August 4, 1888. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
775 
intense scarlet, the foliage resembling that of the old 
Tom Thumb, which is now nearly extinct.. 
The noble conservatory, which extends along the 
entire front of this flower gardeD, is perhaps one of the 
leading features of the place. It is 100 ft. in length 
by 30 ft. wide, and contains some of the finest Palms, 
tree Ferns, and Musas to he found in the midland 
counties. Occupying positions upon the- back wall 
may be seen Asparagus plumosus, which has already 
attained a height of over 20 ft., and several wire 
arches, which span the paths, are beautifully clothed 
with it, and it appears to be quite at home under its 
cool treatment. A huge specimen of the sweet 
Brugmansia suaveolens, laden with immense blossoms, 
presents a most beautiful appearance. Occupying 
prominent positions upon the centre beds are grand 
specimens of the graceful Musa ensete, and smaller 
plants of the rare Musa rosacea. The roof is heavily 
draped with many varieties of conservatory climbers, 
amongst them being Tacsonia van Volxemii, Cobaea 
scandens variegata, and Ruscus androgynus, &c. 
The side stages contain a quantity of small-flowering 
plants, tuberous Begonias. Celosias, Fuchsias, and 
many others contributing to a nice display. There is 
a fountain in the centre of the dome, which imparts a 
freshness to the whole place. A pair of fine Dicksonia 
antarctica, a noble Seaforthia elegans, and Phcenix 
reclinata have a dignity and majesty of their own, 
which is very impressive ; fine plants of Chamaerops 
humilis, Kentia sapida, Cordyline indivisa, Cyeas 
circinalis, and Sabal Blackburniana, are each in them¬ 
selves a perfect picture. Stepping again on to the 
terrace, a fine view of the surrounding country is 
obtained, with the river Trent winding its silvery course 
100 ft. below. 
At this point every step reveals new beauties and 
pleasures, and as we ascend the terrace steps the scene 
becomes one of an almost indescribable character. From 
beneath a long row of venerable Yews is as lovely a 
vista as ever gladdened the heart of man. The flower 
garden in all its summer grandeur, the mansion and the 
great conservatory are now before us, and to the north 
the ground rises sharply, advantage being taken of this 
to plant a variety of trees, including a fine pair of 
'Wellingtonia gigantea. A wide smooth expanse of 
turf surrounds the shrubberies, and taking in the view 
to the left we see something of interest at every turn. 
The fountains on the terraces add greatly to the 
picturesque beauty of the place ; the beds are glowing 
with colour, as befits the situation amongst so much 
greenery. The designs are neat and appropriate, and 
the whole keeping of the place reflects the greatest 
credit upon Mr. Anderson.— J. H. Walker. 
-- 
REMINISCENCES OF AN OLD 
GARDENER. 
The interesting description by “Arbutus” of the 
pleasure grounds, trees, shrubs, &c., at Moncreiffe 
House, Perth, at p. 712, recalled to memory scenes of 
my early youth more than fifty years ago, when there 
were no representatives of The Gardening World to 
chronicle events—no chiel among us taking notes and 
printing them. If you will allow me, Mr. Editor, I 
should like to relate some of the doings of the period 
mentioned, which may interest some of the young 
gardeners of the present day who are readers of your 
journal. At the latter end of the eighteenth, and the 
beginning of the present century, there sprang up a 
noble band of enthusiastic gardeners—men of mark, 
who left big footprints on the many and varied paths 
of horticulture ; men of high character, and who, 
being unwearied in their endeavours to instil into 
those under them a love for gardening in all its 
branches, did much to raise the noble profession to its 
present high position. Peace to their ashes ; honour 
to their names ! 
Foremost among this noble band stood John Mitchell, 
who for forty-five years—from 1794 to 1839—was 
gardener at Moncreiffe House. During that period he 
gathered and established one of the best collections of 
rare stove and greenhouse subjects, herbaceous and 
alpine plants, trees and shrubs to be found in any 
private establishment north of the Tweed. Many 
young men who were either apprentices or journeymen 
under him subsequently filled responsible places, and 
from amongst the many I may mention Mr. Stewart 
Murray, Curator to the old Botanic Garden, Glasgow, 
in the time of the late Sir William Hooker ; Mr. Forbes, 
gardener at Woburn Abbey, and author of “ Hortus 
Woburnensis ” ; and the father of Mr, Bisset, the 
present superintendent of the gardens at Moncreiffe. 
The many rare and beautiful trees and shrubs described 
by ‘‘ Arbutus,” or at least the greater part of them, were 
raised, carefully tended, and planted out to embellish 
the beautiful grounds by John Mitchell, and now they 
form living monuments to his memory. 
