October 16, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
351 
Whatever may have been the past history of Ferri^res, there is no 
doubt that it will be best known historically as the residence of the German 
Emperor during the Franco-Pru«sian war, and as being the place to which 
Jules Favre went to try and obtain some better terms from Prince Bis¬ 
marck. The room is shown where the interview took place, and where he 
shod those tears which so moved the ridicule of the Iron Chancellor, and 
made the French Minister the laughing-stock of Europe. The room is 
there, but nothing else ; for all the furniture was destroyed after he left, 
and the very paper on the walls was changed ! for, although a German, 
the patriotism of the Baroness for her adopted country led her to sym¬ 
pathise largely in its misfortunes. The present chateau owes its origin to 
Baron James, the father of the present possessor. It stands in the middle 
of a large estate of about 20,000 acres ; the plantation, shrubberies, and 
dressed ground immediatelv surrounding it amounting to about 800 acres. 
It owes little if anything to Nature. There ar-e no wooded heights, no 
beetling crags, no broad expanse of river and lake ; for it lies in the middle 
of a vast plain, which stretches on towards the Champagne country- 
indued, Brie Comte Robert, near which it is, was a dependency of the 
Counts of Champagne. The woods surrounding it do not contam any very 
large timber, and the roads are driven through it at right angles, as is the 
custom with all the French woods with which I am acquainted. Yet 
these disadvantages have by good taste and tho lavish expenditure of 
money been overcome, and although there is an air of rawness about the 
place, jet it is very beautiful. An artidcial piece of water lies in front of 
the house, and when I was there Mr. Bergman was diverting a small 
stream which, in-tead of being lost in the woods, would flow in sight of the 
house. The house itself is very line, tho large hall of grand proportions, 
and treasures of priceless value are to be seen on everj'^ hand. The stables 
are magnificent. There are large kennels with packs of hounds, herds of 
Brittany'- cows, and, in fact, everything that good taste and an unlimited 
purse can command; but on these 1 must not linger. I came to see the 
gardens, and it is of them I desire to give my impressions. 
There are comparatively few amateurs in France—few who, as in 
England, care to devote large sums of money to the culture of flowers, and 
the product'-on of examples of horticultural skill. Of those few I believe 
Baron Rothschild is considered the chief. There are others, such as Comte 
de Germiny and the Due de Germinyq who are lovers of plants—the former 
especially has spent large sums on Orch ds —but I believe that Ferrieres is 
looked upon as the place par excellence wliere French horticulture is to be 
seen at its best. The gardens are widely separated, making, therefore, 
much a 'ditional labour to those who have to superintend it. There is the 
floral garden, as it is called, then the nursery ground at another place, then 
the kitchen garden at tome distance, and the parterres immediately' sur¬ 
rounding the chateau. The floral garden forms a large square almost 
entirely surrounded by glass houses of one kind or other. Some things of 
special interest strike one in most places. Here it is the exceedingly 
artistic taste with which the houses are arranged. There are in most 
places of the kind tanks in the various houses ; but, instead of being left in 
their bare ugliness, they' are here arched over with rockwork, in which 
plants of various kinds are grown, and with a small statue of white marble 
they have a very' pretty effect, thus transferring an unsight'y thing into 
a thing of beauty. Then tho back walls of the houses are mostly all 
clothed with plants of some kind or other, mostly Ficus repens is used for 
the purpose; then the front of the stages are mostly filled with Isolepis 
gracilis, so that the unsightly pots arc hidden. The arrangement of the 
plants shows that not on’y their well-being is considered, but also the 
general appearance, so that on walking through your eye is not offended 
but pleased and delighted at every turn. In the first house we entered 
into «e saw that grand plant of Vanda Lowii which was photographed 
some time a o. It had nearly 400 blooms on it, and its appearance now bids 
promise of still further progress, as it is in rude health : but perhaps even 
nioi’c remarkable is the wonderful way in which Vanda teres flourishes. 
