522 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 7, 1882. 
intermixing and depending gracefully give to the whole a natural 
and perfect finish. 
Descending from the conservatory to the terrace, whence fine 
views of grassy slopes, noble trees, and charming vistas are 
obtained, one of the latter—due west, with the church in the 
distance, whither a broad walk or drive leads first over the orna¬ 
mental bridge which spans the lake within GO yards of the man¬ 
sion, and is built on a series of arches—being especially worthy 
of passing notice. In the immediate vicinity of this bridge are 
fine masses and trees of Yew (Taxus baccata), Weeping Birch 
(Betula pendula), Purple Beech (Fagus purpurea), &c., which I 
may add are effectively reflected in the pellucid waters in the 
foreground, and, together with the masses and variety of colour 
in the flower garden, and the expanse of rich green lawn close by, 
make a picture which for beauty of outline and variety of subject 
has few, if any, superior to it in the country. 
The flower garden, which is geometrically laid out and capitally 
kept, is situate opposite the south and east fronts of the mansion. 
The beds were well filled with select varieties of plants, which 
were flowering profusely, and the combined effect of which fully 
demonstrated that the colours had been judiciously arranged ; and 
the same may be said of the carpet bedding, which was very 
effective, and confined to a bed 90 feet long and 10 feet wide, 
running east and west in the direction of the low wooden foot¬ 
bridge, which is about 100 yards south of the one referred to 
above, and from which pretty peeps of scenery both under and 
above the latter are obtained—scenery which the pencils of a 
couple of fair artists were at the time assiduously transferring to 
their sketch books. Although the flower garden cannot be said 
to be a large one, it is stated that forty thousand plants are re¬ 
quired for its embellishment every year. Before leaving the 
flower garden and grounds I may remark that they contain a few 
good Coniferm, including Cryptomeria elegans, Taxodium dis- 
tichum, Wellingtonias, also some fine specimens of Elm and 
Beech ; and at the west side of one of the bridges already men¬ 
tioned, and which we cross to get to the kitchen gardens, is a 
summer house designed by Sir Christopher Wren which is said to 
contain a choice collection of old china, and to be two hundred 
years older than the mansion. 
Leaving the flower garden and proceeding in a south-westerly 
direction, we come to the kitchen gardens, passing on the way 
thither several interesting spots, and which, together with Mr. 
Mead’s cottage and the glass houses, are situate a short distance to 
the right inside the Shrivenham entrance to the park ; in which I 
may remark are some fine trees, walks, and glades, through which 
pleasant peeps of distant scenery—including “WhiteHorse HilJ,” 
six miles off—are obtained, and the branches of spreading trees 
prevent their being seen from the carriage drive. 
The kitchen gardens, in three divisions, cover an area of I acres. 
The soil is a sandy loam inclining to clay, resting on a bed of the 
latter, and they are well and judiciously cropped with vegetables 
and fruit trees, which are also grown in this department, and, like 
trees in the generality of places this year, thinly cropped. Nearly 
two thousand heads of Celery are grown in beds containing four 
rows each. 
Glass Department .—The first range we entered consists of two 
vineries planted with Black Hamburgh and Muscat of Alexandria, 
which were carrying good crops of average-sized and well- 
finished bunches. The next we came to is a span 90 feet long, 
and in three divisions, and running east and west, the first division 
being used for supplying winter Cucumbers ; the second for stove 
plants, including Orchids for decorative purposes, the roof of 
this compartment being draped with well-flowered plants of 
Stephanotis floribunda, Clerodendron Balfourianum, and Bougain¬ 
villea glabra; and the third division, south side, was about to be 
filled with good varieties of winter-flowering Pelargoniums (250 
plants), and the north side with such good free-flowering winter 
plants as Bouvardias Pentas carnea rosea (a perpetual-flowering 
plant), Begonias, Eranthemums, Gesnerias, Justicias, Libonias, 
Poinsettias, Primulas, Cinerarias (two hundred plants of each), 
and Cyclamens. This division during the summer months, while 
the winter-flowering plants are being grown-on in pits and frames, 
is devoted to the culture of Tomatoes and Cucumbers. Leaving 
this range we entered another span, which is devoted to the growth 
of Azaleas, &c., for conservatory decoration, and close by are 
three pits for Strawberry, Melon, and early Tomato culture, and 
in one of which I noticed a fine batch of Amaryllis Sir John 
Franklin (fifty large bulbs) just coming into flower for the em- 
belli-hment of the conservatory, and for which purpose this 
variety as grown by Mr. Meads is admirably adapted. A short 
distance northward of this house is a Peach case 100 feet long, 
and planted with the following excellent and well-tested varieties 
■ y i z -> Peaches : Royal George, Grosse Mignonne, Bellegarde, and 
Barrington ; Nectarines : Elruge and Hardwicke Seedling, all in 
fine condition and carrying good crops of large handsome fruit. 
