Angaat 13, 1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
141 
which the soil is covered, and these frequently sprinkled with water. 
The vapour thus rising he considers bad for the spider and good for the 
Vine. He is no doubt right in his surmise, and certain it is that not 
an insect can be seen, while the wood, foliage, and fruit are indicative of 
the best of health. 
But what a large, deep, fertile, well drained border must be 
required for the sustenance of a Vine like this ! some reader may 
possibly soliloquise. No doubt those requisites are provided, but in 
a natural manner, for no stereotyped border was made. The soil is good 
and deep—a free clayey loam. Inside top dressings, as mentioned, are 
given. Outside the ground is well cultivated, and the Vine roots extend 
to a great distance. In some gardens the natural soil will not support 
Vines, and specially prepared borders must be provided ; in others the 
soil contains most of what Vines need for their sustenance ; it is, 
however, not always allowed to support them, but is carted away and 
fresh soil carted in not nearly so good as the original. No such mistake 
was made at Mauresa House, and common sense culture has built up 
this remarkable Vine in question. 
It is pruned on the spur system, and the rods have never been 
peeled, and it may safely be said they never will be so long as it remains 
in the charge of Mr. Davis ; and this will be, no doubt, as long as he 
lives and loves to labour. He is a man of resource and ability, and has 
won the confidence and respect of the great establishment for which he 
caters—a Roman Catholic collegiate establishment of 145 students, and 
after providing these with garden produce he sold a surplus of five tons 
of fruit grown under glass last year. Such good work deserves recog¬ 
nition, not on the part of his employers alone, for that is generously 
accorded and requited, but in the columns of the gardening press where 
well won success is, and ought to be, registered by whomsoever achieved 
in the art of cultivation. 
Two other Vines merit a passing notice. Near one end of the large 
house a Vine was planted against the back wall. Its rods are taken like 
great cables (see fig. 18) above the top of the door, carried through a 
elazed tunnel, dip down, and are trained horizontally, filling a house 
70 feet long. At the end of this another Vine is growing against a wall 
in the garden, from which rods are conducted under the walk into an 
unheated house 156 feet long, which they are just filling, so that before 
long a range of glass 454 feet long will be completely occupied with four 
Vines ; but they could not be trained in the method described and suc¬ 
ceed so well under a very flat roof ; nor could such results be attained by 
other than a gardener who knows his business, and does it not as a duty 
that is irksome, but an occupation that is pleasurable. 
Many Vines are grown in other houses in the ordinary way—that is, 
the rods trained up the roof from the base to the summit, and they bear 
excellent crops. They are, however, being removed gradually in favour 
of the extension of horizontal rods from a strong Vine in the manner 
above alluded to, but these are being inarched to a Vine here and there 
with which they come in contact to “ give them a lift” on the way. 
Reverting to the great Vine in question, Mr. Maurice Noel, who saw 
it in spring, has graphically written, “ Looking down the length of the 
greenhouse, it is hardly possible to believe that the far-extending rods 
all spring from the same s'em. With what power must the sap be forced 
along I What a mighty heart must be beating, one would think, some¬ 
where down amongst the roots 1 If in the early spring-time, when the 
fresh sweet leaves, delicate and transparent, begin to show themselves, 
the great Manresa Vine is so pleasant a sight, how glorious must it 
appear -when covered with foliage and empurpled with the swelling 
clusters which crown the fulness of its glory.” It was in its “ glory ” a 
week ago, but its “swelling clusters” are fast being cut and sent to 
market. 
On another occasion an innovation on growing wall fruits will be 
described. It may be fairly called the Davisian method, and is simple, 
profitable, and economical. 
ELFORD HALL, TAMWORTH. 
The above fine old mansion with its parks, gardens, woods, river, and 
well cultivated farms forms one of the most desirable and picturesque of 
residential estates to be found in the Midlands, and is at the present 
time of especial interest to gardeners on account of the high-class 
gardening now carried on there under the direction and superintendence 
of Mr. J. Udale, a name well known to readers of this Journal. 
