October 2S. 
TPIE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
59 
“fresh turf.” If the loam, or turf, is heavy—that is to 
say, too adhesive, or coutaining too much of the clayey 
principle—he recommends using “ a little decomposed 
manure, or leaf mould.” In another portion of his 
notes ho observes, “ If the old pasture turf is not too 
retentive, I would use no manure.” 
t Our readers must not imagine from this, that what is 
; commonly termed a strong loam is to bo held in abhor¬ 
rence; hut it is difficult to convey a just idea of what 
; constitutes a loam to persons unpractised in gardening 
I matters. The Cottage Gardener, although notorious 
I for substituting plain English for an ambiguous style, 
has had, perhaps, more difficulty in rendering the 
matter of loam familiar to its inexperienced readers, 
than any other affair, in so small a compass. One 
thing, however, is evident, that Mr. H. is coveting the 
organic matter which is so abundant in old pasture soils, 
and which no compost prepared by hand can possibly 
imitate. It is not the mere quality alone, it is tlie me¬ 
chanical texture that forms its chief feature; and whe¬ 
ther it be a matter of capillary attraction, its conducting 
powers as to heat, or its long-continued permeability 
to atmospheric action, or whether all these are com¬ 
bined,—certain it is, that for many horticultural purposes 
we cannot find a substitute for this precious material. 
For other remaining cultural matters we must refer 
the reader to subsequent papers, in the conclusion of 
which we shall doubtless have some discrepancies to 
i-econcile, some errors to 'correct; and those interested 
in this rising taste, fancy, demand—call it what you 
nice —will do well to watch the subject to its close. 
R. Errington. 
VISIT TO CLAREMONT. 
I INTENDED to visit the great Rose nurseries this 
autumn, to see the perpetual Roses in bloom, and to 
hear the gossip of the day about Roses in general, but 
the weather turning out so wet in September must have 
spoiled the bloom; therefore I gave them up for the 
present, and went to see some good public and private 
gardens, and a few nurseries instead. I have often 
seen Claremont for the last twenty years, but not so 
late as this—the end of September—and I never yet 
left it without a string of fresh ideas. On this occasion, 
I found them in the midst of great improvements and 
alterations in the forcing ground, and busily finishing 
up the housing of half-hardy plants, which they grow to 
very large sizes, and in the summer they arrange them 
in pairs, singly, or in groups, in different parts of the 
flower-garden, and in the pleasure-ground, with the 
pots plunged quite out of sight in most cases ; and this 
is a style of gardening which is carried out at Claremont 
bettor than at any other place that I am acquainted 
j with. Indeed, all the house plants here may be said to 
! be specimens, even to the plants from which they cut 
j sweet-scented leaves and twigs for the nosegays, and 
j the old and fancy Geraniums they force in the spring, 
for cut flowers, are all in great pots, and the plants look 
as if they were many years old, from their size, but in 
their aspect they appear as if their youth was renewed 
from year to year. By this system, the produce is often 
doubled from the same space of house or pit room, and 
with less risk to the plants, and less expense in looking 
after them. 
i Some of the specimens in the orchid-house are the 
largest in this country, and no part of Europe can 
boast of a pair of larger orchids than the two match 
: plants, Zygopetaluvi Maclcayi, here. I know of no place 
! where the Gactus, or Epigihyllum truncatus, has attained 
i such a size, as in one of the stoves or intermediate 
i stove, grafted here on the, I believe, Pereskia acideata. 
Here also the Beamnontia grandijioni flowers as abun- 
I dantly as at Shrubland Park, or with our correspondent 
“ Devoniensis.” The Euphorhia jacqiiiniJJora is also 
very large, some of the young shoots being from three 
to five feet long, and when in full bloom, what a splendid 
wreath the tops of two of the shoots would make, placed 
in this fashion—one from behind each ear, with the 
points or tops meeting in the centre of the forehead, 
and then passing each other about two inches or rather 
more; to these add four more tops, same size as the 
first two, and form the six into a star, and my word for 
it, you would conquer the French President himself, in 
one night, as sure as ever his uncle was overcome at 
Waterloo. 
But, instead of attending to ball-rooms, we are to see 
how they are going to provide more room for their 
greenhouse specimens at Claremont. The old, long 
house in the forcing ground, once called the “ the 
succulent house,” and afterwards the “ greenhouse,” is no 
more, and on its site is placed a specimen house, hard 
upon a hundred feet long, and fourteen feet wide; a 
broad walk down the middle, to enable them to pass up 
and down with huge bushes in pots, &c., and a stage on 
each side, much better than a slate stage, and quite as 
durable, and drained on the same principle as a garden- 
pot; thus, a succession of brick arches run along each 
side, with facings or kii'bs next the walk, and a little 
higher than the crown of the arches. Now, the spaces 
between the arches are filled up, first with brickbats, 
then with rough cinders, and a finishing coat of finely- 
sifted coal-ashes, the whole on both sides being quite 
flat and level. Provision is made for letting ofi’ the 
drainage from between the arches into a drain. With 
this kind of stage the house can bo kept very dry in 
winter, and as wet in summer as they choose to make it, 
without wetting the walk at all; and see what room 
there is for stowage under the arches. The house is to 
be heated with hot water, and the same boiler will heat 
it, and ranges of pine and other pits close by. When 
the whole is finished, and well proved, I shall ask for 
the drawings, and some of the specifications, for our 
pages. All the Pines are grown and fruited here in pits, 
and they fruit them very extensively every year; the 
plants look remarkably stout and healthy, with short, 
thick, and broad leaves—always a sure sign of well-to- 
do; yet Mr. Malleson says the French beat us out-and- 
out in the culture of the Pine, and that they get one- 
fourth more weight of fruit from a given space than we 
do. He was in France this summer, and saw fine Pines 
fruiting in No. 33 pots. He told me, also, that there is 
as great demand there for British gardeners now, as 
was in England once for Scotch gardeners, but for want 
of a knowledge of keeping accounts in the French 
way, and not knowing even the rudiments of the French 
tongue, our young men are not qualified for the Con¬ 
tinent. The Grapes have also been equally fine this 
season, chiefly Black Hamburghs, and Canon Hall 
Muscats. Some of the bunches were a foot long, and 
the berries particularly large and well flavoured. The 
vines are pruned on the spur-system, and as soon as the 
leaves drop off in the autumn. 
The Cornelian Cherry-tree (Gormis mascula variegata) 
was in ripe fruit, trained horizontally against a south 
wall. I never saw this plant so treated before, nor with 
ripe fruit on it; the fruit is very handsome, and good to 
eat; it is blunt at both ends, about the size of a small 
plum or sloe, and of a rich deep claret colour. This 
kind of Cornel is, therefore, a fit subject for a conser¬ 
vatory-wall, where no glass or artificial heat is used; 
and to get rid of the kitchen-garden idea, the plant 
should not bo trained horizontally like a pear, but in 
the fan manner. The flowers of Cornus mas, as some 
people call it, are of no account—yellow little starry 
things in clusters, but they come very early in the 
spring before the leaf. 
In another part of this garden there is an old plant 
