l8 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



which the timber trees act as a screen, and break the force of the 

 cold winds that sweep across the open country. 



It m n .y seem somewhat curious to speak of shelter when treating 

 of Hardy Spring Flowers, but there is no doubt all the plants I am 

 about to mention are perfectly hardy, because with two or three 

 exceptions they passed through the severe winter of 1895 when the 

 thermometer on the grass registered 40 0 F. of frost at Belvoir ; that 

 was a sufficient test as to hardiness for Great Britain, and it is true 

 it killed a few plants for us, but I do not intend to mention those 

 to-day. Although shelter is not strictly necessary for these plants., 

 it is undoubtedly of great benefit when many of them are in flower ; 

 for instance, Rhododendron Nobleanum, R. Falconeri, R. praecox, 

 and others of the early flowering class. Camellias, and other shrubs 

 that flower early in the year, if they are under the shelter of tall 

 forest trees will often escape destruction of their flowers by frost. 

 We are able to grow Neapolitan Violets under the boughs of a Cedar 

 of Lebanon, where they flower throughout the winter, because they 

 have a thick shelter overhead. So it will be found that shelter, 

 whether from forest trees or the formation of the ground, or both 

 combined, is a great advantage in growing these early flowers. On 

 the other hand, it is not absolutely necessary ; they will thrive on a 

 site that is comparatively level and open ; but it is possible they may 

 not flower quite so early in those circumstances. 



It is not often one has the opportunity of forming a new garden, 

 but if I were doing so I would plant quick-growing forest trees around 

 it, such as the Canadian Poplar ; amongst them I would put others 

 of slower growth that would eventually take the place of the Poplars. 

 The kind would depend chiefly on the character of the soil ; some tall- 

 growing evergreens such as the Austrian Pine would be mixed among 

 them for giving shelter in winter ; and in front of these in irregular 

 lines some dwarfer-growing evergreens would be placed, to keep out the 

 cold wind near the ground, after the trees grew up. One of the finest 

 shrubs for shelter is the Portugal Laurel, it proves very hardy in all 

 kinds of places in the woods at Belvoir ; another is Rhododendron 

 ponticum, which is closer-growing than many of the hybrid kinds. 

 Rhododendrons have a great advantage over other shrubs because 

 rabbits will not eat them ; in the severe winter of 1895 hundreds of 

 these animais were killed at Belvoir through eating the Yew trees, 

 but they did not touch the Rhododendrons that were growing close 

 at hand. 



This brings me to another subject, that of the soil, because it is 

 well known that Rhododendrons and many so called " American " 

 plants will not succeed where lime abounds in the soil. We are very 

 fortunate in that respect at Belvoir, the geological formation being 

 the Middle Lias system ; this gives us a great depth of strong clay in 

 the valleys and the lower parts of the hillsides, and a few feet of nice 

 sandy loam, overlying ironstone, on the tops of the hills ; in either of 

 these soils Rhododendrons thrive to perfection, and we are able to 



