October 14,1880. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 347 
thus describes the effects of the recent hurricane last month :— 
“At the Cinchona plantation, besides damage to buildings and 
sheds of about £650, nurseries and seed beds have suffered so 
much as to reduce the stock of available seedlings from some¬ 
thing like 500,000 down to 80,000. At the plantations vege¬ 
tation is so literally swept away that only here and there can we 
see a standing tree. There is not a leaf left on either the in¬ 
digenous or Cinchona trees. After a careful inspection we have 
estimated that 20,000 Cinchona trees of all ages have been up¬ 
rooted, or so severely damaged that they must be immediately 
barked. Out of the small garden at Castleton, covering only 
about 5 or 6 acres, fifty-five trees were destroyed, and ninety- 
eight severely injured. Out of the trees severely injured— i.e., 
probably blown quite down and put up again with trimmed 
limbs and supports, I found the Para-rubber Mangosteen, Tonquin 
Bean, Cam Wood, Olive, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, East Indian Mango, 
Chocolate, Liberian Coffee, &c. Even if they live we shall get 
no fruit from them during the next season, and we shall be unable 
to supply plants in great demand for some time. The Parade 
Garden, Kingston, felt the hurricane greatly, but as we had 
nothing there except ornamental trees and shrubs, we hope to 
recover our losses soon. The Cocoa Nut plantation at the Pali- 
sadoes had sixty-one bearing trees blown down, and forty-one 
rather young ones just coming into bearing. The Old Bath 
Garden has also shared in the general injury. The fine old Cinna¬ 
mon Tree, the Camphor Tree, and the Pinus are down. The 
King’s House Gardens and grounds have fortunately escaped 
much injury.” 
TUBEROUS BEGONIAS AS BEDDING PLANTS. 
I HAVE not known the value of the Tuberous Begonia as a 
bedding plant until this summer. Having been successful I ti'ust 
a few cultural notes will not be ont of place in your valuable 
Journal. During the season the Begonias in my estimation have 
far surpassed the scarlet Pelargoniums in general effect, and now 
(October 6th) there is not a bloom on the Pelargonium, yet the 
Begonias are as gay as at any time during the summer. All the 
plants bedded out were raised from seed sown on September the 
2nd, 1879, and January 2nd, 1880. I find no advantage from sowing 
in the autumn, as the plants thus obtained lose their leaves and 
rest for six or seven weeks, whereas those from the January 
sowing have grown on without rest, and were when planted out 
(June 8th) quite as strong and forward as those from the Septem¬ 
ber sowing. My mode of culture is to sow in heat early in 
January, and when the seedlings are large enough prick them off 
into pans or boxes 2 inches apart, let them remain in heat until 
the beginning of May, when they may be gradually hardened off 
and planted out at the beginning of June. 
The chief secret of success is, after the seed is sown never allow 
the soil to become dry, and keep all insects from the young plants, 
for if allowed to become infested w T ith aphides the plants will never 
thrive until that pest is destroyed by the usual means. If the 
summer is hot and dry the beds must have copious supplies of 
water, as I find the plants are very impatient of drought. I 
strongly recommend the best varieties for pot culture, but for 
bedding purposes the more common drooping varieties are most 
suitable. If the old plants are required for another year they can 
be lifted and kept similarly to Dahlias, but they should be potted 
as soon as growth commences in the spring. I may mention that 
we place the plants in the beds about 6 to 8 inches apart, as in 
that case they help to support each other.— Jas. Child, Garb rand 
Ilcdl. 
TWO KENTISH GARDENS. 
Not grand show places—not places presided over by a grand 
gardener versed in all the “ ologies,” and doing everything on 
scientific principles—not gardens resplendent in all the glories of 
bedding-out and carpeting on the most approved or most fantastic 
principles—but gardens which owe their origin and their present 
beauty to the loving care of the owners, who have brought to 
their creation the culture of well-stored minds, of an intelligent 
sense of real beauty, and of a most thoroughly artistic taste ; 
where at every step you see some novel feature, some glimpse of 
real beauty ; where, not as in some gardens, a few minutes enables 
you to take in the whole at a glance ; but where for a long day 
you might delight yourself with the varied efforts of thorough 
taste and love of Nature in her best and brightest moods. These 
are the gardens of which I would now write ; and when I say that 
one of them is that of Mr. Harrison Weir, all who know him or who 
have had the pleasure of reading his many contributions to the 
Journal, will at once be ready to believe that I write in no spirit 
of exaggeration. 