Mr. B. 8. Williams, in his “ Orch d-Growers’ Manual,” describes it as 
rather a shy'-flowering species, and that it thrives best on a block of w. od 
plunged in a pot. Here it is grown mostly' in sphagnum, with the frame, 
if I may' so call it, on which it is grown half filled with drainage. It was 
not unfortunately' in flower at the time of our visit; but I am told that one 
of our most celebrated orchidists, when he came to Ferrieres, after looking 
all over said, ‘‘Let us go and look at Vanda teres again,” so impressid was 
he with tho wonderful success which has attended its cultivation there, 
where upwards of 700 flowers have been produced on it. Nepenthes were 
well grown, and some fine pitchers of Mastersiana were especially note¬ 
worthy. In another liouse I noticed a grand .specimen of a Fern rarely 
seen, Goniophlebium subauricula um. It was grown in a basket sus¬ 
pended from the roof, and its beautiful fronds hanging down 10 or 12 feet 
and in great profusion, so as to form quite a bower of greenery'. It is a 
stove Fern, and certainly very' I cautiful. The Pine pits contained some 
excellent examples of Pine-growing, hinooth Cayennes mostly attaining a 
weight of from 10 to 12 lbs., while the variety known as Charlotte Roth¬ 
schild is much grown and valued. It was fouml many years ago, when 
Baron Kothschild had many argos es trading to different parts of the world, 
by one of his captains in 1843, and found to be of such excellent quality 
that it was larg ly cultivated and distributed. The Pines are planted out, 
and nothing could exceed their vigour and health. The main vinery 
occupies the second portion of the square, and is G.5 mi-tres —/.c., about 
213 feet long, and was mostly filhd with a beautifully' even crop of 
Frankentbal. 'Ihe latter months of the year being those at which the 
Chateau is most occupied, one great object is to have fruit and fiowers 
in abundance at that season, although, as in the case of our great English 
houses, there is abundance to fe done at all t ines. There is stdl the ques¬ 
tion whether Ft ankenthal and Black Hamburgh are the same. Both the 
names indicate German origin, and there may be a distinction without a dif¬ 
ference. The prettily coloured Chasselas Rosd was also well grown. There 
is another vinery, at the back of whi'ih is a fine house of Camellias planted 
out and looking in vigorous health, while there is also in the same position 
a cool Orchid house built in 1883, w'hcre Masdevallias, Odontoglossnr'f 
&c., are grown. Here were to be seen quantities of the ever-w'clco 
and graceful 0. Alexandrse, while that extraordinary Masdevallia, M. chi¬ 
mera, was in fine health ; but, indeed, the whole collection of Orchids is 
remarkable, more especially when we consider that a few years ago there 
was only one house devoted to them. At the opposite end to the vinery 
there is an Azalea house of equal dimensions, whTh mast be indeed a grand 
sight in the spring. There are about GOO plants varying from the height 
of 2 feet up to G or 7. All of the best kinds are grown, and as they are not 
intended for exhibition are allowed to grow naturally. At the entrance of 
the house there is a large tank with a sleeping figure in white marble and 
a surrounding of Ferns an-l other ornamental plants. It is proposed, and 
the commencement has been made, to cover the roof with Roses, as the 
Camellia house is to be covered with Lapagerias, white and red alti rnately'. 
The Azaleas wore at present out of doors, and the hou^e was well tilled 
with flowering plants of various kinds. 
In another house I saw tho parent plant of that remarkable novelty', 
Anthurium ferrieren=e, raised by Mr. Bergman. Opinions will vary as to 
the beauty or otherwise of tho e Aroids. Brilliant as was the colour of 
A. Schertzerianum it never took my fancy'. A. Andreanum is very curious 
and remarkably bright, and ferrierense is curious as a combination of the 
white and led, but to my mind they' are unpleasant-looking plants ; but, 
be that ai it msy', to those who favour this class of plants this new variety 
is very welcome. But while all these giants in horticulture are carefully 
cultivated, attention is equally paid to the production of minor things 
which are required in quantities for decoration. Thus 20,000 winter- 
flowering Carnations are grown, of three varieties—La Belle, white ; 
Irona, pink ; an 1 A. Alegatihre, scarlet. Large quantities also of Madame 
Crousse Pelargoniums, Heliotropes, and everything, in fact, required for 
the decoration of a grand establishment. 
