November i, 186*. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



353 



and Quicks, we do not know whether they would undergo 

 such a journey, but a " fruit nurseryman " would, doubtless, 

 know. If they are taken they should be packed separately. 

 Seeds for New Zealand should be packed in stout wooden 

 eases lined with zinc, which are of no small value over there. 

 — Sutton & Sons, Reading. 



I am able to answer ". J. O," having spent fifteen years 

 in that country. I have seen Strawberry plants taken out 

 in a small Wardian case, but " J. C," need not go to that 

 trouble unless he has some very extraordinary sorts. He 

 will find plenty of Strawberries in New Zealand. 



Tools are to be had at all the chief towns. However, he 

 might take a light spade with extra bindings on the handle, 

 and a small four-pronged Potato-fork. He would also find a 

 light single-edged billhook handy. Quick thrives well in stiff 

 clay soils, but in the light soils of New Zealand it fails, and 

 Furze is grown in its place. Quick does well in Nelson, and 

 in some parts of Auckland. In Taranaki all the hedges are 

 of Furze. Grass seed is grown extensively in New Zealand, 

 but a little good Perennial Rye Grass would always find a 

 market. Red Clover does not seed there, consequently that 

 may be taken ; but the colonists look with suspicion on 

 English seed, it is so often spoilt on the passage. Seeds of 

 the Brassioas are more often good than any other. " J. C." 

 may take Cabbage, Cauliflower, Radish, and similar seeds, 

 and will find a market for them, as the colonists find a diffi- 

 culty in producing seeds of this family in a pure state. 



English-grown Onion seed always fails. " J. C. " will find 

 the American blight very destructive to the Apple trees. If 

 he can take out a remedy he will do some service. A fungus 

 is very destructive to the roots of exotic trees. High winds 

 are rather troublesome. With these exceptions he will find 

 New Zealand a fine country. He must make up his mind 

 for hard work ; for gentlemen gardeners are very rare in 

 that country. With industry, sobriety, and perseverance 

 success is certain. 



"J. C." must not put his seeds in the ship's hold, but 

 must keep them in a box in his cabin. The damp heat of 

 the hold in the Tropics destroys their vitality. — Benj. Wells, 

 11, Orchard Place, Plumstead Eoad, Woolwich. 



ENVILLE HALL. 



This magnificent demesne of the Earl of Stamford and 

 Warrington, is situated about six miles from the thriving, 

 busy town of Stourbridge, which itself is nearly a mile from 

 the railway station. The traveller who goes from and 

 returns to Birmingham, will require a fair stock of patience, 

 amidst the waitings and ehangmgs at Dudley and Dudley 

 Port junctions, &c. On leaving the west side of Stour- 

 bridge, we noticed a neat, handsome church, school houses, 

 residence for teachers, and at .a short distance a residence 

 for the clergyman, all erected and presented by William 

 Foster, Esq., M.P., to the inhabitants of Stourbridge. Ere 

 long we notice in a hollow on the right hand the homestead 

 of the above benevolent gentleman, Stourton Castle, cele- 

 brated as the birthplace of Cardinal Pole, and for the at- 

 tempted batterings it received from the cannon of Cromwell, 

 placed on the towering peak of Kinver Edge. Many and 

 somewhat contradictory are the traditions amongst the 

 people, as to the success or failure of the cannonading. 

 Kinver Edge itself, with its frowning peak becomes a fine 

 feature in the landscape. As we mount the high crests of 

 the road, we get fine views of the beautifully wooded, un- 

 dulated hills that, mingled with large intervening breadths 

 of sheep-walks, form the back grounds of Enville. As we 

 have stood on the Hoe at Plymouth, and admired the rich 

 verdure of the woods of Mount Edgeeumbe, we have felt 

 that the bald waste that crested the hill, detracted from the 

 richness of the luxuriance that skirted the shores. There 

 is nothing of this at Enville, as we approach it, because the 

 rich pasture lands that on these elevated plateaus diversify 

 the landscape, are themselves bounded by luxuriant woods, 

 forming the sky outline. 



