September 15, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
235 
the judges. This, however, Mr. Garnett, from past experience, 
should be able to tell us. I hope, however, that the discussion 
may lead to some more intelligible system than the present one. 
—S. Arnott. 
I fear that under the conditions suggested by “ Devon,” 
page 211, one variety of any flower only being admissible, small 
growers would require to increase their stock of herbaceous plants 
if they wished to enter the competitive classes. Surely there is a 
wide distinction between Lilium auratum and Lilium candidum or 
L. Harrisi. I have had some experience of the peculiar fancies of 
judges when adjudicating in these classes. I have had to be 
content with second place when Hydrangea hortensis was included 
in the first prize stand, and on another occasion a similar stand 
contained Spiraea callosa, a shrub which is easily enough grown 
6 feet high in a couple of seasons, and in a very few years will 
make as much wood as is required in a good-sized faggot. Surely 
a plant which has this capability hardly comes under the true 
definition of an herbaceous plant. Many more examples of a like 
kind could be quoted, all tending to prove that the judging of 
herbaceous plants is not at all times as it should be, even 
when the conditions are exact. In spite of this, however, 
committees are responsible for the correct wording of the schedules 
they issue.—E. M. 
A QUAINT GARDEN. 
Close to the waves of the beautiful Firth of Forth there is a 
garden more quaint than any I have seen elsewhere. I was 
sauntering along the sandy beach which borders the Firth near 
West Wemyss when I noticed what seemed to be a wild garden 
straggling up the cliff bank. A door opened in the wall, and the 
gardener came out and invited me in, saying that I should find 
Shakespearian borders and the plants mentioned by old Parkinson, 
and that botanists from Edinburgh often come to see the different 
things collected there. So nothing loth I went in, having plenty of 
time at my command. The first thing which struck me was a 
curious sundial. It stood on a grassy hillside, a tall iron index 
some 6 feet high hung round with creepers, such as common Ivy, 
Canariensis, and Nasturtiums growing carelessly about it. In a 
huge circle the hours were represented in immense figures done in 
variegated Box, and on the south the name “ Lilian Wemyss, 1890.” 
In another circle round the dial, and done with Box in the same 
way, “ The Lord will make His face shine upon thee and be 
gracious unto thee.” Not far from these circles stood an old tree 
decorated with heart-shaped pieces of wood, painted white with 
various legends taken from Ecclesiastes, Coleridge, Emerson, &c., 
such as 
“ One God, no more ; but friends good store,” 
And on one, 
“ These beds are round and without ends, 
So is my love unto my friends.” 
Which words refer to two immense circles round the tree tied at the 
end by a true lover’s knot done in Ivy. In the borders which 
form these circles, and which are about 2 feet wide, are plants of 
all kinds, only named on tall labels with the name of the giver also 
underneath. I noticed that Lily of the Valley was presented by 
the Portuguese Minister. Andromeda floribunda was given by Mr. 
Menzies, and was doing well. Lilium Harrisi, given by Col. 
Vivian, was represented only by its name, which is not surprising. 
Miss Balfour had given “ Anemone hepatica coerulea ” (sic), which 
to my surprise was in flower in August, but certainly everything 
was wonderfully late in Scotland this year. Other plants had the 
names of their donors—Earl of Dunraven, Countess of Clarendon, 
Mrs. Oswald, &c. 
There is not a level piece of ground in the whole garden except 
a narrow strip by the wall on the seaside. This is occupied with 
a fine collection of Hellebores, which look exceedingly strong and 
healthy, although they have only been planted for a year or two. 
On the opposite bank to the sundial are two long borders, one the 
temperance border, in which all the flowers are white, the other 
the love border, in which all the flowers are red. Further on are 
the Shakespeare and Parkinson borders, which are exceedingly 
quaint and full of extracts from the great dramatist and the 
herbalist, alluding to the plants growing round the wooden mark 
on which the quotation is clearly printed. At a corner of the 
Parkinson border are these words : “ The manner and ordering of 
many sortes of Herbes and Bootes as used in this Kingdome.” 
Then you come to a curious mixture of many things all duly 
name!, Potatoes, Rhubarb, Fennel, Succory, Alisanders. Marigold, 
Comfrey, and Rue Herbegrace, whatever that may be. Then 
another quotation : “ Of sweet Herbe3 as fitter for the pot and 
kitchen than for the hand or bosome, and such herbes as are of 
most necessarie uses for the country gentle women’s houses.” Again 
another : “ The ordering of divers sortes of Herbes for the pot, 
for meats, and for the Table.” And again : “ Of divers Physical 
Herbes fit to be p'anted in gardens to serve for the especiale uses 
of a familie.” 
