406 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 21, 1872. 



Capsicums are no vegetable, but I have to say of Prince of 

 Wales that it is a very compact-growing sort, with an erect 

 stem about 6 inches high, and then forms a spreading almost 

 flat head, and produces abundantly Custard-Marrow-shaped 

 pods of a bright yellow colour. The plants may be formed into 

 pyramids by putting in a neat small stick painted green, se- 

 curing the stem to it, and bringing the points of all the shoots 

 to the stake upward, then tying with matting. This shows off 



the fruit better than when the head is flat, and the plants 

 take up no more room than the pot ; whilst a spreading head 

 requires more space. A good plant in a 6 or 7-inch pot is a fine 

 subject for decorative purposes, and must tell well as a table 

 plant. It seems as if it would keep in good condition far on 

 into winter, being in blossom now, bearing young fruit, many 

 large green ones, and many ripe ones as weD, which remain 

 on the plant a long time without shrivelling. — G. Abbey. 



It is known to the majority of the readers of 

 Horticulture that tliis Colle- 

 tia originated in the arboretum 

 of the Baroness Rolle at the 

 time the late- Mr. Glendinning 

 had the management of the 

 Bicton gardens. It has been 

 stated that it is a seedling from 

 Colletia horrida crossed with 

 Ruscus aculeatus. How the na- 

 tural order Lihacea^ could have 

 been impregnated by that of 

 Rhamnefe your readers will 

 form theh own judgment, but 

 from the specimen in full flower 

 sent herewith you will perceive 

 that it is not only a formidable 

 but also an interesting shrub. 

 To any of your readers who may 

 wish to have an impenetrable 

 fence it may be recommended 

 with confidence as a plant well 

 suited for the purpose when 

 properly planted and cared for. 

 It was named by the late Sir 

 Wihiam Hooker, and considered 

 by him to be a distinct species 

 of a very useful and interesting 

 order, and the plant is easily 

 propagated by cuttings. — R. 

 Begbie, Bicton Gardens. 



[The subject of Mr. Begbie's 

 letter is a most interesting 

 plant, and in its general appear- 

 ance bears striking testimony 

 to his assertion concerning its 

 adaptability for hedge-making. 

 That it can be used for this 

 purpose, however, is doubtful, 

 if the statement of Sir W. 

 Hooker that it is not a hardy 

 plant be a true one. The leaves 

 are very fleeting, and only to be 

 seen on the very young branches 

 and spines. The branches are 

 of a pea-green colour, arranged 

 in the peculiar decussate man- 

 ner shown in our cut, and hav- 

 ing sharp hard brownish red spines at their 



COLLETIA BICTONENSIS. 

 The Journal of | paloid (Endlicher), 



Colletia bictoueriBis. 



ends j the se- | a sport of Colletia horrida 



or petaloid (Lindley), floral covering is 

 waxy white, with a greenish 

 substantial-looking base formed 

 by the fleshy ring found at the 

 bottom of the tube, and which 

 is peculiar to the Colletias. 



Its origin has been the sub- 

 ject of difference of opinion be- 

 tween Sir W. Hooker and Dr. 

 Lindley. In 1849 Mr. Barnes, 

 then gardener at Bicton, sent 

 a portion of the plant to Dr. 

 Lindley, stating that it was a 

 seedling raised by him from 

 Colletia horrida, which is also 

 known by the name of spinosa. 

 Mr. Barnes in his communi- 

 cation made a very candid ad- 

 mission, which Sir W. Hooker 

 was afterwards not slow in cri- 

 ticising. He says that when 

 asked by Sir Philip Egerton 

 whence he had obtained it, he 

 was unable to say until re- 

 minded by the foreman of the 

 arboretuin that he had raised 

 it from Colletia spinosa' three 

 years before. This dubious fact, 

 the great unlikeness of the plant 

 to its asserted parent in ap- 

 pearance and habit, and the 

 following statement of Sir W. 

 Hooker's, make, one inclined to 

 doubt the origin attributed to 

 it by Dr. Lindley. Sir W. 

 Hooker declared that he had 

 described it, as C. crueiata, 

 nineteen years before Mr. Barnes 

 produced it, from a specimen 

 gathered by Dr. Gillies on the 

 eastern coast of South America. 

 If this be really the case, and 

 as it is not likely that Sir W. 

 Hooker would be mistaken , the 

 uncertain nature of Mr. Barnes' 

 statements" presents but little 

 obstacle to our regarding it as 

 a distinct species, and not as 

 Eds.] 



LYTHAM HALL, LANCASHIRE.— No. 2. 



Seat of Colonel 

 It is known that Lytham in the time of the Domesday 

 survey was called Lidun, but we have no special notice of the 

 place until towards the close of the reign of Richard I., when 

 Richard Fitz-Roger gave lands to the see of Durham, to found 

 here a priory of Benedictine monks to the honour of God, St. 

 Mary, and St. Cuthbert. The priory was suppressed in the 

 twenty-sixth year of Henry VIII., and the lands seem to have 

 been granted to Thomas Dannett, but in the reign of Philip 

 and Mary they were granted to Sir Thomas Holcroft. His 

 descendant, Sir John Holcroft, is said to have sold Lytham 

 in 1606 to Sir Cuthbert Clifton, of Westby. It is certain that ; 

 the latter possessed it in 1636, and it has continued in the 

 possession of his descendants. Lytham Hall was erected be- 

 tween the years]1757 and 1764. 



The mansion is a commanding brick edifice constructed 

 rather for internal comfort than external show. Additions, I | 



Talbot Clifton. 



believe, were made to it some years ago. Being situated on a 

 level plain, the view from it is, of course, limited ; nevertheless, 

 from the upper rooms and even from the lawn, glimpses of the 

 hills and moors of central Lancashire are obtained. The park, 

 rich in herbage and large in size, is almost surrounded by the 

 various plantations that have been reared for shelter and orna- 

 ment. Pleasure grounds surround the mansion on all sides 

 but the west, where the offices are, and the kitchen garden 

 and forcing houses are to the north ; they are surrounded by 

 trees concealing them from the dressed grounds. In the latter 

 were some good examples of bedding, all the ordinary kinds of 

 plants doing well excepting Calceolarias, which, as at some 

 other places, were evidently not at home. The'Coleus looked 

 well, and Geraniums, Lobelias, and Verbenas were all that 

 could be wished. Plants remarkable for their foliage were; but 

 sparingly introduced. The parterre immediately adjoining the 



