546 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 24, 1891. 
deserves a special commendation. On the same lawn were beds of 
Pelargoniums, and a border filled with Asters, Chrysanthemum coro- 
narium, and other useful flowers for cutting. Mr. Banner likes to have 
these in his garden, as, with the benevolence and kindly thoughtfulness 
for which he is distinguished, many flowers are sent to various charitable 
institutions in which he takes an interest. 
Between one of the windows of the house and the conservatory was 
a small carpet bed, well planned and carefully kept, and although I 
make no secret of my general dislike of such formal arrangements 
I must confess that the bed was entirely in harmony with its position, 
and that it would be difficult to substitute a less formal arrangement 
which would be equally appropriate to its surroundings. The conser¬ 
vatory was filled with flowers in perfect health and beautifully in 
bloom, among them being Begonias, Fuchsias, &c., the roof covered 
with Passion Flowers and Tecomas. Tne Begonias were seedlings of 
Mr. Pinnington’s raising from Sutton’s well-known strain, and reflected 
credit on the strain and upon the cultural skill of the grower. Fuchsias 
in hanging baskets were very good indeed. 
Passing from the conservatory to the early vinery we found the stage 
filled with well-grown Cockscombs, attractively arranged with a bank 
of Adiantums. Veiy fine here were two grand Ferns, specimens of 
Goniophlebium subauriculatum, a native of the Malay Archipelago. 
These specimens were splendidly grown. Caladiums were very good, 
and Alocasia macrorhiza variegata was also very fine. The second 
vinery was also filled with plants such as Caladiums, Neriums, and a 
fine piece of Cibotium Schiedei. The Vines, which are young, were 
carrying fine serviceable bunches of Grapes, especially notable being 
Madresfield Court and Alicaute. The object here is not to obtain 
monster bunches but those of good size for table purposes, and this 
is well attained, although plants are grown under the Vines. 
With the fernery I was much pleased with its arrangements 
Evidently the same taste which had laid out the grounds had been at 
work here also. Notable was the way in which a large number of Rex 
Begonias were grown in a group and not in the scattered “ patchy ” 
manner in which we see them so often in ferneries. A grand specimen 
by the little, lakelet was that fine Fern Angiopteris evicta. This was 
specially noticeable. Many other good Ferns were to be seen, but space 
will not permit of entering into detail. The roof was covered with a 
line plant of Bougainvillea glabra, one of those old flowers which will 
never be superseded. The walls were covered with Ficus repens, the 
dark foliage of which made a fine background for the graceful fronds of 
the Ferns. Curious, too, was the way in which this Ficus had taken 
possession of the door of the fernery. It had crept along and taken 
hold of the door, and, not content with covering the woodwork, had 
attached itself to the glass, and covered it closely with a network of 
rootlets and foliage. The opening and closing of the door did not seem 
to affect the Ficus in the slightest. I should like to know if a similar 
instance has been met with. 
We then entered one of the most pleasing features of the garden, an 
avenue or pergola of espalier trained fruit trees. These form arches 
over the avenue which is 120 yards long, with side avenues of about 
30 yards each. The framework, which is of iron, is substantially con¬ 
structed, and is covered with the foliage of the trees, which are mostly 
about forty years old. Did they never produce fruit these avenues 
would be very attractive, but the crops produced are enormous. I was 
glad to learn that this is the rule with these trees, thus showing that, 
with judicious branch and root-pruning and ample feeding, even old 
trees can be made to yield large crops of the finest quality. Carrying 
grand crops were such as Williams’ Bon Chretien, Fondante d’Automne, 
Citron des Carmes, Hacon’s Incomparable, Marie Louise, Easter Beurrfi, 
Beurrfi d’Amanlis, BeurnS Capiaumont, BeurrG Diel, Prince Consort, 
Passe Colmar, and several other equally good Pears. The orchard, 
which was filled with old standard trees, was what may well be termed 
a picture, so seldom are such good results achieved with old trees. 
Apples were a good crop also. Nearly 700 Strawberries are grown in 
pots ; these looked well, having fine stout crowns. 
Most of the fruit in the Peach house, which is 145 feet long, in two 
divisions, had been gathered, but the splendid fruits of Princess of 
Wales, Albatross, and Gladstone Peaches, and Pineapple Nectarine 
showed how successfully they were cultivated. Planted between the 
trees were Tomatoes literally roped with fruit, being such sorts as 
Sutton’s Perfection and Golden Perfection, Hackwood Park, and a 
selected seedling. Then the stove was looked through, where were to be 
seen a number of plants for table decoration, Crotons, Calanthes, and 
some other Orchids, all well grown. Two other houses filled with 
miscellaneous plants were visited, and a very useful range of pits in five 
divisions, built only six months ago, some heated and others unheated, 
occupied some little time. These were filled with Cucumbers, Tomatoes, 
Cyclamens, Tuberous Begonias, which are here well grown, Cinerarias, 
Calceolarias, &c. A. very large number of plants of the old double white 
Primula were here, and were pictures of health. 
Time only permitted of a look through the vegetable quarters, 
which were stocked with vegetables of the most advanced varieties. 
Large quantities of Peas of various kinds are grown, and a suc¬ 
cession is kept up over a long period. I find I have omitted 
the Chrysanthemums, which were evidently carefully attended to ; and 
from their growth and luxuriant foliage gave the highest promise of 
grand flowers. Mr. Pinnington is no “rule of thumb” cultivator, but 
has taken many notes relating to the peculiaiities of the varieties of the 
“ Queen of Winter Flowers.’’ It afforded me much pleasure to make 
his acquaintance, and to find that his practice is equally as good as his 
cultural notes are valuable to the Journal, and I hope he will favour us 
with some of his observations of the Chrysanthemums. 
