few Orchids, 

 and it is clear that everything receives skilled attention. 

 Strawberry and Kidney Bean forcing is a great affair at Frog- 

 more. Upwards of nine thousand pots of Strawberries are 

 forced yearly, and many plants are now being planted out in 

 pits t:> produce a sapply during the time immediately preced- 

 ing the ripening of the outdoor crops. Pits of Strawberries 

 thus grown last year proved very valuable. Pit after pit are 

 filled with Kidney Beans, and hundreds are also grown in pots 

 for ensuring a supply from October until July, when the out- 

 door crops are in use. Mohawk and Fnlmer's Forcing are the 

 most popular varieties. Cucumbers are always in season, the 

 most esteemed variety for summer and winter use being Hedsor 

 Prolific. It is of medium size, a great bearer, handsome, and 

 of sup-rior qiality. Other pits are devoted to salads and 



other vegetables, and every favourable wall space is covered 

 with Tomatoes. Asparagus is forced in beds, hot-water pipes- 

 being laid between the beds and shutters placed above them. 

 The beds are forced every alternate year. On the borders ia 

 this enclosure are hundreds of Bouvardias, Salvias, Habro- 

 thamnuses, Solanums, Spirseas, and similar plants, which are 

 potted in the autumn for winter and spring. They are much 

 better when thus grown than when kept in pots during the 

 summer. There are beds also of Stocks, Asters, Zinnias, &c„ 

 for affording cut flowers. These are extremely fine, some of 

 the Asters being extremely rich in colour and well sustain the- 

 credit of the seedsmen — Messrs. Veitch. 



On the boundary wall facing the south is to be seen what ia 

 a rarity this Beason. Scarcely ever was the crop of Peaches 

 and Nectarines on walls bo scant as during the present year, 

 and trees really well furnished with fruit are few and fajr 

 between. By far the finest crop we have seen is on this wall. 

 The trees are heavily laden with fruit— in fact, the crop is a 

 full and fine one. TMb is to be attributed to efficient protec- 

 tion and a sufficient yet intelligent use of canvas blinds. Mr. 

 Jones has great cause to be proud of this splendid wall of 

 Peaches. It is the reward of protecting thoroughly. Half pro; 

 tection, which was only within the means of many gardeners, 

 was quite inadequate during the extremely inclement spring tc 

 save the crop of this tender and much-valued fruit. The wali 



