12 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Jantiary 1,1891. 
the highest degree, for it is difficult to imagine the incongruity that 
would result from surrounding such stately solemnity with the rush of 
nineteenth century business or bank holiday pleasure resortS: There 
seems, also, every probability that it will long remain in a similar con¬ 
dition, for though alterations and improvements on an extensive scale 
have been undertaken in the place itself, the estate comprises so large 
an extent of the surrounding country that encroachments of an objec¬ 
tionable character can be successfully resisted. 
Reference has already been made to the antiquity of the building, 
and that it has some claim to a place in history is amply supported by 
the fact that it was erected in 1010, so that its record covers a period of 
over two and a half centuries, an important epoch in British history. 
It is said to have been built for Sir Thomas Vavasour, and some years 
afterwards passed into the possession of the Tollemache family, and 
through them has descended, with the title, to the present young Earl 
of Dysart, who is the ninth in succession. To trace the history of 
the house and its occupants during the long period named would be a 
serious task, and an unnecessary one in these pages. All can imagine 
what a varied record it would furnish, and how many celebrities in 
successive reigns have entered its portals. But turning to modern 
times. Ham House and gardens were for a long period neglected, or half- 
forgotten, and it was therefore a memorable day in local history when, 
on May 21st of the past year, the Earl of Dysart returned from his 
travels abroad to take possession of his ancestral home. “ On that day,” 
says a Surrey paper, “all Ham, and its neighbour Petersham, rose to 
the occasion, and the humblest inhabitant vied with the parish dig¬ 
nitary in according the Earl a right loyal reception. A triumphal 
arch was erected, an address presented and the huge iron gates at 
the end of the avenue were thrown back for the first time within 
living memory. A tea was provided, and at a “house warming” in 
the ev€,ning, the Earl of Dysart and Lady Huntingtower entertained 
a distinguished company of guests.” This may be said to have been 
the commencement of a new order of things at Ham, and its effects 
were not less manifest in the garden than in the house. 
The garden is or was in all respects fully as antiquated as the house ; 
but though at one time it was celebrated for its beauty, in late years it 
had become little better than a wdlderness. Neglect tells much sooner 
in a garden than in a house, and a visitor but a short time since could 
scarcely have realised the truth of Evelyn’s description in his diary of 
August 27th, 1678. He there says, “After dinner I walked to Ham to 
see the house and garden of the Duke of Lauderdale, which is indeede 
inferior to few of the best villas in Italy itselfe ; the house furnished like 
a great prince’s. The parterres, flower gardens, orangeries, groves, 
avenues, courts, statues, perspectives, fountaines, aviaries, and all this at 
the banks of the sweetest river in the world must needs be admirable.” 
We still find the old trees and avenues, grand old Elms, Evergreen Oaks 
and Firs, Rose gardens, and gardens of old-fashioned flowers judiciously 
preserved, as it were, from the ruins of its former magnificence. But 
there has been a great reorganisation in other departments ; the walls 
have been repaired and planted with fruit trees, extensive ranges of 
glass houses have been erected, and every effort is being made not only 
to improve the usefulness of the garden generally, but also to render it 
worthy of a place amongst the best kept establishments of the time. 
Something like twenty acres are included within the walls, the extent of 
the latter being remarkable, for there are several garden divisions of 
two or three acres each with boundary walls in several cases 130 to 
200 feet long. As a careful selection of fruit trees has been made for 
covering these, it may be imagined, that ere long a plentiful supply 
will be secured. In the open quarters, too, young fruit trees have also 
been planted, while a fine Rose garden is in course of formation. 
The glass houses comprise a well-built lean-to range of vineries, 
156 feet long in three divisions, planted last spring mainly with Black 
Hamburgh and Muscat of Alexandria. Then there is a splendid range 
of Peach and Plum houses, 212 feet long in four divisions, the trees 
mostly planted at the back and trained to the wall, the front part being 
utilised for Strawberries, Figs in pots, and other fruits. In the very 
compact frame ground are forcing pits for Cucumbers, Melons, Kidney 
Beans, &c., together with a good supply of useful young plants for table 
decoration and similar purposes. Here, too, are fruit rooms. Mushroom 
houses, and miscellaneous offices, well designed, and substantially built, 
while elsewhere are two large plant houses. It will thus be seen that 
the producing power of the garden is of no mean order, and it is being 
steadily increased. 
An old orangery still remains, but it is now a laundry where the 
work is chiefly performed by electrical power, which has been success¬ 
fully utilised for lighting purposes throughout the establishment. 
Poultry keeping and home farming also come within the range of work 
at Ham, and structures of a remarkable character have been erected. In 
the present year during a journey in France I visited the garden of a 
wealthy gentleman, and there saw the most luxurious and ornamental 
“ cow house ” it had ever been my lot to inspect. Tiled walls and floors, 
carved and polished woodwork, and fittings of a most elaborate 
character were the distinguishing features, add to which that the 
“ house ” immediately adjoined the residence of the owner. The “ cow 
shed” at Ham House is equally as well appointed, but the differences 
are that it is not in proximity to the mansion, and it is illuminated with 
the electric light, which can be regulated with the same nicety as in 
the best appointed hotel in London. 