Horticulture in France has received of late y'ears two severe blows— 
the war of 1870 and the severe winter of 1879. The loss in tho former 
case w'as enormous to such men as Lierval, whose houses, battered to 
pieces, I saw after the Commune with row after row of dead plants ; or my' 
friend M. Margottin at Bourg-'a-Reine, or Messrs. Thibaut & Keteleer at 
Sceaux ; but it did not equal the injuries caused by the fearfully severe 
winter of 1879-80. ^Ye heard of it at the time, but one must visit such 
gardens as these to see its full effects. I am led to say this from visiting 
the fruit and veg< table garden. There had been a long row of splend d 
espalier Pears of the very best varieties. Only one of these remained ; 
every one of the others had completely succumbed to the frost, and young 
trees had been planted to supply their place. It was the same at M. Mar- 
gottin's, who had not one of his trees left, and had to replace them also. 
This department of the garden at Ferrihres is under the care of M. Martin, 
and the same intelligent supervision is visible here as elsewhere. I saw 
here what was quite a novelty to me in a fiuit room—the shelves, instead 
of being flat were all s’anting ; consequently all the fruit was visible, and 
any defective ones could easily' be seen and removed. I believe it was 
planned and cairied out by M. Bergman some years ago. There ver ; 
already in it some fine fruits, while on the wails Peaches were still hanging 
in considerable numbers, the season having been a favourable one for 
them. 
I should have mentioned that in ‘Cn^jardin jleuriste, w'here the greater 
quantity of ihe glass is, there is what is called a winter garden, in which 
fine Tree Ferns, Palms, &c., are planted out and the whole carpeted with 
Selaginella apod-a. It is large and interesting, but so far from the house 
that it can hardly answer the purpose of a winter garden, into which, I 
conceive, a person ought to be able to walk from the house to gain any 
benefit. It may be a nice Palm and Fern house, yet it is hardly a winter 
garden ; but, I ke every thing else here, it was the perfection of order. 
I feel that I have given a very inadequate idea of this veiy grand 
chateau and its surroundings. It would be indeed difficult to exaggerate 
the care, artistic arrangement, and order of everything one saw, and any 
who have seen Ferrih es will, I have no doubt, smile at my feeble attempt 
to set forth its beauties. It woul i be equally impossible for me to ex- 
agirerate the kindness and ho-pitality I received at the bands of M. and 
JIadame Burgman and thuir worthy son ; and as we were driten back to 
the railway stat'on we could not but feel that we had experienced so 
much kindness at their hands and seen so much to interest us, our visit to 
Ferrieres would alway's remain as a noticeable day on our calendar.— 
D., Deal, 
VElTCirS NEW PE\ STURDY. 
As a rule I do not take well to new things. I like something that has 
been well tried and has proved worthy of one’s confidence, for I have 
often noticed that the spirit of the old saying, “ Every man’s own 
children are the best,” applies to other things as well as the human race, 
but I am very favourably impressed with the worth of the above Pea for 
the following reason. 
When I took charge of these gardens (.Tune 21st) it was the middle cf 
the dry season we have just passed through. Vegetables were very 
scarce and threatened to be more so as the season advanced. The 
earliest Peas would not be fit for use in less than a week, and succession 
crops looked very thin and weak. What was to be done must be done at 
once, and the only available ground was a piece in the recently laid-in 
kitchen garden whxh had been a c:)ra field, and had not had any manure 
> for a long time. The soil in many places was oa'y 6 inches deep, and hai 
