THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION.— October 21, 1856. 35 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
o "5 
. 
O JjA 
OCTOBER 21—27, 185G. 
Weather near London in 
1855. 
Sun 
Sun 
Moon 
Moon’* 
Clock 
Day of 
as 
d " 
Barometer. 
Thermo. 
Wind. 
ltain in 
Inches. 
Rises. 
Sets. 
R. & S. 
Age. 
af. Sun. 
Year. 
2. 
To 
Sun’s declination, 10° 53's. 
30.169—30.083 
62—45 
S.W. 
.00 
37 a 6 
53 a 4 
11 
9 
22 
15 
21 
295 
02 
W 
Woodcock arrives. 
30.188—30.345 
66—43 
s.w. 
,00 
39 
51 
morn. 
• 23 
15 
30 
296 
23 
Tu 
Wild duck arrives. 
29.966 —:g.841 
61—40 
S.W. 
.01 
40 
49 
0 
25 
24 
15 
38 
297 
24 
F 
The scarce umber Moth. 
30.052—29-901 
55—33 
\v. 
.00 
42 
47 
1 
39 
25 
15 
46 
298 
25 
S 
The mottled umber Moth. 
29.96l-29.S45 
55—50 
s.w. 
.38 
44 
45 
2 
50 
26 
15 
52 
299 
26 
Son 
23 Sunday after Trinity. 
29.202-29.121 
56—31 
s.w. 
.28 
4G 
43 
3 
38 
27 
15 
58 
300 
27 
M 
The red green carpet Moth. 
29.639—29.341 
54—26 
s.w. 
.00 
4/ 
41 
5 
8 
23 
16 
3 
301 
Meteorology of tiie Week. —At Chiswick, from observations during; the last twenty-eight years, the average highest and lowest 
temperatures of these days are 56.4°, and 39 . 7 0 , respectively. The greatest heat, 73°, occurred on the 21st, in 1830 ; and the lowest cold, 20°, on 
the 21st, in 1842. During the period 97 days were fine, and on 99 rain fell. 
RECOLLECTIONS OF THE GARDENS AT 
DALKEITH PALACE. 
I have bad so many inquiries respecting this colobrated 
placo, tliat to avoid the trouble of writing private letters, 
I shall transcribe a few of the reminiscences of my visit 
in the mouth of May, premising, however, that instead 
of anything like a general description, I will merely 
select a few salient points that may be generally in¬ 
teresting. 
The palace and gardens are situated quite close to the 
town of Dalkeith. The kitchen-gardens are very large, 
and possess great varieties of exposure and inclination, 
hounded by good walls and other fences. I noticed a 
fine border of early Potatoes that had been saved from 
frost by throwing a thin covering over them, supported 
by rails, while all the rest had been cut down to the 
surface of the soil. The produce of that border would 
j well compete with the latest crops under glass, and with 
j those forwarded in hotbeds, with arched rods and mats 
' placed over them. When I have frequently read of 
I early Potatoes from the open ground in the Edinburgh 
! market, I have often asked myself, “ Had these no pro- 
| tcction?” because, if not, the climate there, in favoured 
I spots, must either be bettor than ours, or we must go 
north again to learn “ how to do it.” Here, as well as in 
most largo places in Scotland, much of the cropping 
ground was as yet in a fallow state, tho chief demands 
upon the gardens being from the end of July and on¬ 
wards through the winter and early spring. 
