October 25, 1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
357 
afterwards. But if it is said that a brave man struggling with adversity 
is a sight fit for the gods, then must the position of Mr. Christie, the able 
and intelligent gardener, be one especially deserving of praise, for I do 
not know any place where it is carried out under greater difficulties. 
Take, for example, the rosery. Nothing can be more charming than the 
■selection, nor have I seen one where better taste was displayed in the 
arrangement; but then it was so surrounded by lofty trees that the sun 
was to a great extent excluded, consequently the wood did not ripen and 
the blooming was very indifferent. I can sympathise with anyone 
who has not the Gladstonian mania of hewing down noble trees which 
have stood for centuries, but then if a rosery had to be made it would 
surely have been better to have selected some more open spot where the 
trees would not have interfered. But this is nothing compared to what 
has been done in the garden. Some few years a long range of houses 
for growing Grapes and Peaches, &c., was erected. Now when we con¬ 
sider the height of excellence to which all subjects connected with horti¬ 
cultural buildings has reached, it seems perfectly incredible that a range 
of buildings like these should have been placed facing east; and more 
than that, that Peach houses should have been placed behind other 
houses, with what results may be imagined. It certainly does great 
■credit to Mr. Christie that with all this disadvantage he has been enabled 
to grow and ripen an excellent crop of Grapes ; but this has been done 
by an expenditure of fire heat which would under ordinary circumstances 
have been totally unnecessary. But all his skill availed nothing with 
the Peach house. More luxuriant growth and clearer foliage it was 
impossible to see ; but as the sun never reached the lower parts of the 
trees, consequently the wood could not ripen, and as a result no fruit 
could be produced, he had not had more than a dozen Peaches off the 
fine-looking trees. Who the planner of this marvellous fiasco was does 
not seem to be well known. Nobody seems inclined to acknowledge the 
authorship, but it is a remarkable instance of how things “ ought not to 
be done.” The garden is, as a good many places of the kind are now, 
underhanded, and the only marvel to me is how with such small resources 
Mr. Christie manages to effect what he does. The stove and greenhouse 
plants were well done, and along what is called the Earl’s Terrace, which 
is not generally shown to visitors, overlooking the river, a good collection 
■of herbaceous and other plants was arranged. 
ALDERMINSTER, 
from whence my friend the Bev. J. A. Williams has oftentimes sent con¬ 
tributions to the Journal, is about five miles from Stratford-on-Avon, and 
is pleasantly situated in the midst of quite a model village. There Mr. 
Williams has a good collection of his favourite flower the Rose. It is 
not really the vicarage house, which is at some little distance, but one 
that he has rented, and is quite close to a very beautiful old church which 
has been partially, and is about to be completely, restored. It is easy to 
be seen what the ruling passion of the vicar is with regard to flowers, 
for while other things have a place, the place is given to the Rose. It 
will be remembered that Mr. Williams was formerly at Yardley Wood 
near Birmingham, where he rendered good service to the cause of the 
Rose ; consequently he has not as yet sufficiently established his collec¬ 
tion, but the plants were in excellent health, and, like a good many 
other Rose-growers, the Teas have carried him captive. His selection of 
these is good, and he is about to increase his culture of them, and will 
root out, as I believe everyone ought to do when Roses are so easily 
procured, all weak-kneed Hybrid Perpetuals and replace them, but will 
increase his number of plants ; and I shall be very much surprised if we 
•do not see his flowers taking a good place at the exhibition table. In 
■another part of the glebe he has planted an orchard, and the young trees 
were most promising, while in the old vicarage orchard were some of the 
most splendid trees of Blenheim Orange with the finest crops I have seen 
for many a day. After enjoying my short visit very much he drove me 
into Stratford, where one had the opportunity of seeing all the points 
of interest connected with our great poet, and from thence I went on to 
Malvern. There were many places of interest in and about the neigh¬ 
bourhood of this favourite resort, but as I had only one day I arranged 
to spend it at 
HOPE END, NEAR LEDBURY, 
where my friend Mr. W. J. Grant has his fine collection of Roses. 
Hope End, the residence of Mr. Hewitt (whose agent Mr. Grant is), is 
a most lovely spot. The house is a new one, in the midst of a beautifully 
wooded park, from whence fine views of the Bean and the distant 
mountains of Wales can be obtained. The place is somewhat famous 
as being the birthplace of Mrs. Barrett Browning, the poetess—her 
(father, Mr. Barrett, having formerly been owner of the place—and it is 
■said that many of her poems were composed on an islet in the piece of 
water which lies at the bottom of the valley. Like most places in these 
western counties Conifers seem to flourish well, and fine specimens of 
Wellingtonias, Araucarias, &c., are to be seen in the grounds. The 
garden is a thoroughly old-fashioned one, and does not call for any 
particular remark ; indeed, I was more anxious to see Mr. Grant’s garden 
than that at the big house. His house is situated in the lower part of 
the valley, while the garden occupies the side of a piece of rising terraced 
ground. Many good herbaceous plants are to be found here, Bocconia 
cordata I noticed as especially showy ; but the Roses are the piece de 
resistance. Here on the house are fine plants of Mardchal Niel, RSve 
d’Or, and other climbing Roses ; here, again, in a sheltered nook are 
good plants of Teas. Teas also occupy the wall at the top of the terrace, 
while a flue piece of Hybrid Perpetuals evidences that good flowers have 
been obtained, and are making vigorous growth for another season. 
