840 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 15, 1885. 
me, but my border is inside. I have now cut my crop, and the berries 
were all sound. I have had a few good gardeners to see me just lately, 
and I also have had several visits to gardens, but have heard no complaint 
of Foster’s Seedling cracking in West Norfolk. Old berries have done so, 
but then the cause is known, and is soon removed. It may be asked, Why 
does this crack in a mixed house more than the black? My answer is, The 
skin of Foster’s Seedling is very fine, so transparent that the stones can 
be seen and almost counted. Prevent steaming or dew on the berries and 
there will be no cracking. Foster’s Seedling is a very sure cropper, hang- 
fairly well, hut I prefer Buckland Sweetwater on account of its larger 
berries, better richer colour, and the latter makes by far the best market 
Grape. Foster’s Seedling looks too much like imported Grapes when cut 
for a few days. 
“ Thinker ” puts a finish on the cracking or splitting of Grapes, and in 
my idea he is right. I have now two good Vines of Madresfield Court in 
full crop, and not the least signs of cracking. I have come to the 
conclusion that as my Vines are at least a month later than last year, in 
fact, not yet ready for table, I lave missed the steaming time. I was 
fairly successful last year, but at the beginning of September in hot days, 
notably after a wet or dull morning, although ventilated, yet the house 
would steam. To avoid this I set the two front ventilators so that they were 
always open, and kept the foliage fairly free at the top, so that the damp 
should find its way out. I have not the fine colour this time, but if they 
will keep till Christmas a point will be gained.— Stephen Castle, West 
Lynn. 
NOSTELL PRIORY. 
A short time ago the members of the Yorkshire Association of Hor¬ 
ticultural Societies visited this fine old residence of Lord St. Oswald, and 
the following historical notes have been obligingly furnished by Mr. 
Herbert.Chapman, the Secretary of the Paxton Society, Wakefield, the 
description of the grounds and gardens being supplied by Mr. W. K. 
Woodcock, who attended as the representative of one of the Sheffield 
horticultural societies. 
The following history of Nostell or Nostel Priory is taken from Banks’ 
“ Walks About Wakefield : ”—We come to Nostel, a seat of the Winns, 
whose fine mansion in the park bears the name of Nostel Priory. The 
modern house is partly seen from the high road as we cross the elegant 
bridge that spans the large lake belonging to the grounds. The water 
lies on each side of the Wakefield and Doncaster turnpike road, and is 
about forty acres in extent. It consists of an upper, middle, and lower 
lake, measuring in length three-quarters of a mile. The overflow goes 
into the River Went. The present Nostel mansion was built in the early 
half of last century near the site of the Priory, which, having been 
adapted to the purposes of a private family, was to that time the resi¬ 
dence of the owners of the estate. The eastern front looks down an 
avenue of trees, wholly or chiefly Elms, nearly a mile long, though less 
than half that distance lies within the limits of the park, the rest being 
continued across lands beyond the wall. The park, which is said to con¬ 
tain 250 acres of land, is well wooded and stocked with fallow deer. 
The church stands within the park, and an inscription in the vestry 
states that Mr. Winn repaired it. It contains several monuments of the 
Winn family. The north chancel ceiling is ornamented by King Oswald's 
three crowns, a lion between three pheons, and other emblems. The 
priory of St. Oswald at Nostel was founded by Robert de Laci, the 
Norman baron, son to Hbert de L ici, the well-known first Norman lord of 
the castle and honour of Pomfret. The name of Oswald, king and 
martyr, was held in great esteem in this part of Yorkshire, coming as he 
did after King Edwin’s death at Hatfeild, and re-establishing the kingdom 
of Northumbria. The monastery thus founded was for canons regular of 
the order of St. Austin. The site of the old monastery is said to have 
been where the church stands, the new priory of St. Oswald being erected 
a little north-westward of that and nearer the lake. The priory came to 
an end at the general dissolution of monasteries. 
In 1654 Mr. Rowland Winn, a London merchant, purchased the estate 
and sold it the same year to his brother, George Winn, Esq., who became 
a baronet in 1660. The present house was built by the fourth baronet, 
Sir Rowland Winn, who died in 1765. The estate has descended from 
him to the present possessor, the recently ennobled Lord St. Oswald. 
The gardens and pleasure grounds, which is the part of most interest 
to readers of this Journal, are large and are throughout in most admirable 
keeping, reflecting the highest credit upon the good management of the 
head gardener, Mr. Deavan. 
The fruit and kitchen gardens are situated at a considerable distance 
from the mansion and near the principal entrance to the park. Imme¬ 
diately outside the garden walls is a very fine newly erected range of 
shedding for poultry, with large asphalted yards, in the which is kept a 
choice collection of various kinds. Inside the walls are a series of nearly 
new low brick pits heated by hot-water pipes and well stocked with use¬ 
ful plants for winter flowering, principal amongst which are Gardenias, 
Tuberoses, Bouvardias, and Primulas. The first-named are clean, strong 
bushy plants well set with buds from cuttings struck in February. Some 
late Tuberoses are throwing up strong flower spikes in the same pit with 
Gardenias ; these being favourites with her ladyship, are grown in large 
quantities all through the season. Bouvardias also are grown by 
hundreds, principally for supplying flowers. The stock of Primulas is a 
fine one, a large number of plants being grown, all large, strong, and 
healthy, promising well to bear abundant blooms. 
We next come to two well-built span-roofed ranges of glass erect 
about three years since. The first range is devoted to plants, and consists 
of a greenhouse 32 by 18 feet, and a plant stove 60 by 18 feet. In each 
house there is a central bed or stage ‘and side stages with a path round. 
