August 1G, 1864. j 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



129 



small shoulders. Berries medium-sized, dark purple; covered 

 with bloom ; flesh juicy and well flavoured. This Grape is 

 well worth cultivating, it being a free grower and a good 

 bearer. 



" Black Fkontignan. — This is a free-growing Tine and a 

 good bearer. Bunches medium-sized and cylindrical-shaped, 

 some having shoulders and some none. Berries round and 

 unequal iu size, but generally of a medium size, and of fine 

 flavour. 



"Golden Hamburgh: is carrying some fine bunches, but I 

 find it a shy bearer, though an excellent Grape, rich and 

 sugary when well grown. 



"We also have Buckland Sweetwater, which is a good 

 Grape, and Eoyal Muscadine and Trentham Black are doing 

 well." 



VISITING SOME DISTANT GAEDENS, AND 

 HOW TO SEE THEM. 



The language of poetry, like that of the abstract sciences, 

 would seem to require revision now and then, when new 

 ideas or improved systems render old-established expressions 

 erroneous. The flowery month of May, which has been 

 sung by poets for many centuries, is now almost superseded 

 by August, which long ago reigned only over ripening fruits 

 and harvests of golden grain; for the flowering plants by 

 which the parterre of the present day is embellished put 

 on their gayest apparel during this month. Go where we 

 may, masses of scarlet Geraniums, Lobelias, Calceolarias, 

 Verbenas, &c, meet the eye ; and though some critics may 

 ■question the propriety of sacrificing so much for this display, 

 there is no question as to its gorgeous character. August, 

 then, being so essentially a month for gay flowers, let us take 

 a hasty glace at the principal features of this month's em- 

 bellishment, and endeavour to find out in which way the 

 improved practice of one district may be imported into 

 another. 



. As flowers in August have become so numerous, and as 

 beds planted with the most popular plants are then in full 

 beauty, it is incumbent on their ardent admirers to visit 

 places within reach where the greatest perfection in the 

 floral department of gardening is attained. There are 

 comparatively few places of note at which bedding plants 

 are not numbered by thousands ; in fact such plants have 

 in a great measure superseded other and more legitimate 

 occupants of glass houses in the winter, and in spring every 

 corner under cover is filled with them, so that the gay ap- 

 pearance which they present in August is not produced 

 without a due share of trouble and expense at other seasons. 

 Let us now try to discover how the greatest amount of in- 

 formation on this department of gardening can be obtained, 

 and endeavour to induce our readers who may visit remark- 

 able places to point out what is worthy of notice, and as 

 several gardens of great importance are open to the public 

 at this season, and those that are not so are often, neverthe- 

 less, accessible to gardeners of standing, it follows that 

 there are many opportunities of noticing what is going on 

 in the ornamental department of the gardening "art. . In 

 the first place, I would suggest to all employers who wish 

 to keep pace with the times the expediency of making- 

 arrangements for their gardeners visiting one or two of the 

 metropolitan or other good horticultural shows during the 

 summer, and to induce them in August to devote a few 

 days to some tour, near or distant, where the best examples 

 of gardening in its different branches may be brought before 

 them. Railways offer great facilities for undertaking long 

 journeys at a reasonable rate, while the journey itself is not 

 always lost on the observing and. reflective traveller; dif- 

 ferent modes of cultivation and a" variety of crops being 

 presented to his view, in addition to the equally important 

 natural features of soil and climate. Indeed, a railway 

 journey may be as instructive as a visit sometimes is, if the 

 traveller keep his eyes open, and compare the appearance 

 of the things he sees in his journey with those he left at 

 home. 



