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32 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ January 11, 1883. 
lacea, a large-fronded graceful species ; and Pelltea DoniaDa, 
with long pinnate leaves, are the best, and all are worth a 
place wherever Ferns are appreciated. 
STRAWBERRY BANKS. 
At this season of the year alterations and improvements are 
being carried out in many gardens. One such that may well re¬ 
ceive attention now is a bank for early Strawberries. Sloping to 
the south at a sufficiently acute angle to derive full benefit from 
every ray of early summer sunshine, and planted with Black 
Prince if it is a small bank, but if large enough half should be 
given to Keen’s Seedling or any other favourite early sort. There 
is no question that ripe fruit may be had from a warm sheltered 
sunny bank a week or two before it is ready upon open flat 
spaces. Why, then, are such banks so few ? Making one in pro¬ 
portion to the size of any garden is no great affair, and if made 
in the right place it has certain advantages worthy of attention. 
Has your garden no wall, but only an unproductive hedge or 
fence surrounding it 1 Throw up a bank instead in the form of a 
ridge, plant the outer slope with shrubs and the inner slope with 
Strawberries, and you gain the triple advantage of early Straw¬ 
berries, increasing shelter, and an ornamental enclosure. Or 
have you a little frame ground wherein you make hotbeds of 
fermenting materials, which it is highly important should be 
screened from cold winds 1 Enclose it with a ridge, which may 
be covered with Strawberries, early sorts having the south slopes, 
intermediate sorts the west, and late ones the north and east, and 
you have a succession of crops which must prolong the season of 
this desirable fruit. 
Due care being taken to enrich the bank with a heavy dressing 
of manure, the earliest runners must be pegged in 3-inch pots of 
very rich soil, such as old leaf soil or an old hotbed, in order to 
secure enough strong plants for planting the bank as early in 
July as possible. Do this as well as you can ; see that the plants 
do not suffer from drought, but are kept growing freely till 
autumn, and you will be rewarded by a good crop of fine fruit 
next year ; but if the planting is not done till August it will be 
vain to hope for fruit till the second year. Let the plants be a 
foot apart every way the first year, and immediately after the 
fruit is picked hoe up every alternate plant so as to have the 
remainder 2 feet apart the second year. This is done to let every 
plant enjoy the full play of light and air on every side, for it 
is impossible to obtain very early fruit from plants crowded . 
thickly together, or when the fruit is much shaded by foliage.— 
A Kentish Gakdenek. 
AN AMATEUR’S HOLIDAY. 
The excellent observations of “ Excelsior ” on “ Gardening Past, 
Present, and Future,” in a recent issue of the Journal, have received 
the attention they deserve. His advice should be laid to heart 
by all who desire success in horticulture. In a few instance, 
I found gardens affected by the adverse times to which he alludes ; 
but other causes sometimes operate. Attached to the remains of one 
of our former royal residences is a garden with every nook of which 
I was familiar in boyhood. The whole was an appanage to an estate 
the possessor of which was endeared to all around him by every trait 
of a true gentleman. Under the gardener still in charge the gardens 
acquired a well-deserved name ; but subsequently others entered into 
possession. On my recent visit I found evil reports but too well 
founded. A fair estate so far despoiled, the mansion let to strangers, 
the gardens now shorn of their former attractions, and my friend, 
now grey in service and sad at heart, struggling to maintain in the 
gardens what appearance he could with the feeble aid of those who 
under the former rbgime would long ere now have been relieved from 
labour and care. On another estate a few miles removed I visited 
another garden equally well known, where still labours one to whom 
I was indebted for many a little treasure in those days. What a 
contrast! So hale and hearty was my old friend I could scarcely 
believe that nearly twenty years had passed since last we stood 
together among his Dahlias and other favourites cherished still as 
then; but in attachment to his aged master and his family, in the 
absence of all anxiety as to the present or the future, lay the grand 
elixir that had so defied time and kept him but little changed. 
EAST LOTHIAN. 
I know no part of Scotland where a few days can be more pleasantly 
spent than in the beautiful county of East Lothian. Places and 
objects of varied interest abound everywhere. Gosford with its fine 
grounds and ponds stocked with waterfowl ; the still splendid Binning 
Woods, old Tantallon, and the Goblin Hall of Yester, both familiar 
to readers of Sir Walter’s “ Marmion the venerable “Lamp of 
Lothian,” Hailes Castle, associated with Bothwell and Mary—turn 
where we will, beauty, history, or romance arrests us. At Whitting- 
hame, another residence of Bothwell, where part of the old tower 
and the original gateway are still to be seen, an immense Yew com¬ 
mands attention. It covers a space of about 100 feet in diameter, 
and must be nearly 00 feet in height. Under it, it is said, Bothwell, 
Morton, and others concocted the murder of the ill-starred Darnley. 