But it is at some distance from his house, in a piece of ground which he 
has purchased, that Mr. Grant has his chief stock. The soil is good and 
the ground lies well to the sun, and is not shaded although sheltered. 
Here on the seedling Briar, Briar cuttings, and Manetti (the two former 
being preferred), is a fine stock of about 2000 Roses of all the leading 
varieties. It is needless to particularise the varieties grown, for go where 
we may the same sorts always are cultivated. There may be a few 
places where a variety or two is pre-eminently good—as Thomas Mills 
is more of a favourite in Scotland than in more southern regions ; but 
as a rule Marie Baumann, A. K. Williams, Charles Lefebvre, Duke of 
Edinburgh, Alfred Colomb, Madame G. Luizet, and such well-known varie¬ 
ties, are sure to form the bulk of the collection, especially where the 
grower is an exhibitor. He cannot dispense with them, nor can he 
afford to fill his ground with varieties that will not stand the exhibition 
test. One knows how very common it is to hear, “ How many sorts of 
Roses do you grow ? ” and by the uninitiated public you will generally 
get credit for your powers as a rosarian in proportion to the number of 
varieties you possess. But an exhibitor knows better. He knows that 
if he wants Roses for the exhibition table it is no use his encumbering 
his garden with Roses which, however pretty, are useless for his purpose. 
One can understand now in going through the country how it is that 
competition is so great at our shows. The keenness with which the 
Rose is cultivated brings so many more into the field that, whereas in 
the earlier meetings of the National Rose Society it frequently happened 
that many classes were so little competed for that money was oftentimes 
saved, now such a thing rarely takes place. Members, too, who formerly 
exhibited in smaller classes increase their stock, and, as in duty bound, 
go up into higher ones. 
My rambles extended from Herefordshire into South Wales, and I 
had intended to have noticed something of deep interest I had seen there, 
but must leave them for my next paper. One horticultural treat I missed 
owing to my not having time enough. Mr. Grant had arranged for me 
to go to Eastnor Castle, but time went on so rapidly in going through 
his interesting garden that we had to abandon it; but I should have been 
glad to have seen our champion fruit-grower at home. This must be 
reserved, if all be well, for another season.—D., Deal, 
NOTES ON CELERY. 
There may be little to add to what is already known in the 
cultivation of Celery. This year we have a good quantity of a variety 
quite new to us, and one of the best we have seen—viz., Harrison’s 
Early Pink. Among half a dozen others it is the favourite. Major 
Clarke’s Red is much like it, and is also a general favourite ; not gross, 
but solid and crisp. Sandringham Dwarf and Turner's Incomparable 
are with me as unlike the original as can be. They are both about 
4 feet high, pithy and loose, instead of short, stiff, and of great girth. 
I have had Turner’s Incomparable stand in good condition to the end 
of May with very little earthing-up. Height is not a qualification which 
is claimed for Turner’s and its synonyms ; but for hardiness and being 
exempt from “bolting,” we know of none to surpass it. One evil too 
common is earthing-up too high, and long before growth is complete, 
forcing the soil too closely to the hearts of the plants. 
The blanching process has always been a subject of varied opinion. 
Some maintain that the Celery should remain free of the soil till it has 
attained its full growth. Tie the stems evenly together, then earth-up 
all at once. From what we have observed in market gardens round 
London by the one-earthing system, we were induced to a large extent 
to follow up the practice of doing the work all at once a month before 
the Celery was required for use; and for more than twenty years we 
have (except for the earliest supply during August and onwards) 
earthed-up the whole crop at once. Sometimes this has amounted to 
over two thousand plants. This year, however, we have returned to 
the old practice so well known of earthing-up the crop as it advanced in 
growth, probably about four times. We at no time have been so welL 
supplied with early well-blanched Celery. When each succession is 
planted a dressing of manure is placed over the surface and a good 
soaking of water is given. This season we placed mowings of grass 
over the surface of newly planted roots and thoroughly soaked the 
ground with weak guano water, and later, before earthing began, 
stimulants were again applied. The Wortley collars have been used to 
some extent, and, we believe, with much advantage. 
After the experience of this season from a practice we have adopted 
for many years in a very limited form, we are inclined to fall back on 
the system which has been in practice long before the present generation 
of gardeners existed. We put much value on a judicious application of 
liquid manure. Thomson’s Vine manure worked into the surface of the 
soil and washed down with clean water ; or, what is better, heavy rains, 
which will tell its own tale by a vigorous and crisp growth. Lettuce, 
Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Melons, See., are also greatly improved by appli¬ 
cations of this manure.—M. T. C. 
THE NATIONAL APPLE CONGRESS. 
AMERICAN APPLES. 
An interesting addition was made last week to the Exhibition at 
Chiswick—namely, a collection of about fifty dishes of Apples grown by 
Mr. G. R. H. Starr at Port William, Nova Scotia, and exhibited by 
Messrs. Nothard & Lowe of London. They comprised some beautiful, clean, 
and highly coloured samples of the principal varieties grown in America for 
