Novemb3r 23, 1882 ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 473 
creased in the same manner, Mr. Smith, with a staff of from foity 
to fifty men, adding and improving every year, carrying out 
his own designs after approval by his employers, and complet¬ 
ing whatever work he has in hand in the best manner. He evi¬ 
dently works on the principle, and a most excellent one it is, 
that is embodied in the aphorism, “First see your way, then go 
ahead.” A headlong rush into alterations without due consi¬ 
deration frequently necessitates work having to be done over 
again, while he who commences an undertaking without a clear 
perception of the result when finished practically works in the 
dark. Neither of those mistakes, both of which are somewhat 
too common, is made at Mentmore. 
Having reached the gardens—that is, the glass department, the 
character of the houses and the work that is done in them may 
be briefly alluded to, instead of adopting the painfully tedious 
practice of giving the dimensions of each house and making a 
cr} r catalogue of its occupants. The block of glass resembles a 
nursery, the structures being crowded together as if to utilise 
every inch of space. With the exception of one very lofty and 
commodious span-roof, erected for the accommodation of Palms 
and Tree Ferns, a good greenhouse and three or four vineries, 
the houses are low, narrow, pit-like structures, admirably adapted 
for preparing plants for the mansion and for general forcing 
purposes. 
One long range is devoted to Pines, which are admirably culti¬ 
vated, all the leading varieties being represented. In addition to 
Queens, Cayennes, Charlotte Rothschild, and Prince Albert, the 
newer kind, Lady Beatrice Lambton, is fruiting. This is a noble 
Pine of good quality; and very superior is Lord Carrington, 
which produces fruit abundantly large for dessert purposes where, 
as is the case here, a portion of a Pine must never be placed on 
the table. The plants are grown in pots, and are in the best pos¬ 
sible condition ; and so far from Pine-growing being an expensive 
luxury, every fruit that is produced could be readily sold at a price 
that would render Pine culture decidedly profitable. The supe¬ 
riority of good English-grown Pines over the foreigners that are 
imported is so great that it is not unlikely that Pine-growing will 
increase rather than diminish in British gardens ; indeed the 
demand for plants and suckers is much greater than was the case 
a few years ago. The back wall of one of the Pine stoves is 
being covered, or rather hidden, by a hedge of Gardenias planted 
out in a narrow border, and the rich dark green foliage and hun¬ 
dreds of fine blooms suggest that scarcely anything else could 
occupy the space more satisfactorily. On shelves near the glass 
table plants are grown at one period and Strawberries forced at 
another, and thus every inch of space is turned to profitable 
account. 
With the exception of a late house containing capital Lady 
Downe’s and Alicante, also good Muscat Grapes, the vineries 
w r ere cleared of fruit; but it was plain by the wood and foliage 
that the Vines of the earlier sorts are in admirable condition. It 
was observable that they had been half pruned in September with 
the object of “ plumping ” the eyes at the base of the laterals, 
which must be relied on for producing the next crop of fruit. 
Only few gardeners adopt this practice, but it is a good one never¬ 
theless, as those will find who try the experiment on a few laterals 
and note the results. Some Vines were being renovated—lifted 
and placed in fresh soil, and the foliage kept fresh by syringing 
would incite the production of fresh roots at once. Peaches are 
grown equally well, all the pruning being done in summer ; hence 
the shoots, brown, hard, and thinly trained, are studded with 
fruit buds, and full crops are inevitable. Hale’s Early is found 
to be an excellent variety for forcing, and is mainly relied on for 
the first gatherings. Nearly all the vineries and Peach houses 
were crowded with plants of all the popular kinds for deco¬ 
rative purposes, as so many are needed for the mansion here and 
in London — winter-flowering Begonias, Salvias, Eupatoriums, 
Veronica salicifolia alba, Perpetual Carnations, these being grown 
by the hundred in 4 and 5-inch pots, while all kinds of winter¬ 
flowering stove plants occupy all available space in the warmer 
structures. 
A Rose house affords a supply of these always-acceptable 
flowers, while cool Orchids are grown extensively and well for 
affording sprays for cutting, Odontoglossums now producing 
vigorous spikes. In a quaint old ridge-and-furrow structure, with 
brick sides and boarded doors, with small windows between them, 
Orchids, Ferns, and fine-foliaged plants luxuriate, thus showing 
that houses with side lights are not needed by plants of this nature, 
the light from the roof being ample, while fuel is economised and 
a moist genial atmosphere maintained. Overlooking the glass 
is Mr. Smith’s commodious residence, the walls of which are 
entirely covered with the thick glossy foliage of Rmgner’s Ivy, 
which is rarely seen so fine, and adjoining are the garden offices, 
fruit-rooms, seed-rooms, &c., all excellently arranged, and com¬ 
fortable bothies for the under gardeners contiguous. 
