740 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 24, 1886, 
this country, that we feel sure we have only to mention 
the matter in order to secure a hearty response. Mr. 
Burvenich, we know, will be pleased to hear from any 
of the old pupils. 
Pink, Rose Perfection. —One of the very finest 
of bedding Pinks is a variety bearing this name, which 
Messrs. James Yeitch & Sons sent out a year or two 
ago, and which is in fine bloom in their nursery now. 
It is one of the first to come into flower, and one of the 
last to leave off, giving a long season of bloom. The 
flowers are of good size, neat and compact iu shape, 
and deep rose in colour. 
Honours Awarded to Horticultural 
Builders. —At the exhibition held last week in the 
Hull Botanic Gardens, Messrs. Richardson k Co., 
Darlington, were awarded a Silver Medal for a fine 
display of garden structures, and a Certificate of Merit 
for their Ivanhoe boiler, an excellent one for heating 
small greenhouses. Messrs. Alfred Peel & Sons, Wood 
Green, London, were awarded a Bronze Medal, and a 
First Class Certificate for amateur’s greenhouses ; and 
the Horticultural and Agricultural Chemical Co., 
Tonbridge, received a Certificate for their new syringing 
tray, which has already been noticed in our columns. 
-- 
LATITUDE VERSUS CLIMATE. 
The more one considers the relation of latitude to 
climate, the more it becomes curious that sections of 
Great Britain four or five degrees north of other sections 
have a more genial climate than those farther south. 
I never was more struck by this circumstance than on 
the occasion of a recent visit I paid to that delightful 
health resort, Strathpeffer, n ear Dingwall in Rosshire. 
In my own immediate locality I left evergreens brorvn, 
and greatly injured by recent winters, Araucarias and 
other conifers in the same state, and 1 know that this 
state of matters extends, in some instances, to the 
midlands of England, while two hundred and fifty 
miles north from where I write, I found all such plants 
in the most perfect health, and greatest luxuriance, 
without a discoloured leaf. 
It required no meteorological register to show that 
while I had come a long way north, I had reached a much 
more genial climate. This will be amply evident when 
I give the dimensions of some of the conifers at Castle 
Leod, close to Strathpeffer Spa, one of the seats of Her 
Grace the Duchess of Sutherland, in her own right as 
Countess of Cromarty. They w'ere taken by Mr. 
McAnley, her grace’s forester and general outdoor 
manager, for the Arboricultural Society of Scotland, 
and he kindly supplied me with a copy, which I send 
with these notes ; and perhaps you will consider it 
worthy of publication, as showing the state of vegetation 
in a region which those who have never visited it may 
suppose to be hyperborean. The Spanish Chestnut is 
amongst the finest I have ever seen, and is in fine 
health, though recent storms have broken off some of 
its finest branches. 
By reference to a work I edited for the Highland 
Society of Scotland, some years ago, on the great trees 
of Scotland, I find that the Chestnut tree in question 
is the largest of the kind in Scotland, and, with a few 
exceptions, the largest tree of any kind. The Elms, 
Ashes, and Limes are also very large. All seem to 
have been planted about the same date—some three 
hundred years ago. The conifers are in perfect health 
and vigour, in this respect contrasting favourably with 
the same class of plants hundreds of miles farther south. 
At many of the residences of the nobility and gentry 
in the same district I saw evidences of the excellence of 
the climate that are puzzling, as at Brahan Castle, 
where, last September, I saw, probably the finest 
Apricot walls that ever came under my notice, the 
trees being heavily cropped and the fruit ripe all 
round, which I have not seen in Scotland for many 
years. The old Laburnum tree to which Mr. McAnlay 
refers is a very remarkable one, and probably one of 
the first planted in the country. I send you a photo¬ 
graph of it herewith. 
The whole district has innumerable attractions for 
the lover of grand scenery. For botanists, artists, and 
for geologists it is full of interest. Knockfarrel, with 
its great vitrified fort, yields ample food for the specu¬ 
lative. How did pre-historic men build a fort of great 
size on the top of a hill, and then so act on it by fire as 
to fuse the stones and make them a solid mass ? Had 
they blast furnaces ? Did they make use of alkali, or 
did they make use of sea-weed ? These questions have 
yet to be settled with something like certainty before 
such forts can be other than enigmas. To the great 
credit of the landed proprietary of the surrounding 
country, no restraint is placed on visitors. They can 
roam where they please as long as they conduct them¬ 
selves properly, and at some of the waterfalls, as at the 
falls of Rogie, the river is spanned by a light bridge to 
give visitors the opportunity of getting a good view of 
the falls. When I visited this fall last September 
there were four artists sketching it. 
