the COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, September 15, 1857. 575 
depends for its merits entirely oil his own ideas of gar¬ 
dening. Mr. Lund, who is rector of Morton, is well 
known to the public by his important work on Algebra, 
us well as other books. There was abundance of good 
dumpling Apples. Pears were scarce. Other fruits 
by no means important, with the exception of Grapes, 
in which Gladwin Turbutt, Esq., and Mr. Barlow, gar¬ 
dener to the celebrated Robert Stephenson, Esq., near 
Chesterfield, took prizes. Mr. Barlow’s Grapes were 
very good, especially the Black Hamburgh $, which were 
not red Hamburghs. Mr. Barlow, I am given to under¬ 
stand, is a clever gardener, and, backed and assisted by 
a Stephenson, has already begun to attract some attention 
in that quarter. 
The plant table was somewhat unimportant; but this 
was nowise surprising when we consider the mining 
and agricultural character of the district, and in addition 
the time of the year, by no means favourable to the 
production of exotic specimens. They have, however, 
some respectable florists; for there were some prime 
stands of Dahlias and respectable Pansies, together with 
lots of German Stocks, Asters, and what I was very 
glad to see—the old French and African Marigolds well 
represented. 
To descend to vegetables. There were many dishes of 
excellent Onions, as also Potatoes; several plates of 
very good Peas; and Scarlet Runners in abundance, 
which seem to be much cultivated in these quarters, 
and are, indeed, one of the most valuable vegetables 
we have in this kingdom either for rich or poor. The 
rest of the garden produce I may pass by, as being of 
the usual character, excepting garden Turnips and 
Onions, in which, although nothing new, were some 
capital dishes. 
And now I may just glance at the agricultural portion 
of the Exhibition, and must express my surprise that 
the objects in this way were of a limited character, see¬ 
ing all around bears an agricultural stamp, and that a 
respectable one, taking all things into consideration. 
There were superior Wheats and Oats exhibited, I under¬ 
stood, by the Claycross Company, as well as others ; but, 
as to length of ear, the Rev. Mr. Lund had some which I 
think are seldom excelled. When, however, we come to 
consider that the number of grains in short-jointed Wheat 
is frequently equal to that of the long-jointed, it becomes 
a question as to the value of extreme length, which, 
indeed, is in the main produced by exciting manures. 
One thing might be offered as argument. Would there 
not be an advantage to the long-jointed Wheats in a wet 
summer as to drying? Oats were in fine condition, and 
there were a few good agricultural Turnips, together 
with Mangolds and the usual accompaniments as to 
farm produce. 
I think I have now particularised most of the things 
which deserve special notice, and may, perhaps, be per¬ 
mitted to offer a few concluding remarks. In the first 
place I would observe that the arrangements were 
deserving of much praise, especially when we consider 
that such exhibitions are a novelty at Claycross. They 
reflect much credit on Mr. Binns, who, I understood, 
was the prime mover in the matter. Doubtless another 
year will produce a more complete schedule and widened 
accommodations, together with a corresponding exten¬ 
sion of exhibition articles. 
Mr. Binns has excellent gardens about half a mile 
from Claycross, and by Mr. Binns’s permission I had 
the pleasure of looking through these very interesting 
grounds after tlio Exhibition. Their general disposition 
is, on the whole, exceedingly good: style, design, system, 
and economy are obvious at a glance. The kitchen 
garden abounds in perpendicular trellises, well clothed 
with select Pears, Apples, Ac.; the trees in capital 
order and well handled. Mr. Binns, being a very good 
gardener, is in a position to carry out his objects. He 
has a vinery somewhat singular, albeit not entirely of a 
novel character. It is a double span-roof, running north 
and south longitudinall}'. Instead of the Vines being 
trained to the rafters, as is usually the case, they are on 
perpendicular trellises, one under each rafter. There is 
a path down the centre and a pit on each side, as also a 
set of trellises. This arrangement throw's the surface of 
the pit into compartments, and in these Mr. Binns 
winters his bedding stock. His flower garden is exceed¬ 
ingly pretty, and is a hobby with him ; and this vinery 
arrangement is remarkably adapted to carry out his 
purpose, which, in common language, is “to kill two 
birds with one stone.” 
But I must now speak of Mr. Binns's flower garden, 
which is one of the nicest things of its kind I have 
seen for some time. We all know that there has. been 
a tendency of late to return to the old geometrically- 
disposed figures of our great grandsires; and in the 
main, and for special purposes, I consider it a step in 
the right direction. But there is another style, the right 
name for which I am scarcely in possession of; for the 
present I may be permitted to call it the irregular wavy 
style. It consists of curved lines, the beds varying 
considerably in form, yet combined by such an har¬ 
monious arrangement as to constitute a whole. The 
practised eye, in taking an off-hand glance, perceives a 
sort of general balance in the affair, and, if prepared 
for such a style and devoid of prejudice, is at once 
satisfied. But it is not in the beds alone that merit 
may be found—the management of the exterior lines, 
where a somewhat severe limitation is imposed, is of 
much consequence. The fence, then, behind this in¬ 
teresting plot is masked by such an artful intricacy 
that there is scarcely a chance for the visitor to sup¬ 
pose the existence of such a dead cutting line being so 
near at hand. Masses of shrubs and evergreens are so 
interposed as to leave at intervals irregular and tortuous 
breaks of a curvilinear character, the general outline 
being as deeply indented as circumstances permit. On 
the whole I consider this frontage quite a model for 
thoso who wish to indulge in curvilinear outlines. 
Whilst in these parts I had a peep at a garden pos¬ 
sessed by a persou of consequence, and, although the 
grounds in general are exceedingly interesting, yet I 
mention it here to point to the misfortune of having an 
unsatisfactory fruit garden. The walls of the kitchen 
garden are considerable, and some scores of trees of 
various kinds are trained thereon; yet, strange to say, 
they would not stand a week’s cooking in the tart way. 
As for preserves or desserts they present an uncomfortable 
blank. In order to endeavour to account for this awk- 
ward state of things I obtained from the proprietor, who 
gave it with the utmost liberality and freedom, an ac¬ 
count of the character of the soil and the way in which 
things had been handled ; and I merely advert to it here 
for the sake of throwing light on the fruit question. 
The trees, as far as I could learn, had been planted in 
the natural soil, perhaps with lots of manure. No 
preparation precautionary against the descent of the 
roots into a most ungenial subsoil had been made, and 
the consequences have been what we find everywhere 
in the case of tender fruits—an annually occurring im¬ 
maturity, which, of course, becomes accumulative. And 
what must be the consequence of heedless planting on 
soils which receive the solar heat, as it were, with re¬ 
luctance? Why, late growths, and, of course, imma¬ 
turity, nakedness in portions of the limbs or branches, 
and barren fruit spurs, which, boing only half organised, 
blossom in a future spring only to deceive. I suggested 
to the worthy proprietor a re-arrangement of his walls 
from one end to the other, and the adoption of the 
platform system, which I claim as my own, together 
with the limited use of choice turfy materials, avoiding 
manures of a gross character. 
