January 2G, 1888. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
69 
in the path, the man of energy commences tearing up “ Laxton’s 
Potatoes.” The crops of several of them were remarkable ; a few tubers 
of one of the varieties, No. 8 I think, were cooked, and the quality 
equalled their good appearance. But I do not like trials under numbers 
neither in private nor public gardens. Describing the varieties is very 
much like writing in the dark, so I will say no more about these novel¬ 
ties ; but while on the subject of Potatoes may remark on the erop of 
Adirondack, then just dug, and that would at the least equal 20 tons per 
acre, and probably 25 tons, of fine pinkish rough-skinned tubers. 
The kitchen garden of 4 or 5 aeres was as well cropped with as fine 
a lot of vegetables as could be desired, Leeks and Laxton's Czar Kidney 
Beans being of enormous size, while fruit both on wall trees and as 
bushes was abundant. The glass structures are ancient, mostly flue- 
heated. They are not grumbled about, but made the best of in pro¬ 
ducing a good family supply of Grapes, exeellent Pines, various 
decorative plants, and Tomatoes. The crop of these in a lean-to house 
w'as worth more than the structure if all had been sold. The variety 
most grown was Webb's Sensation, a wonderful crop of grand fruits. 
This has been described .as synonymous with the Stamfordian and some 
ol hers. All I have to say on that point is, I have seen what was named 
and grown as Stamfordian at the leaot a hundred times in different 
chapter-house pillars still solid. Gothic windows still in order, .and trees 
growing out of the top of some of the walls—fancy all this diversity, 
this blending of architectural with arboreal beauty, and a crude idea 
m.ay be formed of the attractions of Margam. The church in the grounds 
is also a notable fe.ature, as it is part of the abbey of the Cistertian monks, 
founded by Robert Earl of Gloucester in 1147. Now go on still further 
eastward and through the vista formed by noble trees you see the 
mansion on the rising ground beyond, and reach it by an ascent of 
bro.ad and high flights of steps at intervals on the way. It is a stately 
building with a lofty central tower and a terrac d garden in front. It 
was erected by the present owner about fifty years ago. Through the 
kindness of Mrs. Gittens, the courteous housekeeper, we were favoured 
with a “ peep” inside, and found evidence of wealth and taste, without 
glare and glitter, in keeping with the fine exterior and grand surround 
ings. The genealogical stained glass window in the ball, divided into 
twenty circular memorial compartments, giving the names, births, and 
deaths of the several owners from John Mansel in 1100, throrgh 
eighteen generations to the present owner, is unique. It shows that 
the male line of the family terminated with Lord Mansel in Ififil, 
thence the great possessions passed by marriage into the Talbot 
family, the present head of which, C. R. Mansel Talbot, Esq., M.P., 
Pig. 12.—the orangery AT MARGAIM. 
places, but never saw it like the large and perfectly smooth fruits at 
Margam. In the same house were some rod and yellow-shaped Plum¬ 
shaped varieties from Messrs. Sutton A Sons, the fruit hanging in long 
clusters, and in the raw state the flavour surpassed all others. Such 
fruits would make beautiful dishes on a dessert table, and could not 
well be excelled for salads. 
Well as what may be termed the supply department of Margam is 
conducted, the pleasure grounds, fine and beautifully situated mansion, 
with a magnificent background of Oak-clad hills, rising abruptly to a 
height of 1)00 feet, must leave the deepest impress on the mind of the 
visitor, whoever he may be. There is a natural grandeur about these 
wooded heights that cannot be described, while the dressed grounds at 
the foot, half a mile or so long, but not of great width, are beautiful 
by, so to say, their irregularity. There has been no levelling to destroy 
the undulations of the lawn, and magnificent deciduous trees and 
splendid evergreens and flowering shrubs seem as if they had sprung up 
naturally just in the right places. Fancy Sweet Bays 50 or (SO feet high 
and more in diameter. Camellias nearly as high, Tuliji Trees 70 or 80 feet 
high, handsome Conifers here and there, bold clumps of Americ.an 
Azaleas, numerous huge masses of Hydrangeas 2 or 3 yards high and of 
twice that diameter, weighted down with the load of flowers, some pink 
and others of deepest blue ; then at one end of the grounds an Orange 
grove, the trees throwing their fruit-1,aden branches over your Read ; 
more towards the centre the finest orangery in the kingdom, ancl 
a grand feature of the grounds whether the fountains near it 
play or not; then onwards and eastwanls a romantic ruin the well- 
cared-for remains of the home of t' e monies of old, the massive 
being (ighty-five or eighty-six years of age, with a step as firm and 
eye as clear as ever ; but his only son died, and was mourned by all 
around, a dozen years ago. Miss Talbot is the good genius of the 
home now, her only sister living being married to Mr. J. Fletcher, of 
Salton, N.B. Mr. Talbot, as is generally known, is the father of the House 
of Commons, of which he has been a member for nearly sixty years. 
Mr. and Miss Talbot usually arriving home from their yachting cruise 
towards the end of September, Mr. Muir endeavours to have the flower 
beds on the terrace attractive then ; and the large masses of Sedum 
spectabile and the most useful yellow Chrys.anthemum, Felicity, pro¬ 
duced, with the relief afforded by Perilla and margins of Golden 
Feather, an excellent effect. 
But we must return to the orangery. It has been represented in the 
Journal, but there h,ave been several yearly additions of new readers 
since then who will be glad to see what the building is like, and those 
who have seen it before will admit it is worth seeing again. It is 
upwards of 350 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 24 feet high ; the trees, 
which are in large tubs, being arranged in it in October for the winter, 
and placed in the garden in spring. Several of them are 300 years old, 
the ship that was bringing them as a present to Queen Mary or Queen 
Elizabeth, being stranded on the foreshore, became the property f 
the Mansel family. They are in th b.'st of health, and there is no fear of 
their suffering through want of attention in Mr. Muir's keeping. He was 
drying Tobacco in the orangery in September, and in Novembt-r I had a 
sample, manufactured from it by Mr. Wills of Bristol, in the form of 
cigars, cigarettes, shag, and birdseye, as good probably as has been 
made from home-grown “ leaf ; ” but in no form could the produce 