The greenhouse was at the time of our visit very gay with large numbers 
of well-grown dwarf specimens of Zonal Pelargoniums profusely bloomed 
and making a blaze of colour. Most noticeable in the plant stove are the 
large bushes of Gardenias occupying the greater portion of the central 
bed. These bushes are about 5 feet through each way, are planted on 
low conical mounds in the centre of the pit, and are in vigorous health, 
bristling with bloom buds in all stages of development. The leaves are 
large, of a bright glossy green, without a speck of dirt apparent any¬ 
where, and so free from mealy bug that Mr. Deavan told us he dare 
venture to make an offer of one guinea for each one that could be found. 
The treatment they bad received was very simple. They were all lifted 
and replanted, disturbing the roots as little as possible, in February, the 
compost being about equal parts of fibrous peat and good turfy loam with 
a plentiful admixture of broken charcoal and rough grit sand. The 
drainage is good and the supply of water liberal. They are occasionally 
watered over the foliage and at the roots with clear soot water. 
Whenever mealy bug or scale is seen the plants are at once syringed 
thoroughly with petroleum at the rate of a wineglass to a gallon of water, 
which Mr. Deavan thinks the best of all insecticides. His mode of apply¬ 
ing it is by having two men each with a syringe, one discharging it 
vigorously into the pail, anl so keeping the water violently agitated, whilst 
the other distributes it over the plants. Throughout the month of May 
flowers were cut from these fine bushes at the rate of 250 per day. 
Trained on the roof of this stove are large and strong Allamandas and 
Stephanotis, the latter still carrying plenty of fresh flowers, and the 
foliage as clean as that of the Gardenias underneath, maintained so by the 
free use of the same insecticide. 
The second range consists of two vineries each 40 by 24 feet. The 
first of these is planted principally with Vines of Black Hamburgh, which 
have this season finished a fine crop, the greater portion of which had 
been gathered; but there are still hanging some fine well-shouldered 
bunches of about 4 lbs. weight each. In the late house a fine crop of 
fiuit is finishing superbly, the varieties being Alicante, Lady Downe’s 
Seedling, Madresfield Court, Gros Colman, and Gros Maroc. The latter 
is in appearance the finest Grape in the house, and is there considered to 
be the finest late Grape in cultivation, destined eventually to drive Gros 
Colman out of the market, owing to its superiority in appearance and 
flavour. Complaints are often made as to its being a shy setter. As a 
remedy against this they are impregnated when in flower with pollen 
taken from Black Hamburghs flowering at the same time in another house, 
the result being “ a 6et ” as good as could be obtained from the latter 
variety. In this late vinery the Vines are planted 5 feet apart up each 
side the house, meeting over the central path, and between each two rods 
a single stem of Tomatoes is trained in the same way, and carrying plenty 
of good fruit. In the early vinery was a grand pyramidal plant in pot 
of Rhododendron Gibsoni, 7 feet high and 5 through at the base, well 
furnished throughout and set with buds at every point; also several 
Azaleas similar in size and appearance. 
Leaving these houses, we were conducted first through a lean-to Pioe 
stove, in which a number of medium-sized useful fruit, principally Black 
Jamaica, were maturing. Over the pathway, along the back of the Pine 
pit, a number of plants of Hibiscus and Dipladenias were flowering pro¬ 
fusely, and next, through an ancient range of four houses, consisting of 
three vineries and a plant house, heated by flues and built 120 years ago. 
The outside timbers of these houses are almost devoid of paint, as they 
have long been condemned to be taken down, but still they are apparently 
sound and much more fitted to withstand a gale than many modern houses 
only recently erected. At the back of this range, running the entire 
length, is the Mushroom house and potting sheds of the same date. Ia 
these we were shown a Mushroom bed spawned on the 22od of August, 
and now showing Mushrooms in plenty. 
There is a splendid Tange of comparatively newly erected lean-to 
Peach houses, facing south, 212 feet ling by 12 feet wide, divided into 
four houses each 53 feet in length. The back wall is covere d throughout 
the range with large and very healthy trees of Peaches and Nectarines, 
from which fruit had been gathered continuously since the first week in 
June. Some fine fruits of Bellegarde and Walburton Admirable were 
still hanging. The front of each house is furnished with a low curved 
wire trellis, which in the first house is covered by healthy plants of Gloire 
de Dijon Rose, producing flowers in quantity. In the second it is occu¬ 
pied by Peach trees, in the third by Figs, and in the fourth by Peaches. It 
is found, however, in the case of the third house, that Figs and Peaches do 
not work well together in the same house, the heat required for 
maturing the late Figs being injurious to the Peaches. It is intended, 
therefore, shortly to remove the latter, and to convert the house into one 
for Figs alone. In this house were some large specimens of Tritoma 
aurea, the head of bloom on each plant being about 2 feet through. The 
colour was bright, and as thus grown wonld be very effective in the most 
choice co’lection of autumn-flowering plants. 
Near this range is an ancient flued wall for fruit trees. This is sup¬ 
posed to be about 200 years old. The flues are not now used., but have 
been so up till a recent date. It runs north and south, dividing the 
kitchen gardens into two parts, the total extent of which is four acres, 
besides two acres of orchard, the greater portion cropped with vegetables 
between the rows of fruit trees. 
In the second part of the kitchen garden is a broad border running 
the entire length of the garden (150 yards) well filled with bedding plants 
for cutting purposes, and separated from the vegetable garden by a strong 
wire fence covered with Gloire de Dijon Roses in fine condition. At one 
