516 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[June 21,1885. 
as possible after they are turned out of the houses, in order to 
have them established as quickly as possible in the soil, and to 
avoid waste of time and labour in watering, which must be daily 
and copious if they are let stand about in pots. Planted early, 
they sometimes afford a little autumn fruit, but that is a trifling 
gain in comparison with the strong growth and heavy crop of 
fruit which rewards such timely culture in the following year.—L. 
A VILLA GARDEN, 
AND WHAT CAN BE DONE IN IT. 
Often a curious view of the tastes and circumstances of the 
dwellers in many a suburban villa is had when passing along one 
of the lines of railway which pass through the outlying parts of 
our great metropolis, and I have often been interested in seeing 
the way in which they are occupied. Here we find one who is 
decided on utilising, as he calls it, his bit of ground ; Cabbages, 
Peas, and the inevitable Scarlet Runner tell in which way his 
taste runs. We next find pets cherished ; and so rabbit hutches, 
pigeon boxes, and other contrivances fill up the allotted space. 
One dweller feels that in our tropical climate shade is desirable, 
and so he has planted some trees, which he soon finds fill up his 
plot and leave him no room for anything else ; while another, 
if he do not want to sit under his own Fig tree, pines for 
his own Apple tree, the productions of which tree he finds, how¬ 
ever, are considered fair game by some of the naughty boys of 
the neighbourhood. Then, again, the gardening tastes of the 
occupants vary. One is evidently impressed with the idea that 
he must bed out, and hence his small garden is one blaze of 
colour ; another is fond of a mixed border ; another is a grower 
of some special favourite flower, the cultivation of which does 
not add to the picturesqueness of his garden, and all of these 
are more or less successful in the pursuit of their favourite 
object; but I hardly think in the whole environments of our great 
metropolis there is a more successful case of what can be done 
in a small space than in the garden of my worthy co-Secretary 
of the National Rose Society, Mr. E. Mawley, at Lucknow House, 
Addiscombe ; and when we hear people complain of situation or 
soil or narrow limits, we can safely point to this garden, and tell 
them what it is and what success it has attained to. 
Now the garden here is just one-third of an acre, and is not 
ten miles from Charing Cross. It does not labour under the 
disadvantage of having manufactories pouring out their volumes 
of horrible smoke, nor such abominations as the chemical works 
at the east end of London ; but with this exception it has no 
advantage that might tempt anyone to try his hand at growing 
Roses or anything else, yet success of a very marked degree has 
been the lot of this garden. I have lately recorded my experiences 
of the Rose gardens I have visited this season, in order to be able 
to gain some idea of the present condition and prospects of the 
Rose for this year; but I can with all confidence say that in 
none of those, celebrated as most of them are, have I seen better 
examples of Rose-growing than in this small garden. Indeed, 
but that it was fully ten days since I had seen the others, I should 
have said Mr. Mawley’s Roses were the stronger ; but, knowing 
what ten days have done elsewhere, I prefer the more moderate 
statement. But, at any rate, it is quite impossible to imagine 
finer or more healthy plants than these. Standards and dwarfs 
were alike good, and as Mr. Mawley is not an advocate for hard 
pruning the state of the Roses in this garden is a point in favour 
of those who are opposed to it. There was one plant of Louis 
Van Houtte (not by any means, as we all know, a vigorous 
grower), but not even a John Hopper or Etienne Levet could be 
more vigorous, while promising buds gave a good indication of 
coming blooms. By-the-by, my friend Mr. Biron, in going over 
his own Roses the other day (the very opposite kind of garden to 
this), says—and I should like it to be confirmed or otherwise— 
that when in an early stage of the bud colour shows on one side 
you may be quite sure that you will not have a large-sized flower. 
The Teas, also, looked very well, and are carefully looked after. 
Along the wall there is a framework placed, and on this some 
of Collinge’s shading is fixed, drawn up when the weather is fine, 
and let down during severe winds and frosts. It is not enough 
to draw the plants, but sifts the wind, as it were, and softens its 
influence on the plants. I have in a previous paper hazarded the 
opinion that the Manetti is an unsuitable stock for A. E. Williams, 
but the experience of this garden does not confirm this view. A 
row of it budded on the Manetti by Mr. Mawley himself was as 
vigorous and healthy as one would desire to see plants—in fact, 
for their age they were as good plants as any I have seen any¬ 
where. Mr. Mawley has a small, a very small, house in which 
he grows a few Teas ; but small as it is, I believe it has now and 
then stood him in good stead : for, as we all know, he is not 
contented with being a Rose-grower, but is an exhibitor also— 
nay, a most successful one, and I very much question whether 
there is a garden of its size that has taken so many prizes ; indeed, 
I think it may fairly challenge a comparison with that of Mr. 