Tomatoes President Garfield and Dedham Favourite are grown in 
jtots along the front of this case, their growth being restricted so 
as not to exclude any light from the Peach and Nectarine trees, 
which are planted and trained in the usual way against the back 
wall, which is somewhat low. 
Frame Ground .—A brick pit and sundry frames on hotbeds are 
used for the production of early vegetables and Violets (Marie 
Louise), which, as in most places, are in great demand at Beckett, 
as evinced by the fact that a cold pit 100 feet long and three 
four-light frames are devoted to their culture. Chrysanthe¬ 
mums (two hundred plants in 12-inch pots), Tea Roses, Tree Car¬ 
nations, Eupatoriuras, Salvias, Richardias, &c., which are now 
doing good service in the conservatory, were also located in this 
quarter ; and a short distance off are situated the summer and 
winter Mushroom bouses, fruit-rooms, and potting-sheds. 
In concluding this notice of the gardens and grounds attached 
to Beckett House, over which Mr. W. Meads has presided during 
the last seven years with credit to himself and satisfaction to his 
employer, I may be allowed to state that Lord Barrington’s kind¬ 
ness in throwing open on many occasions his park and grounds 
for fetes and flower shows, &c., is highly appreciated by the resi¬ 
dents of the surrounding districts ; and for the good of horticul¬ 
ture and the community at large I would here express a hope 
that those occupying a similar position to Lord Barrington may, 
upon the perusal of these notes, be induced to follow the good 
example thus set by his lordship.—H. W. W. 
[Accompanying these notes were two photographs, but our 
excellent correspondent will, we think, admit that neither of them 
is quite equal to the engraving which we had prepared in 1873, 
and which has certainly not been seen by many hundreds who 
have become readers of the Journal since that time, including 
possibly the present successful gardener at Beckett, Mr. Meads.] 
DEW IN HOTHOUSES. 
Your correspondent “ Casual ” quotes a part of the following 
sentence from me which occurs on page 447 of No. 1781 :—“ The 
temperature does not decrease so rapidly as that outside, owing 
to the presence of a warming apparatus and the screen of wood¬ 
work, glass, and foliage, which checks radiation, so that what is 
generally called the dew-point is not actually reached,” and 
argues from this that I imagine the dew-pomt both indoors and 
out is at some fixed point of the thermometer. I do not under¬ 
stand how the passage will bear this construction. 
The word “generally” is used because I am at that time speak¬ 
ing of dew-formation as it occurs from a falling temperature (the 
rules for finding out the point at which this occurs may be seen in 
any text book on the subject), as distinct from that which takes 
place with a rising temperature, and which is of the most import¬ 
ance to gardeners, but is not enlarged on in any text book I 
have seen. 
Let me assure “ Casual ” that it is of little use for a man to 
commence indoor gardening till he has a slightly better knowledge 
of the subject than I am given credit for possessing. Your 
correspondent acknowledges that he does not understand the 
second conditions I mentioned under which dew is formed (not 
by different laws, mind), and I am obliged to come to the con¬ 
clusion that he equally fails to understand what I meant to convey 
in the sentence quoted. I am as much disappointed about this 
on my own account as on his, for I always endeavour to be clear 
if I cannot always be correct; and if I have not made my meaning 
clear to practical readers I shall be happy to return to the subject, 
and will do my best to answer any queries which may be sent to 
me through the medium of the Editor, but I do not care to fill 
pages of this Journal unnecessarily with elementary matters, such 
as may perhaps be found better explained in school books than it 
is possible for me to explain them.— Wm. Taylor. 
Potato Starch. —The average consumption of Potato starch in 
the United States is estimated at from 8000 to 10,000 tons, and 
careful computations place the product for this year as follows :— 
Maine, 4000 tons; New York, 2500 tons; other sections, 500 tons : 
total, 7000 tons. These figures may be increased so as to bring the 
total up to 8000 tons, but it is not likely to go above that amount. 
In addition to the factories mentioned above there are five located on 
Prince Edward’s Island, whose product for this year is estimated at 
12,000 tons. This starch will probably find a market in Canada, and 
very little, if any, will come to this country. In addition to the 
7000 or 8000 tons which will be the yield of our own factories there 
were at the beginning of the season 2000 tons on hand in small lots 
which had been carried over from last year, some of it being several 