A specimen of the Eucalyptus is near by, which nearly perished in 
the winter of 1800, but has subsequently produced five or six stems, 
and has now attained considerable size. At Smeaton is. the finest 
specimen of Picea nobilis I have seen, about 70 feet in height. The 
pleasant county town, Haddington, boasts one of the oldest lodges 
of the Ancient Fraternity of Free Gardeners in the country. Age 
has certainly not brought debility. More enthusiastic horticulturists 
than the present worthy brethren it would not be easy to find. The 
district abounds in fine gardens, although one or more suffer at 
present from the crippled resources to which “ Excelsior ” refers. 
These deserve more than this passing notice. 
In one or two, notably at Gilmerton and Stevenson, I found such 
crops of Apples and Pears as have been very rare this season. Gil¬ 
merton is well known for its hardy fruits, Mr. Brunton invariably 
coming to the front with these and others at our leading shows. At 
Stevenson I have never missed first-class bedding, and Mr. McLean’s 
work in this and in ribboning was the best I met throughout my 
ramble. But what pleased me most perhaps were his mixed borders. 
In these the choicer herbaceous plants were judiciously interspersed 
with Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, Sweet Williams, and Pinks, the 
result being one of the most pleasing combinations I have seen. My 
herbaceous borders have as yet failed to please me. I obtained many 
plants that turned out quite unsuitable to my object. Next follows 
turning these out, and with Mr. McLean’s borders as a model I may 
by-and-by come nearer to my ideal. His Tomatoes in pots were 
wonderful in number and size of fruit. His stuffed cat, now looking 
as if it deserved release from duty, he still holds to be a sufficient 
terror to birds. Tyninghame is pretty well known to your readers. 
I saw enough of the Phloxes and the fine herbaceous borders to make 
me regret that I had not called earlier so as to see them at their best. 
In no other part of the country have I seen such masses of Tritoma 
Uvaria. Even the cottages of the farm servants on the way towards 
Haddington were gleaming with the “ Eed-hot Poker.” I commend 
East Lothian to the attention of those who, interested in horticulture, 
have not yet made acquaintance with it. 
AEDOCH. 
In another county, Perthshire, the famous Roman camp at Ardoch 
attracts many visitors annually. I have no doubt that such of your 
readers as have been there know that immediately adjoining can be 
seen a garden of moderate size but of high excellence. Among other 
things the mention of Dahlias and Hollyhocks has for years to my 
mind suggested Ardoch, where Mr. Dingwall grows these, as he does 
whatever he attempts, very satisfactorily. He still clings to the 
latter with a devotion that late difficulties cannot overcome. About 
a mile to the west lies Fedall, where in little over three years part of 
a moor has been converted into a garden well worth seeing now 
when yet incomplete. The proprietor, Mr. Stewart, is one of “ Excel¬ 
sior’s” “ liberal-minded gentlemen who do not grudge the expense,” 
and the abilities of Mr. Dingwall have therefore had full scope. I 
daresay it is rare to find two brothers in charge so closely adjoining ; 
it is not, I hope, so rare to find between two gardeners a friendly 
difference as to which serves the best employer. The extensive 
houses at Fedall seem most complete. The divisions between these 
are of thick glass. Of this Mr. Dingwall approves most highly, and 
considers that the ripening of the wood of Peaches, Nectarines, &c., 
trained against these glass partitions is of itself enough to justify 
the extra outlay of about one-third in their erection. I was at once 
on entering the vineries with their abundant crops struck with the 
sweetness and freshness of the atmosphere. I observed that the hot- 
water pipes entered through open squares of brick, by which air 
heated in passing over the flues was freely flowing, while the lights 
in every house were to be seen, the fires being at a little distance and 
out of sight. The situation of Fedall is an exposed one, and some 
time must elapse before trees will afford their share of protection 
now so far secured by high and substantial walls. 
ROSES AT DUNKELD. 
I embraced an opportunity of visiting Dunkeld. Seldom have I 
enjoyed two hours as I did those spent with Mr. Gray among his 
Roses. In “ Roses in the Perthshire Highlands ” in last “ Rosarians’ 
Year Book ” he described, as no one else could, how he has responded 
to the question “ Hoo can ye expek to keep a coo on a presipis ? ” 
not indeed by attempting to keep the “ coo ” there, but by converting 
that very precipice into a unique and beautiful Rose garden. In 
that article the confessed disciple of the Rev. Canon Hole certainly 
“ revelled in refuse and danced on his dunghill with delight.” The 
outcome of his labours, of his “ dainty viands,” his “ Dunkeld 
whisky,” his “ Highland blankets,” is there to see in such a rosery 
as could be looked for only from an enthusiasm that could inspire 
that article, and conceive and compass the subject of it. At the close 
Mr. Gray has indicated pretty accurately “Roses that are not 
trumps ” with a good many as well as himself, and I trust he will 
let us know some others that he has tested fairly and found to be 
not winning cards in Scotland. His opinions on this point will, I 
presume to say, be corroborated by others, and would be useful to 
young amateur rosarians in the north. But few are privileged to 
gather experience from such a collection as his, embracing then 
two thousand Perpetuals and five hundred Teas, which number is now 
