September 8. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
would, more than half cultivators are aware of, he apt 
to carry off such a fine plant without any apparent 
! cause. In watering all such plants, especially in bright 
weather, it is advisable to avoid wetting the stem at the 
! collar, and yet secure the thorough moistening of the 
j roots. Now, this can be thoroughly secured without 
either raising the ball above the pot, or taking away the 
natural gracefulness of having the collar of the plant 
showing its little elevated mound. For instance, here 
is an 8-inch pot we wish to transfer a favourite 
plant to. Well-arrange the drainage and soil at the 
bottom, so that the centre of the ball at the collar of 
the plant shall be three-quarters-of-an-inch below the 
rim, and the outside of the ball from an inch to an incli- 
and-half. Then pack firmly with the open compost, 
but raise the soil at the edges of the pot as high as the 
! mound in the middle. Do this for two purposes—the 
new soil, by being well watered, will become more com¬ 
pressed, and will sink, when a little more may be added, 
but before it does so, or becomes filled with roots, the 
little ridge there will send the water where it is most 
wanted—into the surface of the ball. A rose may be 
used for several waterings at first. But to save time, 
| and preserve the bottom of the stem from being wetted, 
j the spout of the pot may afterwards be used, taking the 
precaution, however, to pour the water, not on the soil, 
j but on a potsherd, an oyster-shell, or anything of that 
kind, so that the water will flow equally all round, 
! without disturbing the soil in any part. Need I add, 
| that no plant should be shifted in a dry state. As some 
| of our young beginners complain of the want of 
minutiae, these notes are especially for their use, and 
simple as they are, attention to them will secure against 
several causes of failures. R. Fish. 
JOTTINGS BY THE WAY. 
( Continued from paye 424. ) 
Wortley Hall, near Sheffield, the seat of Lord 
Wharncliffe.—At this place there are considerable im¬ 
provements in garden matters going on. .The plant- 
j houses formerly stood at a considerable distance from 
the mansion; and, besides that, were from old age 
becoming in a decaying state, so that it would have 
been necessary to almost rebuild them, even had they 
been allowed to remain on the same spot. They are 
now being put up in a situation nearer the mansion, 
and also a new and handsome conservatory is building 
in the midst of the flower-gardens. Lady Wharncliffe 
| has a great love for plants, and very good taste in 
; flower-gardening, and, therefore (as might have been 
| expected when the lady delights in flowers), there is 
! here a good collection of stove and greenhouse plants, 
j as also a neat, well-furnished flower-garden on the 
| bedding-out system. 
Here I saw a good bed or two of that free-flowering 
plant, the Oenothera riparia, syn. (E. prostrata. Mr. 
Law, the clever, intelligent gardener, assured me that it 
was perfectly hardy, having stood the winter for several 
years in the place where I saw it growing and blooming 
freely. It makes a good yellow bed, and does not grow 
! more than six inches high. The beautiful shrub, Abelia 
\ floribunda , also is hardy here. It was planted-out in 
1850, and lias grown well, and had no protection. 
Wortley Hall stands upon a considerable elevation, and, 
perhaps, that fact has something to do with giving 
power to plants (in other situations found tender) to 
j endure the winter cold. In a rather sheltered corner, 
I there are two large Camellias, planted thirty years ago, 
| that have had no protection. They are the old Double- 
| striped. Formerly there was a large tree of the Double- 
! white, but the severe frost of 1837-38 destroyed it, so 
that it seems there is a difference in the constitution of 
Camellias; for these two double-striped ones escaped, 
or, rather, endured that severe frost, while the white 
one was killed, the situation, soil, &c., being alike. 
There are scattered through the extensive pleasure- 
grounds a considerable number of the better kinds ol 
Conferee. I noticed that Juniperus Goveniana had suf¬ 
fered greatly last winter; in fact, it was killed to within 
a foot of the ground; the rest were scarcely injured. 
Cryptomeria Japonica was not even browned in its 
foliage—a circumstance that often happens with plants 
placed in more favourable situations as regards the 
amount of cold. 
The Walks in this place are all in the course of being 
concreted. In the neighbourhood of Sheffield, the 
walks in gardens, and even the public foot-paths, are 
nearly all concreted, and are exceedingly beautiful. 
The beauty consists, in a greater measure, from the 
sprinkling of Derbyshire spar, broken small, over the 
surface, upon the concreted mass of rough cinders and 
coal-tar. Many persons object to concreted walks made 
with asphalt, or coal-tar; 'but, if properly done, the 
smell soon evaporates, and is not perceived aiterwards. 
I particularly inquired of Mr. Law, if the coal-tar was 
offensive to the nose? and his answer was, “ Decidedly 
not, after the first four or five days.” The Sheffield 
garden-walks are most excellent—I may venture to say 
the best in the world. They are dry almost always; 
they are firm and smooth ; and, whon clean swept, look 
like black marble, spotted with white. No moss, or 
weeds, ever grow upon them, and they will last a man s 
lifetime without any repairs. Are not these walks, then, 
possessing such admirable properties, the best in the 
world ? When I arrive at home, I shall certainly con¬ 
crete some of my walks, a-la-Sheffield, as far as possible, 
though I fear the Derbyshire spar will be too expensive; 
fortunately, it is not absolutely necessary, for small, light- 
coloured pebbles from a river’s-bed will answer the same 
purpose. 
In the Hothouses here I observed several new, or 
apparently new, stove climbers. Lord Wharncliffe s 
health last year having been indifferent, be was ordered 
by bis physicians to travel into a warm climate, to 
recover a healthy state. The West Indies was fixed 
upon, and, happy am I to say, with the best results. 
I.ady Wharncliffe accompanied him, and her active love 
of flowers led to collecting seeds and orchidaceous plants. 
Under the fostering care of her gardener the seeds 
quickly germinated, and many of them prove to be 
climbers. One has flowered, and is a singular plant— 
a double-blossomed Clitoria ternatea, with large blue 
flowers. The petals are multiplied, so as to form what 
is called a semi-double flower. It is very handsome, 
and, at the time I called, had several flowei'3 expanded. 
The rest of these climbers appear to be species of 
Glycine, and other papilionaceous genera. The Orchids 
are growing well; and I observed several new I erns 
that have sprung up among them. 
The Kitchen and Fruit Gardens here are, at present, 
not in first-rate order, owing partly to the wet season, 
and partly to the family being from home so long a 
period; but I trust they will now be put into good 
repair. 
In these gardens, as is well-known, the late Joseph 
Harrison practised the art of pruning so successfully, 
that he was induced to publish his experience; and, to 
this day, his book is a text-guide to the art of pruning 
fruit-trees on walls. 
From Wortley I went by rail to Liverpool. The lino 
of railway runs through a mountainous district. The 
cuttings, consequently, are in some places most ter¬ 
rific ; but the sides of the split rocks are fast becoming 
covered with Ferns and other Alpine plants. In the 
neighbourhood of Penistone, I am told, there are many 
