234 



JODKNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ September 20, 1877. 



Thompson, who waa for many years butler at Rufford Abbey. 

 It runs as follows : — 



" Beneath the droppings of this spoilt 

 There lies the body once so stout 



Of Francis Thompson. 

 A sonl this carcase once possess'd 

 Which for its virtues was carese'd 

 By all who knew the owner best. 

 The Kufford records can declare 

 His actions, who for seventy years 

 Both drow and drank its potent beer. 

 Fame mentions not in all that time 

 In this great butler the least crime 



To stain his reputation. 

 To Envy's self we now appeal, 

 If aught of fault she can reveal, 



To make her declaration. 

 Here rest, good shade, nor hell nor vermin fear. 

 Thy virtues guard thy soul, thy body good strong beer." 



He died July 6th, 1789. 



The principal entrance to the Abbey and grounds is from 

 the Ollerton road through a noble pair of iron gates erected 

 in excellent taste by the late Earl of Scarborough. On the 

 opposite side the road there is a neat lodge surrounded with a 

 nice flower garden, which at once impresses the visitor with a 

 feeling of grandeur. From the entrance gates to the Abbey 

 there is a fine avenue of Limes — " tall ancestral trees," which 

 have weathered the storm of many a winter and stand dignified 

 in their leafy grandeur. We now reach the Abbey, which 

 presents an air of comfort seldom to be met with, and this, 

 rather than structural excellence, appears to have been the 

 prevailing motive of those who have converted an old monastic 

 residence into a country gentleman's seat. It is difficult at this 

 time to say how much of the present building is a remnant of 

 the original Abbey. The architecture and masonry of the south 

 end of the house are. at any rate, as old as the days of the first 

 lay possessor — the Earl of Shrewsbury, and probably much 

 older, but the interior arrangements have been so far altered 

 from time to time as to leave little trace of the plan of the 

 original building. Two important features, however, remain 

 much as they were from the first — viz., the spacious hall and 

 'he crypt below it ; the former was restored by the late Earl of 

 Scarborough and fitted up in a manner suitable to its original 

 intention and design; the latter was at the same time brought 

 to light by the removal of a chaos of subterranean rubbish, 

 and now, as well as being converted into useful purposes, it 

 attracts the attention of archaeologists as a perfect specimen 

 of a crypt of considerable antiquity. 



The entrance to the Abbey is plain and unpretentious, and 

 in character with the other architectural arrangements of the 

 mansion. Bearing to the left we pass along a broad terrace 

 walk. In the distance there is the Wilderness with its pleaBant 

 drives and its umbrageous walks. From the north-east corner 

 of the Abbey we have a grand view of the Beech avenue, that 

 extends across the park and is terminated by a pair of iron 

 gates. South-east of the Abbey in the park there is an exten- 

 sive lake, dotted here and there with islands, with an irre- 

 gular and wooded margin, so essential in water scenery. This 

 forms an important feature in the landscape. The pleasure 

 grounds are separated from the park by a sunk fence, and 

 from various parts of the Abbey the soenery is of a most 

 imposing character. In the pleasure grounds I noticed some 

 noble trees both deciduous and evergreen, including Cedars, 

 Tulip Trees, fine Hollies resembling forest trees ; and just on 

 the border of the park there was at right angles to the Abbey 

 a fine pair of variegated Sycamores, and between these a 

 Purple Beech, the foliage of which contrasted most beautifully 

 with the elegant variegation of the Sycamores. On the flights 

 of steps leading to the drawing room there were some taste- 

 fully arranged vases filled with Geraniums and other bright- 

 blooming plants, whioh contrasted favourably with the emerald 

 green of the lawns and the diversified foliage of the shrubs 

 and trees. 



We next reach the rosery. Here the beds are formed into 

 diamonds and half-diamonds, with narrow walks running 

 between. The first display of bloom was over, but there was 

 the promise of plenty of Roses for the autumn. Following 

 Mr. Doe, the gardener, we pass along a broad terrace walk that 

 Bkirts the park, and here I may juBt add that the latter contains 

 upwards of 500 acres, and is well stocked with deer. Nature 

 has done much for the park in its undulations, and it is also 

 well wooded. On the right of this walk are the kitchen gar- 

 dens, and at its termination is the flower garden. This covers 

 nearly two acres, and is situated south of the kitchen garden. 