The Hall is situated about five miles from Tamworth and six from 
Lichfield, overlooking the river Tame, which at this point is about 
80 yards in width, and has a beautiful lake-like aspect as seen from the 
grounds. The Hall was built by the late Earl of Berkshire, was after¬ 
wards for a number of years occupied by Lady Andover, and afterwards 
by the Honourable Mary Howard, a direct descendant of the first Duke 
of Norfolk, and is now occupied by the Hon. Eleanor Bagot, aunt to the 
present Lord Bagot cf Blythefie'd. The Hall and estates, which com¬ 
prise an area of close upon 3000 acres, are the property of Howard F. 
Paget, Esq., who resides upon the estate and possesses the esteem and 
respect of the whole of his numerous tenantry and dependents, from the 
fact that he endeavours to secure the comfort and well doing of all. The 
workmen’s cottages upon the estate, some of which have been built by 
Mr. Paget, are models of what is desirable in such buildings, and I fancy 
must often cause working men from other districts to envy the fortunate 
occupiers. The estate now comprises what was formerly the two estates 
of Elford and Fisherwick, the dividing line being formed by the river. 
Fisherwick Hall was occupied by a former Lord Donegal, but was 
pulled down about seventy years since, excepting what was the 
laundry, which is now a farm house, and the courtyard with stables. 
The garden walls are still standing, enclosing about four acres, which 
have long been allowed to run wild except a small portion cultivated by 
the gamekeeper. In the woods immediately surrounding these old 
garden walls are some grand specimens of choice and rare fruit trees, as 
for instance a Tulip Tree (Liriodendron Tulipifera) 50 feet high, the stem 
10 or 12 feet in circumference, and with an immense sweep of branches ; 
Cedrus Libani, the largest I have jet seen, stem 13 feet 6 inches in cir¬ 
cumference, branches covering an area of nearly 100 feet in diameter ; 
several specimens of Turkey Oaks (Quercus cerris) and of Hickory 
(Carya alba), also one of the deciduous Cypress (Taxodium distichum), 
all similar in size to those above described. Fisherwick Park, which 
faces the Hall, but is on the opposite side of the river, is about 100 
acres in extent, and is splendidly timbered. A grand example of Scotch 
Fir (Pinus sylvestris), standing in the Park, has, I believe, scarcely its 
equal for beauty and grandeur in the country, and is alone worth a long 
journey to see. 
Recrossing the river to Elford we notice on the east front of the 
mansion is the flower garden, in which the bedding arrangement consists 
of four groups of geometrical beds, eleven in each group, mo it of them 
being of large size. The four groups form a square and cover an area of 
1300 square yards. In the centres of the larger beds forming the 
corners of the groups are some fine trees, one in each bed, of Acer 
Negundo variegata, which are very effective, especially as seen from a 
distance ; also in others of the beds are some fine plants of Draciena 
australis, which contrast effectively with the drooping heads of the Acer. 
The beds are effectively planted, some 16,000 plants having been used 
for the purpose, and consisting mainly of Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, 
Lobelias, Petunias, &c. One predominant style or tone of colouring 
marks each separate group, and each differs from the others ; the whole 
combine to make an excellent display, somewhat highly coloured, but 
not too much when the heavy masses of dark-coloured foliage on the 
surrounding trees are considered. 
Trained to the same, front of the Hall is a very large Magnolia 
grandiflora, which every year produces hundreds of its fine flowers. In 
the conservatory, which is at a little distance from the Hall, is a fine 
display of Pelargoniums and Schizanthus, the latter which are from seed 
sown early this spring, and which are grown three plants in each 7-inch 
pot, without any pinching or stopping, are masses of bloom, and are 
very effective ; in this house also was a fine specimen of Rhynchospermum 
