184 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Dkcember !t. 
Doncaster), whiit a toil and turmoil the atteudiuf^ tho 
(ires was to a yonng man. Tlie licad-gardencr would 
come round with his lantcra some cold night in Marcli 
or April, i'eel at tlio wall, and it' it was too hot or too 
cold, would ho not storm away at iny carelessness! 1 
was young then (it was my tirst plaoe), not more than 
seventeen, and could not understand tho conse(]uenco 
of too much heat or too much cold to such, as 1 con¬ 
sidered, hardy tilings as Peaches and Apricots. Ho 
was a gardener of tho old school, and grow some as lino 
Reaches as a Snow, or a Collinson, or any other good 
gardener of tho ]»rcsent day. He was a strict dis¬ 
ciplinarian, and 1 never forgot his lessons. His name 
was Mr. 15. Maun, and is worthy of being recorded, for he 
was a worthy man, and tilled the situation for more 
than thirty years with credit. 'J'he walls, 1 need not say, 
w'ere then nothing but smoke Hues, winding upwards in 
length of about lifty feet to each lire; so that it w'as no 
trivial afl'air to attend to ten or a do/eu tires during the 
season. Science has done much to ease tho labour of 
the under-gardener. Hot water has not only lessened 
the extreme labour, hut has rendered the necessary 
attention more certain in its results. One lire, as in 
the case of the hot walls at Osmaston ^larior, is more I 
easily attended to, and the heat is far more C(|ually 
diH'uscd throughout the entire length of the walls, to 
say nothing of the great saving in fuel. In my younger 
days, the idea of devoting a wall to tlie growth of half- 
hardy plants would have been thought a most extra¬ 
vagant idea, something like a steam railroad ; but now ! 
no garden of any celebrity but must have its conserva¬ 
tive-wall. Perhaps the finest example in Great Rritain 
is the one at Chatsworth. I have observed the progress 
of that wall with great interest. When the idea of 
growing half-hardy jilants against a wall was tirst acted 
upon by Sir Joseph Paxton, perhaps nothing more was [ 
aimed at than a trial of tho cold which certain plants [ 
would bear if sheltered by a wall in about the same degree 
as gardeners shelter the more tender fruits; and the suc¬ 
cess of the first attempt led to the present splendid 
example. The wall now extends to tho length of several 
hundred feet, is covered with glass, which extends a suffi¬ 
cient distance to allow walking under it. The plants 
thrive beautifully and Hower magnificently. There may 
be seen Orangea and Camellias in the greatest possible 
luxuriance, the former blooming and fruiting freely, ami 
the latter flowering profusely; also great numbers of New 
Holland plants, such as Acacias, Eimcris, lloveas, &c., 
&c., growing so well, and blooming so gaudily as almost 
to bo unrecognisable. I had the jileasuro of seeing this 
famous wall this last August, and a more interesting 
and beautiful sight in gardening I scarcely ever wit¬ 
nessed. One plant, the liibes siuxiosa, was particularly 
gorgeous. This plant is undeservedly neglected, very 
few gardens possess it at all; yet there arc not many 
plants that arc grown against a warm wall that surpass 
it in beauty when in bloom. 
There is, also, a tolerably good wall of this description 
which was planned and planted by the same able garden 
architect (Sir J. Paxton), at Tatton Park, near Knutsford, 
in Cheshire, one of the linest seats in that line county. 
It belongs to W. Egerton, Esip Another wall of this 
description was mentioned incidentally by my good 
friend Mr. Pish. He saw it at Wrest Park, and pro¬ 
mised to describe it. 1 trust he will not forget, as 
the subject of conservative-walls, I assure him, is be¬ 
coming one of tho forward moves in gardening. 1 saw, 
on my late journey, many instances on a small scale 
indeed; but still the idea, and desire to carry out the 
idea, is progressing; so that any information any of us 
can give on the subject will bo acceptable. 1 shall try 
to do my share, and jiroposc to myself to ask and try to 
answer the following ([uestions. Wliat is the use of a 
conservative-wall‘f What is tho best asjiect'.' How 
should it bo built or formed? Should it bo heated? 
Should it be covered with glass ? And lastly. What kind 
of plants should be planted against it? and then give 
a list of such plants as would be suitable for tho 
purpose. T. Ari’LEBV. 
{To he coHlinucd.) 
THE PANSEY. 
Amoxust the various tribes of llorists’ flowers, there 
are few that attract more admiration than the I’ansey. 
It jiossesses many points of beauty, both in form, ' 
colour, and length of blooming season. We find it at 
all the spring and summer exhibitions, both as cut 
blooms, and flowering in pots. It is a favourite through¬ 
out the length and breadth of the land, and is cultivated 
lai-gely by almost every florist. As one proof of its 
general cultivation, I have received a list of kinds or 
varieties grown by a gentlemen so far north as Berwick- 
upon-Tweed. 
Tiio readers of 'J’iie Cottage Gardener, and Gen- 
tt.ewan’s Companion (and a very good companion, too, 
in his garden), will recollect that 1 invited florists to send 
me a list of such varieties as they considered lirst-rate 
in quality. IMy Berwick friend was the lirst to respond 
to the call, and, in consequence, 1 send a copy of tho 
list to the Piditor. 1 have no doubt it will be received 
gladly by our readers, and will be useful to many ama¬ 
teurs, and even dealers. I can vouch for tho accuracy 
of the list, and for tlie ipialities the writer describes. 
WHITE OR STRAW-COLOURED GROUNDS, WITH MARGINS OE 
m.UE, LILAC, PURPLE, PUCE, &C. 
Almanzor (C. jMcLaurin); white and purple; a good 
old flower. 
British Queen (Dickson and Co., Edinburgh); white, 
and fine bluish-pur])le ; beautiful eye ; new. 
Boadicea ; white, upper petals dark jiui'ido, belt same 
colour; very distinctly marked; new and fine. 
Countess of Ruslin (Downie and liaird); beautiful; 
straw and rich purple belting; new, and extra fine form. 
Duchess of Rutland (Thomson); whi,te, wdth lilac belt 
on the top petals ; fine. 
France Cycle (Grieve); white, and rich deep purple; 
fine form. 
Lady Mackenzie (Stirling); ujiiier and lower petals 
dark blue, centre very pure white. 
Lord Ilardinye (Gossett); straw, and bright puce. 
Lord Jeffrey (Lighbody); white, deep puride belt, 
and top petals the same colour; good velvety substance. 
Hunt's Helen (Hunt); white and light purple-; aline 
flower, but sometimes comes indistinct in hot weather. 
Mrs. Beck; white centre, rich purple belting; line 
eye; extra fine form. 
Miriam (Dickson and Co.); white, broad belt, and top 
petals of tbe richest dark purple; good substance; fine 
form ; eye large and very dense ; new, and extra fine. 
Miss Talhot (Dickson and Co.); white, belt and top 
petals deep purjile; new and fine. j 
Minstrel (Dickson and Co.); white, belt and toji ' 
petals blue-purple ; new and fine. I 
Royal Standard (Dickson and Co.); white, belt and j 
top petals of a beautiful light purple; now, and extra - 
fine. ' 
Royal Visit (Dickson and Co.); light jirimrose, and j 
rich deep moreen toji petals and belt; good. j 
YELLOW GROUNDS, WITH JIARGINS OL-' BLUE, LILAC, , 
PURPLE, MAROON, &(L 
Cajitivation (ilnjoij ; yellow, belted witli rich, dark 
maroon ; fine. 
Corninandcr-in-Ckief ( Youcll); yellow-bronze, purple i 
margin. 
