October 27, 1881. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
381 
if possible.” Mr. Hinton (of Rose election celebrity) told me, and he 
ought to know, that blooms of Catherine Mermet especially are grown 
large enough for the back row of any stand in any exhibition. Tea 
Roses are grown outside against the back walls of the houses, and 
their luxuriant growth and the thousands of tine blooms they produce 
tell as plainly as Roses can express themselves how they enjoy a 
cool moist shaded northern aspect. 
Gardenias are grown in pots, and as there is no mealy bug at 
Longleat the free-flowering plants are enhanced in value and beauty. 
But I must stop. I fully intended saying a'l I had to say in this 
issue, but the place is too much for me. A few other things merit 
notice, also the grand vinery ; and of this I may say as an appetiser 
that taking the house and Vines together, such a sight is not to be 
seen in Great Britain, and, unless I am greatly mistaken, a similar 
example of Vine-growing has not been achieved in the period—eleven 
years—by any cultivator in the Queen’s dominions.—J. W. 
HONG KONG. 
(Continued from page 31G.) 
Horticulture, although it has accomplished a great deal, 
still cannot compare with English gardening. The nature of the 
soil is not by any means favourable to high-class gardening. Hong 
Kong is of igneous origin, and the soil is formed from very much 
decomposed syenite, containing but little humus. Gardening is 
confined to small patches surrounding or near to the European 
houses, where some good vegetables are grown in the cool season, 
and where primitive dairies and poultry yards are maintained fur 
the supply of the local market. Both eggs and fowls are very 
small as judged by the English standard, but they are tolerable. 
What, however, shall we say of the constitution of the Hong Kong 
cow 1 To judge by the milk which comes to table, either her solid 
flesh succumbs to the melting influences of the climate more easily 
than that of the foreigner, or else the place stands in sore need of 
an Adulteration Act. Plants in pots for the decoration of veran¬ 
dahs are in much demand, and where the employers look well 
after their Celestial gardeners the plants arc pretty well grown. 
Where the gardens are of sufficient extent trees and shrubs give 
the most satisfaction, a great many varieties of which do very 
well and have a most attractive appearance. As an example of 
this we give the accompanying engraving, which represents one 
of the most picturesque portions of the cemetery. —A Wanderer. 
Zygopetalum Mackayii. —This familiar Orchid is now rapidly 
coming into flower, and the plant is of easy cultivation. Its flowers 
are most valuable for cut purposes, they last in good condition for 
some time after being cut. It will succeed in an ordinary stove 
house.—A fc'orTHEUN Gardener. 
POTATO CULTURE. 
As the subject of successful Potato culture is a very important 
cne, I trust that the following particulars may be of use to your 
readers. 
I have always adopted the much-abused system of planting 
my Potatoes a yard from row to row, and 2 feet 0 inches to 
3 feet from set to set, which is steadily resisted by those who do 
not try it. My garden is a light soil on gravel. The ground 
intended for Potatoes, iD fact all the garden, is laid up in the 
ridge in the autumn, at which time the manure is applied. I have 
not applied manure heavily, say from twelve to twenty loads per 
acre, and I have grown Potatoes on the same land for the last 
fifteen years in alternate years. There is one thing about which 
I am very particular—that is, not to grow weeds. In the spring 
the ridges are raked and the sets dibbled in. I am very careful 