It was on one of those lovely September days with which we 
have been lately favoured that I accepted the oft-repeated invi¬ 
tation of my excellent friend Mr. Harrison Weir, a name so dear 
to all who love animals, and especially to the boys and girls of 
England who have rejoiced over his loving sketches of their pets. 
The invitation was accompanied by a message from Major Horrocks 
that I would visit him on my way, and in these two gardens I saw 
much that would delight any lover of a garden, and where I learned 
much of interest and value to horticulture, and which I should be 
glad of if I could convey even a portion of to my readers. No 
two gardens could possibly be more distinct, although they are 
both guided by the same spirit. One is on a dead level, where all 
the effects are due to art; the other stands on a lovely hill, whose 
undulations have done much for it, and whose surroundings are 
those of real woodland beauty. And although I can give but a 
very imperfect idea of them both, yet I may perhaps interest some 
of my readers and encourage others who imagine that unless their 
gardens are favourably placed by Nature it is vain to attempt to 
make a beautiful garden. 
Mascalls, the residence of Major Horrocks, is situated in the 
parish of Brenchley (where, by-the-by, Gladiolus brenchleyensis 
was raised), about a mile from the Paddock Wood station of the 
South-Eastern Railway. The house is an admirable adaptation 
of an old-fashioned farmhouse to the requirements of modern life. 
The character of the house has been retained, and the additions 
which have been made to it have been most judiciously effected. 
A very handsome dining-room and other rooms have been built at 
the back, but the front of the house retains quite its old character. 
When, thirteen years ago, it came into the possession of its present 
owner, it was simply a flat field with only a few trees on it; and 
although farm and orchard had been well looked after, gardening 
had been little thought about. Major Horrocks’ first interview 
with the gardener, who has been some forty years on the place, 
was not encouraging. “ There, I don’t want you to come here a 
meddling with me !” was the response to some observations he 
had made ; and yet this rough diamond has proved a veritable 
gem, with an excellent eye for colour, arrangement, and form, 
and has been a most valuable assistant to his master in carrying 
out his plans. The first question to be decided was, of course, how 
to lay it out. The high road ran at the bottom about a furloug 
off. This must be planted out, the space between must be arranged : 
but how ? Ordinary gardeners would have said, and friends did 
advise, placing a number of flower beds close by the house, on 
which to look from the windows. Not so thought Major Horrocks. 
He pushed all his beds into the distance, and had a wide expanse 
of lawn before the house. By this means the view is not shut in, 
air and light are about the house, and the eye rests on the shrubs 
and beds on the distant part of the lawn. 
On entering the place from the road we are at once arrested by 
a bed on which were four fine plants of Brugmansia suaveolens, 
6 feet high, and most conspicuous by their fine foliage and lovely 
white flowers. Then on this same side of the house, from whence 
there is not, nor can be, any view, there is a very remarkable 
piece of rockwork, on which are planted a large number of the 
best varieties of Sedums and Saxifrages ; and plunged in their 
pots amongst these very profusely a large number of remarkable 
succulents, Cacti, Azaleas, &.C., which make, combined with one 
or two other plants interspersed here and there, a very remarkable 
bed. On the side of the drive up to the house one Agave was 
planted singly in small beds surrounded with Cerastium or other 
small bedding plants; while on the side of the house Abutilons, 
Clematises, and many handsome plants contributed to hide bare 
walls and to add colour and beauty to the scene. In a shed close 
by I saw two large plants of Camellias which, owing to some 
freak, were now in full bloom to the great disappointment of the 
owner. 
As it would be impossible for me to give in detail the various 
combinations which Major Horrocks has made to give beauty of 
outline and colour to his gardens, I will just note one bed which 
I have called the Artichoke bed. In the centre of the bed there 
is a clump of Pampas Grass surrounded by four plants of Ricinus 
with its bronzy leaves, and five plants of the large Poppy, Papaver 
orientalis, which flower in June and then die down, when their 
place is taken by the Ricinus. Between each Artichoke (the 
Green Globe variety) are three plants of the tall-growing Age- 
ratum, then a circle of variegated Iris and an edging of London 
Pride, with some plants of Geraniums of various colours at the 
back of the Iris ; then there is a row of Crocus between the Iris 
and the London Pride. It will be seen from this arrangement 
that a continuous filling of the bed is provided for, and that as 
the earlier-blooming plants die down their places are supplied by 
others. Then there is another bed with a variegated Maple in the 
centre, and with a mixed collection of plants round it, which 
