September 1, 1888. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
9 
supplying a suitable place for cultivating a few sbrubs. 
Old roots of trees crown the top of the bank, Ivy being 
planted with the view of covering them. Next comes 
a row of Privet, the very air being redolent with scent 
from the flowers of this plant, of which there are 
hundreds in different parts of the garden, looking 
something like a fairly-flowered Deutzia gracilis, and 
Mr. Roberts, the gardener, informed me that he had not 
seen it so floriferous before. In front of the Privet 
we have the orthodox style of planting, and to cover 
the remainder of the bank the following plants had 
been chosen and planted three years ago :—A few plants 
of Pinus maritima, also the common Yew, Euonymus, 
Aucubas, Hodginson’s Holly, Retinosporas, and the 
Tamarisk. 
Entrances that are usually left open in inland 
gardens are here provided with doors to break the 
currents. Sundry rows of Bamboo mats, that are used 
for packing the raw sugar shipped to the neighbouring 
city of Liverpool, run north and south to protect Roses 
and other plants. Mr. Roberts drew my attention to 
two rows of Roses each side of a narrow walk, and a 
corresponding narrow border on cither side. Those on 
the west side were near the 
screen—say, about 1 ft.—and the 
others 10 ft. or 12 ft. away. The 
difference in appearance was most 
marked. The first were really 
what might be described as of 
fair average growth, and the latter 
looked singed. Even a bed of Sea 
Kale had one of these screens in 
front of it, not because of the 
cold, as Southport is 6° warmer 
than Blackpool, another watering- 
place only a few miles further north 
on the same coast. No, it is the 
occasional violent storms and the 
saline-laden air that calls for these 
protectors. I can testify to the ill 
effects of these westerly gales on 
plants twenty miles east of the 
coast, having seen the common 
Yew and other hardy evergreens as 
brown as if scalded on the wind side. 
On the outskirts of the vegetable 
quarters numbers of Carnations and 
Picotees are grown, and it was quite 
a treat to see such a representative 
collection of all the best kinds. In 
passing through the houses I noticed 
a large plant of Passiflora Constance 
Elliott draping the roof of the 
Camellia house, and which Mr. 
Roberts finds useful for decorating 
the neighbouring church on harvest 
festival occasions, when pieces 
several feet long are cut. A plant 
of Bougainvillea glabra in full flower 
was covering a space 21 ft. by 8 ft. 
of the back wall of a house chiefly 
devoted to Ferns. In the vinery 
was a good crop of Grapes, with fair 
average-sized bunches of Hamburgh, 
Alicante and Muscat of Alexandria, 
and on the back wall of this 
house were Peach trees with fruit 
above the average size on them. Under the Vines 
were some creditable Fig trees in pots, also nice half 
specimens of Phoenix reclinata, Davallia bullata and 
D. hirta cristata. To succeed the Peaches in this 
house there is another lot in an unheated span-roofed 
structure, the south side of which was partly covered 
with hybrid perpetual Roses planted in a border and 
trained under the glass. Tea Roses have a house to 
themselves, and are brought on early in the year. 
Heavy crops of Tomatos were to be seen on Carter’s 
Perfection, Trophy, Excelsior, and a variety named 
Sandwich Island, which, with two or three other kinds, 
were planted out in beds on either side of a span-roofed 
house. There were also good crops of this fruit on 
outdoor plants trained against the walls of the houses. 
Both these and the indoor varieties were free from 
all kinds of disease, which the writer rather envied, 
for in addition to the constant presence of the white-fly, 
he had been more or less plagued for months with the 
black spot (Cladosporium lycopersici), accompanied by 
rusty leaf growth, leaving only 2 ft. to 3 ft. of healthy 
green on shoots 12 ft. to 15 ft. long, which was the 
means of reducing the winter’s crop by one half. 
The Warren is noted for its choice collection of 
greenhouse Rhododendrons, which are sheltered in a 
span-roofed house, many of the plants being of great 
size, and are, I am told, well worth a visit in March 
and April. In a sheltered part of the garden were 
good specimen Chrysanthemums of the bush form. On 
a sloping bank at the north side of the carriage 
approach, planted in designs, were thousands of 
Sedums, Echeverias, Saxifrages, and other dwarf hardy 
subjects. The other class of bedding-out plants, such 
as Pelargoniums, are not satisfactory, and are only 
grown where they are sheltered.— W. P. R. 
-- 9 ^*- 
HARDY PLANTS IN FLOWER. 
Ononis Natp.ix. 
This is a yellow-flowered species that flowers with us 
well into the autumn. It grows about 2 ft. in height, 
and forms a good bushy plant. The foliage is very pubes¬ 
cent and viscid, with rather an unpleasant smell when 
broken or bruised. The yellow flowers are slightly 
larger than those of 0. arvenis or 0. rotundifolia, with 
the standard of the corolla veined with faint red lines. 
On a sloping bank in sandy soil this Rest-harrow will 
be found a useful plant ; it is easily raised from seed. 