The ancestors of the present noble proprietor were 
great patrons of horticulture. Lady Elizabeth Mon¬ 
creiffe, in 1796, sent John Mitchell to London, to see 
and purchase new and rare plants, and to visit the 
notable nurseries and gentlemen’s places of that day 
in London. A journey in those days from Scotland to 
the great City was no slight undertaking—there were 
no railways or steamboats, it was a long passage by sea 
in a sailing vessel, called a “ smack.” If becalmed, or 
met by contrary winds, it took ten or twelve days to 
go the distance; nevertheless, in June, 1796, John 
Mitchell arrived at Millar’s Wharf, and as I learn from 
his diary, he spent three weeks in visiting the leading 
nurseries, market gardens, and private places. It may 
interest the present generation to know, from the same 
source, what were the leading features of the London 
nurseries in those days. The best collection of plants 
at that time were at Mr. Colvell’s, Chelsea, and 
Messrs. Lee and Kennedy’s, Hammersmith, the spe¬ 
cialties being Heaths, Geraniums, and stove plants. 
Mr. Thomson, in the Mile End Road, at that time 
had the best nursery about London for American, 
herbaceous, and stove plants. 
Mr. Mitchell saw the white Moss Rose for the first 
time at Mr. Simmonds’ small nursery, at King’s Elm, 
he being the only person who had it then. The best 
nurseries for florists’ flowers were Mr. Davey’s, at Cam¬ 
berwell, and Mr. Maddoek’s. Mr. Davey had 600 
different sorts of Carnations in pots ; and his Tulips 
were grown in raised beds, edged with boards, and 
covered with frames, which subsequently sheltered the 
Carnations. Mr. Maddock was the largest grower of 
florists’ flowers, having large fields of Ranunculuses 
and Anemones—acres of them. The Ranunculuses 
were grown in 4 ft. beds, with 4 ft. alleys between, 
which were planted alternately. The compost was 
mostly rotten cow manure. Anemones bearing seed 
are recorded as growing to the height of 3^ ft., and the 
Ranunculuses were flowering beautifully. It would 
occupy too much of your paper to mention all the places 
he visited, but two of the gentlemen’s gardens are 
worthy of mention. One, a Mr. Leptraps, in the Mile 
End Road, contained a rare collection of stove and 
greenhouse plants, and it was here that Mr. Mitchell first 
saw Dionea muscipula, the night-flowering Cactus, and 
many other rare plants in flower. He records that one 
Camellia cost 10 guineas, and one house, including the 
building and furnishing with plants, cost £1,900. The 
other place was a Mr. Howard s, Clapham Common, 
which also contained in the stove and greenhouse all 
the new and rare plants that were in the country then. 
Another place visited was Kew ; here the curator, Mr. 
Aiton, showed him all the plant-houses and kitchen 
gardens then used for producing fruit and vegetables 
for the royal table. He also visited the gardens at 
Sion House, Curtis’ Botanic Garden, and Loddiges’ 
nursery at Hackney, and then sailed for Scotland. 
Historicus. 
-- 
otes from Scotland. 
Cracking and. Spotting of Grapes.— Many 
ideas have been well ventilated as to the cause of Grapes 
cracking, and a general belief is that a superabundance 
of moisture at the roots is the real cause. If such be 
the case, there will be many split Madresfield Court 
Grapes to be seen in vineries. During the past July 
rain has fallen very heavily and continuously, the 
drenching showers being excessively cold, and such as 
might be supposed conducive to the cracking of Grapes. 
"VVe do not know how others have fared with their 
Madresfield Courts, but we never had such complete 
immunity from splitting, not a single berry having 
failed to remain entire. They are of a good size, densely 
coloured, the crop is heavy, nearly all the roots are 
outside, and the soil has been like a quagmire with 
damp for a number of weeks. In former seasons we 
have had our full share of splitting, and when the soil 
was in a dry and warm condition too ; “ nicking” the 
wood has also been resorted to in vain. I fear that other 
causes than wet at the roots must take the blame of 
cracking. Extra moisture has been used inside the 
structure, because fire-heat has been continuous and 
severe. The spotting of Lady Downe’s has been very 
slight this year. A dry temperature, with warm pipes 
at night, and a chink of air top and bottom, generally 
wards off the evil, a cold, close, and damp atmosphere 
being very conducive to it. We have seen large wel \ 
swollen Muscats attacked with the disease—notably 
when a boiler went wrong. While the atmosphere 
outside was cold and wet, the spotting and splitting of 
the berries was most disastrous.— Caledonian. 
