July 21, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
79 
Souvenir d’Elise, Niphetos, Madame Willermoz, Bouquet d’Or, Belle Lyon- 
raise, and Madame Hippolyte Jamain. 
In the class for twelve Boses of one kind (light), Mr. B. B. Cant was 
first with Merveille de Lyon, and Mr. Mack second with Baroness Bothschild. 
In the same class (dark) Mr. May was first with A. Colomb, and Mr. Mack 
second with Marie Baumann. In yellows Mr. Cant was first with Mar^chal 
Niel, and Messrs. Paul & Son second with the same. There was no com¬ 
petition in the class for Moss Boses. 
I would like to take this opportunity of correcting a misprint in my 
account of the '\Yirral Show. Miss Hall’s (of Larchwood) exhibit is de¬ 
scribed as a box. This is fatal to my idea of beauty. Ic was, in fact, one 
of those very pretty baskets of Burburaux adopted by the National Bose 
Society, and very tastefully arranged. I want to ask whether there is not 
also a misprint in your account of the National Society’s Show at Salisbury, 
where Mr. P. Cant is said to have won first prize with a box of Teas or 
Noisettes, all of one kind, with Boule de Neige. Ought it not to have been 
with Boule d’Or ? This is not a small matter, because the former, being a 
white Bose, someone seeing it in this class might be tempted to place it 
amongst Teas, as nearly every year I have seen boxes of Teas disqualified 
for containing Souvenir de la Malmaison ; and Mr. Cant is too good a judge 
to have put up H.P.’s instead of Teas. 
The National Bose Society’s medals for the best box in the amateurs’ 
and nurserymen were won by Mr. E. B. Whitwell with his box of thirty-six, 
and Mr. B. B. Cant with his box of sixty.—D., Deal. 
THROUGH THE DUKEKIES. 
The town of Sheffield although black, smoky, and unattractiye in its 
most populous and busy parts, is yet especially favoured by Nature in 
having on its outskirts, and within easy reach by road or rail, so much 
that is beautiful and interesting both in nature and art. 
On its south and western sides and coming almost close up to its 
outskirts are the Yorkshire moors and the romantic and beautiful Peak 
district of Derbyshire, while on its north-eastern boundary is the district 
known as the “ Dukeries,” comprising the once famous Sherwood Forest. 
Of the forest which extended originally from the immediate neighbour¬ 
hood of Worksop to Mansfield and Nottingham, covering an area of 
90,000 acres, but little remains in its primitive form, the most important 
portion which does so remain being a strip about five miles in length and 
two in width, and known as The Hays of Bilhaghe and Birkland, and 
extending from Thoresby (the princely seat of Earl Manvers) to the 
village of Edwinstowe. 
By far the larger portion of what was once this majestic forest is now 
comprised in the magnificent parks and demesnes of Clumber, Welbeck, 
and Thoresby, belonging respectively to the Dukes of Newcastle and 
Portland and Earl Manvers, and a drive through which on a summer’s 
day is one of the finest treats a lover of Nature and an admirer of forest 
scenery could possibly enjoy. 
Beaching Worksop by rail a pleasant drive through the ancient and 
picturesque town and its outskirts soon brought us to the confines of the 
Clumber estate, at the entrance to which in the gardens attached to the 
lodge a splendid collection of standard Roses in full bloom made a fine 
display. A drive of some two miles through the finely timbered park, in 
which are some of the largest and finest Cedars of Lebanon to be found 
in England, brought us to the mansion, where we were met and conducted 
over the ornamental grounds by the courteous head gardener, Mr. M. 
Gleeson. The lawns are suffering much from continued drought, as they 
appear to have had less of rainfall in the district than almost any other 
part of the country. The bedding arrangements, however, are looking 
well, as they have been copiously watered. There is a considerable 
amount of carpet bedding, which is tastefully coloured, and the plants in 
which are growing freely. One of the moat effective bedding plants used 
here and at Welbeck is Harrison’s Musk ; a number of large beds are 
edged with it, and very effective it proves, as it is very fine both in 
foliage and flowers, the latter being very profuse and bright in colour. 
Mr. Gleeson thinks it one of the best of all effective bedding plants. A 
plant also now seldom seen, but here effectively used in fine specimens 
for the centre of beds, is Humea elegans. 
Occupying conspicuous positions on the lawns are some grand speci¬ 
mens of Cedrus Libani and Norway Spruce, both of which appear to 
have found a genial home at Clumber ; the specimens of the latter are, I 
believe, second in size and magnificence only in this country to those at 
Studley Royal. A fine feature of Clumber is the extensive lake fronting 
the hall, which is about one mile and half long, and in its wider parts 
half a mile wide, and covers about 150 acres, a fine three-masted frigate 
^the Lady Lincoln) occupies a conspicuous position in its centre. 
Bidding farewell to Clumber, and proceeding onwards through the 
park, a drive of about two miles brings us to Thoresby. We do not stay 
here, but in passing along the drive within a very short distance of the 
mansion obtain a fine view of it and the terraced garden on the south 
front. The mansion, which has been erected by the present Earl 
Manvers, is a very imposing pile in the Elizabethan style, and is one of 
the most splendid of our many English baronial residences. The gardens 
under the skilful management of Mr. A. Henderson have long been 
celebrated for high-class cultivation, but these we had not an oppor¬ 
tunity of inspecting. 