Geo. Mount of Harbledown. 
But besides Roses Mr. Mawley grows a very nice collection of 
Pansies in beds. These were looking in robust health when I 
saw them, and some very fine blooms bore witness to the superior 
character of the varieties. Moreover, there were some Chrysanthe¬ 
mum plants coming in for exhibition, although, as may be readily 
supposed, the Rose is the flower of the garden. 
But it is not only as a Rose-grower that Mr. Mawley is known, 
or as Secretary of the National Rose Society. His little garden 
is one of the most complete stations of the Meteorological Society 
—in fact, I should say, house and garden, for a remarkable con¬ 
trivance on the top of the house attracts one’s attention, and I 
irreverently asked when I saw the balls swinging about whether 
he went in for anything in the pawnbroking line 1 This is an 
anemometer. Then when you get into the house there is a 
perfect army of barometers and thermometers, while the garden 
suggests a series of man-traps or, to the uninitiated, pigeon boxes 
or, in fact, anything ; but really the most perfect set of meteoro¬ 
logical instruments possible. Perhaps the most interesting, as 
certainly the most novel, is Casella’s self-registering rain guage. 
This, by a most beautiful contrivance of clockwork machinery, 
connected with the rain-receiver, registers on a metallic paper 
barrel the rain as it falls ; so that not only, as in the ruder guages 
which poorer mortals are contented with, is the daily amount of 
the rainfall registered, but the hours in which it fell. It would, 
by-the-by, have had a busy time of it had it been here on Thursday 
last, when in the space of an hour and a half the rain guage 
marked 2-65 inches—between the ninth and tenth part of our 
whole average rainfall for the year. Then there are earth ther¬ 
mometers, and all other kinds of meters, and that all this is 
brought to bear on Rose culture no one who has read Mr. 
Mawley’s most interesting contributions to the “ Rosarians’ Year 
Book ” year by year can for a moment doubt; for while there 
recording the experiences of the past he draws his lessons for the 
future. All who know him will readily believe that the garden 
is the very picture of neatness ; not a weed to be seen, or any¬ 
thing out of place. In fine, I must end as I began. Let any 
growler over the want of room or difficulties of Rose-growing 
visit this garden, and I am quite sure that he will go away feeling 
that he has no cause for complaint, and will be encouraged to 
attempt what he may have considered a great difficulty. Let me 
add that Mr. Mawley’s Roses only confirm the more what I have 
already stated—that we are on the eve of an exceptionally good 
Rose year.—D., Deal. 
THE EASTER LILY OF BERMUDA. 
Will you allow me space for a small addition to your note 
(page 498) on the Easter Lily of Bermuda exhibited by me at 
South Kensington on the 12th? As shown it hardly did itself 
justice. When cutting the stem I had to leave about 7 inches for 
the sake of the hulb, and 8 or 9 inches more were hidden in the 
bottle of water in which it was placed, so much of its height was 
thus lost. When growing it was just G feet high, the stem and 
leaves 15 inches across. It bore six flowers. I heard of the Lily 
first at Bristol from a gentleman who had seen it growing in 
Bermuda. Messrs. Wrench of London Bridge gave me two bulbs 
to prove. These were potted, one placed in a cool Orchid house, 
the other in an unheated orchard house. The first was the one 
exhibited ; and from the appearance of the second, which is now 
in bud, it seems that the Lily will require some heat to develope 
the full growth. I believe that it will prove to be only a fine 
form of L. longifiorum increased in size, first in bulb and then in 
growth, by heat.— George F. Wilson, Heatherside, Weyhridge. 
EASILY GROWN PLANTS. 
POTHOS AUREA. 
We have often had inquiries for plants that will flourish without 
that constant attention and skilled cultural care that are requisite 
for growing many plants satisfactorily. Of the free-and-easy¬ 
growing plants that luxuriate in the stoves and greenhouses of 
amateurs, and rendering them agreeable, are such as the Trades- 
cantias—discolor, multicolor, and variegata—which ramble over 
rockwork, and droop in long sprays from pots, baskets, or rustic 
pockets on walls. Of the same nature is the Mo her of Thousands 
(Saxifraga sarmentosa). The pretty Panicum variegatum is simi¬ 
larly free, and the Isolepis gracilis. Give them plenty of water 
and more or less of shade and they grow with a wild gracefulness 
