346 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ NoTember 1, 1877. 



Other span-roofed houses there are of smaller size — about a 

 dozen of them — some filled with Eoees, some with Vines in 

 pots, some with greenhonse plants, and some are propagating 

 hoUBes for Conifers, which, with frnit trees, appear to be nest 

 in importance to Roses in this nursery. 



A large tree in the centre of the nursery demands notice — a 

 fine old specimen of a weeping English Oak. It originated 

 here; its branches are distinctly pendant, and it is very orna- 

 mental. On th9 lawn adjoining Mr. Cranston's house is a 

 grand specimen of the Cedar of Lebanon planted about ninety 

 years ago by a former proprietor ; it is matched by a Purple 

 Beech planted at the same time, but the Cedar has attained 

 the greater proportions. The lawn is now cheerful by some 

 admirable specimens of Thuja aurea, which show to advantage 

 now the flower beds are bare — bare but not unsightly, for they 

 are planted with bulbs, and neatly finished in a workmanlike 

 manner, which contributes so much to the appearance of a 

 garden in winter. The outside of the residence is draped 

 with Ivy and Wistarias. And the inside ? Well, it contains 

 all that a wandering rosarian needs— quiet but genial converse, 

 rest, &c. 



Such is King's Acre in winter. What must it be in summer '? 

 Perhaps a " Hebejoedshibe Incumbent" will tell us by-and- 

 by. — Nosiad. 



SPIRAL VALLISNERIA (V. spiralis). 

 Native in ditches in Italy, especially near Pisa. Communi- 

 cated from near Aries in Provence by the late Dr. Broussonet 



Fig. 65. — Vallisneria spiralis mas. 



in*1784. Mr. Brown found what he is almost certain of being 

 the same species in New South Wales, about Port Jackson. 

 This plant is perennial, flowering in summer and autumn. 

 The root consists of long fibres, and propagates itself very 

 widely by means of runners, so that the canals in which the 

 Vallisneria grows are choked up with its foliage and rendered 

 not navigable for boats. Stalks of the female flowers very 

 long, thread-shaped, unbranched, single-flowered, curiously 

 spiral, but becoming more or less straight when the flower 

 is ready to open, by which means the latter floats on the 

 surface, and after impregnation the 6talk coils up again and 

 lodges the fruit at the bottom of the water. This fruit is 



3 or 4 inches long, and are rather of the nature of a berry 

 than a capsule. The male flowers grow on a separate plant 

 on Bhort, simple, straight, radical Btalks. Each minute white 

 flower separates from the common spadix, and rises closed, 

 like a little bubble, to the surface of the water. Bursting 

 there, these flowers float about in immense numbers, covering 

 the water, and impregnating the females above described. 



in ' 



Fig. 66. — Vallisneria spiralis iosmina. 



This singular aquatic plant is popular in small globe 

 aquariums ; it grows with tolerable freedom and is not difficult 

 to manage, and the great interest attaching to it when grown 

 in this way is to see the circulation of the sap, which can 

 easily be observed with the naked eye. 



NOTES FROM CORNISH GARDENS. 



PENTILLIE CASTLE, THE SEAT OF COLONEL COKTTON. 



Upon a steep and thickly wooded hillside high up among the 

 trees, standing out clearly, yet having an air of snug cosy 

 warmth, is Pentillie — a stately building with elegant surround- 

 ings upon a commanding yet sheltered position in the centre 

 of a wooded crescent, with the river Tamar flowing past its 

 foot in a bold graceful curve, onward in serpentine sweeps to 

 a still bolder curve, where it widens like the expanse of a lake, 

 beyond which rise other bills undulating and broken — not into 

 abrupt declivities or anything approaching startling contrast, 

 but with rounded contours and flowing outlines, wonderfully 

 varied yet all in harmony. That is the characteristic of the 

 Castle and its position, of its pleasure grounds and woods, 

 of the viewB which it commands ; unity, fitness balance — no 

 clashing, not one offensive object or feature ; softness and 

 repose most skilfully interwoven with infinite variety. 



My work of inspection and note-taking at Pentillie were done 

 quietly, deliberately, and under peculiar advantages ; but too 

 often one's visit to places -worthy of careful inspection is just 

 a mere rush through, a hasty scribbling of notes and away 

 again to catch some inflexible " express." Here it was not so. 

 In responso to an invitation from its kindly owner I arrived at 

 the Castle overnight just as darkness was coming en so fast as 

 to impart a weird-like indistinctness to everything out of 

 doors, even including a magnificent Magnolia grandiflora, to 

 which I, and Mr. Boscawen, who accompanied me, groped our 



