410 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 21,1891. 
must often retrace his steps in vain to find an avenue of communi¬ 
cation with some longed for spot ; a break in the foliage every 
now and then disclosing the magnificent castle, rising with royal 
grandeur far above him.” 
That description is generally representative of the grounds 
to-day, but there is a diflcerence, for the secluded gardens referred 
to, while undoubtedly owing much of their charm to their position 
and surroundings, have been greatly extended and are rendered 
altogether delightful by the profusion, not of rare and tender, but 
simple, pleasing, hardy flowers, associated with consummate judg¬ 
ment and refined taste by a garden artist of long experience, 
Mr. William Ingram. Whoever may see those beds and flowery 
slopes as they were seen during a sunny day last week will be con¬ 
strained to admit that with no tender exotics, and at no season of 
the year, could an equally delightful and thoroughly satisfactory 
effect be produced. It is spring gardening that strikes the visitor 
as being about as near perfection as man can hope to attain. The air is 
filled with the perfume of Yiolets, Primroses, and Wallflowers ; the 
beds sparkle with myriads of pink and purple cushion-like masses 
of Aubrietias, sheets of bright blue Forget-me-nots, golden tufts of 
the yellow Alyssum, and snow-like masses of the white Arabis, 
with Tulips in contrasting or harmonising colours, also Daffodils, 
rising above them ; with giant Oxlips in varied hues luxuriating 
in thousands, and belts of Alpine Daisies, blue, pink, and double 
white Anemones studding the ground and breaking through the 
boundaries of Box edging into the walks ; with huge fleecy Saxi¬ 
frages and Alpine Phloxes creeping, covering, and hanging over 
stones and rocky ledges. With these, and it may almost be said 
all other flowers that expand at this season of the year, displayed 
in various ways—in one place in large blocks of colour, in another 
in formal lines, in a third as if creeping down grassy slopes, in a 
fourth in great mixed masses, on rock-studded banks, and all in 
such profusion as cannot very well be imagined without being seen, 
Belvoir is made beautiful in May. 
It is beautiful long before May with still earlier flowers— 
Christmas Roses, Winter Aconites, Snowdrops, Crocuses, Scillas, 
Chionodoxas, Iris reticulata, and many others that cover the 
ground for a time ; then others spring up from amongst and 
around them for continuing the display, and the grounds remain 
attractive far into the summer, with the great profusion of 
hardy flowers which Mr. Ingram has been collecting abroad and 
increasing at home for a number of years. His object is not, as 
he says, to try for a great blaze of flowers at a particular moment 
BO much as for prolonged interest during the spring months. In 
this he has succeeded, and numbers of visitors enjoy the remarkable 
floral feast, for with a noble generosity the grounds are free for 
all who desire to traverse the “ labyrinthal walks,” sheltered from 
the cold winds that then may blow, whether from the east, north, 
or west, by the great curving tree-clad eminence on the eastern 
spur of which the castle stands, and commands a panoramic view 
nearly all round for a distance of twenty-six miles. 
So complete is the shelter afforded by the lofty encircling 
hill and shrubs and trees thereon, that at the foot of the slope 
where the pleasure grounds are formed, not only were Rhododen¬ 
drons of the ordinary kinds seen in gardens flowering freely, but 
R. Falconer! was in such superb condition as it is rarely if ever 
seen under glass. Some huge trusses of its handsome campanulate 
flowers were unfolding, with numbers of fine buds higher up to 
continue the display. Camellias were similarly healthy and 
floriferous, covered with flowers as clean and with foliage as glossy 
as IS ever seen under glass, and pushing fresh light green growths 
freely. No artificial protection whatever had been afforded, and no 
injury whatever had been sustained by these shrubs during the 
winter. Standing on the lawn is probably the finest example of 
its kind in the kingdom of the Japanese evergreen, with its 
elegant waving branches and small Box-like leaves, Azara 
microphyUa. It was covered with its miniature yellowish flowers, 
which, though inconspicuous, filled the air with their Vanilla-like 
fragrance. This plant is usually grown against walls, but it needs 
no wall in the warm and delightful position it occupies at Belvoir. 
There are many other things worthy of note, hut the flowers 
command primary attention in the spring. The beds and banks of 
them are made in positions from which they can be seen from 
different points of vantage, and the groups at distant intervals are 
linked, so to say, bv the high grassy slope, studded with Daffodils 
and various other flowers, that extends to a considerable distance ; 
and the bold masses of various colours are amply relieved by fine 
trees and evergreens, with Bamboos and Conifers just in the right 
places for contributing to render the whole appearance of the 
grounds, especially as seen on a bright afternoon, when the trees 
cast their shadows on the undulated lawn, altogether delightful, 
and, indeed, unique. With much thought and steady persevering 
work over a number of years Mr. Ingram has made the most and 
best of a grand natural position at a minimum of expense, and 
both he and the ancient family he serves so well have good reason 
to be satisfied with the results achieved. 
