80 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 28, 1881. 
excellent all through, superior to William I. and other early sorts, 
and very little inferior to Yorkshire Hero, Advancer, and others 
that follow later.—C. H. P., Cardiff. 
NYCTERINIA SELAGINOIDES. 
One of the prettiest dwarf annuals suitable for edging large 
beds is that represented in the woodcut (fig. 15). The plant is by 
no means a novelty, but, like so many old favourites that have 
been partially displaced by more modern rivals, it is seldom seen 
in gardens except where simple flowers are treasured. Amidst 
the numerous floral attractions this season in the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society’s Gardens, Chiswick, some rows of this Nvcterinia 
have been especially noteworthy, and many visitors have admired 
the compactness of its habit and the abundant white and rose 
flowers. These at a glance resemble some of the dwarf Silenes or 
Saponarias, and in appearance there is little to suggest the relation 
of the plant to the Scrophularias, in which family it is included. It 
Fig. 15.—Nycterinia selaginoides. 
succeeds in almost any soil that is not too heavy or wet, and, as 
above stated, it is particularly well adapted for an edging to a 
bed of miscellaneous plants. 
PLANT-GROWING FOR MARKET IN SCOTLAND. 
Most readers of the Journal of Horticulture must be familiar 
from its pages with all the great market plant-growing places 
about London and in the neighbourhood of all large towns in 
England, but it is very rarely indeed that we see any remarks on 
plant-growing for market in Scotland. Yet a great trade in deco¬ 
rative plants is being established there, as was proved to us some 
time ago while calling on Messrs. William Thomson & Sons of the 
Tweed Vineyard, Galashiels. Since we last saw this establish¬ 
ment some six years ago the glass houses have been much ex¬ 
tended and their occupants greatly changed. Then Pine-Apple 
plants and Vines in pots were nearly the only plants grown, but 
now they have given place to small plants which are annually 
grown by thousands, and the demand for them about Edinburgh, 
Glasgow, and elsewhere is rapidly increasing, which is not sur¬ 
prising, as we cannot remember seeing plants for market that 
would surpass those grown at Clovenfords for general quality. 
To make these notes more readily understood it may probably 
be best to take the houses in rotation, and starting from the lower 
end we first entered an Orchid house in two divisions, altogether 
about 140 feet long and 18 feet wide. The plants are grown 
throughout the year in a much lower temperature than is gene¬ 
rally employed, and that the treatment agrees with them is easily 
seen from the excellent health of the grand specimens of Vandas, 
Laelias, Cattleyas, and Cypripediums. The next is a propagating 
house about 150 feet long by 16 feet wide, devoted to young Ferns, 
with stove and greenhouse plants, and we noticed that they only 
comprised large numbers of a few of the most useful and effective 
classes of plants, such as Adiantum cuneatum, Cocos Weddelliana, 
one or two varieties of Pteris, Dracaenas, Crotons, &c., besides 
large quantities of Bouvardias, Begonias, Fuchsias, and Eucha- 
rises. The adjoining house is planted as a vinery with Muscat 
Vines ; it is 200 feet long by 18 feet wide, and is a lean-to, with 
a pathway up the back, and a great space for plants beneath the 
Vines. This is filled in winter with thousands of small plants of 
Erica gracilis and hyemalis, and large quantities of Epacrises. 
The Vines in this house are not started into growth until well 
into February. A late vinery 180 feet long by 25 feet wide, 
planted chiefly with Gros Colman, Lady Downe’s, and the Black 
Alicante, the roots of all being outside, the inside of the house 
having a floor of concrete, is occupied with thousands of Hya¬ 
cinths, Lily of the Valley, and other bulbs in the spring. Along 
the back wall there is a bed 5 feet in width, and in this Camellias 
are planted out for supplying cut blooms. Adjoining is a late 
Muscat house 200 feet long by 16 feet in width ; underneath the 
Vines were fine Roses in pots, grown chiefly to supply cut flowers. 
In front of the Muscat house is a structure 200 feet long by 
14 feet in width, and in front of this is a span-roofed house 
140 feet long and 18 feet wide. The first of the two was filled 
with fine Primulas, Cinerarias, and Pelargoniums ; 100 feet of the 
last contained Pelargoniums and many hundreds of Azaleas in 
5-inch pots. The lower 40 feet of this house is divided from the 
remainder, and is employed for forcing. In another range we 
come to a house 200 feet long, which contained many hundreds of 
the hardier Palms. Several large frames were full of hardy Ferns, 
Hydrangeas, Saxifrages, and a variety of other plants. Close to them 
is a span-roofed intermediate house about 95 feet long by 15 feet in 
width; Ferns, Odontoglossums, &c., were most attractive there. 
From the frequency we have had occasion to mention “vinery” 
in the above notes some of your readers who may have seen 
Clovenfords will have been led to suppose that some of the large 
vineries there have been turned into plant houses, but this is not 
so. As yet we have not come to the “ big vineries” or principal 
Grape-growing quarters. These consist of five span-roofed houses, 
four of which are each 200 feet long by 24 feet in width, and the 
fifth is a little shorter but of the same width. Four of these form 
a block together, one being a corridor, the other three running out 
from it. The corridor is planted with Black Hamburgbs and 
Duke of Buccleuch. The latter still bears well and gives great 
satisfaction. It is not treated so much on the close-spur system 
as formerly, but a good quantity of young wood is left annually, 
as it is found to bear best in this way. The first of the other 
three houses is planted entirely with Lady Downe’s; the thousands 
of bunches from 2 lbs. to 4 lbs. in weight are not cut until Feb¬ 
ruary. The next house is planted with Gros Colman and Black 
Alicante, and an adjoining house with Gros Colman and Gros 
Guillaume. Trials of the different forms of this last-named Grape 
have been going on, and all have proved to be the same, so that 
Seacliffe Black and the Charleville variety are simply Gros Guil¬ 
laume. The other large house stands some distauce from these on 
a more elevated site. This is planted with Lady Downe’s and 
Alicantes. Close to the last is a vinery 70 feet long by 18 feet 
wide. This is planted with Lady Downe’s. 
The improved cruciform and terminal saddle boilers are almost 
exclusively used for heating, and the fuel consumed is chiefly 
coke. As was stated at the commencement of these remarks, most 
of the plants find a market in Edinburgh and Glasgow 7 , but most 
of the Grapes are dispatched direct to Covent Garden. 
Many details which would no doubt interest some of your 
readers have unavoidably been omitted from these notes, but we 
cannot do better than advise all who are ever within a hundred 
miles of Clovenfords to go and see it. To all interested it would 
amply repay a much longer distance than this. It is situated 
amongst the hills, where pure air, clear water, and fine loam 
abound, but is only an hour’s ride from Edinburgh, and the 
station being so near is a great consideration ; besides, for many 
miles around the district, is full of historic interest. Only ten 
minutes’ walk from Clovenfords there still stands in an excellent 
state of preservation the house of Ashestiel, in which Sir Walter 
Scott composed much of his poem “ Maimion,” and many of the 
scenes so vividly depicted there remain unchanged.— VlSlTOK. 
English Ieises from Seed.—W e have at present a beautiful 
bed of these in flow'er from seed sown about four years ago. Appa- 