It was pleasant to hear of the good relations existing between 
emp’oyer and employed. It is well for horticulture that it has such 
patrons as Mr. Banner, who has reason to be gratified with the resulls 
of his taste and expense.—S. Arnott. 
THE AMERICAN BUCKEYES. 
The North American forests are comparatively rich in Horse 
Chestnuts, or Buckeyes, as we are still apt to call them in America. 
The genus iEsculus, as it is now known, to which these plants belong, 
only contains thirteen species. Eight of these are American, if we 
include two little-known shrubs of southern Mexico and of the northern 
countries of South America, and another shrub of Lower California. 
Outside of America the geDus is represented in south-western Europe, in 
the tropical forests of India, Assam and Burma, in northern and in 
central China, and in Japan. The different species fall naturally into 
two distinct sections. In the first the flowers are furnished with five 
petals, and the walls of the fruit, or pods, are thick and covered on their 
outer surface with sharp prickles. The common Horse Chestnut, which 
is a native of the mountains of Greece and which is now one of the most 
familiar of all ornamental trees, and the Indian species belong to this 
section. In the plants of the other the flowers have only four petals, and 
the fruit is smooth with thin walls ; they are American, Chinese, and 
Japanese, and to them the name of Pavia was formerly given. The two 
sections are united, however, by one of our American trees, the so-called 
Ohio Buckeye, which has the flowers of the Pavias and rather thin- 
walled fruit, which, in its early stages at least, is covered with the 
prickles of the true H^rse Chestnuts. And so it has seemed better to 
consider the Horse Chestnuts and the Buckeyes generically identical. 
Five species grow naturally within the territory of the United States. 
None of these are so often planted here, however, as the European 
Horse Chestnut, and none of them, perhaps, are individually as beautiful 
as that tree, which surpasses all other members of the genus in the 
massivenesss of its habit, in the density of its foliage, and in the 
magnificence of its great flower-clusters. But the massiveness and the 
formality of the head of the Horse Chestnut, while they make it a 
splendid object in some situations, render it a difficult tree to associate 
properly with other trees ; and it usually looks out of place as an 
element in a picturesque landscape. Its value, however, for formal 
plantations, either in city streets or in the avenues of architectural 
gardens, was recognised in Europe two centuries ago, and no other tree 
has yet been found which surpassed it for such purposes. 
If American Buckeyes are not equal to their Old World relative in 
breadth and solidity of head and in floral splendour they in their turn 
surpass it in grace and in their adaptability to harmonise with the other 
trees of the forest; and for general planting in this country they are, 
therefore, more valuable, especially the Sweet Buckeye, the ASseulus 
octandra of botanists, the largest, or, at any rate, the tallest of the 
American species. It is an inhabitant of the Alleghany region from 
western Pennsylvania to Georgia and Alabama, and of the Mississippi 
Valley. When it grows at its best, as on some of the slopes of the high 
mountains of Carolina and Tennessee, it is a noble tree, sending up a 
straight shaft 2 or 3 feet in diameter, sometimes free of branches for 
GO or 70 feet, and often reaching a total height of 90 feet. The head is 
rather narrow and formal, and the branches are small and often 
pendulous. The leaves are of ample size, and are dark yellow-green and 
rather paler on the lower than on the upper surface. The flowers are 
peculiar in the unequal size of the petals, the limbs of the upper pair 
being much smaller than the others and borne on slender claws which 
much exceed the calyx in length. The fruit is pear-shaped, often 
2 inches long, and is beautiful and conspicuous. There is a variety’ of 
this tree found in some parts of the sou'hern Alleghanies and in Texas 
with red or purple flowers. The yellow and red-flowered varieties are 
both hardy as far north as New England, and they are both useful 
ornamental trees, growing rapidly in good soil and harmonising with the 
native trees of the north ; and, unlike the Old World Horse Chestnut, 
they are not seriously injured by fungal diseases. 
The so-called Ohio, or Foetid Buckeye, iEsculus glabra, is the second 
of the Horse Chestnuts of eastern America which grows to the size of a 
tree. It is not as large as the Sweet Buckeye, and it is unusual to find 
it more than 30 feet in height, although sometimes, under the most 
favourable conditions, it grows to fully twice that size. The trunk and 
branches are covered with dark bark, which separates readily iDto thin 
scales, and these make it easy to recognise the tree at a glance, even in 
winter and while still very young. The foliage is lustrous, dark yellow- 
green, and rather conspicuous from the yellow midribs and vems of the 
leafleis. The flowers are of a pale yellow-green colour, the petals nearly 
of the same length, although the lateral pair are much broader than the 
others. The Ohio Buckeye, which got its name from the fact that it was 
first known from the banks of the Ohio in Pennsylvania, belongs to the 
valley of the Mississippi; it is nowhere very common, and is even less 
common now than it was a hundred years ago. This is due in part, no 
doubt, to the fact that this tree always selects rich soil near the banks of 
streams or on river-bottoms, and has had to make way for the crops of 
the farmer. It is as hardy at the north as the Sweet Buckeye, but, from 
an ornamental point of view, is a much less desirable tree and hardly 
worth planting except as a curiosity. 
The other Buckeyes of the east are inhabitants of the south, and do 