SCARLET BlZARRE CARNATION, ROBERT HOULGRAVE. 
Callirhoe involucrata. 
The bright crimson flowers of this species remind one 
more of a Malope than a Callirhoe ; its habit is, 
however, different, being procumbent and perennial. 
The leaves are very deeply divided and hairy. The 
best position is on a ledge, so planted that it can over¬ 
hang rockwork and get the full sun. 
HeLIANTHUS MITLTIFLORUS major. 
For cutting purposes this perennial Sunflower is very 
useful; the flowers are light, and for a Sunflower very 
graceful, the side flowers being the most adapted for 
cutting. As a back-row plant in the herbaceous 
border it forms at this season a highly attractive 
subject. "When thus grown it should be broken up in 
October and only moderate-sized clumps planted ; if 
left unbroken it soon monopolises too much space. 
The stock not wanted for border work can be advan¬ 
tageously used in the shrubberies or wild garden.—- 
J. W. 0., Pinner. 
-- 
ALLOTMENT GARDENS. 
The Duke of Westminster is showing his class—and 
landowners generally—a good lead, which we hope to 
see largely followed, by dividing twenty-five acres of 
land, lying between Chester and Eaton Hall, into 
quarter-of-an-acre allotments, which he has let to 100 
mechanics and labourers, and the scheme has proved a 
great success, for every allotment has been taken up. 
While it is gratifying to know it is so, it need create 
no surprise ; land hunger is being severely felt by the 
labouring classes near large towns and cities, where 
house rent is high, and where the garden, so-called, to 
many of the lower class dwelling houses, is simply the 
dimensions of the minimum of the air-space required 
by the bye-law3 of the municipal corporation, local 
board, or sanitary authority. The Duke of West¬ 
minster charges at the rate of £5 per acre per 
annum, which covers tithes, rates and taxes. The 
land is cultivated by spade industry, and is reported 
to be in a high state of cultivation. Whether a 
quarter of an acre is not too much for a labouring 
man to cultivate, who has to give ten hours a day to 
his ordinary occupation, is a matter of opinion, and 
especially so if the land is to be cultivated well. We 
have had considerable experience of allotment gardens, 
and find that one-eighth of an acre is as much as an 
ordinary labourer can cultivate with advantage ; and 
it is found to produce a large amount of food for him¬ 
self and family. After all, this s 
a matter of detail, subject to the 
test of experience ; but it is a fact, 
nevertheless, that to properly till 
and cultivate successional crops on 
a quarter of an acre of land by spade 
labour, means a large demand in 
the way of manual toil. Lord 
Rothschild has recently set apart a 
piece of ground, near to the Mill 
Hill Park Station of the District 
Railway at Acton, for the labourers 
on the Gunnersbury estate, who live 
at Acton, each man having an 
eighth of an acre at a mere nominal 
rent. We hope and expect to see 
other landowners following these ex¬ 
amples. The English land question 
is one that is assuming large pro¬ 
portions, and it is destined to come 
up for settlement in the not distant 
future. Subjects that evoke a great 
deal of discussion, and call forth 
much difference of opinion, are found 
to be ripening for practical legis¬ 
lation with marvellous celerity, and 
the English land question is one of 
these. An influential section of the 
community is found advocating the 
nationalisation of the land for the 
benefit of the commonwealth, and 
though to many this must appear of 
the nature of a confiscatory move¬ 
ment, the fact that it is advocated 
by able men is one that cannot be 
ignored. The vexed tithe question, 
the rating of land, the operation of 
the laws of entail and primogeni¬ 
ture ; these and other matters that 
cluster round the main question, 
like a ring of satellites about a great 
planet, are all being drawn within 
the range of practical politics. Let 
■ us hope that they will all be 
settled in due course upon a just and equitable basis. 
Are the capabilities of the land to maintain a larger 
number than at present tested to their utmost capacity ? 
We think not. Under-cultivation is now almost in¬ 
variably the order of the day. Take a number of 
allotment gardens that are well cultivated by spade 
labour. Although it is done at odd moments, and 
without much pretence of systematic cropping, yet, if 
at all observant, we are able to see what a large produce 
it is capable of yielding under superior cultivation. 
The establishment of allotment gardens is opening the 
eyes of social reformers to the greater capacities of the 
land to help in maintaining the community. The 
next momentous and difficult question is how to utilise 
and distribute the produce so as to be most profitable 
to the producers. In all cases the allotment holder 
should be free to dispose of any surplus produce he may 
not require for his own consumption. How he can 
best do this is the point. By the application of the 
principle of combination and co-operation, we think 
this matter is capable of being practically solved. It 
is the social reformer rather than the party politician 
that must step in and take up the question at this 
point ; but we want, above all things, a higher order of 
intelligence developed among our suburban and rural 
populations, and we look with hope for the advance of 
this with time. Though it maybe slow, we are yet 
sanguine it will be none the less sure and stable, and 
capable of great things in the future. — E. W. 
