September 16, 1880. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 259 
Potatoes in the present year, and over a considerable portion of 
this vast area the disease has seriously affected the plant. To 
some extent this is the fault of the cultivators themselves. It is 
only by the large grower that the Potato has anything like 
scientific culture. In Ireland the great bulk of the crop is pro¬ 
duced by small farmers, who sow every second year in the same 
ground, use the smallest tubers for seed, and take no precautions 
whatever against blight. The same may be said of the great mass 
of the smaller growers in England and Scotland. They go on 
with the same variety long after it has begun to degenerate, and 
make the worst part of one year’s crop the seed for the next year, 
and probably bury the diseased haulm in the Potato field itself.” 
The above remarks agree pretty well with mine, and the truth of 
them is borne out by the excellent crops obtained in Ireland this 
year, in consequence of the people having been supplied with a 
good sample of Scotch Champion, and as far as I can understand 
there will be double the produce they formerly obtained. 
Your Lincolnshire correspondent has read my book, it appears. 
I am very pleased to hear he has a copy, but I wish he would 
read it more carefully, for he would then see that on page G6 
Potatoes are only recommended to be planted 5 inches deep 
on light land, such as in the neighbourhood of the Cotswold 
Hills, and that on heavy land the reverse plan is reccommended. 
With regard to the merits or demerits of the book it is not for me 
to speak. It has been reviewed in several of the leading journals, 
and well spoken of. It has been adopted by the Irish Government 
as the official reference book as to the disease, and I have 
received letters of approval from all parts of England, which 
ought to be enough to satisfy anyone.— The Writer of “The 
Potato Disease and How to Prevent it.” 
A WEEK IN YORKSHIRE.—No. 2. 
OAKWORTH HOUSE — THE WINTER GARDEN. 
(Continued from page 241.) 
In my last notes on this extraordinary garden it was stated that 
Mr. Holden’s mansion was situated within a very short distance 
from the public road that traverses the village. This road skirts 
what in a flat district might be termed a range of hills. It will 
render the position intelligible to say that the road runs east and 
west, and on the right hand side, travelling westward, the ground 
rises somewhat abruptly to a considerable altitude ; on the left is 
the picturesque vale, in which Haworth is conspicuous with its 
new church and old spire. Oakworth House being immediately 
at the foot of the rising ground mentioned, and the winter garden 
being in the rear of the mansion, and the other glass structures 
again in the rear of the winter garden, it follows that to obtain 
the necessary levels a considerable extent of quarrying was 
requisite, for the hill is composed of a dense mass of Yorkshire 
stone. Had the ground whereon the horticultural edifices are 
erected been uniformly level the work done would have been of 
great magnitude ; but when we consider that the entire area of 
the winter garden had to be excavated out of the solid rock on 
one side or end to the depth of, apparently, from 15 to 20 feet, 
the undertaking appears to have been little short of stupendous— 
such an one that only a man who had spent a life in facing diffi¬ 
culties and conquering them could have entered on and carried 
it out so completely, thoroughly and successfully. 
To commence, then, with the erection of this large winter 
garden, which, as before mentioned, covers an area of nearly half 
an acre, the site had to be quarried to the extent indicated, the 
stone being in part utilised in the formation of the huge rockeries 
that have been previously alluded to. The building is square in 
form, or nearly so—a side entrance from the front being through 
arches of rocks between the mansion and chapel ; but the principal 
entrance is directly through the mansion, which is singularly 
complete, elaborate in its ornamentation, yet chaste and rich. 
