THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Maech 16, 1858. S63 
sery and garden, where these delicacies are produced, 
are situated at a place called Sale, in Cheshire, five or 
six miles from Manchester. You have about a mile to 
walk, on a pleasant road, after leaving the station at 
Sale ; you have then to leave the main road, and turn 
into a short winding lane, which terminates at the 
house. 
The principal cause of my visit was a desire I had 
to see his collection of Acacias, which is, I believe, 
the mojsrt extensive and complete of any in the king¬ 
dom. As this is the season when the generality of the 
species bloom, I timed my visit accordingly. One tole¬ 
rably large and lofty house has in it two large trees 
planted out, of the beautiful Acacia affinis ; these fill 
the house entirely, and when in bloom are a pair of as 
beautiful objects as can be conceived: the foliage is 
almost as lovely as the flowers. The stem of the larger 
tree is nearly a foot in diameter at the base. In looking 
at it, Mr. Abates jocularly said, “ That stem will soon 
yield boards broad enough to make my coffin, and I 
intend it for that purpose; or else my Deodar (alluding 
to a fine tree on the lawn) shall have the privilege of 
containing my mortal remains.” I trust, however, Mr. 
Yates will live long enough to see these trees thick 
enough to hold two such as he is. Leaving these two 
fine trees, I then wended my way to the large house 
that is filled with plants of this tribe in pots. The 
number is really astonishing ; the only fault I could 
find was, that they are so thick on the ground, and 
so tall, that their flowers cannot be well seen, without 
mounting a platform, erected in the centre. There 
are, however, a large number of medium-sized plants 
intended for sale, on shelves near the glass. The tall 
plants are just the thing to serve as creepers for a lofty 
conservatory, such as I saw at H. Micholls’, Esq., 
and described in a recent number. The following are 
the species that I noted, though there are several that 
are unknown, and some new seedlings unnamed. With 
pinnated leaves, Acacia affinis, A. dealhata, A. pube- 
scens, and A. iomentosa, a fine new species. With 
simple leaves, A. armata, many large plants ; A. cirgy- 
rophylla, A. celastrifolia, A. culciforme, A. dolabri- 
for mis, A. jioribunda, A. lineata, A. longijlora, A. 
longijlora major, A. longissima, A. pendulijlora, A. 
pinifolia, A. Rice ana, A. rotundifolia, A. vestita, and 
A. verticillata. 
From the Acacia house I walked into the Orchid 
houses, three in number. The collection here is exten¬ 
sive, and generally healthy; the greater part are grown 
in sphagnum moss, well drained : in it they seem to 
grow as well as in any compost ever devised. The 
terrestrial species are grown chiefly in leafmould and 
peat. I never saw finer bulbs of Calanthe vestita, just 
now gone out of bloom: during the resting season, 
they are placed under the stage, which allows more 
space for such as have leaves. Dendrobium nolnle is 
now in flower, and other plants of the same species are 
kept cool, to prolong the season of bloom. There is 
no doubt this beautiful free-blooming, easily-increased 
species, might be so managed as to be in flower from 
January to June, by having relays of plants kept cool, 
or brought into heat, as required. The other remark¬ 
able Orchid in flower was Ccelogyne cristata ; I noticed 
three large plants, with more than a dozen spikes on 
each plant. One specimen, not in bloom, measured 
nearly three feet across. Mr. Yates has the largest 
stock of this beautiful winter-flowering Orchid in the 
three kingdoms. Other species, in less numbers, in 
flower were JDendrobium moniliforme, Odontoglossum 
pulchellum, several plants; Oncidium leucochilum, 
Lycaste Skinneri, and some others of less note. 
Of Orchids, out of flower, I saw a large specimen 
of the rare Lcdia purpurescens, in excellent health ; 
also a good Cattleya Lawrenciana and C. lobata. The 
rarer Indian species, such as Aerides, Vandas, Sacco- 
labiums, Dendrobiums, &c., are fine healthy plants, 
though now, of course, in a state of comparative rest. 
I passed from the Orchid house to the forcing 
houses : here, I think, much may be learned. Mr. 
A ates forces flowers for sale, and adopts a wholesale j 
method of doing so. Such plants as Lilacs, Deut- 
zias, and Rhododendrons, he takes, up with balls, 
and plants them thickly in a prepared border, inside 
the house. The walk is on one side, and between it 
and the wall there is a two-feet border, six inches deep. 
This border is half filled with rich soil, and upon it is 
placed large patches of Lily of the Valley: the patches 
are cut so as to reach across the border. Some patches 
were in full flower, others progressing, and some only 
brought in a day before I saw them. There was also a 
large batch of Roses, just coming into bloom; but 
they were in pots, having been brought slowly on in a j 
greenhouse previously. The quantity of cut flowers 
obtained out of this house, by these methods, is 
really wonderful. I am sure that many of the 
growers of forced flowers, for the London markets, 
might profitably take a leaf out of Air. Yates’s book. 
A second forcing house, of larger dimension, and 
kept at a lower temperature, is devoted to bringing- 
on early Azaleas, Tropseolum, Triomphe de Grand, 
Oranges, &c. The roof of this house is nearly covered 
with Allamandas, which, in consequence of the rest 
induced by the cool temperature in winter, flowers 
most profusely in summer. On the front platform, I 
noted many large plants of Cypripediums in full i 
flower, showing that these terrestrial Orchids do not | 
require a high temperature. 
The next house I visited was the one devoted to the 
Camellias. I found them large healthy plants, flower¬ 
ing most profusely. As they are grown, chiefly for their 
flowers to be cut for sale, the double white prepon¬ 
derates in number. I never saw so many blooms in 
one place before. Could they be sent to London, as 
they open daily (and in these railroad days I think 
they might), they would realise a considerable sum. I 
am certain there were at least a thousand blooms, fit 
for cutting, the day I was there. In one corner of 
this house, there was a good plant of the lovely and 
fragrant I/uculia gratissima, with upwards of twenty 
heads of flowers on it. In a large span-roofed green¬ 
house, there was a large number of the Epacris tribe 
in bloom, and several of the early-blooming Heaths. On 
the platform, I saw a considerable number of the cliifi- 
cult-to-bloom Rhododendron Javanicum: almost every 
branch of these, however, had a well-developed bud 
at the top. I inquired how this was accomplished, 
and was told it was done by keeping them underpotted, 
but well supplied with water, only when growing: 
some of the largest had not been repotted for two 
years. This is a point of culture, for this plant, worth 
attending to. In the same house, there are a large 
number of the Daphne indica rubra, very finely bloom¬ 
ing ; the perfume from them filled the whole house. 
The flowers are cut freely, but care is taken in cutting 
to leave some foliage below the cut; for if no leaves 
are left, that branch does not push again, and then the 
shape of the plant is spoiled. The stems to the 
flowers are, of course, very short; but the bouquet 
makers know well how to form them, with wire, long 
enough for their purpose. 
Mr. Yates, like myself, is an enthusiastic lover of 
Ferns, and has erected a house purposely for them: it 
is simple and cheap. It is a span roof, resting upon 
the walls; hence there is no expence for front glass : it 
is so low, that it was necessary to lower the floor ; and 
to get into it, you have to go down two or three steps. 
The inside is fitted up in the rustic style. The pipes 
and walls are covered with rough scoriso, and they arc 