It would be premature in a paper like this to point out 

 any particular routes to the intending tourist. I would, 

 however, advise him to make himself as well acquainted as 

 possible with the neighbourhood he is about to visit before 

 he starts, and to arrange his plans beforehand ; for though 



local circumstances may compel him to depart in some 

 measure from it, still the general route which he intends to 

 take, and the places he may regard as his head quarters for 

 the time, ought to be as much as possible adhered to. The 

 "Gardeners' Year Book" contains a list of the most im- 

 portant gardens in the kingdom, and the names of the rail- 

 way stations from which they can be the most conveniently 

 reached ; and I should recommend all intending to visit gar- 

 dens to possess themselves of a copy previous to starting. 

 By it they will find that by making an important town — say 

 Leeds or Liverpool, their head quarters for a night or two, 

 some important gardens may be seen, and there are, doubt- 

 less, many places well worth seeing which have not yet ap- 

 peared in the list above alluded to. The tourist may, in some 

 cases, be guided by the information he obtains in the neigh- 

 bourhood, or, perhaps, some experienced person will point 

 out what places of importance may be conveniently reached 

 from certain points, which for distinction we may call bases. 



Although my knowledge is far from being perfect, the 

 names of a few places within easy access of Liverpool by rail, 

 may, perhaps, be of service to the general reader. At the 

 same time I must observe, that as it is now some years since 

 I visited some of the places mentioned, it is possible that 

 greater restrictions may be made as regards visiting some of 

 these places. 



Assuming, then, that a tourist anxious to see all that he 

 can in the gardening way, should arrive at Liverpool late in. 

 the evening, his first, and, probably, only duty for that night 

 is to secure comfortable lodgings. Unfortunately, I am not 

 in a position to inform him how to act in that matter, further 

 than saying that the inferior class of inns in Liverpool are 

 by no means either the cheapest or most comfortable. 



Quarters having been obtained — say near the centre of 

 the town, let the traveller make arrangements for starting- 

 early ; and presuming him to be determined to see all he can 

 in a limited time, he might rise as early as 5 a.m., and if a 

 stranger he might take a stroll in the town till 6 o'clock, 

 when he might make his way to the Botanic Garden, which 

 is at the north side of the town. This garden when I visited 

 it last year was second to none I met with in a wide circle 

 round, for the good keeping and variety of its floral display. 

 I may state that the character of the garden was such, that 

 scope was given for plants not usually met with being em- 

 ployed for bedding purposes. The contents of the glass 

 houses are, however, for reasons that need not be explained, 

 not accessible to the public until a later hour ; but there is 

 enough outside to interest the looker-on for a couple of 

 hours. 



After breaMast he may start again for a short stroll 

 towards the great centre of attraction — the Exchange, near 

 which is the fruit and vegetable market, which is well worth 

 inspection ; but he rnust not delay long, for he will have 

 to visit Chester, and the princely seat of the Marquis of, 

 Westminster near that ancient city. 



Crossing the water to Birkenhead in one of the boats, a 

 pleasant railway journey of twenty miles will bring him to 

 Chester. I would not advise the traveller to spend any 

 time in looking over the antiquities of this old historical 

 city at present, but to push on to Eaton Hall, the seat of 

 the Marquis, which is about three miles off' ; and if he walk 

 and take the shortest route he will pass through some 

 pleasant meadows by the side of the apparently deep and 

 noble river Dee. At Eaton Hall he will see one of the 

 happiest examples of an embroidered flower garden inter- 

 mingled with beds for bedding plants, the whole being on a 

 scale befitting the richly decorated character of the mansion, 

 which exhibits to the fullest extent the varied embellish- 

 ments of which gothic architecture is susceptible. The 

 kitchen garden and forcing-houses are also in character 

 with the magnificence of the place, while the surrounding 

 shrubberies offer examples of Conifers, and other remarkable 

 objects. I will now leave the visitor to make his way back 

 to Chester, and if young and active most likely he will be 

 inclined to take a circuit round the city walls, which are in 

 excellent condition. The Rows, as they are called, or what 

 a stranger would term the principal or High Street, must 

 also be inspected, and the quaint features of a bygone age 

 will be observed. 



Supposing him to return to Liverpool the same night, 

 there is plenty to see in the neighbourhood of that town for 