This rambling notice of one of the most interesting 
places I ever visited would be incomplete without a 
notice of The Spa, or health resort proper. My first 
visit to it was in the September of last year, since which 
date I recently found that great additions had been 
made to the accommodation for visitors, both as to 
hotels and ordinary lodgings ; my own experience only 
extends to “McGregor’s Hotel,” near the Spa, and 
nothing could be more satisfactory. I heard good 
reports of all the other hotels, both as to charges and 
accommodation. The pump-room has ample space, and 
any number of fine baths. There are four sorts of 
water, one stronger in sulphur than any well in Britain, 
famous for its cures of gout and rheumatics ; others 
milder and more suitable for stomach and liver affec¬ 
tions ; a third, which is a chalybeate, much resorted to 
by those whose blood requires iron. 
There is a fine pavilion where many forms of rec¬ 
reation can be indulged in, as also a reading room. A 
German band plays three times daily during the season. 
The w r hole locality is the property of the Duchess of 
Sutherland, and her resident agent is doing all he can 
to add to the salubrity and amenity of the place. A 
complete system of drainage has recently been carried 
out, and a new supply of v 7 ater brought from a moun¬ 
tain side some seven miles off. There are three resident 
medical men, and Dr. Bruce of Dingwall, a man of 
wide reputation, can be consulted daily at The Spa. 
I have seen men walking with two sticks on the 
Monday, playing bowls on the Saturday, such are the 
curative powers of the waters, especially for rheumatic 
affections. 1 have been led into these details in the 
hope that they may be useful to gardeners, for, as a 
class, they are much exposed to circumstances that 
have a tendency to develope rheumatic affections.— 
TVm. Thomson, Clovenfords. 
The following is Mr. McAnley’s statement, alluded to 
above : —The Spanish Chestnut is 70 ft. high ; circum¬ 
ference of branches, 207 ft. ; length of bole, 15 ft. ; 
girth at 1 ft., 25 ft. 7 ins. ; at 3 ft., 21 ft. 10 ins. ; at 
5 ft., 20 ft. 2 ins. It contains 1000 cubic ft. of timber. 
All hard-woods flourish round Castle Leod, and some 
have attained large dimensions—notably Ash, Elm, and 
Sycamore—as the old avenue can certify. The largest 
Elm stands in the park and is 80 ft. high ; girth round 
swell of roots, 31 ft. ; at 3 ft., 17 ft. 6 ins. ; at 5 ft., 
13 ft. 6 ins. ; spread of branches, 195 ft. The tallest 
Ash is 90 ft. high, w r ith a clear bole of 20 ft. ; girth 
close to ground, 24 ft.; above swell of roots, 14 ft. 9 ins.; 
circumference of branches, 181 ft. The largest Syca¬ 
more in the old avenue is 65 ft. high, with a clear 
straight bole of 30 ft. ; girth at 1ft. from ground, lift.; 
at 3 ft. up, 9 ft. 6 ins. A beautiful Lime stands on the 
lawn, whose branches sweep the ground in a circle of 
150 ft. ; girth of bole, 21 ft. 
There are a few healthy specimens of Conifer®, 
notably Well ingtonia gigantea, 60 ft. high ; feathered 
to the ground with circumference of 63 ft. ; girth at 1 
ft. 10 ft. ; at 3 ft. up, 8 ft. 4 in. Taxodium semper- 
virens, 40 ft. high; girth at 1 ft. 4 ft. 11 in. This tree as 
soon as it outgrows its shelter looses its top, about 6 ft. 
being blown off during a gale in 1884. The same may 
be said of Abies Douglasii, which grows so luxuriantly, 
sometimes making 4 ft. to 5 ft. in a season, that a very 
ordinary gale is sufficient to snap off the leader. A nice 
male plant of Araucaria imbricata stands near the castle, 
28 ft. high, and whose branches sweep the ground ; 
several healthy specimens of Cupressus Lawsoniana 
stud the lawn, and yield annually large quantities of 
seed ; we have this year raised some thousands of 
seedlings from these. Amongst Conifer® may also 
be mentioned young specimens of Pinus excelsa Jeffrey - 
ana, and macrocarpa, Abies excelsa, Orientalis Menzesii, 
and Smithiana, Picea nobilis, Webbiana, cephalonica, 
and Pinsapo. 
I must not omit to mention a relic of the past, the 
old Laburnum on the lawn, mentioned by “Gregor.” 
