98 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, November 17, 1857. 
feet, widtli fourteen feet, and height I should say about 
the same as the width. The front is upright glass, 
something in the way of the narrow houses at Trentbam, 
and composed, in fact, of the old front of the con¬ 
servatory. This is what I alluded to when speaking of 
that building; but in speaking of its front the word 
new was changed to now , which rather deranged the sense. 
T presume the upright front sashes open. There is also, 
between the sill on which they rest and the soil, a 
narrow luffer board to open or shut. There is also air, 
as far as I can remember, by the hipped part of the 
glass roof, and there are likewise openings in the back of 
the wall near its top. The back wall is furnished with 
nice young trees of the Peach and Nectarine, with wood 
strong enough, but with fine plump buds for next year, 
and by which time any extra strength may be disposed 
of by taking a little more fruit than otherwise would 
have been deemed necessary. The front of the house 
is supplied with dwarf standards of Apricots, Plums, 
Cherries, Figs, &c., planted out, and others in pots where 
there is room. At one end of this orchard house, shut 
off with Nottingham netting to admit plenty of air and 
keep out wasps, were some good plants of Vines in pots, 
bearing excellent bunches of well-coloured fruit. On 
one Vine, which I took to be the Black Morocco , were 
five fine bunches, the berries regular and swelled 
beautifully, though most gardeners know that this is a 
shy setter. The readers who recollect the description of 
the orchard house at Basing Park will perceive that this 
one at Shrublands differs from it chiefly in the high 
upright glass in front, the growing of standards there 
instead of on a trellis, and the want of the openings for 
air at the base of the back wall. 
Vines in Pots. —The mention of the above will prepare 
the reader for the fact, that Vines are thus successfully 
cultivated here, and to a great extent. Behind a north 
wall covered over with mats Mr. Eoggo showed me some 
scores of pots, the rods stripped of their foliage and 
pruned to the requisite length, each rod as thick as my 
finger, wood very short jointed, with round prominent 
buds, telling plainly that if anything like justice were 
given them the great thing for the gardener to attend 
to would be leaving no more bunches than the Vine 
would bring to perfection. Some of these rods were 
rising the second year, but many were from buds 
inserted early this year. They had been grown in pits, 
when nearly perfected brought out in front of walls and 
glass houses full in the sun, and then moved to this 
cool place, after which they were pruned, and induced to 
take a winter’s nap before starting early. In a low 
house we found fine plants of Muscats in pots still 
growing vigorously, the wood just beginning to brown, 
and the buds in the axils of the leaves as round and 
plump as the point of my finger. 
Treatment oj Old Vines. —In the vineries the proceeds 
were not altogether satisfactory, though the wood and 
the loliage seemed good. Even with this simply from 
pots, by which means Mr. Foggo might have a house 
m full bearing in two years, or three at most, he 
prudently made up his mind not to do away at once 
with the Vines of even, one house, lest the slightest 
deficiency should be felt in consequence. As the Vines, 
however, are planted inside the house, and the roots 
spiead there, as well as go into the outside border 
thiough aiches, ho has raised the roots inside, and 
placed them in a fresh border, and as soon as they arc 
working freely he will raise the roots outside, examine 
the drainage, and place the roots nearer the surface in 
fresh compost. Middle-aged Vines generally do well 
under such tieatment, and if some should not please 
a tciwards a lew oi these strong Vines turned out of 
their pots w’ould soon supply the want. 
Cucumbers and Melons are cultivated largely, the 
latter both early and late, the former all the year round, 
and principally in low houses that may be called half 
spanned, or with a short hip of glass at the back. This 
half-span is also much used for stove plants, the walk 
being generally in the middle, and a bed on each side. 
In these Cucumber and Melon houses the bed is in 
front, the walk below the ridge, a platform or shelf at 
the back for Beans, Strawberries, &c., and below the 
ridge, but a little nearer the front, is a shelf placed 
longitudinally for Strawberries, &o. In many other such 
places I expect numbers of the 48 pots are forwarded in 
their early stages, and brought into more heat to swell 
them off'. The beds are heated beneath with hot water; 
but what I wish chiefly to chronicle is, that the plants are 
not turned out, but are grown in large pots plunged, and 
it would scarcely be possible to see plants more healthy 
and prolific. Alter saying so much upon growing such 
plants in pots, or otherwise curtailing the extent of 
their root action, it was rather pleasant to find here 
such an extensive and successful corroboration. One 
other incident is worth mentioning. When training 
Melon plants to a trellis I used to suspend a piece of 
net beneath the fruit to prevent accidents. Mr. Foggo 
has got a much neater method here. Fie has a number 
of neat short stakes fitted with a fiat square board at 
one end, say three or four inches square, by means of 
a nail driven through its centre and into the end of the 
stake. Every fruit has one of these boards to rest 
upon, the other end of the stake being on or in the bed. 
In one house there was a good crop of these late Melons. 
I saw symptoms that there would be plenty of forcing 
of Asparagus, Sea-kale, &c., for the winter; but I have 
already occupied so much space that I must not say 
more of the kitchen garden than that there were good 
beds of Celery then in use grown on the old Scotch 
system, and that we noticed a row of very large-leaved 
Sorrel, and which I thus particularly mention because 
a gardener then present, but whose address I have not 
got, stated that he had a Spinach that grew much in the 
same way, and if not a perennial, was very near to it 
in its continuing to produce so long from one sowing, 
and in every respect as good as our common annual 
Spinach, which requires sowing so often in summer. If 
this meets his eye any information will be acceptable. 
A few questions have been put to me which I may 
dispose of at once. 
1st. “ Is there much to be seen at Shrubland besides 
flowers?” The latter part of this article must be my 
reply. 
2nd. “ Did you ever before see such striking and ex¬ 
tensive masses of bloom ?” Yes, frequently; and even 
more massive and extended, if you mean as could be seen 
from any one placo, and the beholder standing on terra 
Jirma ; and that blaze of colour produced by arrange¬ 
ments distinguished for their simplicity rather than any 
attempt at the artistic — one of the striking features at 
Shrubland, but which I leave out of view when replying 
to a question involving mere masses of contrasted colours 
alone. 
flrd. “ I should like to obtain an order for myself and 
my trusty Friday for next season, but I fear it will make 
the good fellow dissatisfied; and I also doubt if I should 
like my own little place so well after seeing sirch 
grandeur.” Obey your first impulse, and send your fears 
to the winds ; at least give Friday the treat, and you will 
be sure to have three times the worth of the expenses in 
benefit in no time. Dissatisfaction with ourselves and 
doings is the first step to improvement. Grumbling 
dissatisfaction that we have not the variety, grandeur, 
and extent of some one else who possesses and employs 
twenty or fifty times the resources, is one of those low, 
degrading forms of envy with which I can have no sym¬ 
pathy save that of pity, and more especially because it so 
blinds the judgment as to prevent the right use of the 
resources within its reach. The farmer’s wife who 
