JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 2, 1880. ] 
209 
are also grown, all widely separated. All the Brocccdis are grown 
of their full size for seeding, and every plant rejected that shows the 
slightest variation from the standard type. A very large breadth of 
Veitch’s Red Globe Turnip will, it is expected, secure seed for all 
applicants, many of which have hitherto been disappointed in obtain¬ 
ing a supply of this fine variety. The extensive breadths of Beet 
tell how great is the demand for this vegetable, Nutting’s Selected 
being the most popular of all, and consequently grown in the 
largest quantity. Seakale is in abundance, and the supply of roots 
for forcing will, according to present appearances, be both plentiful 
and good. 
Of Potatoes, all are more or less affected with disease with the 
single exception of St. Patrick. Prince Arthur, however, a fine 
variety, which received a first-class certificate from the Royal 
Horticultural Society, was but slightly touched. Early Rose, 
Grampian, Lapstone, Schoolmaster, and several other sorts were 
turned up, none of which had escaped the malady; hut of St. 
Patrick, of which several roots were examined, not one Potato was 
found to be affected in the slightest degree. This Potato is very 
prolific; the tubers are very large, well-shaped, and excellent for 
eating purposes. St. Patrick is an American variety, sent out 
last year in England for the first time, and it will probably be 
largely grown when it is better known by English, Scotch, and 
Irish cultivators. Many other crops beside those mentioned are to 
be found in the vegetable department, and all are in a satisfactory 
and flourishing condition. The soil, which is light and open, is 
well adapted for seed-growing, and all “rogues” among the seed 
beds are dragged out unmercifully, the utmost care being taken to 
keep the stocks select. 
And now we turn to the flowers, which are grown in large 
squares. Here a splendid bed of the blue Viola Magnificent, there 
a mass of pink Saponaria, and in the background large masses of 
Malope, Bartonia, Sweet Peas, and other showy and tall-growing 
annuals attract attention. A splendid bed of Indian Pinks, the 
flowers being of exceptional size and richness of colour. Nearly 
all are double, few, if any, being inferior, while some are decidedly 
better than the flower represented in fig. 46. For beds, borders, 
and cut flowers these easily grown varieties are very valuable. A 
bed of the beautiful French hybrid Leptosiphons, delightful little 
flowers of almost every shade, was a sparkling mass of colour. By 
the side of these are a fine collection of Ten-week Stocks, the 
flowers being of great size and nearly all double. Yonder is a bed 
of Nasturtium King of Tom Thumbs, the rich scarlet flowers form¬ 
ing a strong contrast to the beds of blue and yellow bedding Violas 
by their side. Near the latter are Antirrhinums, a fine selection of 
moderate growth, intermediate between the major and Tom Thumb 
types, and a bed of the pretty Viscaria oculata, one of the best of 
hardy annuals for either autumn or spring sowing, Tropseolum 
Lobbianum fulgens growing sturdily to the height of 4 feet and 
trained up stakes is very beautiful, and a dwarf variety selected 
from it is highly promising. Mignonette is largely grown, Miles’ 
Spiral, Giant Bed, Pyramidal, and others, some of the spikes being 
15 inches in length. Carnations from seed are exceptionally fine ; 
one plant raised from seed produces ten times more flowers than the 
florists’ varieties from layers, and where large quantities of cut 
flowers are in request seedling Carnations should not be forgotten. 
Nearly all the flowers are double, and the colours are rich and 
varied. One variety—Grenadin—has proved so valuable for its 
earliness and richness that it is being increased as freely as possible. 
Larkspurs, Clarkias, Canterbury Bells, including the new rose 
caly canthema, white Candytuft like masses of snow, Lobelias raised 
from cuttings, and other showy flowers are there that we cannot 
enumerate. We must not forget to mention a plantation of the 
New Japanese Irises—gorgeous varieties that will find their way 
largely into British gardens. They have just ceased flowering, but 
it is something to see that their growth is as free as their flowers 
are fine. The true old Brompton Stock is also here, a grand variety 
for both pots and borders. Here, as among the vegetables, all is 
neatness and regularity. Mr. Newby has made many good selec¬ 
tions of both flowers and vegetables, and in due time when all the 
land is under cultivation the proprietors of Langley Farm will no 
doubt have reason to regard it as amongst their most important 
acquisitions. 
ARAUCARIA IMBRICATA IN SCOTLAND. 
Whilst spending an agreeable holiday with some companions 
at a friend’s house in the Glenkens—a district of Kirkcudbright¬ 
shire—we were invited by Mr. France, the manager on Mrs. 
Yorstorm’s estate of Ballingear near Dairy, to inspect the grounds, 
which gave us an opportunity of seeing what we had often heard 
about, and what is considered in the district as the finest Araucaria 
in Britain. Certainly it was by far the best specimen of the kind 
we had ever seen. A note was taken of the measurements, which 
can be relied upon, and it may interest your readers to have a 
knowledge of the dimensions. Height, 38 feet; girth at 3 feet 
from the ground 5 feet, at 5 feet from the ground 4 feet 1 inch. 
Circumference of the lowest branches which trail along the ground, 
76 feet—curiously enough double its height. Its chief beauty lies 
in its extreme healthy condition, not a flaw from top to bottom. We 
forgot to ask if it had ever borne any cones. Adjacent is another, 
all but as fine as that described, and near to is a very fine specimen 
of the Wellingtonia. Beside a small lake is a Birch 7 feet in 
girth and of considerable height. There are besides many fine 
trees growing here and there through the grounds of great rarity. 
Any of your readers who may have a wish to inspect these 
Araucarias will, I am sure, receive every attention from Mr. France ; 
and I am certain a visit to Bullengear will be thought by most to 
be a treat of no ordinary kind, as it is so delightfully situated, 
and embraces nearly every adjunct of Scottish scenery—hills, 
defies, lochs, rivers, woods, glens, &c.—F. R. 
THE PARKS OF LONDON.—No. 1. 
Without the parks the great metropolis would be deprived of 
one of its finest features and striking and valuable characteristics ; 
and without the high keeping of those parks, and the diversity 
andttractiveness of their floral adornment, they would fall far 
short of their present and richly deserved popularity. The cost 
of maintenance of these parks is applied to a purpose in every 
way worthy, and in more than one respect immediately beneficial. 
They conduce to the health and education of the hundreds of 
thousands who visit them annually, and through the horticultural 
press exert a salutary influence on gardens large and small in 
every district of the'kingdom. They are managed by men of 
skill and taste, who, by their devotion to their duties and the ex¬ 
cellence of their work, are worthy of every encouragement by 
that department of the Government under which they are placed. 
Hundreds of gardeners visit the parks annually ; but as the great 
majority of them are unable to do so, some description of the 
more prominent beds will not be unacceptable, commencing with 
BATTERSEA PARK. 
Not only is the popularity of this extremely diversified and 
highly picturesque Park maintained, but appears to be ever in¬ 
creasing. It has never been so largely attended as during the 
present summer, and never was it more deserving of patronage. 
Owing to the great variety of plants employed there has been 
something to attract throughout the season, but the Park is per¬ 
haps just in the zenith of its beauty now. It is very easy to 
denounce any particular style of decoration—carpet bedding for 
instance, and the practice is rather common, especially by those 
who are not able to carry out the mode themselves. It is also too 
common to represent that this style of embellishment is almost 
exclusively practised in the parks. This is decidedly not the case 
at Battersea, where carpet beds have a comparatively small part 