Considering that the planting and furnishing of this winter 
garden was only commenced last autumn, its appearance cannot 
fail to astonish the visitor on obtaining his first glance of the 
interior. Five large beds occupy the central portion of the build¬ 
ing, and extend almost its entire length. On the margins of 
these beds the hot-water pipes are arranged, enclosed in ornamental 
gratings, coped with an iron cornice, the “walls” being about 
2 feet high. At intervals along the top are vases for groups of 
plants alternating with pillars or pedestals for individual speci¬ 
mens ; and between these, on the top of the walls or curbs, orna- 
mental-toliaged and flowering plants in pots are arranged. The 
vases are furnished with Yuccas, Ferns, a few flowering plants, 
and Tradescantia zebrina ; but ordinary flowering plants, such as 
Pelargoniums, See., are necessarily transient so far from the glass, 
especially in summer, and more of such plants with persistent and 
ornamental foliage will probably be found more satisfying. For 
the pedestals such plants as variegated Yuccas, Aloes, Euryas, 
Dasylirions, and others of the same nature would have a fine 
effect, and would improve yearly in value and beauty. Such 
plants are already represented, and in due time the number of 
them will be probably increased. Planted out in the beds are the 
permanent specimens—Palms, Cordylines, Cycadaceous plants, 
Tree Ferns, Camellias, Oranges, Sikkim Rhododendrons, varie¬ 
gated Euryas and Yuccas, Theophrastas, Araucarias, Acacias, Gre- 
villeas, See., with Eucalyptus globulus planted near the pillars, to 
which the trees are trained, and which are making rapid and 
healthy growth. The girders of the roof will eventually be covered 
with climbers, several of which have been planted, and some are 
making good progress. A structure of this kind affords suitable 
positions for a great variety of climbing pillar plants, of which the 
following are examples :—Of the Tacsonias, such as T. exoniensis, 
T. Yan-Yolxemi, and T. mollissima are all suitable ; and of the Passi- 
floras, Comte Nesselrode, Imperatrice Eugenie, and cserulea race- 
mosa are among the most useful. On the cool moist part of such 
a building Lapagerias would thrive, and in the lighter positions 
Clematises, Bignonias, Mandevilla suaveolens, and the fragrant 
Pergularia odoratissima, with Habrothamnuses ; Acacias dealbata, 
oleifolia elegans, and others ; Plumbagos, Rhynchospermums, 
Jasminums, Bomareas, &c. Some of these are already represented, 
and in due time such plants will have an elegant appearance. 
At the end opposite the mansion the effect is strikingly pic¬ 
turesque, original, and unique. The excavations were not carried 
to the extreme end of the building, but were stopped some 20 feet 
short of it, leaving the natural face of the rocks about as bold 
and rugged as the mind can imagine. With good taste in design¬ 
ing and careful execution of the work, a most imposing effect has 
been produced here. A chasm has been made to form the bed of 
a cascade, down which the water rushes, not in a smooth stream 
as if from a trough, but in a series of jumps and bounds, break¬ 
ing it up like a mountain torrent as it dashes into the pool below. 
On either side of this cascade are large caverns with dark and 
twisted passages—a cool hermit-like retreat, in striking contrast 
to the more artistic scene of the ornate building and its diversi¬ 
fied vegetation. In suitable positions at the front of this pre¬ 
cipice, and on ledges on its rugged face, are large plants growing 
freely—Phormium tenax variegatum, Latanias, Tree and other 
Ferns, Yuccas, and many others that it is not necessary to enume¬ 
rate. This boldly indented and broken face of rocks and vegeta¬ 
tion, which extends across the building, may possibly be about 
15 feet high, and on the top is what may be termed a balcony 
garden of considerable extent, and certainly original in design. 
This is reached by two twisting flights of rude stone steps, appear¬ 
ing as if hewn out of the solid rock—one flight on each side of 
the building; but we ascend to the balcony by another and a 
much longer route. 
It must be said now that the pleasure ground side of the winter 
garden is of glass from the roof almost to the ground, the other 
side being a wall of rocks. A great deal of this is artificial, but 
so admirably executed as to appear most natural. At the base 
are rough boulders that lie in the bed of a tortuous stream, 
which meanders along under the shade of Ferns. In this wall of 
rock large irregularly-shaped mirrors are embrasured at intervals, 
by which the entire garden is reflected, this apparently doubling 
its size and giving a tropical forest-like appearance to the scene. 
At the mansion end of the building we step across the stream, 
and a narrow path leads to a door in the side of the building. 
Near this door is apparently the weather-worn trunk of a huge 
Elm—an exact resemblance of a monarch of the forest, with its 
big arms sawn off at short distances from the trunk, the hollow 
extremities of which form receptacles for plants—Aspidistra 
lurida variegata, Aloes, and on the summit a fine specimen with 
large gracefully drooping fronds of Encephalartos ampliatus. 
Nearing the tree we find it not so old as it at first sight appeared, 
and instead of its having weathered the storms of centuries it had 
been raised in a few months by skilful French artists, for its sub¬ 
stance is cement. Passing partly round the gigantic trunk we find a 
fissure, just large enough to admit a man whose curiosity naturally 
impels him to enter. Inside he sees a sort of corkscrew arrange¬ 
ment of rough stones ; these he ventures to climb, to look out of 
the top of the remarkable cylinder, but reaching the summit he 
is surprised to find that he is by no means at the end of his 
journey. He finds himself at the end of a rocky parapet, his head 
nearly touching the roof ; and on he goes, now stepping across an 
apparent fissure, now on a boulder. He follows his irregular yet 
perfectly safe track, and looking down admiringly on the scene 
below and with feelings of astonishment at his position above he 
eventually finds himself in the balcony garden before mentioned 
at the opposite end of the building. This elevated portion is still 
a considerable distance from the roof, and there is ample height 
