September 25, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
57 
the spring months an intermediate temperature 
greatly assists the growing period. There are several 
methods of increasing this plant, hut the surest one is 
to cut the flower-spikes away down to the leaves ; when 
the bloom is over this will cause the stem to break out 
all over with young leads. The strongest should be 
taken away first and placed in some rough gritty soil, 
slightly damped, stand the cuttings in a dry, but not 
too warm a house, and they will soon draw root. A 
good few can be obtained by this method, and though 
slower than other ways, is still the safest for an 
amateur to practice. This plant is certainly worthy 
of more time and pains than is often bestowed upon it, 
flowering at a time of the year when scarcely anything 
else but Fuchsias and Zonales, with perhaps an odd 
pot or two of Vallota purpurea, are the only occupants 
of many greenhouses.— JF. O. 
-- 
THE GRANGE, OARSHALTON. 
“My Garden.” 
Few of our gardens are so widely known as that of 
A. H. Smee, Esq.; its form, and the history and habits 
of its plants, from the weeds to the Orchids ; its birds, 
animals, insects, and every thing else c.onnected with it 
having been plea¬ 
santly and accu¬ 
rately described m 
that clever work 
entitled “My 
Garden,” written 
by the father of 
the present pro¬ 
prietor, and pub¬ 
lished in English 
and French. 
Many a lover of 
his garden in dif¬ 
ferent parts of the 
world has conned 
its instructive 
pages, lightened 
by some 1,300 il¬ 
lustrations, and 
written in a man¬ 
ner only to be at¬ 
tained by one who 
had really set his 
heart on his gar¬ 
den, and while 
pleasantly passing 
the time has 
gained informa¬ 
tion on gardening 
subjects which 
had long per¬ 
plexed him. Many 
a change has 
taken place at The 
Grange of late 
years. The old house has given place to a very sub¬ 
stantial and handsome building, fashioned like a 
modified Sussex farm house, and other improvements 
have been effected; but the general contour of the 
garden remains unaltered, its present owner having 
similar tastes in gardening matters to those of his late 
father. 
The Varied Collections of Plants 
Have been greatly added to, and especially the 
Orchids, which may now be considered the favourite 
plants at The Grange, and a class on which their owner, 
by his spirited experiments, has succeeded in throwing 
a new light, which will be welcome to many who have 
not the convenience to grow the plants in a high tem¬ 
perature. From the house—which is furnished between 
the windows and doors with climbing Roses, Jasmines, 
Ceanothus, Clematis, &c., and which has, as a lean-to, 
a pleasant conservatory, containing tree Ferns, Palms, 
Lilies, and other foliage and flowering plants—a view 
is obtained of the smooth expanse of lawn, bordered all 
round with Pelargonium Tom Thumb, which, in spite 
of the numerous newer introductions, is still one of the 
most brilliant of bedding plants, its bright green zone¬ 
less leaves showing up the flowers much better than 
those with a dark zone or horse-shoe. The Pelar¬ 
goniums are edged with white Echeveria, and backed 
by Asters, Sunflowers, Phloxes, Roses, Liliums, and 
other hardy flowers, the whole being enclosed by shrubs 
and trees, gradually rising from the low Hazel bush and 
fruit-laden Siberian Crab and Hawthorn to the tall 
Elms and Oaks in the distance. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Beyond is the fruit garden, which contains a won¬ 
derful collection of Apples aud Pears. Apples are 
represented by 340 varieties, and Pears by 250. 
The varieties of Plums, also, are very numerous, and 
this part of the garden, either in flowering or fruit time, 
is a very pleasant spot. The Pears—and particularly 
the Marie Louise—are laden with fruit, and so, also, 
are the Plums, some of them—and especially the 
Damsons—being ready to break down with fruits. The 
Apples are not so plentiful, but the advantage of having 
a large number of varieties is all the more evident, for 
whereas some of the kinds have no fruit, others are well 
cropped. Already the large new fruit house is being 
filled, the yellow and red Bononi, the pretty Dartmouth 
Crab, with a bloom like a Plum, the red Beitigheimer, 
and Cox’s Pomona being especially fine in it. This 
fruit house keeps the fruit for a remarkably long time 
plump and sound, as witness the collection exhibited 
by Fir. Smee in April last. The fruit gardens are 
further rendered bright by borders of Coreopsis, Mari¬ 
golds, Tritomas, Phlox Drummondii, and other annuals 
and perennials ; and the Plums, Apples, and Pears in 
small pots laden with fruit are marvels of good culture. 
