! 426 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, March 24, 1857. 
i it at present, for fear I might be judged as writing to 
promote my own purposes; but the great disappointments 
sustained in the failure of vegetables have caused me to pen 
these remarks, hoping some others will name what they 
have proved to be good and hardy, as well as what have failed 
the most with them in the past rigorous season.—W m. 
Melville, Dalmeny Park Gardens. 
i NOTES FROM A SMALL GARDENER.—No. I. 
It may be of use to some of your readers to have a good 
winter-flowering scarlet Geranium for a greenhouse, and I 
recommend Reidii above all others. Let me also advise a 
bed of Alonsoa Warscewiczii. When pegged down it is first- 
rate from the first week in June to the middle of October 
if the seeding stalks are kept picked, and it is a strong 
grower. 
Tell your readers not to be misled by any Rose fancier’s 
controversy, and, in consequence, to give up growing the 
Giant des Bataillcs. There is none equal to it for flowering 
perpetually from the second week in June till nearly Christ¬ 
mas, and though it fades soon its buds are lovely. 
Let no one neglect a supply of perennial Phloxes. They 
come easily now from cuttings, and all through the season 
can be struck in a bed under a hand-glass. Few perennials 
equal their beauty, and they are quite hardy, and give no 
trouble; while in blossom (and they remain so for some 
weeks) they cannot be too much admired. If you like I 
will give you a list of the best and hardiest. 
I saw, the other day, a capital way of making a frame 
for tying Azaleas round when coming into blossom. A stout 
stick in the middle, and through holes in the top galvanized 
iron wire, bent in a conical shape to about three inches over 
the edge of the pot, then turning up and inserted round 
the edges. It never rusts, takes up a tenth of the room of 
stakes, and may be painted green so as not to show. It is 
I also very cheap.— Nota Bene. 
[Pray prolong your notes.—E d. C. G.] 
ON GRAPES LEFT LATE ON VINES. 
Good Grape growers seem to differ iu opinion respecting 
the effect of Grapes being left to hang late on Vines ; but 
from my own practice, and observation of that of others, I 
must say that the Vines take more or less harm according 
to the length of time the fruit is upon them, and the tempe¬ 
rature of the house. 
The common opinion that the fruit cannot do harm after 
the Vines have shed their leaves and gone into a state of 
rest has but little foundation ; for if the house be kept only 
moderately warm the Vines do not become so in the strict 
sense of the word. This is easily ascertained by cutting off 
a few shoots, and leaving these to hang with the bunches 
upon them; for the berries will soon shrivel up, and become 
inferior to the general crop. This not only shows that the 
fruit draws some little nourishment from the Vines, but also 
agrees with our knowledge that fruit trees make fresh roots 
or fibres during mild winters; and perhaps all sorts of de¬ 
ciduous trees do the same. Hence the plan of transplanting 
them early in autumn. 
But there is yet a greater evil, especially when the fruit is 
on the Vines until the spring, which is that the pruning 
is retarded, and thus the Vines are more apt to bleed. 
Moreover, they are injured by having been deprived of their 
proper time of rest. This last is not the least drawback; 
indeed, I may safely say that Vines thus treated take more 
harm than early-forced ones. These certainly have more 
rest, and I need hardly state that such is not only more 
conformable to the habits of Vines, but of all forced fruit 
trees, which require a sort of winter’s repose. 
In making these remarks I am well aware that there is 
no other plan of keeping Grapes so well as that of letting 
them hang on the Vines, and that they are often of more 
value than early ones; consequently, the best way is to 
keep the house as cool and dry as possible, and to keep 
pruning the Vines as the crop is cut—I mean all shoots 
without fruit—and finish with the knife as soon as the crop 
is done; then throw the house open, in order that the 
Vines may still have a chance of some repose during our 
cold spring weather.—J. Wighton. 
A SKETCH OF THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE’S 
GARDENS AT CHATSWORTH. 
Embosomed amid towering hills and beautiful valleys lies 
the object of our present notice, Chatsworth, the seat of the 
greatest patron of horticulture, and one of the most illus¬ 
trious of its votaries. It is situated on a sloping declivity at 
the base of a range of rugged and romantic sandstone hills ; 
and viewed from the summit of one of the lofty ranges that 
bound the view, especially the north-west, Chatsworth 
House appears to be placed almost in the centre of a rich 
valley, through which winds the river Derwent, and from 
this valley diverge various other valleys, almost equalling it 
in extent and beauty. The princely mansion that occupies 
and completes this picture of the splendid and peculiar 
scenery of the Peak is not so much, however, the special 
object of our attention, for we fear the poet has too often 
sung its praises to leave us a hope to accomplish anything 
worthy of it in prose; and we have only to add that, how¬ 
ever we may be tempted, an attempt to describe it would be 
contrary both to the spirit and letter of what should con¬ 
stitute the writer of “ a sketch of the gardens at Chatsworth.” 
These, with the many attractions they present in a horti¬ 
cultural point of view, together with the noble scenery by 
which they are surrounded, draw annually an immense 
number of visitors, to whom, thanks to the generosity of his 
Grace the Duke of Devonshire, they are freely thrown open ; 
and although not exactly a visitor I cannot do better, in 
giving a description of these interesting grounds, than to 
follow the route of an ordinary visitor to them. The start¬ 
ing point in our tour, therefore, is the Orangery. This, the 
connecting link, as it were, between the horticultural and 
domestic establishments, is a fine and spacious room or 
building, combining somewhat in its architectural details the 
appearance of the one, but occupied, of course, solely by the 
appurtenances of the other. It is 27 feet in width, 21 feet 
in height, and 108 feet in length. The Orange trees, of 
which there are a considerable number, appear in excel¬ 
lent health, and are loaded with fruit. Some of the finest 
of these trees were imported a few years since from the 
Continent, where they formed part of the once famous col¬ 
lection of the Empress Josephine, at Malmaison. Several 
fine plants of the Norfolk Island Pine ( Araucaria excelsa), 
and a few others are worthy of notice. This house is also 
decorated with some splendid statuary, and a magnificent 
vase in the centre. 
Leaving the Orangery by a flight of steps, we notice, 
stretching along the margin of the broad walk or drive run¬ 
ning parallel with this front of the mansion, a row of Arauca¬ 
rias , varying from seventeen to nineteen feet in height, 
alternating with each of which are fine marble figures on 
pedestals. The whole of the Araucarias are protected, at 
present, by a circular framework, neatly covered or thatched 
with branches of Spruce Fir. 
Turning to the left we pass the structure known as the 
Temple, and enter the precincts of the glass wall. This 
fine conservative wall, a delightful promenade in wet weather, 
has a nearly southern aspect, and effectually screens this 
part of the ground from the keen north winds. It is some 330 
yards in length, 10 feet iu height, and 7 yards in width, i 
and is divided into 11 panels, the central one, 22 feet in I 
height, forming an elegant entrance. The wall is covered 
with various beautiful climbers—Myrtles, Oranges, &c.; and 
the sashes are removed in summer, which tends much to 
harden and invigorate the plants within. 
Beyond the end of this wall is an immense plant of the 
Wistaria Sinensis, eighty-four feet in the spread of its 
branches, and with a trunk approaching that of an ordinary 
upland tree. Between this wall and the house are various 
beds and borders, gay during the summer with dwarf Roses 
and bedding plants. 
Passing some beautiful specimens of art in marble, with 
I which, indeed, the whole of the grounds are liberally em- 
-r 
