84 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Novejiber f). 
before you, as it were, to one side, and that tickles the 
eye like seeing a person with a low and a liigh shoulder, 
though not quite like seeing a pig with one car. On 
jiassing through the entrance hall, so to apeak, you are 
in a large open quadrangle with another “ front door” 
opposite; pass this second entrance, and you are in the 
inner quadrangle, round the four sides of which run 
an open colonnade supported on arches, and on iron 
railing confines you to the colonnade; inside the iron 
railing is a large square of gravel, in the centre of 
which is'anolher square ot grass, and in the centre of 
the grass is a basin and a smart jet fountain; on the 
curb of the basin is a row of beautiful specimen plants 
in large pots, chiefly diflerent kinds of Geraniums and 
pillar Euchias, and along tho sides, betw^een the grass 
and gravel, there is a second row of ))ot-plants, all in 
the same style, and just like exhibition plants, they 
were so perfectly trained, and quite as large as they have 
them at the shows, and as healthy-looking as they could 
be. One Flou'er of the Day w'as a yard in diameter; 
a Shnihlaud Bose Petunia and a Heliotrope the same ; 
Compactum as much, and equalled by Tom Thumh. 
Now, all these were far beyond anything I expected 
to find at Hampton Court, and, depend upon it, nothing 
sets off a place so much as good specimen plants placed 
about the house or grounds, under verandas, on low 
terrace walls, or even on plain gravel in front of the 
window's. I have always advocated the system, and the 
more I see of it with other jicople, the more I am con¬ 
vinced of the soundness of tlie tiling. Any harum- 
scarum of a fellow can grow a plant if you put it in 
a bed, or out in the border for him, and water it till it 
gets its hold; but, my w'ord for it, to grow a specimen 
plant recjuires a man to have his wits about him; and 
when it is grown, see how people will talk and write 
about it, besides the showiness of the eflect produced. 
I saw, at once, that some heads were put right on the 
shoulders at Hampton Court, and I hastened through 
to the garden, as if e.xpecting to discover a new comet; 
I mean, with that kind of exciting interest, and all on 
account of seeing three or four dozens of specimen 
plants round the fountain in that inner quadrangle 
in the palace. On the south, or garden front of tlie 
palace, runs a level terrace-walk, forty-five feet wide and 
920 of my steps in length ; it is as smooth as this page, 
and as free from weeds ; but they use such a heavy iron 
roller as takes three men to draw on all but a perfect 
level. Elower-beds at only four feet apart run along one 
whole side of this long level walk, the palace occupying 
the other side for about 400 yards, and then conservatory 
walls run from each side of the palace to the extreme 
ends. Tlie said flower-beds stand four feet from the 
walk, and lour feet from bed to bed, and every one of 
them is square on the sides; the square across from the 
walk is eighteen feet in all the beds, but the sides along 
the walk diller from ten to thirty-six feet; just think of 
planting fifty or sixty beds which are eigliteeu feet one 
way, and thirty-six the other way ; why, it would make a 
good farm; but there are tlireo diverging walk's running 
out from the centre of the main walk at certain angles, 
and a halt-moon, or halfcircle walk of great length all 
the way round, to connect them, and all these have their 
accompanying flower-beds on one side. There are just 
as many, if not more, plants bedded out hero than at 
the Crystal Palace, and a great many more kinds of 
bedding-plants are used than at Sydenham; most of 
the individual beds looked as full, fresh, and gay, as 
those at the Crystal Palace did three days helore. I 
heard there were twenty men, or more, with a head- 
gardener, to manage, this flower-garden. Few enough, 
goodness knows, for such a vast surface of flowers, 
grass, and gravel. I have known as many men kept for 
one-quarter of the extent; but the whole was in as good 
keeping as any private place I ever knew. 
Now, for tho effect of this vast extent, which was in 
perfect order and keeping when 1 saw it. Was it grand, 
or magnificent, or what? 'J'his garden is laid out i)i the 
flat, square, Dutch style, but, with the exception of the 
canal, some spouting jets, and the straight-lined trees, 
it is, at present, without tho usual accompaniments 
of this good old style of gardening. Many years ago, 
however, a great inimber of Yews were planted at cer¬ 
tain distances, for being cut and carved, no doubt, into 
whimsical shapes, but if the original intention was ever 
carried out, it is not manifest now. The Yews are there, 
and in the exact lines of the present flower-beds, every 
one of them being in the centre of a flower-bed, or in 
the mixed borders, where they carry the day, and with 
their gloom and shade hide and destroy all ideas of 
effect from flower-planting. You cannot see the eflect 
of one of those vast number of flower-beds until you are 
opposite to it, and then you cannot see the effect of the 
combination, or of the contrast between it and the next 
behind it or in advance of it, altliough none of the beds 
stand more than four feet apart on tho grass; so tliatfor 
all the purposes of flower-gardening, and for producing 
display and effect, all the thousands of flowers at Hamp¬ 
ton Court might just as well bo at the bottom of the 
Red Sea; and if I were the manager, I would often wish 
myself along with them, to see so much of “ love’s 
labour lost.” 
When the war is over, a company of the Sappers and 
Miners should be sent down there, with Sir Benjamin 
Hall at their head, to grub up every one of those Yews, 
root and branch; then the two flats on either side of 
the centre diverging walk from tlie palace entrance 
should bo laid out in the true Dutch style of lace jia.r- 
terre, if it was thought worth while to retain that style. 
The Y'’ews could be planted in other parts of the garden 
in the Dutch double-row style; they might even yet be 
reduced, by cut and clip, to fantastic shapes, the canal 
to be alive with sirens and water-kelpies; then, with 
grottoes and a profusion of statuary, you need not go 
out of Middlesex to see a good example of the old 
Dutch style of landscape-gardening. At all events, if 1 
was in the place of Sir Benjamin Hall, I would not rest 
easy until 1 had consent either to give up the flowers 
altogether, and turf up close to tho Yews, or remove the 
Yews, and keep to the flowers. Tho present style is 
neither one thing or the other, hut a bastard of bad 
taste and flat Dutch. Nevertheless, there are more points 
of good flower-gardening to be learned here than either 
at Kew or the Crystal Palace. 
At Kew, they tried the shot-silk bed, and failed most 
completely, over and over again ; but bere they are more 
successful with it, and no other garden in England 
could produce a bettor bod of the Purple Unique Gera¬ 
nium as I saw here that day. It might contain 100 or 
150 large plants ; and the whole was as regular over the 
top, and along the sides, and as full of bloom as a bed 
of Tom Thumh. I have had it, on the Suffolk chalk, 
fully as good, once or twice, but not always; and 1 did 
not believe it could ho so well done in moist, sandy 
loam ; but the secret will be out next week, for I have 
a bagful of notes, and a note on every jdant and bed 
in the garden. 
D. Beatoi^. 
(To he contiuuefl.) 
FuonsiA Dominiana.— We have had this beautiful 
Fuchsia in bloom, in the conservatory of Sir Francis E. 
Scott, Bart., for upwards of four months, and it improves 
in size of flower and colour as the season advances. It 
makes one of the very best conservatory plants. The 
foliage is beautiful also. 
Salvia GESNEBiEFi.oRA makes another very useful plant 
