646 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 14, 1890. 
it is the fate of the fertiliser to gain an unlooked-for 
and specially promising attainment, and when he has 
let it on apace it suddenly declines, and the labour and 
patient devotion are lest, Nature has her fickle as well 
as her complaisant moods. 
Cyclamen, Primula, and Cineraria seeds are being 
harvested, all from carefully-fertilised flowers, with a 
view of securing quality with fecundity. But there is 
still a beautiful lot of Calceolarias, fine plants, carrying 
superb heads of bloom of the best quality, the flowers 
fertilised by careful impregnation. When one remem¬ 
bers the herbaceous Calceolarias of 30 years ago—tall, 
gaunt, and leggy—and compares them with the dwarf, 
compact, sub-shrubby types of to-day, one sees what a 
marvellous advance has been made in point of improved 
habit; and then such clusters of bloom, and such 
flowers too, almost completely hiding the plants from 
view. There are also superb Gloxinias, large specimen 
plants from last year’s bulbs, fine in shape, large in 
size, varied in colour, a strain of the highest excellence. 
Here, with the Calceolaria and Gloxinia, as with the 
Cyclamen, Primula, &c., the successful handiwork of 
the fertiliser is traceable; size, substance, novel marking, 
perfect habit, floriferousness, have all been advanced by 
human means. 
Begonias are a great feature here. I was too early 
to see any of the plants in flower, but in another month 
or so there will be a rare display. Nor have Messrs. 
Sutton & Sons confined themselves solely to the 
improvement of the tuberous-rooted section. Some 
charming types of summer bedding varieties, of which 
Princess Beatrice is such a valuable type ; while the 
winter-flowering forms are being led on to greater 
perfection by means of judicious crosses. 
In one of the many frames filled with interesting 
subjects can be seen a batch of the pretty, pink- 
flowered Achimenes rosea, for which Messrs. Sutton & 
Sons have received First Class Certificates of Merit of 
late ; it is a pink A. Chirita, and will prove valuable 
both for exhibition and decorative purposed. In a 
close frame were pots of seedling Begonias raised from 
seeds sown in heat in February. Gloxinia seeds, like 
those of the Auricula and other subjects, germinate 
suceessionally, a fact which should always be borne in 
mind by seedling raisers, who from want of adequate 
knowledge are apt to complain that either the seeds do 
not grow well, or that they germinate irregularly. 
“ Have*patience ” is the proper advice to give, and do 
not be in a hurry to throw away the contents of pans 
and pots in which seeds have been sown. It very 
often happens that seeds destined to produce the finest 
types are latest in germinating. From these pots of 
seedlings plants had been taken that were now in 48- 
size pots in one of the houses, and others in an inter¬ 
mediate stage, thus showing how a succession can be 
maintained. Thousands of seedling Begonias and 
Gloxinias are raised in these nurseries, and the 
Gloxinias come suceessionally as well as the Begonias. 
In the open air a great many things are sown mainly 
for trial. There are Stocks and Asters innumerable. 
The soil is a light, warm, and sandy one, and therefore 
well adapted for sowing Stock and Aster seeds in; there 
are Portulacas, beautiful Mexican annuals of gorgeous 
colour that require an open sunny spot, &c. There are 
also plantations of Phlox Drummondi, Petunias, 
Antirrhinums, Pentstemons, Tobaccos, climbing Con¬ 
volvulus, Hollyhocks, &c. A large breadth of trial 
Tomatos are already out and doing well, and Dahlias 
are going out now that refreshing rain has come. But 
so many things are grown here in the summer that a 
weekly visit is necessary on the part of anyone who 
wishes to gather up all the information possible. There 
are many hardy perennials that will repay inspection, 
and many related subjects of interest too numerous to 
mention. 
A large plantation of Strawberries compels attention. 
They are made of the young runners of the late summer 
of last year, too small for sale, but carefully taken off 
in early autumn, and planted in well-prepared beds. 
The result is the plants have grown strongly, and a 
very large number of them are flowering. It is thought 
advisable to allow the flowering stems to remain on the 
plants until they have set their fruit, and then they 
are gathered. It is found that if the flowers are picked 
off as soon as they open the plants make a gross growth, 
and do not fruit so well the following season, but the 
tendency to go to leaf is corrected by leaving the flower- 
stems until the fruit is set. These plants are well 
adapted and greatly in demand for potting up for 
forcing in the winter. 
