Doiembsr 4, 1890. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
495 
interest to all the London gardeners, as being supposed to exhibit 
all recent improvements. It was remarkable for its trees, containing 
fine examples of the deciduous Cypress, Willow-leaved Oak, Turkey 
Hazel, Red Cedar, and a Lombardy Poplar, supposed in 1838 to be 
the tallest about London. Here also was a curious Moss Rose, 
which had been layered and made to extend over a space of 47 feet. 
At Walham Green, adjacent, lived Rocque, an eminent florist, and 
who made a special study of the grasses suitable for lawns and 
meadows. His father had a vineyard somewhere at the west of 
London, and produced wines which Switzer declares were quite 
equal to the French vintage. Rocque the younger used to sell his 
mixed Grasses in turf as so much the square foot for gardeners to 
propagate from. He translated from the Dutch a treatise on the 
Hyacinth and its cultivation, published in 1755. A notable impulse 
Miller commends as yielding the finest fruit in the world. 'Warner 
of Rotherhithe produced a new Hamburgh Grape which he named 
the Gibraltar, and Miller, at Chelsea, gave name to a red Muscadine : 
he also raised a Black Burgundy of a new kind, from seed.— 
J. R. S. C. 
LOCHNAW CASTLE. 
During a brief sojourn in the North a short time ago. I paid a visit 
to the neighbourhood of Stranraer, the principal town of Wigtonshire, 
near which is situated Lord Stair’s beautiful domain of Castle Kennedy. 
The town stands at the head of Lmh Ryan, an almost land-locked piece 
of water, which affords welcome shelter to many storm-tossed vessels. 
I started one day for a drive along the southern shore of the Loch, the 
Fig. 66.— LOCHNAW CASTLE. 
do the cultivation of vegetables was given in Scotland by the 
failure of the corn crops in 1742, and for awhile it seemed as if that 
.part of Britain would surpass the southern division. Lord Kames 
also led the gentry to relinquish the old and absurd methods of 
planting shrubs and trees, which the Scotch followed long after 
they had been dropped in England. He escaped the jocu’ar abuse 
-directed against Lord Townsend, or Turnip Townsend, as he was 
called, to whom we probably owe it that this vegetable is as popular 
as it is at this moment. The Turnips described by Miller in his 
Look were only three, none very good, but Townsend obtained from 
Hanover some excellent samples of seeds, winch he distributed 
freely, grew Turnips largely himself, and removed a prejudice that 
existed against the plant. But few additions seem to have been 
made to our vegetables during this reign. Amongst our fruits, 
Biggs’ Nonesuch and Dredge’s White Lily are Apples attributed to 
this period, and a cider kind called the Canfroone. Harrison’s 
Heart Cherry, brought from India, was planted at Kensington in 
the Royal Garden, and Fairchild produced a small red Nectarine 
bearing his name, the Newington Early, grown first in Surrey, which 
scenery of which is picturesque at all times, but especially so in 
autumn, when the varying tints of the woods, harvest, pasture fields, and 
Heather, form a beautiful frame to the blue waters of the Loch. After 
proceeding four or five miles, I found our vehicle making an ascent 
along a public road bordered on both sides by plantations, formed to a 
great extent of the choicest varieties of Conifers. I was charmed with 
the rich verdure and luxuriance of the trees, which were 30 or 40 feet 
high, also with the arrangement and style of planting, and it was easy 
to recognise in it the handiwork of a skilled and enthusiastic arbori¬ 
culturist. On inquiring from our driver I found the estate was that of 
Sir Andrew Agnew, Bart., of Lochnaw, who owns an extensive tract of 
land in this part of the country. I made a call on the gardener, to 
whom I was personally a stranger, but I was received by him with 
cheerful courtesy, and shown over the place as far as the time at my 
disposal permitted. It pleased me much to inspect the beautiful 
gardens and grounds, and to make the acquaintance of Mr. Scott, the 
gardener, who in this secluded region has been carrying on his work 
with taste and skill, and with a devotion which bespeaks genuine in¬ 
terest in his profession. The climate of Lochnaw is very mild, being 
almost surrounded on two sides by the sea. Fuchsias and many rare 
and tender exotic plants grow to the size of small trees, which could not 