The Shady Walks 
Beneath the trees and among luxuriant vegetation— 
partly of showy British plants, such as Lythrum and 
Epilobium, and partly of introduced ones—is one of 
the great and pleasing features in “My Garden.” They 
wind in and out beside rivulets and over bridges, some¬ 
times among the tall frondage of the American Ostrich- 
feather Fern (Struthiopteris Pennsylvanica), 6 ft. in 
height, and our equally noble-looking Lastrea Filix- 
mas, Pteris aquilina, and Osmunda regalis, here and 
there being a rare clump of Bird’s-foot Maidenhair 
(Adiantum pedatum) or other rare Fern, with, over¬ 
head, the Magnolia and Rhododendron ; sometimes 
along the banks of the River Wandle, out of which 
rises the Bamboo-like reeds, stalwart Bullrushes, and 
Irises. At this part the beauty of the scene is heightened 
by the densely-clad island in the centre of the broadest 
reach, the bridge at the end of the garden also coming 
into view, and the sound of the cascades being grateful 
to the ear and pleasant to the eye wherever a view of 
them comes in. This part of the garden is a delightful 
spot, and rendered still more charming by the broad 
border of Lilies, Roses, Dahlias, Rudbeckias, Phloxes, 
and other showy plants, which shuts in this riverside 
walk on the garden side. Plere, in a nook, is the bush- 
fruit garden, with the red Currant trees still covered 
with fruit, and near by is a grand specimen of Welling- 
tonia gigantea nearly 40 ft. in height, and with a 
trunk 6 ft. across at the base. This tree was brought 
down by the late Mr. Smee in his pocket, and affords 
a striking example of the advantage to be derived by 
planting rare trees as soon as they are to be obtained, 
or, at least, as soon as they come within the reach of 
one’s pocket. 
The Orchids Growing in the Open Air, 
How r ever, forms the most interesting subject at The 
Grange, for by means of his experiments in this 
direction, which have now stood the test of several 
years, Mr. Smee has demonstrated that by his method 
of putting cool Orchids generally, and many of the 
intermediate house varieties out-doors in summer, they 
may be grown and flowered successfully in a much 
lower temperature in winter than if they are kept 
indoors all the year round. Indeed, with the summer 
passed in the open air, many of the species will do well 
with simply that protection from frost which every 
ordinary greenhouse gives. The plan is to put out 
Odontoglossums, Masdevallias, and other cool Orchids 
early in June, and Dendrobes and more tender things 
a little later, according as their condition of growth 
may warrant. 
Stages are arranged under the shade of the over¬ 
hanging bushes, and over the rivulets running through 
the Fern glade, 
the plants being 
raised about 3 ins. 
above the water. 
In this position 
they are in a cool 
moist atmosphere 
at all times, and 
at night they get 
saturated with 
dew, which seems 
to benefit them 
greatly. The 
Dendrobes, Epi- 
dendrums, and 
other light-loving 
plants are simi¬ 
larly treated, ex¬ 
cept that they are 
suspended from 
the branches of 
the trees or placed 
in a more open 
spot where they 
get more light 
than the Odonto¬ 
glossums, &c., in 
order to ripen the 
wood and prepare 
them for flowering 
when removed 
under glass. 
This plan acts 
admirably, as the 
1 arge lot of heal thy 
plants now in the open amply testify, and both Mr. 
Smee and his gardener, Mr. Cummins, are convinced 
that a great number of Orchids are btn 'fited by such 
treatment, provided the growers can finl a s'milar 
place to theirs to put them in. The following have 
been subjected to such treatment in the open air from 
June to October with good results :— 
Acropera Loddigesii Dendrobium crassinode 
Ada aurantiaca 
9 9 
crystallinum 
Barkeria Skinneri 
9 9 
Dalhousianum 
,, spcctabilis 
9 9 
densiflorum 
Brassia verrucosa 
9 9 
Devonianum 
Cattleya Acklandne 
99 
fimbriatum 
,, citrina 
>9 
Findleyanum 
,, Triame 
f 9 
formosum 
,, Walkeriana 
9 9 
giganteum 
Chysis aurea 
99 
Linawdanum 
Coelogyne cristata 
i 9 
lituiflorum 
,, ocellata 
9 9 
luteoluin 
Cypripedium Harrisianum 
9 9 
Jamesianum 
,, insigne 
9 9 
macrophyllum 
Cyrtopodium Anderson- 
99 
moschatuin 
ianum 
9 9 
nobile 
,, punctatum 
9 9 
,, ccerulesci 
Dendrobium aggregatum 
9 9 
Paxtoni 
,, bigibbum [majus 
9 9 
Pierardi 
,, Boxallii 
9 9 
primulinum 
,, calceolus 
9 9 
suavissimum 
,, Cainbridgeanum 
99 
thrysifloruni 
,, chrysanthum 
99 
transparens 
,, chrysotoxum 
9 9 
Wardianum 
,, clavatum 
Disa 
g ran di flora 