Proceeding to the mansion we pass a hardy fernery pleasingly 
formed in a nook in the woods, the very place in which Ferns delight. 
It is surprising what can be done with a few loads of soil and 
stones thrown up under trees in a series of irregular mounds, 
with curving paths between, when taste and good judgment are 
exercised in the arrangement. Here the Ferns have been planted 
in groups of species and varieties, not the whole regularly dotted 
and mixed in a weak diluted manner that should never be seen 
in ferneries of this nature. Emerging into the open is an old- 
fashioned garden filled with herbaceous plants, the beds, though 
on grass, being also edged with Box, and here and there are fine 
clumps of Arundo conspicua with large feathery plumes. On the 
right is the rosery, which was figured and the planting of the 
beds described in the Journal a few years ago. The walk con¬ 
ducts to the subtropical garden, which is reached through a 
bowery mass of Bambusa Metake. This is a charming spot with 
its central lawn and fine Conifers, the surrounding shrub-clad 
banks relieved with masses of Cannas, Daturas, Pilumneas, 
Wigandias, and plants of that nature. But the most beautiful 
bed of all was furnished with standard plants of Abutilon vexil- 
larium in a carpet of Sedum glaucum. This Abutilon grown as 
indicated produces an effect totally distinct from anything else, 
and rich as it is elegant, by the hundredsof scarlet and yellow flowers 
hanging bell-like from the mottled sprays. Such plants are easily 
produced by grafting, and are extremely ornamental. This garden, 
once an old gravel pit, is now one of the most agreeable features of 
Mentmore, and is altogether most enjoyable. 
Almost skirting it is the village entrance to the grounds—a 
noble drive with lawn embankments crowned with Conifers and 
flowering trees and shrubs. Where the drive enters the pleasure 
grounds the left bank terminates in a spur which is occupied by a 
life-size model in bronze by the eminent sculptor Boehm of a 
favourite horse of the late Baron, standing in a group of Pampas 
Grass and partially hidden by a forest of great white plumes, the 
effect from the mansion and distant part of the grounds being 
very striking. On the right of the drive and skirting it is a 
double row closely planted of Junipers and Cypresses, standing 
like sentinels, with a margin of dwarf evergreens next the road 
and a background of "Laburnums, Lilacs, &c., in front of a mass of 
Pines, the Corsican having proved the quickest grower of all. On 
the lawn are beds of Rhododendrons and Azaleas. The park 
formerly reached almost to the south terrace, but now Mr. Smith 
is engaged in enclosing several acres and planting them orna¬ 
mentally, and of the many improvements that have been effected 
this will probably be the greatest. The pleasure grounds were 
certainly disproportionate with the splendid mansion, which needed 
a broader-dressed base to show it to the best advantage, and this it 
will now have. The Italian flower gardens are on the west side of 
the building, and the character of one of them at least, for there 
are two, may be gathered from the engraving (fig. 79, page 481). 
In this the marble vases and statuary are such as are seldom seen 
in gardens, and with the masses of flowers and boundary Yew 
hedges a typical example of this style of gardening is produced. 
The other panel contains fountains and sloping banks of ever¬ 
greens—Mahonia aquifolia relieved with corner masses of Aucu- 
bas. From these terraces and the mansion grand views over an 
undulated park of 1400 acres are obtained. This comprises some 
of the richest land in the kingdom, hence the rapid growth of the 
distant new plantations and the fine old timber trees in the imme¬ 
diate foreground. The view is bounded by the Chilterns, and 
altogether is boldly and variedly picturesque. This mere skeleton 
description of this imposing residence and its surroundings must 
suffice, for we must dwell for a moment on the kitchen gardens, 
to which we now return. 
Quite as much care is bestowed here as on the ornamental 
department. There are no decaying crops, no weeds, no patchi¬ 
ness, but everything is orderly. A systematic arrangement of 
crops and ground-preparation is apparent at a glance, and closer 
inspection only shows the excellent culture more clearly. It was 
the high condition of the kitchen garden at Exton that impressed 
an influential horticulturist with Mr. Smith’s ability, and by that 
he lost nothing. Immediately a crop is cleared off the strong 
ground is ridged, it being w r ell known that the summer aeration 
of such soil is as beneficial as the frost of winter. Practically all 
the “ winter digging” was completed in October. Amongst other 
crops a trial of Brussels Sprouts showed that the true old imported 
variety that was common a quarter of a century ago, and which 
was not obtained without difficulty, is the best of all; the large 
“ improved” sorts are soft and coarse in comparison. It is a pity 
that a vegetable so excellent as this should almost have been 
improved out of existence. Of Strawberries a trial is beffig con- 
