THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
492 
edged with crimson. The upper line of this magnificent 
curtain is straight, to correspond with the line of the 
building; and the bottom line is formed into horse-shoe 
arches, with sharp points between, or inverted festoons, 
a crimson drop hanging down from each point; face 
either end of the terrace-garden, at any point within it, 
and you have one of these splendid draperies right 
before your eyes, covering so much of the bank the 
whole width of this garden. A magnificent conception, 
carried out in grand simplicity. It was meant to have a 
scarlet fringe along the top line of these Cloth of Gold- 
covered banks, but the Scarlet Geranium row, intended 
for the fringe, did not rise high enough this season to 
show above the Calceolarias from the garden side, and a 
stronger-growing Geranium mitst bo planted there for 
the future. 
The best kind of hybrid Rhododendrons are planted 
in beds round the squares at both ends, formed by the 
wings and the two secondary walks; and these Rhodo¬ 
dendron beds are edged with yellow Calceolaria, of which 
they use three varieties of Rugosa, the broadest leaved- 
one being the best. It is very near, if not the same, as 
the Horticultural Society grow in large pots for the 
Conservatory at Chiswick. They have Angustifolin also, 
and Amplexicaulis in other parts of the garden; also a 
good, tall brown Calceolaria, called Pluto, of which two 
natch-beds stand as you descend into the transition- 
garden by the grand centre walk, which is here much 
raised above the grass, and is supported by balustrades, 
over which you look down on the line of beds which 
accompany the walk on either side, down to and round 
the grand centre fountain, where the more dressed 
ground ceases in that direction. Besides Pluto, you 
have two match-beds, at the top of the line, of Fuchsia 
Carolina, which surprised me, as I thought all the world 
heard from this pen that Carolina could not be made a 
flower-bed of. It makes a good neutral bed, however, 
as it stands here, for they have no want of flowers; 
indeed, perhaps it was intended as a neutral. If so, it 
was a good idea; as a pair of neutral beds of dwarf Rho¬ 
dodendrons stand lower down, at the bottom of the steps 
leading out on two sides from the area enclosed for the 
grand fountain. Two more match-beds were filled with 
the old Globosa Fuchsia. The plants were too young 
this season, and they must be kept over the winter in¬ 
doors, or else Globosa major to be substituted for them 
another year. Lower down, another pair of match-beds 
were filled with the dwarf yellow CEnothera prostrata, 
looking gay, and not all with too much foliage. 
D. Beaton. 
(To be continued.) 
USEFUL COOL HOUSE AND GREENHOUSE 
AT THE GAS-HOUSE NURSERY, HITCHIN. 
The above Nursery is situated within five minutes 
walk of the Hitchin Station on the Great Northern Rail¬ 
way, and though of no great extent, the lovers of flowers, 
who may have a short time to spare, will find it well 
worthy of their inspection. A beautiful stream of water 
runs through the ground, which is rendered interesting 
as well as useful, and a stranger can scarcely fail to 
notice that Mr. Fells manages the concern with a happy 
combination of the actively industrious, the neatly kept, 
and th6 studiously economical. It is not my intention 
to give anything like a description of this little Nursery, 
but I may notice, in passing, that there is a good collec¬ 
tion of the better sorts of evergreens, Pinuses, and 
shrubs, chiefly in a young state, and which seemed to be 
moved every or every other year; a good collection of 
the hardier Gladiolus and other bulbs; a goodly number 
of the best herbaceous plants, such as Phloxes, Delphi¬ 
niums, &c.; and among other things I noticed this 
September 26. 
season, was a splendid quarter of the double Red Ane¬ 
mone ; another of the double blue, not so large; and 
during summer a large mass of the fine old mule Pink, 
not grown half so much as it ought to be. 
With the exception of a few Ferns, the pot plants are 
chiefly those that are used for bedding, and for small 
greenhouses ; and for growing large quantities of these, 
there are a number of economical pits and small houses, 
besides a large span-roofed house, planted with Vines, 
but which, in the meantime, forms a splendid store¬ 
house for keeping and growing great numbers of Gera¬ 
niums, &c., for bedding, during the winter and spring 
months. 
As some of the novelties in the bedding way are gene¬ 
rally tried out-of-doors, the careful purchaser will have 
a better opportunity of judging what will suit bis pur¬ 
pose than lie would acquire either from a florist’s draw¬ 
ing, or even a truthful advertisement. Among other 
things worthy of being better known, I observed a rose- 
coloured Verbena, called Virginius, or Virgilius; a com¬ 
pact dark purple one, with a white eye, named Favourite; 
a stubby, upright-growing blue Lobelia, named Com- 
pacta; a large, dark, good-substanccd Petunia seedling, 
though to my fancy it was just rather large; and a very 
nice, stubby, light (the nearest to white of any I had 
seen) Heliotrope, named Perfection, though Mr. Fells 
assured me it was not at all new. It would make a good 
neighbour to Corymbosa, if it maintains the same small 
leaves, rather upright growth, and compact habit, and 
would be much more lightsome than that compact 
variety. I may also add, that there is a good collection 
of Roses, and just now a fine show of Hollyhocks, esta¬ 
blished favourites and seedlings. 
If the bedding system has done no other good, it has 
created a demand for flowering plants unknown before. 
To meet the increasing demand in the neighbourhood 
the house was constructed, to which I wish to direct the 
attention of readers, who, though they love their plants, 
find they must be economical; and for the details of 
which I am indebted to Mr. Fell’s kind courtesy. The 
objects of the building, as a whole, seem to be chiefly 
threefold. First, the storing and keeping in safety as 
many plants in small pots as possible, as well as giving 
them sufficient light to grow in spring without being 
drawn. Second, a convenient means of hardening off 
these plants, before expiosing them to the open air, so 
as to be economical as respects the time and labour ne¬ 
cessary. And third, a means of securing a certain 
amount of protection for many plants, which, though 
nearly hardy at all times, or har.dy as they get old, will 
not bear the vicissitudes of our winter when young; 
such as the better kinds of evergreens, Pinuses, her¬ 
baceous plants, &c., and which, while protected from 
rains, &c., will not be likely to suffer from confinement 
nor from damp, guarded against by the live-fence wall, 
and the simple construction of the sash-bar, by which 
there is a continual draft of air without any trouble of 
sash moving. 
The plan will at once be understood by the descrip¬ 
tion of the accompanying section. 
1 Side walls, four feet six inches high. 
2 Ditto inside, three feet six inches from section of flue. 
3 Height inside, six feet six inches from top of flue. 
4 Six shelves of earth, supported by a brick on edge. 
5 Depth of flue, outside, one foot. 
0 Width ditto, one foot three inches. 
7 Length of sashes, six feet six inches. 
8 Air for the lean-to at top. 
9 Roof of lean-to, sash bars, fixed, no separate sashes, 
six feet six inches. 
10 Hedge, or wall, of living arbor vita, clipped, two 
feet six inches in height. The sashes resting on a 
neat wall-plate, supported by posts. 
11 Space for air to pass round the flue. 