The park, which, like those of Welbeck and Clumber, was carved out 
■of the old Royal Forest of Sherwood, is splendidly wooded, and is con¬ 
sidered by competent judges to be one of the finest examples of park 
scenery in the kingdom ; a short drive across which brings us to the 
Hays of Bilhaghe and Birkland before mentioned, and which are ex¬ 
tremely interesting and attractive both to the lovers and admirers of 
bold forest scenery and to the students of English history, as here are to 
be seen in immense numbers the veritable trees under which King John 
and his bold barons hunted the stag COO years ago, and under which 
many a jovial carouse has been held by Robin Hood and his merry 
men. 
Sherwood Forest appears to have been a favourite hunting ground of 
the Plantagenets, who converted Nottingham Castle into a Royal resi¬ 
dence and built another at Clipstoue between Thoresby and Mansfield, 
where King John (whose initials, carved in the bark 600 years ago, have 
been found deeply embedded in the trunks of trees recently cut down) 
spent much of his time. 
Bilhaghe is a forest of Oaks, and very patriarchs do they appear with 
their gnarled and knotted stems of great size and of good preservation 
considering their great age, though many of them have suffered more or 
less of mutilation by the countless storms which have swept over them. 
It is truly surprising to see how healthy is the foliage and vigorous the 
growths these relics of former ages are still making. Birkland, which is 
in a continuous line with Bilhaghe and farther from Thoresby, consists 
for the most part of Birches, equally ancient with the Oaks but better 
preserved. 
Almost at the extremity of Birklands, and near a path leading from 
the village of Budby to Edwinstowe, stands the “Major Oak.” This 
noble tree is one of the greatest attractions in the Forest, and is a verit¬ 
able giant in size, and still most beautiful in its luxuriant foliage and 
great spread of branches. Underneath its branches we found, with an 
oaken log for a seat, a patriarchal-looking man who stated he was eighty- 
six years of age, and who gains a livelihood by selling to visitors photo¬ 
graphic views of this celebrated tree. The old man is yet quite hale and 
vigorous, and, as was remarked by one of our parly, looked as though he 
may probably be able to continue his present occupation up to 100 years 
of age. A tablet affixed to the tree gives its dimensions as follows :— 
Girth of stem and roots at base or ground line, 54 feel; girth 1 foot above 
the ground, 32 feet ; girth at 3 feet from the ground, 29 feet ; mean girth, 
38 feet 4 inches. Inside the hollow stem is a sufficiency of room for a 
party of four or five men to move about with ease. 
Proceeding upon our journey we soon arrive upon the outskirts of 
Welbeck Park, which we enter by the way of what is called the “ Duke’s 
Drive,” a well-kept gravel roadway bounded on each side by belts of 
woodland and some 40 or 50 yards in width of level turf and from six to 
seven miles in length, forming one of the finest grassy avenues in exist¬ 
ence. At frequent intervals all along this and the numerous other drives 
on the Welbeck estate are gates with a large and comfortable lodge 
attached to each as a residence for the gatekeeper erected by the late 
Duke. On our way along this drive we pass the “ Shambles Oak,” on 
which it is said Robin Hood hung his venison, the iron hooks used by 
him for that purpose being until recently shown to visitors still fastened 
in their original place in the tree ; but, as we were told by the man in 
charge, a little more than a year since the tree was wantonly set on fire 
by some youths, which burnt out a large portion of the stem, including 
that part containing the hooks. 
Nearer to Welbeck we pass the “ Greendale Oak,” originally one of 
the largest and finest trees in the Forest, but which has been sadly 
mutilated by a former Duke of Portland, who, it is said, staked a large 
sum of money on a wager that he would drive a coach and four horses 
through the middle of its stem, which remarkable feat he accomplished 
by having the stem hollowed out so as to leave a mere shell on each side, 
and which is now supported and kept up by scaffolding and poles. 
Arriving at Welbeck Abbey a short stay is made, during which our 
party is shown through the conservatories and over a large portion of 
the lawns, shrubberies, and flower gardens, also through some of the 
wonderful underground roadways and the magnificent riding school 
erected by the late Duke. The most interesting portion of the conser¬ 
vatories, which are very extensive, is the rosery—a very large square 
building covered with a ridge-and-furrow glass roof, which is supported 
on iron columns. The Roses, which appear to be nearly all Teas, are 
planted out in beds of different sizes and shapes, which beds are inter¬ 
sected in all directions by gravel paths about 3 feet wide. The Boses, 
which comprise large bushes of aU the best sorts, are flowering well and 
freely, and are in the most robust and vigorous health—no trace of 
mildew apparent nor any green fly. I have never seen Roses under 
glass looking better. In the tropical portion of the conservatory are 
both ornamental-foliage and flowering plants, all very healthy and 
clean. 
In the flower garden the bedding-out is exceedingly bright and 
effective. No carpet bedding is done; but the beds, which are very 
numerous, are mostly circles and oblongs, and are nearly all planted as 
self beds, with one or sometimes two rows of some dwarf plant as edging. 
The most effective edgings here used are Harrison’s Musk and a variety 
of Lobelia they call Endcliffe Queen, a very free-blooming and effective 
variety much like pumila magnifica, but apparently a better grower ; 
also a larger and brighter flower, colour light azure blue with a con¬ 
spicuous white eye. A number of self beds of Iresine Lindeni edged 
with this Lobelia are exceedingly effective, the Iresine being large strong 
plants with fine high-coloured foliage. One of the most remarkable and 
effective features of the bedding display are the standard Zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums, one plant of each of which is occupying the centre of many of 
the circular beds. These standards, I was told, are six to eight years 
old, and are grafted at about 2 feet high on strong seedling stocks. The 
heads are about 2 feet across, very dense and well furnished, and are 
completely solid with bloom, especially those grafted with Vesuvius. 
The effect from a distance is very fine, and causes the uninitiated at once 
to speculate as to what they can be, looking as they do in size and 