It is bounded on the north side by the garden wall, 120 yards 

 long and 10 feet high ; on the eaBt and north side by a Portugal 

 Laurel hedge 9 feet high and 6 feet through at the base ; the 

 west side is open to the park. There is a border in front of 

 the garden wall 15 feet wide planted in the ribbon style within 

 2 feet of the wall. Parallel with this border there is a broad 

 gravel walk 9 feet wide, and then another border 12 feet wide 

 planted in the same style as the other. On the border next 

 the wall there were fourteen rows of plants as follows : — Be- 

 ginning at the row next the walk, the firBt was Cerastium 

 tomentosum; second, Viola Perfection; third, Pansy Cre- 

 morne, yellow; fourth, Geranium Harry Hieover ; fifth, Gera- 

 nium Flower of Spring ; sixth, Ageratum Imperial Dwarf ; 

 seventh, Geranium Christine ; eighth, Geranium Bijou ; ninth, 

 Dell's Crimson Beet ; tenth, Cineraria maritima ; eleventh, 

 Geranium Tom Thumb ; twelfth, Geranium Stella; thirteenth, 

 Perilla ; fourteenth, a very dark Fuchsia, which stands the 

 winter and blooms during summer with great freedom. The 

 first six rows of the border on the opposite side of the walk 

 were planted just the same as the first six rows of the other 

 border, and then beginning at the seventh row it was Geranium 

 Crystal Palace Gem; eighth, Dell's Crimson Beet; ninth, 

 Cineraria maritima; tenth, Geranium Tom Thumb; eleventh, 

 Geranium Beauty of Calderdale; twelfth, Geranium Harry 

 Hieover; thirteenth, Pansy Rufford Pride; fourteenth, Alter- 

 nanthera amcena ; fifteenth, Cerastium tomentosum. These 

 beds looked exceedingly rich, and notwithstanding the constant 

 downpour of rain for the previous fortnight the flowers were 

 most brilliant. Besides these two broad borders there were 

 three other sets of beds, all arranged in diamonds and half- 

 diamonds. I did not measure the exact width of the beds, 

 but each set would be about 15 feet wide. First there was a 

 row of diamond beds down the centre, with gravel walks down 

 each side and half-diamonds between the gravel and the grass. 

 These beds extended the whole length of the garden, 120 yards, 

 and were repeated three times over, with a narrow strip of 

 grass running between each set of beds. I was not particularly 

 struck with the beauty of the design, for so many beds all of 

 the same Bize and shape, and all bounded with straight lines 

 of the same length, appeared monotonous and oppressive. 

 However, the planting was made the moBt of, and reflected 

 great credit on Mr. Doe the head gardener. The ordinary run 

 of beddiDg plants was used, carpet bedding not being attempted 

 in this garden. Coleuses and Defines were moBt effective as 

 foliage plantp, and Pansies and Violas as flowering plants. 

 The splendid masses of Violas and PansieB at once Btamp these 

 plants as being invaluable for the summer decoration of the 

 flower garden. There are no plants that produce the same 

 number of flowers on the same area of foliage; they are also 

 neat and compact in habit, dwarf and very hardy, and a large 

 number of plants can be wintered in a small space. They are 

 easily propagated, come into bloom with the first indications 

 of spring, and stay with us till the flower garden is littered 

 with withered foliage in the autumn. A season like the pre- 

 sent — at least like what we have experienced down here in the 

 midlands, where we have had more or less of rain most days 

 lately, and sometimes our flower gardens submerged, Gera- 

 niums, Petunias, Verbenas, and the like have either presented 

 a woe-begone appearance or run away to foliage ; but the ex- 

 cessive rain not only suits Pansies and Violas, but increases 

 their beauty. I have no doubt but when theBe bedding Pansies 

 and Violas are better known they will be grown as extensively 

 as the Golden Feather Pyrethrum and cultivated in every gar- 

 den ; and then the colours are so good and varied, and such a 

 continuity of bloom — in faot, a perfect sheet of bloom from April 

 to the beginning of winter. And there is yet another feature, 

 which must be a very important one, especially with those having 

 very small means for wintering tender plants — there is no glass 

 structure required, no propagating pit, no fuel, no damping 

 and shading, no covering or uncovering, are needed with them 

 during winter ; only a cold frame or turf pit, and in the absence 

 of these they may be wintered at the foot of a south wall. 

 The plants have no need to be disfigured as soon as they begin 

 to bloom, which is the oaee just now with the Geraniums, and 

 they require no special care after they are planted in their 

 blooming quarters. At a place like Rufford, where no attempt 

 is made at spring gardening, they can be planted out by the 

 end of March, when they grow with greater vigour and are 

 not affected with dry hot weather, which sets in later in tho 

 spring. The two Pansies grown at Rufford are Cremorne, 

 yellow, and Rufford Pride, both raised by Mr. Holah some 

 years ago when he was gardener there. I do not know whether 