Next we come to the Shakespeare borders, which are sprinkled 
with a great number of quotations in the same way as before, the 
well-known words, “I know a bank whereon the wild Thyme 
grows,” stand in the midst of a good clump of Thyme. The bits 
of wood on which these quotations are painted are frequently cut 
out in the shape of a butterfly. “ Here’s flowers for you,” 
(“ Winter’s Tale ”) stands at the head. In these borders I found 
a Date Palm, which apparently had stood the winter, by it the 
words, “ They call for dates and raisins in the pastry ; the 
favourite vegetable of our Welsh neighbours with the words, 
“His eyes were green as Leeks;” Radishes, “For all the world 
like a forked Radish and Rushes, “ Lean not on a Rush.” 
On a high bank behind the garden, and forming a very pretty 
background, is a plot of Irises, labelled “ Jardin delices (des lys) ” 
and quotations from Longfellow :— 
“ Thou art the Iris fair among the fairest, 
Who arm’d with golden rod 
And winged with celestial azure, bearest 
The message of some god.” 
and on another label among the flagleaves of the Iris, 
“ Oh, flower de luce, bloom on, and let the south air 
Linger to kiss thy feet; 
Oh, flower of delight, bloom on, and make for ever 
The world more fair and sweet.” 
On the sea wall, under a cover which was secured by a padlock, 
was a very beautiful sundial; the gardener showed it to us with 
a great deal of mystery. Scattered about on “ the brae,” as the 
gardener called it, were some fine Foxgloves which looked well, 
also some Lilium pardalinum more than 6 feet high. In the centre 
of the garden was a “ Rose tent,” a large circular bed with a sort 
of huge skeleton umbrella over it. Roses of various kinds are 
being trained to the wires which are fastened in the centre to the 
top of a tall pole. This will require some years to pass away before 
it can attain its full beauty. 
We went on further to the fine gardens at Wemyss Castle, 
where Mr. Clarke, the head gardener, showed us over his exceed¬ 
ingly beautiful and well-kept garden with true Scotch courtesy. 
Mr. Clarke has also, of course, the superintendence of the quaint 
garden by the sea. But at the Castle the beds and ribbon borders 
are a perfect blaze of colour, Pansies especially growing with great 
vigour, and bearing masses of bloom. Mr. Clarke informed me 
that sea salt often covers the walks with a white crust after a storm, 
and that he had found it utterly impossible to cultivate Vegetable 
Marrows in any corner of the garden. I expressed some surprise 
that the beautiful creeper so common in Scotland (Tropaeolum 
speciosum) was nowhere to be found, and we were told that it 
would not grow on the shores of the Firth of Forth. I had, how¬ 
ever, seen it not far from the Forth, but a little more inland, where 
it was doing well. I forgot to mention that the quaint garden by 
the sea was made much more interesting by the ruins of an old 
abbey, which stood at one end of it. But little of the abbey is left, 
still the remains of an old tower, with doves flying about, certainly 
add not a little to the picturesque appearance of this strange 
garden.—J. L. S. 
PLANT CULTURE BY CROSS-FERTILISATION AND 
HIGH SELECTION. 
We have need at times to visit the experimental grounds of our 
leading seedsmen to discover what new varieties of vegetables and 
flowers they are bringing to perfection for commerce. The general 
public when inspecting flower shows and horticultural exhibitions are 
naturally amazed at the large number of these new varieties, but they 
know little or nothing of the amount of artistic skill underlying their 
production. Just as a sculptor has before his mind’s eye an ideal, or the 
potter in moulding his clay seeks after something more perfect than he 
has ever wrought, so does the horticulturist in love with Nature and 
striving to fathom her secrets endeavour by cross-fertilisation and high 
selection combined to aim after more beautiful flowers and grander 
types of every kind of plant life than has ever before been seen. Some¬ 
times he has to labour long and suffer grievous failures ere he succeeds, 
crossfertilisa'ion being too frequently an ignis fatuus to follow. Still, 
one genuine success compensates for many years of anxious labour, and we 
need scarcely say that many valuable new varieties have been raised. 
This connection between the plastic arts and the creation of new 
forms of vegetables and flowers was enforced on our attention last week 
in passing through the Staffordshire pottery district, where exquisite 
works of art in porcelain are always on view, and then proceeding imme¬ 
diately to the not far distant Kinver gardens and farms of Messrs. 
Edward Webb & Sons, the world-renowned seedsmen of Wordsley. These 