Not only in this department of the extensive grounds and 
gardens in his keeping, but everywhere he has converted a raw, 
cold, clay soil into a medium of remarkable fertility. He has 
turned his well-known geological knowledge to practical account, 
and far more than doubled, or even quadrupled,, the producing 
power of the comparatively inert medium which he “tackled” 
some forty years ago. He knows, no one better, the great value 
of vegetable matter decayed or burned, according to its nature, 
and has turned all to the best account—the “ mowings ” from the 
lawns, leaves, and refuse of whatever kind that once grew and 
could be collected has been stored and used ; nothing has been 
lost; and by degrees he has changed the entire texture of a once 
stubborn soil, and has now only to sow and plant in it to be assured 
of luxuriant growth. 
It is a pleasure to see work so thoroughly done as at Belvoir; 
not conducted on mere rule and thumb methods and a matter of 
chance routine, but on a. scientific basis, so that every stroke 
“ tells,” and by which it is known that certain results must 
follow, as far as weather permits (and it is certain to permit 
sooner or later) the means that have been resorted to, to produce 
them. Mr. Ingram is a veteran—a highly educated veteran—in 
gardening. He comes of a royal race of cultivators ; but it is not 
because Frogmore was his home and Her Majesty his first employer, 
now many years ago, but because he has by close study, research, 
travel, and experiment made himself what he is—one of the grand 
old gardeners of his day and generation, but as active as a youth. 
Nothing has been said about the “ glass department ” of 
Belvoir, and little can be said. There was no time to even peep 
into the chief range, but the Strawberry house was glanced at. It 
is surely one of the best, the roof descending step by step, like the 
shelves, and each “ step ” ventilated, while one of the finest of 
crops of one of the finest of forcing Strawberries, La Grosse Sucree, 
was affording rich red fruit in abundance. 
Nor can anything be said about the splendid kitchen garden, 
which was not traversed, beyond the obvious fact that fruit blossom 
on walls and bushes was most abundant, and that a good fruit year 
was then anticipated. There has since been a change in the 
weather; but though inclement, we will hope it will not prove 
disastrous. Last year, as most persons know, was the reverse of 
productive of hardy fruit. Apples especially ; but at Belvoir all 
demands were met, and they are great; while at the present moment 
the fruit room is far from empty, and one of the firmest of Apples 
in it, as fresh and solid as when gathered from the trees, is 
Bramley’s Seedling. However this Apple may “ behave ” in the 
South, in the Midlands it is one of the very best for late use. It 
is the best of all at the present time at Belvoir, and if anyone wants 
further testimony of this he can write to Mr. Ingram. 
The day is over ; hot and tired we enter the embowered home 
of our genial guide and enjoy his hospitality, then spend some 
pleasant moments in the studio of Mrs. and Miss Ingram, whose 
paintings and sculptures surprise those who have not hitherto seen 
them, and which are famed very far beyond the widespread vale 
of Belvoir. 
It will be observed that there is a “ we ” in this case. Only 
one of the twain has yet spoken. If the other detects anything 
wrong—anything overdrawn or overdone—and he is very observant 
and critical, a leading provincial amateur, he can correct what he 
sees amiss, and if he cannot detect enough to find fault with for 
making an article for the Journal of Horticulture^ he can “ stretch 
it out ” by adding to his observations those on a visit to Mr. 
A. Harding, and the Wellingtonias and Conifers, the rockery 
mounds and ferny dells of Orton. This little task shall be left, if 
be so wills it, to the “ amateur.” His friend and fellow traveller 
thinks he has done his share, and signs himself what he is, and he 
seeks no higher honour than that pertaining to the oldest out on 
earth — gardening. — A British Gardener. 
THE BLACK CURRAHT MITE. 
Several correspondents have of late been giving their experi¬ 
ence of this phytoptus, which is devastating the Black Currants to 
such a serious extent. In 1858 I first saw its work of destruction 
not far from where “ T. W.” resides, and the gardener under 
whom I then served said it was very abundant there when he 
entered upon his duties in 1845. When he saw the diseased buds 
he thought they must be extraordinarily prolific bushes ; but what 
was his surprise when summer came, and the bushes failed to 
produce a crop. In the winter of 1858 I procured cuttings from a 
source where there were no mites. The gardener had them 