There are something like villages of houses and pits, 
all of them useful, though many of them wanting in the 
light gracefulness of more modern structures. A long 
range of cold pits were chiefly filled with a fine collection 
I of alpine plants, undergoing a complete overhauling 
and necessary arrangement for the summer. What an 
admirable chance for trying duplicates and triplicates ou 
rockeries and rooteries ! Many would be glad of such 
cold pits for placing their younger greenhouse plants in 
in summer. The greenhouses and conservatories were, 
if anything, overstocked with large plants of Camellias, 
that Mr. Thompson wished to get rid of, in order 
to obtain due space for younger plants, and newer and 
better varieties. The water-plants in the aquarium, and 
the Orchids iu their neighbourhood, were in the highest 
luxuriance. I mentioned, the other day, when alluding 
to the plants in the nave of the Crystal Palace, how 
beautiful young Geranium plants looked here in the 
middle of May placed on level platforms in alow house, 
and at a considerable distance from the glass. These 
beautiful, compact, semi-globular plants, with healthy, 
small foliage, and the shoots beginning to bristle with 
stifi-stalked flower-buds, were all cuttings of the pre¬ 
vious summer. I did not observe whether they had 
j ligatures about them or not; but 1 saw nothing in tho 
shape of stakes. Very probably, in this respect, Mr. 
! Thompson means to take a lesson from his former pupil 
j nud younger brother at Dyrham Park, whose huge 
j Geraniums, without tie or support, created such a sensa¬ 
tion at the Regent’s Park Exhibition. In a neighbour¬ 
ing house were some beautiful Azaleas and Cinerarias in 
bloom. 
Among the many soft-wooded plants I noticed, and 
grown chiefly since Mr. Thompson’s induction to the 
gardens, next, if not equally to these Unique Geraniums, 
I was most delighted with great masses of semi-shrubby 
Calceolarias, grown chiefly in six-inch pots, and of much 
the same strain as Mr. Thompson used to grow them at 
Wrotham Park many years ago. Many of these plants 
had such large, fine-textured, beautiful-coloured, fine- 
formed flowers as would have satisfied the refined tastes 
of a Turner or a Kinghorn. Others, though gorgeous 
and producing large panicles of bloom, were not such 
as a florist would thoroughly approve. A distinguishing 
characteristic oi all, even those inclined most to the 
herbaceous in habit, was tho rich, healthy foliage, not 
only hanging over the sides of the pot, but clothing the 
branches, and, in many instances, forming a back¬ 
ground for the beautiful flowers. A number of years 
ago, through Mr. Thompson’s kindness, I cultivated 
very successfully the same strain; hut I could not let 
well alone—1 must improve tho quality of tho flower; 
and that I likewise managed, at the expense of making 
the plants so tender, that I was beaten in attempting to 
keep them on by cuttings, while they became so barren 
I could not get a seed from them. I have had many 
strains since then, but none that altogether yielded an 
equal amount of satisfaction. As a general rule, ladies 
and gentlemen do not trouble themselves with tho 
niceties of florists; what they want are healthy-looking 
plants and masses of bloom. Compared with such 
healthy plants the bundles of whittled sticks with stray 
blooms fastened to the points of them, and the i'ew 
leaves remaining of a yellow, sickly hue, as frequently 
seen ou exhibition tables, are enough to put Calceolarias 
out of fashion, and to give a fit of the hyps to every 
beholder. Much of this skeleton work might be avoided 
were tho lovers of these plants contented to give them 
less of their coddling, less pot room for blooming in, 
unless huge specimens are desired, less heat and dryness 
in the atmosphere, and more coolness and moisture at 
the roots. These plants at Dalkeith were chiefly placed 
on level platforms on each side of a pathway iu a house 
facing the ' north, or thereabouts, with plenty of air in 
the house, and the platforms and the floor of the house 
kept moist. After the sun gains power a somewhat 
shaded position is best for them, and every effort should 
be made to keep the roots moist and cool, though there 
must be no stagnant water. I have seen water used in 
May hot enough to suit a Pine plant growing in a bottom- 
heat of from 80° to 90°; but such kindness is just the 
prelude to sickness, hosts of green fly, and the spending 
of money for tobacco, with the general result of leaving 
plants and insects pretty much alike as to a healthy 
vitality. 
The Pine-apple plants were in excellent order, and iu 
such numbers as to remind one of a mercantile establish¬ 
ment for supplying a metropolitan market. Thoy are. 
No. CCCCXXI. Vol. XVil 