I have touched only on a few leading features of the 
Portland Nursery. Much has been passed over for 
lack of time in which to note it. If any gardener finds 
himself at Reading, and has an hour or two to spare, 
he cannot devote the time to auy better purpose than 
in paying a visit to Messrs. Sutton & Sons’ Portland 
Nursery.— U. D. 
-- 
WYTHAM ABBEY. 
This, the present residence of H. Oppenheim, Esq., is 
pleasantly situated on the west bank of the Thames, 
about three miles from Oxford. The ground is wooded 
and undulated, and the house overlooks a park of 
considerable extent, and well studded with trees of 
various kinds, sufficiently isolated to show their indi¬ 
vidual beauty. The Hawthorn and the Horse Chestnut 
were in their prime when we saw them in the last week 
of May, the former especially, being a sheet of pure 
white bloom, well meriting the title of the “Milk- 
white Thom,” as given to it by Burns. 
The house itself is a many-sided building, built of 
limestone of the oolite series, and its sides are clothed 
with climbers, including splendid specimens of the 
Banksian Rose, which refuses to thrive satisfactorily in 
the atmosphere of London. The white variety covers 
an area of 25 ft. by 27 ft. or 30 ft., and was simply 
laden with its deliciously fragrant flowers. The 
yellow-flowered variety is 35 ft. high, and 10 ft. to 
18 ft. wide, and was simply a mass of soft yellow 
bloom. Magnolia grandiflora covers an area of 35 ft. 
by 20 ft., aud flowers grandly later in the season. A 
tall, old piece of the common Honeysuckle covers 
another part of the house ; the inner surface of the 
corolla is white on first expansion, but ultimately 
becomes of a soft yellow. On the low wall circum¬ 
scribing the grass around the mansion, four species of 
our native Spleenworts have firmly established them¬ 
selves—namely, Asplenium Ceterach, A. Ruta-muraria, 
A. Adiantum-nigrum, and A. Triehomanes. 
Close to the house are some fine trees isolated on the 
lawn, including a beautiful tree of Quercu3 pedunculata 
variegata. A specimen of the Tulip Tree (Liriodendron 
tulipifera) stands about 60 ft. high ; and near by it 
are floriferous specimens of the common Barberry 
(Berberis vulgaris 1 and the Snowball Tree (Viburnum 
Opulus sterilis). But the best tree in the grounds is 
undoubtedly a magnificent specimen of the cut-leaved 
Beech (Fagus sylvatica heteropliylla), which is said to 
frequently revert to the normal form ; but there is no 
evidence of it in this case, for the tree is about 65 ft. 
high, as much in the spread of the branches, and 
feathered to the very ground. It is also of great 
width all the way to the top, and at a short 
distance away looked anything but a Beech ; in fact, it 
had quite an unwonted appearance about it when in leaf. 
The Gardens and Hothouses. 
It is quite pleasant -to note that the fruit prospect is 
encouraging in some localities, for the outcry is great in 
many places at the small quantity of fruit set, and that 
notwithstanding a beautiful display of bloom in spring. 
The orchard is outside the garden wall proper, and 
contains Apples and Pears, chiefly the former, grown 
.as standards. They are not pruned, but receive an 
occasional thinning of the useless and dead wood, and, 
as a rule, they bear well. A heavy crop has set upon 
them this year. The ground on which they are grown 
is rather wet, as was evidenced by the presence of the 
Tway Blade (Listera ovata) and Orchis maculata. Mr. 
George, the gardener in charge, has, however, effected a 
great change by draining the ground ; and the trees 
are now dropping the lichens with which they were 
covered, by throwing off the old bark in scales. 
Colmar d’Ete, or Summer Oolmar Pear, as Mr. George 
calls it, is heavily set with fruit. 
Inside the garden the trees on the walls are, as a 
rule, well set, especially Apples and Pears, which will 
be a heavy crop, provided we have a fair amount of 
rain to swell the fruits, with weather to bring them to 
proper maturity. The Moor Park Apricot is heavily 
laden, and in previous years the trees have borne fruit 
by the bushel. Figs on the open wall carry an 
exceptionally heavy crop, and the trees had not been 
protected in any way during winter. There is only a 
fair crop of Plums, the best of them, perhaps, being 
Victoria and Pond’s Seedling, which may be described 
as below the average. Bush fruits, such as Gooseberries, 
Currants and Raspberries, were all well loaded with 
flowers or fruit according to the kind, and Strawberries 
were covered with bloom, and will no doubt bear an 
excellent crop provided we get a fair amount of rain 
during the present month. All the quarters were 
admirably clean, and showed evidence of good tilth, 
which says much for the diligence and cultural skill of 
Mr. George. 