Roses. —Among many white Roses we observe 
that Gloire Lyonnaise is by far the best this year, and on 
young trees planted during the past spring. Others 
of the free-flowering perpetuals are sorely tried with 
the heavy cold rains. We notice 1 the bright-coloured 
Duke of Edinburgh flowering very freely, and the form 
is nearly perfect; but it is yet too soon to form a 
decided opinion on the general collection, as many of 
them are not yet fully at their best. The old favourite, 
Souvenir de la Malmaison, which in ordinary seasons 
flowers very freely, does not open fully before it is 
decaying. Foliage of all kinds is very clean and 
remarkably healthy.— Caledonian. 
Pansies. —Whatever plants or flowers are suffering 
from cold rains, the Pansy is exempt from the list: we 
never saw them do better than at present. Now is a 
good time to sow seed in the open ground, which can 
be protected later by glass lights placed over the 
seedlings ; but they are better pricked out in a border, 
and a shallow frame placed over them during the 
winter. Out of many hundreds of seedlings treated in 
this way last year, the loss, if any, was nominal, the 
quality of the flowers being good, and many of them 
first-rate. The extra choice ones of former sowings 
were propagated during October by short cuttings, in a 
border with an easterly aspect; also Violas and bedding 
Pansies (some thousands) were rooted in an open border, 
and protected later by a frame.— Caledonian. 
-- 
ORCHIDS AT UPPER HOLLO¬ 
WAY. 
The season is now far advanced for the bulk of the 
Orchid family, yet there is a good show of bloom in the 
houses of Mr. B. S. Williams, at the "\ ictoria and 
Paradise Nurseries, Upper Holloway. The greatest 
number of species and varieties belonging to any one 
genus consists of Cypripediums, which may be described 
as perpetual flowering. Conspicuous amongst those we 
noticed the other day were C. Dominianum, C. super- 
biens, C. Stonei, C. Dayanum, C. tessellatum por- 
phyreum, with sometimes three flowers on a stem ; C. 
tonsum, with huge pale-coloured distinct-looking 
flowers ; C. vexillarium superbum, a strong-growing 
kind, with the standard and the petals richly suffused 
with claret-purple, the latter being strongly ciliated on 
both margins ; and another large-flowered variety 
named C. Ashburtoni expansum. There is also a con¬ 
siderable number of other species and hybrids—the 
latter especially. 
Cattleyas are represented by the beautiful C. gigas, 
•C. Schilleriana, C. Dowiana, and a beautiful form of 
the summer-flowering G. Gaskelliana. The rich purple 
and white lines densely arranged on the lip of C. 
Schilleriana are very attractive. Some of the best of 
the Miltonias are just now in perfection, including 
Miltonia spectabilis and its magnificent variety M. s. 
Moreliana, M. Regnellii atropurpurea, with a rich 
purple labellum, and M. vexillaria. Some Laelias are 
still flowering, notably L. xanthina, with its yellow 
flowers and white lamina to the labellum, and L. pur- 
purata. One of the latter is very conspicuous by the 
size of its wide-mouthed, rich dark purple labellum. 
Besides the more common species, there are several 
fine Odontoglossums, including O. Harryanum, O. 
Schlieperianum, and a richly coloured variety of O. 
eristatum, with shining dark chocolate sepals and 
petals, and a beautifully variegated and conspicuously 
crested lip. Oncidium Jonesiauum, grown on rafts, is 
nearly always in flower ; and the graceful panicles of 
the violet and white flowers of O. incurvum make it 
cause for surprise that every cultivator of this family 
does not grow it. Compact-growing and pretty species 
are O. longipes—known also as O. janeirense—and the 
dove-like 0. palumbinum. There are several pieces of 
Yanda teres, Y. tricolor in different colours, including 
Y. t. insigne, and a pale yellow-blotched, white-lipped 
variety. “Contrast is afforded by fine pieces of Dendro* 
bium Bensonise, Coelogyne Massangeana, and the blue- 
flowered Calanthe masuea in considerable quantity. 
A pretty species is Epidendrum nemorale, with rosy 
blush flowers and a darker lip. A large, well-flowered 
piece of E. cochleatum has been a conspicuons object 
for some time. A showy and by no means common 
species is E. cinnabarinum, with, cinnabar-red. sepals 
and petals, while the deeply three-lobed and fringed 
labellum is distinctly shaded with orange. It is one 
of the best of the type, having the leaves arranged 
in a two-ranked manner on slender, erect stems. We 
must not, however, overlook the charming, compact- 
habited Saccolabium cceleste, having a rich sky-blue 
lip and the ivhite sepals and petals tipped with blue. 
