THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Apeil 27,1858. 
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How nice tlie contrast would be to get t^his fernery, 
after passing along through belts of evergreens, and 
glowing lines of colour, and then return through the 
wilderness wood. The fernery may be extended to 
any amount, and close to it are some beautiful Weeping 
Willows. 
The main enclosed space at the mansion is divided 
by walks into three squares of beautiful turf. Two on 
the east and south-east side, and one on the south side. 
The two first have vases on the four corners ; and, as a 
good show of green turf was desired by his lordship, a 
row of long and circular beds alternately, for flowers, 
goes round the sides, leaving grass in the centre. On 
the south side, a small group of beds is arranged in the 
centre, leaving the four corners for lawn. Under such 
conditions, a better arrangement could hardly have 
been desired, unless, perhaps, leaving the east front to 
lawn and vases, and artistic ornaments, and filling the 
south front more entirely with the flower-bed3. As it 
is, the arrangement looks very well, and gives the ideas 
of ease and roominess. The bed3 were chiefly fixed 
upon the mixing principle, and the following are those 
that pleased Mr. Cox be3t, and which seemed to 
answer well for that style of planting: White Ivy- 
leaved Geranium, and Brilliant de rose Verbena; the 
latter kept well-pegged down. Punch scarlet Gera¬ 
nium, and blue Salvia patens; the latter a little 
pegged. Flower of the Z>oy Geranium, and Danesbury 
blue Verbena. Variegated Balm, and General Raglan 
Verbena. Ageratum, and Punch Geranium. Varie¬ 
gated crimson Ivy-leaved. Geranium, and Mrs. Hoi ford 
Verbena; the latter well-pegged down. White Ivy- 
leaved Geranium, and Purjple Perfection Verbena. 
Flower of the Day Geranium, and Blue Bonnet Ver¬ 
bena ; the latter scarcely high enough. Mangles s 
Variegated Geranium, and Annie Laurie Verbena. 
Trentham Rose Geranium, and Heliotropes. There 
were also some fine beds of the Variegated Alma 
Geranium, the best of all the variegated kinds, being 
a bright scarlet, and growing freely. I suspect it will 
be long before any neighbour can equal Mr. Cox, with 
the stock of this fine bedder. 
I find I must pass the kitchen garden with merely 
stating, that it is very fertile and fruitful; that the 
walls are well covered with excellent bearing trees ; 
that Strawberries are generally cultivated with extra 
success in-doors and out-doors ; that Mr. Cox obtains 
plenty of the double-bearing Raspberry, far on in the 
winter, if the weather is mild, by cutting down some 
rows every spring, the fruit being produced on the 
young canes of the current year; that Hollyhocks are 
largely, and successfully, grown and raised; and, along 
with standard Roses, give a striking appearance to 
some of the main walks ; and that, to the credit of all 
concerned, great improvements have been effected 
here as well as at the mansion. 
Mr. Cox’s cottage is placed at the north-west corner 
of the wall enclosed space. The farm-steading is im¬ 
mediately to the westward. On the boundary wall, 
looking eastward, a vinery is placed for early and late 
Grapes, being in two divisions. In front of it, and 
near Mr. Cox’s house, the forcing-frame ground used 
to be situated ; and, I presume, all the dung for forcing 
had to be wheeled past his door, not of itself very 
pleasant, and giving to this part of the garden a littery 
appearance. Between Mr. Cox’s house and the bound¬ 
ary wall, going eastward, is a large space of ground, 
between that wall and the river, appropriated as 
orchards and for kitchen cropping ; and, from its prox¬ 
imity to the water, growing first-rate crops of Celery, 
Ac. * In a line between Mr. Cox’s house and the river 
commodious rooms and sheds have been erected, and 
a large space has been cleared out for a frame ground, 
with a cart entrance from the highway, so that all the | 
manure for framing may thus easily be brought from 
the farmyard without interfering with, or littering, the 
kitchen garden. A strong Privet hedge, a green path¬ 
way, and a border of flowers down to the river, sepa¬ 
rate this frame ground from the orchard - kitchen 
garden. Had the Privet hedge been a few feet further 
back, and a background formed on both sides, an 
avenue of ribbon borders might here be formed with 
fine effect, with the tangled belt of wood beyond the 
river as a background in the distance ; if it was deemed 
unadvisable to have such a thing in its more legitimate 
position, at the pleasure grounds. The best of it all 
is, that the site of the old frame ground is now occu¬ 
pied with a useful and elegant span-roofed house, with 
a few of the particulars of which I will finish these 
recollections. 
The length of this house is between eighty and 
ninety feet, width about fourteen feet; side walls, 
height five feet, two of that glass, all opened from the 
ends by windlass ; height in the centre, nine feet. 
There are two ridge boards, with a space of about a 
foot between them, and there the ventilators are 
placed, protected by an elevated cowl, or coping, with 
openings all along the sides to communicate with the 
ventilators. The rafter sash-bars, fixed, are about 
thirteen inches apart, and two squares in length from 
the roof on each side. The pathway is down the 
middle. Rather more than a third of the house is 
appropriated to greenhouse plants. The other part is 
divided into two, and appropriated to Cucumbers, 
Melons, and tropical plants; there being a bed on 
each side, with plenty of piping for bottom heat and 
top heat. The stage on each side in the greenhouse 
part slopes from the level of the glass, down to the 
pathway in the centre : the flowers are thus chiefly all 
under the eye. At one time gardeners kept talking 
about keeping the plants near the glass, but the 
Crystal Palace showed us, that where there is plenty 
of light, that is quite unnecessary. The system of 
air giving at the roof is very simple. Cross pieces 
are fixed across the opening, from three to four feet 
apart; boards are cut to fit these places, and hung 
by the two ends on pivot3. I noticed a little peculiarity 
here. These ventilator boards are not hung by the 
centre, but nearer one side than the other; say, if nine 
inches wide, the pivots are three inches from the side. 
A turn latch is fixed on the opposite side, which fits 
into a grove in the ridge board. When that is turned 
with a stick, with an iron catch in the end, the ventilator 
opens by the greater weight on that side. On the 
short pivot side, a fillet is placed below the ventilator; 
on the opposite side a fillet is placed above it, so that 
when shut, and the latch turned in, it will be nearly air 
tight. The only disadvantage in this mode is, that 
when you open a ventilator, it stands wholly open. In 
this respect, it is inferior to a mode I mentioned as at 
work at Messrs. Lee’s, at Hammersmith, where, by 
means of a lever, the cowl or ridge itself can be raised 
from a quarter of an inch to any necessary height. 
This is also effected at the Node by more complicated 
machinery. This plan, at Kimpton, is very simple 
and effective for span houses, where the side roofs are 
fixtures. Judging from results, it answers well. 
About the 12th of the month (March) I called to 
see Mr. Cox, but had the misfortune to find he was 
from home. I took the liberty to look into this house, 
and found the greenhouse part well supplied with 
blooming plants. In one of the hothouse divisions 
were Vines in pots, showing strongly and setting well; 
and in the other division, about twenty-four feet in 
length, were two or three brace of Cucumbers fit to 
cut, and seven or eight brace half grown. R. Fish. 
Error .—In the foot note, on Kimpton Hoo, page 2, the word 
“ Silsby ” should be “ Liiley.” 
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