The range of glass is not very extensive, but consists 
of a number of low span-roofed houses well adapted for 
plant culture. Cucumbers, Melons and Strawberries 
are amongst the fruits grown under glass. Sir Joseph 
Paxton is the Strawberry most grown, as very early 
forcing is not practised. Blenheim Orange and La 
Favourite are the Melons grown ; the latter is a green- 
fleshed variety. 
In the plant houses a collection of various stove 
plants and Orchids are grown. Amongst Dendrobinms 
were fine flowering pieces of Dendrobium mosehatum 
and D. ni. Calceolaria, both in flower. Various forms 
of Cattleya Mendelii and C. Mossue were also flowering, 
together with Miltonia vexiliaria. Although not very 
showy, Gongora (Acropera) Loddigesii is pretty and 
interesting on account of its brown spotted sepals and 
petals, and its curiously constructed yellow lip, re¬ 
sembling a swan, though less perfectly so than in Gongora 
concolor. 
-~>Z<~- 
CATTLEYAS AT THE GRANGE, 
WALLINGTON. 
Collections of named varieties of C. Mossire and 
C. Mendelii are comparatively few, for although both 
here named are popular kinds, and often grown in 
quantity, the greater number of growers-are content 
to wait for finely-coloured varieties to turn up amongst 
importations. For some time past Mr. A. H. Smee, 
The Grange, 'Wellington, has been collecting together 
all the choice forms of the above Cattleyas as they 
come under his notice. The forms of C. Mossire 
largely predominate, aud display a wealth of variety 
and colour peculiar to that kind, and such as is seldom 
the good fortune of anyone to see under one roof. A 
house was built for their reception about a year ago, 
and this is completely filled with the best forms, while 
the rest have to be accommodated in another structure. 
The Cattleya house is a span-roofed structure on the 
dry-glazing system, and the roof slopes almost to the 
ground-level. Accommodation for inspecting and 
attending to the plants is secured by sinking the floor 
of the house some 3 ft. or so beneath the ground-level. 
This has the effect of securing a maximum of light, 
and practically limits the area of glass by doing away 
with glass sides and the cross beams supporting the 
roof, and which in houses as ordinarily built obstruct 
a large amount of light. Green-painted lath blinds 
meet with great favour at The Grange, as they break up 
and distribute the light on the plants beneath, while 
they are at the same time economical and durable. 
The very best only of C. Mossire have received 
special names, but a large number of the unnamed 
kinds are notable either for their size or rich colour. 
Noticeable for size and its pale colours is C. M. 
Arnoldiana, the sepals and petals of which are white, 
the latter of great size, with a band of pink along the 
centre. The lamina of the lip measured 2£ ins. across, 
and is white, reticulated with purple. Tiie flower, as 
a whole, measured 8| ins. across the petals. As a 
contrast to the above, C. M. Londiuensis may be noted, 
with large flowers, deep rosy mauve sepals and petals, 
and rich purple lip. The most handsome both for size 
and rich colours is that named Mrs. Smee. The sepals 
and petals are rich rosy mauve, the latter measuring 
4J ins. long by 3^ ins. in breadth, of good substance, 
and curved towards the lip, giving the flower a close 
and compact appearance. The lamina of the lip 
measured 2^ ins. long, and was heavily reticulated 
with deep purple, and the orange blotches were of great 
size. The plant was of good size, and bore twenty-one 
flowers. A widely-expanded flower is C. M. Rothschild- 
iana, rich orange in the throat with a dark lamina to 
the lip, bordered with lilac. C. M. Reineckiana is 
notable for its white sepals and petals, and its pale lip. 
Similar to it is C. M. Smeeana, but the sepals and 
petals are faintly tinted with lilac. The flowers of 
C. M. Southgatei are of good size and colour, but the 
petals have the fault of being partly folded backwards 
longitudinally. The broad white margin to the lip of 
C. M. Schroderae is characteristic of that variety; 
indeed, the usual purple colour is almost obliterated. 
Amongst the unnamed forms of C. Mossite is one 
with the lamina of the lip of great size and nearly or¬ 
bicular. Another measured 9J ins. across the petals, 
which were richly coloured, and the lip alone was 
3£ ins. long. A large piece from the late Major Lendy’s 
collection was also choice in its way, with a richly 
reticulated lip, margined with lilac. Close by was 
another very distinct variety with the orange throat of 
the richly-coloured lip shading into crimson, and the 
margin lilac. Several others exhibiting a lilac margin 
varied in the intensity of their colours to an endless 