After this brief digression, which may possibly possess a little interest 
for home farm readers, we must return to the garden. The engraving 
(fig. 3) represents a view of the river part of Ham House as seen 
from the meadow, a short distance from the ha-ha. On the east side i» 
the “ old-fashioned garden ” of herbaceous plants in substantial and 
effective clumps. The south side looks on to a spacious and well-kept 
lawn, and commands vistas up the different avenues, the chief being 
that leading to Ham Common, which is nearly a mile long. The Elms 
comprising it are not large, but there is a fine background of Scots 
Firs that impart much distinctive character to the scene. The oldest 
Elms, or the remains of them, are in one of the courtyards on the west 
side, nothing but a shell of bark and wood being left in some instances 
of what must have been grand specimens in their prime, a century or so 
back. The Evergreen Oaks in one of the garden divisions are also' 
remarkable, forming a short avenue of tall, well-furnished trees, while- 
huge old Bays, Portugal Laurels, and other shrubs abound in all 
directions. 
It is very pleasant to see an old garden being restored to usefulness,, 
and, in conclusion, it must be said that it is in excellent hands, for Mr. 
G. H. Sage is a gardener of the best modern school, thoroughly prac¬ 
tical, with a comprehensive knowledge of his work in all departments^ 
and fully capable of maintaining the credit of such an extensive and 
historical garden.—L. Castle, 
INSECTS OF THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
( Continued from i^ags 33d, ) 
I MUST briefly refer to a few other species of bugs allied to th& 
frog-hopper or “ cuckoo-spit,” described in my last, though these- 
are less frequently noticed. One of these, however, does attract 
the eye by its garb of black and scarlet; its wings also have a 
velvety appearance, which is caused by a crowd of tiny points, such 
as may be seen on the petals of some Pelargoniums by the help of 
a glass. From its colour this insect is called the scarlet hopper 
(Cercopis sanguinolenta), and it is fond of crawling upon the 
fronds of Ferns, but it leaps off dexterously when an attempt is- 
made to secure it. The grub or larviB sucks the juices of plants,, 
but it has not the power of covering itself with an envelope of 
froth. Commoner than this, yet less in size, is the eared-hopper 
(Ceutrotus cornutus), remarkable in the mature condition for the- 
extraordinary structure of the thorax, which has in front two horn¬ 
like projections, and extending towards the abdomen another 
appendage like a miniature dagger. Possibly there are insect¬ 
eating birds that devour bugs, but they would, I imagine, regard 
this one as an uninviting morsel. 
We have now reached a group which contains insects, certainly 
of diminutive proportions, but which from their numbers and their 
mode of attack upon vegetation must rank amongst the most- 
formidable foes to horticulture. These are in popular phrase plant 
blight. To some species the vague name of “ fly ” is given, and 
some again are called the “ dolphin,” rather^oddly ; in science they 
are the aphides, too well known to need description, though a few 
species are occasionally supposed to belong to the allied group of 
scale insects, the Cocci, If less numerous in the flower garden than 
elsewhere, as perhaps they are, aphides are quite plentiful enough 
to give the gardener trouble. It is unnecessary to enter extensively 
upon their general history, but I may mention one or two facts of 
recent observation. The rostrum, sucker, or proboscis, with which 
aphides are furnished is, while they are feeding, pressed against the 
leaf, but the lancets arranged round it alone puncture the plant.. 
Sometimes when not feeding these lancets are briskly vibrated by 
the insect; a sort of digestive exercise it may be. In the case of 
many plants it has long been felt that the injury they seemed to- 
sustain from aphides could hardly be explained by the loss of sap,, 
and naturalists concluded that the pores of the plant were probably 
clogged, and it was made sickly by their sticky secretion. The 
presence of the lancets, and the freedom with which they are used 
by aphides, suggests that the multitude of tiny incisions they make 
must have a weakening effect upon plants. Another way by which 
these insects are distributed has been noted lately. Their habit of 
migrating on the wing conveys them both long and short distances ; 
it is now found that they are carried about in the egg state. Though 
aphides generally place their eggs on the twigs and stems of plants 
they also, it seems, sometimes deposit them on leaves during tho 
autumn. The leaves fall off, and are often wafted by the wind to- 
a distance, and when hatched the young aphides manage somehow 
to start a new colony ; and, though the work of the autumn or last 
winged brood is this egg-laying to carry on the race to another year, 
it appears not to be entirely dependant upon this, since investigation 
shows us in the winter straggling females of many species, which 
live on, some of them in our houses, and produce young at intervals 
if the weather is mild. 
Examples of such common aphides as that which infests the 
Bean, or the as abundant species haunting the Plum, may be seen 
now and then on the plants in our beds ; but flowers have their 
species peculiar to themselves. The queenliest of our flowers, the 
1 Rose, suffers much from this, as it does from other insect enemies. 
