NUTLEY. 



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Weeping Ash, Hollies, etc., abound ; but the 

 great feature of the charming old place just now 

 is the long herbaceous border, and the grace, 

 sweetness, and colour, whether in harmony or 

 in contrast, of its many well-grown flowers. 

 Border and wall alike are fronted by a breadth 

 proportionate, of closely mown green sward, 

 and still further away is a dry walk of gravel 

 for the wet days that come so often here be- 

 twixt the mountains and the sea. To see a sim- 

 ple and naturally planted border of this kind 



amid genial and sheltered surroundings, makes 

 onewonder howit is that the flower and garden 

 pictures in our public exhibitions are so often 

 stilted and artificial looking — or so skimpy 

 and unreal. There are many beautiful garden 

 pictures at Nutley. There are many beautiful 

 and informal gardens made for use — that is, 

 for rest and recreative enjoyment, and also for 

 fruit and vegetables — in Ireland, and of those 

 of this satisfying character the one at Nutley 

 may be cited as a worthy example. — F. W. B. 



Howth. — At Howth yesterday to see the 

 Rhododendrons nestling beneath the grey and 

 mossy rocks, and half-shaded by Larch, Birch, 

 and Mountain Ash trees. The Blue Bells are 

 over,but the young brake fern fronds are spring- 

 ing up amongst the Japanese Azaleas and the 

 Rhododendrons, and add their tender greenery 

 to their stained-glass like colours. I wish you 

 could see the old castle and its gardens, with 

 telescope and spectacle views or vistas through 

 the trees. The Hawthorn has been lovely in 

 the surrounding meadows, and some trees are 

 still white as snow. You would like to see the 

 great brown hares " lepping " about all over 

 the surrounding fields, but of course they and 

 the rabbits are wired out of the garden. There 

 is a fine old Stone Pine on the lawn here, and 

 an old enclosed garden, with Beech hedges 20 

 feet high, with grass walks in between — that 

 reminds one of other days — days of Elizabeth 

 and Shakespeare, or of those of the Puritans 

 and the Cavaliers. Howth Castle itself dates 

 from the 1 4th century, and its old-fashioned 

 gardens always seem to remind me of what 

 gardens must have been in Parkinson's time — 

 in summer, full of Roses and Lilies, Iris, and 

 Thyme, Lavender, and Rosemary, and in au- 

 tumn, with Plums, Peaches, and Figs ripening 

 on the old grey walls. A shelter belt of Syca- 

 mores and Elms runs along the shore, but in 

 mounting the path up the meadows that leads 

 to the rocks and Rhododendrons you get an 

 ample glimpse of the eternal sea, and the two 

 islands, Ireland's Eyot and Lambay, that lie 

 to the right of the entrance to Dublin Bay. 

 One charm of the place is that the garden itself 

 at the house is green and quiet, restful and 

 fragrant, without any glaring colour, the Rho- 

 dodendrons being up on the hillside half-a- 



mile away, and there the gorgeous blaze of 

 sun-lit colour is toned and softened by greens 

 and browns and greys innumerable, and over- 

 head the everchanging sky. — F. W. B. 



The Cockspur Thorn as a Fence. — This 

 is excellent as a fence plant, and it also gives 

 us a fine effect of brown-red colour in autumn. 

 Compared with it, Cherry Plum is a poor, 

 short-lived, feeble thing, while this is hardy 

 and free, and will live for generations. Grafted 

 plants, however, are useless, because the stock, 

 being a native plant and more influenced by 

 our season of growth, will certainly come up 

 and in time kill the plant, and one can hardly 

 expect that people should go along a hedge- 

 row and pick off" suckers. All the Thorns bear 

 fruit as freely as the common Quick, and, ex- 

 cept in the case of great novelties, there can 

 be no difficulty in the way of getting them 

 from seed. Many of the Thorns have been in- 

 troduced within the past few years into our 

 gardens, but how seldom one sees them ; un- 

 doubtedly it is because of the grafting on the 

 common kind,which costsonly a trifle per thou- 

 sand and is, therefore, always at hand. Most 

 of the plantations made by our forefathers in 

 this direction have failed for this reason. The 

 plant we now refer to, Crataegus crus galli, is a 

 native of the northern states of America. It 

 grows from Manitoba to the southern district 

 of Florida, and at maturity reaches nearly 30 

 feet. There are several forms, but the best is 

 the common one, and there ought tobe no diffi- 

 culty in getting this freely as seedling plants 

 either in American or European nurseries. 

 There is no reason why most people should 

 seek a better fence plant than our own Quick; 

 but sometimes in gardens and pleasure grounds 

 a fence of beautiful colour may be desired. 



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