THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, July 14, 18,07. 
from, that road, and you turn off to it when near the 
lodge. For anything we know to the contrary, other 
positions might have been fixed upon for the entrance. 
The gates are so placed at a sudden turn of the road 
that, approaching them from Barnet, they seem to stand 
across, or at right angles with the highway. The idea 
imperceptibly glides upon you that the highway is 
merely an outside approach, separated by the gates from 
the more dressed and private grounds. A grandeur 
and dignity are thus given to the entrance merely from 
its position as approached from Barnet, but a dignity 
quite in keeping with the park scenery, the beauty of 
the grounds, and the massiveness of the mansion. 
Such an entrance and such a position would be almost 
as much out of place, in connection with a small cottage 
ornee , as a miserable hut and a dilapidated gateway 
would be, as we have sometimes found them, in con¬ 
nection with a stately castle or a palace mansion. 
DYRHAM PARK, 
The residence of Captain Trotter, is about two miles 
from Barnet, the chief entrance being at a little distance 
from the Barnet and St. Alban’s road. Often and long 
before I had set foot within the demesne I had admired, 
in passing, the classic archway over the entrance, and 
peeps of the fine lake in the park. The mansion itself 
has more of the comfortable than the commanding or 
pretending in its appearance, and, though standing on 
an elevation, is concealed by trees until you are near 
upon it. From many points of the grounds fine views 
are obtained of the mansion at Wrotham. With other 
objects of attraction we will here confine our recollections 
to gardening matters, and as we have got to the house 
we will commence with the conservatory there, one end 
of which is in connection with the drawing-room, and 
separated from it by a glass doorway. I had often heard 
how well this conservatory was supplied with a succes¬ 
sion of flowering plants, and with how little resources 
except those supplied by unwearied labour and un¬ 
remitting attention. My expectations, though high, 
were anything but disappointed. Some of the modes 
adopted by the very able gardener, Mr. David Thomp¬ 
son, are so simple and effective that I think some of 
my recollections will be acceptable to many readers. 
There is nothing particular in the conservatory or 
greenhouse itself except, perhaps, a circular glass roof, 
resting on an opaque brick wall on the north side, and 
on an upright glass front on the south side, that south 
side consisting of doors or windows, each of which, or 
every alternate one, opened inwards on hinges. The 
west end was a brick wall, and rather an eyesore in the 
position when looked at from the outside. A covering 
of foliage, or even a glass end, would be much better; 
but beyond that to the westward a space is left about 
the same size as the present conservatory, and very 
probably, when the worthy proprietor pulls down the 
west end of the present house, it will be for doubling its 
size. 
With the exception, so far as J recollect, of a small, 
narrow stage against the back wall, on which a bank of 
flowering plants was placed, there was nothing in the 
way of a stage or table for setting the bulk of the plants 
upon. Only remove the plants, and you have the floor 
as bare as that of a well-swept bam. The practice first 
adopted at Regent’s Park, and so far carried out in the 
late Show at Chiswick, of enabling spectators to look 
down on fine flowering plants instead of looking up at 
them, and seeing only a portion of their outline instead 
of the whole, has long been adopted in this conservatory 
by Mr. Thompson. Though on my visit on the 16th 
of May there was not a plant but might with satisfac¬ 
tion be investigated singly, yet the object of the arrange¬ 
ment was to present the finest effect to a person stand¬ 
ing or sitting in the drawing-room, and, with the exception 
of those on the narrow back stage, having the whole mass 
of bloom under the eye ; and except a few starers here 
and there, so as to supply light and shade, the great 
mass of bloom was nearly on one level. 
This result is very simply attained by raising the 
plants to the requisite height by different sizes of garden 
pots; and though the plants are placed thick enough to 
mass, and thin enough to show their individuality, 
while they harmonise and contrast, and on the whole 
presented an airy, rather than a dense, compact appear- 
rance, I looked over them several times before 1 dis 
covered a garden pot placed beneath them, so neatly 
had the whole affair been managed. 
Lest I should forget I may mention here that in the 
case of many plants, and more particularly the Pelar¬ 
goniums, Mr. Thompson attaches great importance to 
the plants not standing on a damp medium, which often 
clogs up the drainage and injures the foliage by the 
miasmatical vapour that frequently rises about them, 
especially when the house is shut up. My own ex¬ 
perience and observation have led me to believe with 
Mr. Thompson that such a standing medium, combined 
with the least degree of over-watering, is a fruitful 
source of spot and apparently scalded leaves on Gera¬ 
niums, even when the sun’s extra shining was guarded 
against. 
The fine display of bloom consisted chiefly of Azaleas, 
such as variegata, Perryana, Duke of Devonshire , and 
Criterion; of early-flowering Pelargoniums that force 
well, as Alexander the Great , Boule de Feu, Gauntlet, 
Bianca, alba multiflora — Blanchefleur, however, being 
considered the best with a light ground by Mr. 
Thompson, and advertised, I think, by Mr. Parker; 
fancy Pelargoniums, such as Vidette, some four feet in 
diameter, and from two feet to two feet and a half in 
height, without stake, brace, or ligature; Calceolarias 
chiefly with yellow, purple, and crimson flowers; and 
Cinerarias, such as compaction , with blue, Crimson 
Superb, with crimson and white, and others with blue 
and white flowers. 
In other compartments in the kitchen garden I noticed 
beautiful spotted Calceolarias, &c.; but plants with such 
a mixture of colours were rarely taken to the con¬ 
servatory. I perceived that when viewed from the door¬ 
way of the drawing-room, unless very near, they pro¬ 
duced no effect comparable to those that had clear and 
distinct colours, and the distinctness not the least hazed 
when standing at the farthest end. I also noticed that 
the bolder and distincter the colour the farther, in general, 
was it removed from the eye. I found, also, that not 
only here, but in the preparatory departments, garden 
pots were freely used to place a pot plant in the identical 
position, as respects nearness to the glass, that the 
operator wished. Before alluding to these other depart¬ 
ments there are one or two things worth noting con¬ 
nected with the conservatory. 
First, shading , though close to the mansion, was not 
effected in any expensive way with fine blinds and 
rollers, but the glass was painted over with a solution of 
lime and milk, the latter causing the other to adhere, 
but not so firmly but that it would wash off in the 
autumn. This no doubt answered remarkably well, 
though for such a position I should have preferred 
strong size water, with a little turpentine in it, and 
just enough of whiting to colour it a little, and when 
laid on with one brush to be daubed quickly with the 
points of a dry one, when it would resemble ground 
glass. This mixture should be put on hot, and when 
the glass is dry and the sun shining. The milk and the 
lime were, however, a new idea to me, and very likely 
the milk would neutralise the tendency in lime, if at all 
quick, to injure the paint and putty—a tendency which 
leads me to use whiting and chalk instead when such 
a process is necessary. 