So fond was the late Mrs. Hay McKenzie, mother of 
the Duchess of Sutherland, of this tree that when it 
was blown over, and across the avenue, rather than 
have it removed, she altered the avenue to suit it, and 
carefully layered the top as it lay, with the result that 
now 7 we have two healthy young plants on their own 
roots, though still attached to the present stem ; the 
girth of which at the thickest part is 11 ft. 
There is very little heavy timber on the estate, but 
tbe young plantations of Larch and Scotch Firs planted 
within the last thirty-one years cover nearly 1,000 acres, 
and promise a paying crop. Botanically speaking the 
district is rich in British flora and lichens. Primula 
scotica is found on Ben Wyvis, and the Moon-wort 
Fern on Knockfarrel. One of the most delightful and 
profitable walks for the visitor and botanist, is that to 
the Raven Rock, taking the Skye line for the outward 
going and returning by Knox Aulaly ; to the geologist 
also, the Strath affords ample study for a summer 
holiday. 
-- 
FLORAL ENTHUSIASM. 
The Carnation and Picotee Bloom : opening 
of the Flowers. Writing to a prominent cultivator 
of this lovely tribe, “M. R.,” Clapham, says, “I have 
everything out now in every class, both of the Carna¬ 
tion and Picotee. I am able to say that Ruby May is 
A. 1. ; Mabel, Maud and Phyllis Annie very fair ; and 
Murie Fanny, exquisite. Mrs. Hyde is an improved 
Bride, a perfect white flower ; Mrs. William Walters is 
very lovely. Cleopatra is w T orthy of the name, a flower 
that would stand out among a thousand of its colour ; 
other Selfs I have yet to see. Of George Melville, 
P. F., I have a bloom out, it is different to everything 
in the class. Everything that is not heavy comes so 
poor in this arid climate, that I cannot give a proper 
judgment, but with all the disadvantage, to what is 
probably a light refined flower, the bloom I have of 
George Melville is in the front rank. It is, this one 
bloom, different to what I saw it with you. The P. 
F. ’s are very green. Nightingale is exactly the same in 
shape, in colour, in style of marking, in the ground 
year after year. The others all vary. This year James 
Douglas is much finer with me than last, while S. 
Payne is truly fine in every way. 
Harrison Weir. Yesterday afternoon my boy, who 
has grown a keen florist, having looked around in the 
borders and on the stage, said if Master Fred was first, 
Harrison Weir was a close second. I went across to 
Brixton a few minutes after, and was greeted with the 
same information. For my own part, I saw it a fort¬ 
night ago ; Harrison Weir gave fine promise, which 
it is fulfilling in finely, richly marked, and as usual, 
shapely flowers. Master Fred has conquered me, the 
shapely petals, the grand markings, are with me this 
season, as I have not before seen them ; that is in the 
case of two blooms. The others have to me the un¬ 
pardonable fault of the stained instead of the white 
ground. My favourite, ‘ Black Prince, has to come, 
buds promise well. Erskine Wemyss is an immense 
favourite with me. I can only say, as Reynolds Hole 
said of Madame Boutin (H. P.), if she is half as 
beautiful in the flesh as she is in the flower, she is a 
beauty indeed. Erskine Wemyss is the floral type of 
healthy womanly beauty. A’. Medhurst, instead of a 
great showy giant, is coming a nice clean refined 
gentlemanly fellow, with every quality that one expects 
to find in so good a name. Mrs. A. Medhurst has yet 
to come, but she is facile regina among the carmines 
whenever she does 7 , among the seifs altogether 1 think, 
if she continues like the one plant I had last year. 
Mrs. Dodwell, very grand with Brixton and myself this 
year, and is up to what has been said of it, beyond 
which there is no going. Last year the heat did not 
suit it, and it showed impatience and distress ; one 
could not judge it. This year it is in every respect a 
very grand flower, in tint, in shape, and compactness. 
The latter an important point with the seifs. 
Robert Lord, a disappointing flower with me hitherto, 
is this season promising to be fine ; four pairs, three 
with no manure, the other with over a fourth, see no 
difference so far. Sarah Payne, heavily manured, 
Jacks ! ! shall cease to grow it. Mayor of Nottingham, 
out in the border all the winter, not a yellow or spotted 
leaf to be seen ; blooms, in shape and brilliancy, such 
as I have not before had. Nellie, to come, hope my 
ladyship will be in time for South Kensington—some 
fine buds ; if I could show her as she revealed herself 
early last year, it would be a surprise for them there. 
Minnie, beautiful grass, as stiff as wires ; no fear I 
