December 21, 1882. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 575 
improved of late. The property possesses rare natural advantages, 
but much has been done to improve it since it came into Sir Peter’s 
possession. It is rare to find within so small an area so much of what 
constitutes the charm of a residential estate. By judicious arrange¬ 
ment a large extent of pleasure ground has been formed and flower 
gardens laid out, while ornamental trees and shrubs have been skil¬ 
fully planted in suitable places for effect. Pleasant winding walks 
have been made through the woods and along both sides of “ bonny 
Doon,” these being connected by means of a light and graceful bridge 
spanning the river. Lawn tennis and other recreation grounds have 
been laid out amid charmingly picturesque surroundings. Artificial 
ponds have been constructed on the banks of the river, in which ex¬ 
periments have been carried on in the artificial hatching of salmon 
fry. The mansion is artificially lighted by means of gas manufac¬ 
tured from paraffin oil on the estate. The gas, I understand, is better 
than that from coal, and its manufacture is free from some of the 
disagreeable effects incident to ordinary gas-making. 
The kitchen and fruit gardens, vineries, Peach and plant houses 
lie to the left of the mansion on a somewhat higher level, and are 
screened from it by a plantation of trees and shrubs. The gardener’s 
house, a substantial new building, stands on a commanding position 
close to the kitchen garden. It is commodious (with rooms upstairs 
and down) and well fitted with bath-room and every other appliance 
calculated to give health and comfort. The forcing and plant houses 
stand all together in a large block. Some are span-roofed and some 
of them lean-to, and each house is divided by a glass partition, and 
connected by a door to the next, so that a person entering the first 
house can pass through all the others without the necessity of going 
outside. 
The first house in the range is a span-roofed plant stove 60 feet 
long by 22 feet wide, with raised bed in the centre for standing the 
plants on. It contained choice climbing and other plants. The 
climbers are planted out in the borders and trained over the roof ; 
treated in this way they do well. I have seldom seen better-grown 
plants of Allamanda Hendersonii and Bougainvillea glabra. They 
were flowering most profusely, and I was informed that they had 
been so for months. The centre bed and side stages are filled with 
large Palms, Perns, Crotons, Dracaenas, Eucharises, Cycas revoluta, 
and a general collection of stove plants. A small but choice selec¬ 
tion of Odontoglossums and other Orchids filled a portion of one of 
the side stages, all of which were clean and healthy. 
The second house is a half-span-roofed vinery 50 feet in length. It 
was planted some two years since with from two to three Vines each 
of the following varieties :—Gros Guillaume, Lady Downe’s Seedling, 
Alnwick Seedling, Black Alicante, Gros Colman, Black Hamburgh, 
and Foster’s Seedling. The Vines were bearing from one to two 
large bunches each of nicely finished fruit. They have made strong 
canes this year, and to judge from their health and general appear¬ 
ance they will produce some fine fruit next year. The portion of 
back wall in this bouse forming the half-span is covered with Vines 
of Gros Colman, which were bearing a heavy crop of medium-sized 
bunches and large finely coloured berries. 
The third house contains Melons, Figs, and plants. The Melons 
are planted out in a border in the usual way close to the front lights, 
and trained over one side of the roof. The plants occupy a stage on 
the other side, and the Figs the end wall and centre of the house. 
Auchendrane Hybrid and Strathsfieldy are the varieties of Melons 
generally grown here. Mr. Currie informed me that good crops of 
Melons and Figs were obtained annually from this house, and that 
the same atmospheric treatment seemed to suit both fruits. The 
fourth house is an early vinery—a lean-to—20 feet long by 14 feet 
wide, planted with Black Hamburgh and Foster’s Seedling. The 
fruit was all gathered some time before my visit, and the Vines were 
in good condition for forcing early next year. The fifth house is an 
octagonal greenhouse 24 feet by 24 feet, and 18 feet high, the roof of 
which is gracefully draped with climbing plants hanging down in 
long festoons of flowers. These consisted of Passiflora, Tacsonia, 
Bignonia, Lapageria, Acacia, and Mardchal Mel Rose, the latter 
worked on the Banksian Rose, and seemed to do remarkably well on 
this stock. The interior of the house was filled with large Camellias 
and a general assortment of healthy well-grown plants. 
The sixth house is a late vinery devoted entirely to the culture of 
Gros Guillaume. The Vines looked as if they were well cared for ; 
they were vigorous and clean, and bearing a good crop of highly 
finished fruit. In passing I might say that Mr. Currie informed me 
that none of the Vine borders were ever allowed to become dry at 
any time, and that they were freely watered at all stages of the 
Vine’s growth when they required it, which had the effect of keeping 
the leaves in a green and healthy state, and allowed of the canes 
getting thoroughly ripened before the foliage fell. The seventh 
house is devoted to Azaleas. It is a light and graceful structure, 
well adapted to the growth of plants of this kind. The inside is 
fitted up with stone stages for placing the plants on ; and part of the 
rafters here, as is the case in most of the plant houses, is covered 
with climbing plants, which give a finished effect to the house. At 
the time of my visit the Azaleas were undergoing a thorough syring¬ 
ing with a mixture of paraffin and water previous to being placed in 
their winter quarters. They were large pyramidal-trained plants 
from 6 to 8 feet high and well set with flower buds. The eighth and 
last house in this block is a small Peach house some 50 feet by 
9 feet, which calls for no special comment. All the houses were neat 
and orderly and scrupulously clean. 