Ere long passing the old kitchen garden, still used for 

 growing vegetables, and through part of the race course, a 

 large waste covered with heather and fine masses of sombre 

 bonnet-headed Scotch Firs, we reach the village, and in- 



stead of going north-westward some ten miles to Bridge- 

 north, or right forward into a splendid hotel, just now built, 

 chiefly for the accommodation of visitors, we turn into a 

 private road on the left, pass the north end of the kitchen 

 garden, and the finest cricket ground in England, of six 

 acres in extent, level throughout, and beautifully kept, on 

 one side of the road, and on the other side, after passing 

 Mr. Craw's house, the post office, several private, and one 

 public entrance to the pleasure grounds, we arrive at the 

 mansion, a substantial, commodious structure, and as we 

 were informed, most beautifully furnished, and elegantly 

 decorated within ; but in its low level poaition, and external 

 plainness, forming a striking contrast with the vast and 

 the magnificent around it. 



Now, where shall we begin to give our readers some idea 

 of the impressions left on us from our hasty visit to this in- 

 teresting place? After a little consideration, we think it 

 will be best first to look through the kitchen and fruit 

 garden, because after all these are the concerns of the 

 greatest utility ; and, secondly, because in the much that we 

 have heard about flower-beds and shrubbery, we have heard 

 but little as to the kitchen garden, and the means for keep- 

 ing up a supply in all departments. 



The new kitchen garden, in contradistinction to the old 

 one, is about twelve acres in extent, and about five of these 

 are inside the substantial walls. The vegetables seemed to 

 have suffered but little from the drought we experienced 

 farther south, partly, no doubt, owing to the abundance of 

 the water supply. The great proportion of the trees against 

 the walls had been lifted the previous season and replanted, 

 after placing a quantity of good turfy soil beneath each tree. 

 Espaliers and dwarf standards by the sides of walks had 

 been treated in the same way, and with the best results. 

 Large quarters were in course of preparation for Strawberry 

 planting, and in several open spaces between pits and houses, 

 where unobstructed sunlight could be obtained, were some 

 four thousand pots of Strawberries for forcing, mostly in six 

 and seven-inch pots, very strong, and ripening their buds 

 well. There were some Black Prince and Keens' for early 

 work, and Queens for late produce, but the great bulk of 

 the plants were Sir Charles Napier and Oscar, and of these 

 latter Mr. Craw spoke highly for quality and produce. Out- 

 side, besides many flowering plants to be forced, we noticed 

 a great quantity of compact plants studded with flower-buds 

 of the Azalea amcena, which Mr. Craw stated forced beau- 

 tifully. 



To insure something like variety, we shall now take a 

 walk through the different structures, beginning at the 

 north side of the garden. 



Outside of the walls, besides soil, composts, &c, neatly 

 kept, carpenter's workshop, pot bins, &c, is a cucumber- 

 house, 60 feet long, 11 feet wide, and S feet to the apex, 

 with a short hip from the back wall, and 3 feet in front, 

 walk along the back, bed heated below 1 in front, ventilation 

 at top by raising a short sash on south side by a lever. 

 In front of these were two pits, glass covered, for various' 

 purposes, each 60 feet in length, and two open brick pits, 

 filled with Roses and other things for forcing, and a great 

 number of Lilium giganteum, ripening their large crowns, 

 the older leaves hanging in a drooping, withering condition 

 over the sides of the large pots. Most of these had been 

 grown from sucker offsets. Several plants that had bloomed 

 showed the mark of the thick stems they had produced. 

 Such plants must make a grand appearance in the large 

 conservatory. Rich treatment, and huge bushel pots, seemed 

 to be the secret of their successful cultivation, along with 

 the ripening and resting process given to them in the 

 autumn. 



These low, open brick-pits are a march in the right 

 direction, as showing a certain amount of care and pro- 

 tection given to the plants placed in them, and doing away 

 with the want of order and neatness, which is apt to prevail 

 when plants in pots stand here, there, and everywhere. 



We next come to the principal range of lean-to forcing- 

 houses, backed by their appropriate open and close sheds, for 

 keeping composts and potting, stokeholes, &.c. At present 

 there are a number of furnaces, but it is intended ultimately 

 to heat the whole by means of three boilers, unite the flues 

 from these into one below ground, and raise a chimney for 

 them among a dense mass of trees, so that the garden shall 



