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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 27, 1877. 



with has sneh handsomely-powdered foliage at this season of 

 the year. I obtained my plants from Messrs. Backhouse & Son. 

 York. — Richakd Dean, Ealing. 



ANEMONE JAPONICA ALBA. 



Amongst autumn flowers there are few which surpass this 

 beautiful Anemone, and if grown in deep rich soil it will 

 continue to produce a good succession of flowers for a long 

 time. It is an herbaceous plant, throwing up its flower stems 

 about the end of August, and is in full bloom and beauty by the 

 middle of September. Two or three-year-old plants will pro- 

 duce a large quantity of flowers of pure white colour, averaging 

 1J inch in diameter, which are very useful for cutting for in- 

 door decoration, especially at a time when white flowers of 

 this size and lasting property are not very plentiful. 



Fig. 49. — Anemone japonica alba. 



It is readily increased by offsets, which spring up, as if by 

 runners, near the base of the plant. If these are taken up 

 with a few roots attached to each, and planted in nursery rows 

 6 inches apart any time this month, they will make flowering 

 plants by next September, and the year following will be very 

 good. Hants may also be increased by cuttings of the roots, 

 placing them in pots in gentle heat. A mixed flower border, 

 when it is backed up by evergreens, is a good situation for 

 the plants, provided they are not overshadowed by large trees. 

 Placing four or five good plants in a clump, or planted in a 

 long row, they have a very telling effect. Good examples of 

 this plant may be seen at the present time in Battersea Park 

 near the south-western entrance, with shrubs in the background, 

 and various flowering plants, such as Dahlias, Chryeanthemums, 

 &c, with plenty of Heliotropes, scarlet and pink Pelargoniums, 

 good patches of Mignonette, double Pyrethrums, and Carna- 

 tions mixed with and in front of it, with good bands of blue 

 Lobelia and Golden Chickweed (Stellaria graminea aurea) at 

 the front of the border, and the effect is very fine. This 

 Anemone is one of the most effective and conspicuous flowering 



plants for autumn decoration. Anemone japonica with its 

 pink flowers is a good companion plant to the above. It is of 

 the same habit and height— 2 feet. Mr. Ware, Tottenham, 

 considers Anemone japonica alba one of the finestherbaceous 

 plants in his large collection. It is also admirably suited for 

 cultivation in pots for the decoration of the conservatory 

 during the autumn months, where few plants have a finer 

 effect. — A. Haeding. 



CARDIFF CASTLE, 



THE SEAT OF THE MABQUIS OF BUTE. 

 The name is derived from the British Caer, a castle, and 

 daf, the river Daf — literally, " The Castle of the Daf." It was 

 built by Morgan Hen as far back as early in the tenth century, 

 but was modernised by subsequent owners, especially by the 

 Bute family, its present possessors. 



Morgan is said to have begun building the town of Cardiff 

 on the ruins of an old town built by Didi Gowr, a Roman con- 

 queror, and destroyed by the Saxons. Many alterations and 

 improvements have taken place since the time we speak of, 

 and the present Marquis is persevering with the restoration of 

 the most decayed parts, but for all this much of its ancient 

 grandeur is still preserved. Within the Castle enclosure stands 

 the ruins of a keep. The Rev. Thomas Rees, who wrote 

 " The Beauties of Glamorgan," after depreciating the modern- 

 ising of some parts of the Castle, is delighted with the ancient 

 ditch which surrounded the keep being filled up and made into 

 a green lawn. Along with the many improvements in the 

 grounds of late years this ditch has again been dug out to the 

 depth of 10 or 12 feet and about double that width, which 

 carrieB the imagination back to the grandest era of feudal days. 

 Close to the gate by which the Court is entered there are the 

 ruins of what is called the" Black Tower." Tradition assigns 

 this as the prison of Robert Curtoise, Duke of Normandy, son 

 of William the Conqueror, who died here in the year 1133, 

 after being imprisoned for thirty-six years. 



Few places surpass Cardiff Caatle in historic interest of the 

 past, and very few will exceed it in gardening renown of the 

 future. No lord ever entered the CaBtle who did more or was 

 inclined to do more than the present noble proprietor, and it 

 would be difficult to find one better able to carry out improve- 

 ments than Mr. Pettigrew ; but these few notes must not be 

 taken as giving an account anything like equal to what will be 

 afforded in a few years hence. This particularly applies to the 

 pleasure grounds, and my remarks on these for the present will 

 be brief. 



The grounds are extensive ; many trees have been planted 

 in them lately, and groups and long borders of various kinds 

 of choice shrubs formed, lawns laid down, and narrow and 

 broad walks made. A stone-crushing machine is employed to 

 prepare the metal for these walks, and everything so far as is 

 completed is kept in good order. This applies to the ground 

 close to the Castle. The kitchen gardens and another large 

 piece of pleasure ground is separated from this by a canal and 

 a turnpike road. Crossing this road from the Castle we enter 

 by a door, close to which stands Mr. Pettigrew's bouse, and a 

 little to the right from this lies one of the kitchen gardens and 

 the principal ranges of glass. 



The houses are not arranged in long rows as in some plaoes, 

 but some here and some there ; all are, however, convenient 

 for working and heating. The first two houses we enter are 

 vineries 40 feet long eaoh and 16 feet wide. Gros Colman 

 planted three years ago is doing remarkably well here. It is 

 common to say the berries of this variety are as large as Green 

 Gage Plums; but here it is not too much to say they are as 

 large as Kirk's Plum, and surpass in this respect the best I 

 have seen. Some time ago there was a good deal said in tha 

 Journal about this Grape ; there need be no dispute about the 

 size and fine appearance of its berrieB, and when thoroughly 

 ripened it will bear comparison with many others. One Vine 

 of Madresfield Court Black Muscat in this house was bearing 

 exceedingly fine bunches. Black Hamburghs were also a most 

 creditable lot. The second division is wholly filled with Black 

 Hamburghs. One Vine is being extended, and in a year or 

 two will fill all this half, Mr. Pettigrew approving of the ex- 

 tension system of Vine-growing. The next house is a large 

 greenhouse, well filled with all kinds of plants belonging to 

 thii department. Further along there is a Peach house 60 feet 

 by 14. This house was ereoted by Messrs. Boyd of Paisley a 

 few years ago. All the rafters and principal bearings are iron ; 

 Mr. Pettigrew is delighted with it. It is a lean-to like those 