At one time all the houses here were overrun with myriads of ants. 
They had increased in numbers to such an alarming extent that they 
ate and destroyed the best of the fruits, and if they had not been 
exterminated they would soon have destroyed all the plants in the 
houses. Mr. Currie tried every means he could hear or think of to 
destroy them, but to no effect. The case became serious, and it was 
just a question of whether the ants or the plants would have posses¬ 
sion of the houses. If the ants could not be destroyed they would 
be obliged to give up growing plants and fruits. Under these con¬ 
ditions Mr. Currie became desperate, and determined to flood the 
houses and borders with cold water and drown them out, even if it 
did injury to the Peach and Vine roots. After repeated and con¬ 
tinuous flooding he succeeded in destroying every ant in the houses. 
Immediately behind the houses are the young men’s rooms, potting 
sheds, stokeholes, seed room, Ac. An aviary has recently been erected 
on a level plot of ground between the gardens and the mansion. It 
is an ornamental building, and contains a choice collection of foreign 
birds of beautiful plumage. Attached to the aviary at each end is a 
small span-roofed greenhouse and a span-roofed plant stove, each 
20 feet in length. The greenhouse contained good specimen plants 
of Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, and others, besides an assortment of 
plants for cutting bloom from. A fine selection of the best Abutilons 
were grown in this house and trained up the rafters, which produced 
a constant supply of flowers to cut from. A little heat is kept on 
during the winter, as the demand for cut flowers here is great at all 
times. The plant stove contained neat little plants for table decora¬ 
tion. To the side of this house is a rustic cool fernery, which looks 
well, but it is found to be too much shaded and dark for the proper 
growth of Ferns, and will consequently be altered from its present 
state. 
There are two kitchen gardens of moderate size intersected by gravel 
walks. One is in front of the forcing houses, and the other in front 
of the gardener’s house. The ground in both is undulating. The 
soil is a light clayey loam, which produces good crops of vegetables 
and fruit; but the fruit crop, as far as Apples, Pears, and Plums are 
concerned, has been a failure this season, as in most other places. 
Besides fruit and vegetables great quantities of Carnations, Dahlias, 
and other flowers are grown in the kitchen garden to cut from during 
the summer. 
The flower garden lies a little to one side of the mansion on a broad 
lawn immediately above the Doon, from which a fine view can be had 
“of hill and dale, of wood and lawn, and of rock and river” in a most 
enjoyable atmosphere, away from the smoke and bustle of town life. 
—A. Pettigrew, Cardiff. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM SCEUR MELANIE. 
I should have replied earlier to the remarks of your corre¬ 
spondent Mr. C. Orchard, but was anxious to obtain as much 
accurate information as possible before doing so. I have obtained 
flowers of Sceur Melanie and compared them with the variety 
grown in this neighbourhood under the name of Souvenir de 
Malanche (not “ Melange,” as written on page 475 and 500 by 
your two correspondents), and am fully satisfied that they are 
identical. I found this variety here seven years ago, and its 
value then well established about Liverpool. Mr. Glover, late 
gardener at Lea Hall, Gateacre, obtained it about twelve or four¬ 
teen years ago from Mr. Morse of Dursley, by cuttings through 
the post, under the same name as it is now known by in this 
locality. I also find it is under the name of White Trevenna in 
some gardens. Some six or seven years ago, if my memory serves 
me right, the name Souvenir de Malanche appeared in Messrs. 
Cannell & Sons’ catalogue. Now the question arises, Which is 
the correct name of this variety, and how long has Soeur Melanie 
been in the market ? If the latter name was only given about 
three years ago, there can be no doubt that it is an old variety 
under a slightly altered name.— Wm. Bardney. 
[Sceur Melanie and White Trevenna are quite dissimilar, and 
undoubtedly distinct varieties.] 
ABUTILONS. 
In a recent issue of the Journal Mr. W. Bardney commented 
on the usefulness of Abutilons as winter-flowering plants, giving 
some valuable directions concerning their culture ; and the atten¬ 
tion he accords them they well deserve, for their utility is beyond 
all question, few plants continuing in flower over so long a 
period of the year, and requiring comparatively such little trouble 
to ensure their success. A few years ago the present race of 
hybrid Abutilons was quite unknown, and the past ten years 
have witnessed the production of nearly all the varieties now 
so highly appreciated in many gardens. Such species as A. 
striatum, A. venosum, and A. insigne have been long known, 
and these, with the distinct A. vexillarium or A. megapotamicum 
—a later introduction than the three former—had become well- 
