June 21, 1890, 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
665 
character as a freely-fruiting kind ; for we counted six 
fruits all close together, and two were sometimes borne 
on the same shoot. Another variety grown here is a 
green-fleshed seedling, a cross between Bailey’s Green- 
flesh and Beechwood. Lockie’s Perfection and Telegraph 
are the favourite Cucumbers. The former does not 
fruit so freely as Telegraph, nor are the fruits so large, 
but they are of beautiful shape, with a smooth glaucous 
green skin, and nearly of the same width throughout. 
The fruit of Telegraph, as is well known, tapers to a 
narrow neck, which is generally considered as so much 
waste. 
Some houses are devoted to the culture of stove and 
CaRLUDOYICA PALM.EFOLIA. 
greenhouse plants. The roof of one house was almost 
completely covered with the well-trained stems of 
Tacsonia exoniensis and T. Van Volxemii, partly 
interlacing with one another, and literally laden with 
bloom. The way in which they were trained and 
regulated allowed a free play of light upon the plants 
beneath them. Primula obconica is evidently a 
favourite here, judging from the quantity of plants 
grown, and which were carrying a large quantity of 
bloom. 
Outdoor Fruit and Vegetables. 
When we saw the trees in the latter part of May there 
was promise of a much better crop of fruit generally 
than has been the fortune of growers in Middlesex or 
Surrey. Apple trees are grown as tall and dwarf 
standards, but they are mostly confined to an orchard 
by themselves, where they are planted on the grass. 
There was a good set of fruit on many of the trees, 
including Margil and Mere de Menage, but it was 
hardly sufficiently advanced to be certain of a good 
average crop. Pears were more advanced, and exhibited 
considerable variability, according to variety. Some 
trees, such as Louise Bonne of Jersey, Glou Morceau, 
and Beurre Diel were well set, and the fruits swelling. 
The Morello Cherries were heavily cropped, but Plums 
on walls varied according to the variety. Figs on the 
open wall were fruiting as freely as under glass, but, 
of course, the fruits were smaller. No protection had 
been afforded the trees in winter, nor does it seem that 
this is at all necessary, provided the wood has been 
well matured. On the other 
hand, injury is done by 
making the protecting 
material too close, and leav¬ 
ing it too long on the tree. 
Bush fruits are more satis¬ 
factory generally this year 
than are Apples, Pears 
and Plums. Gooseberries, 
although they may be de¬ 
scribed as an average crop in 
many places, yet that average 
is pretty regular in its 
appearance from year to year, 
and this year leaves little 
to complain of. For early 
use, Whinham’s Industry is 
a great favourite, on account 
of its being large enough 
to gather before any other. 
This year gathering was 
commenced the first or 
second week of May. Straw- 
beiries were in lull bloom 
and showing well, and a fair 
amount of rain is all that is 
needed to ensure a good 
harvest. Under glass, of 
course, they were in full 
bearing, as they had been 
tor some time previously. 
The varieties lelied upon 
for indoor work are Vicom- 
tesse Heiicart de Thury, here 
generally called Garibaldi 
(possibly on account of 
the shortness of the name), 
Paxton, and Bothwell Bank. 
These are found to resist 
the mildew better than 
British Queen, lor instance, 
which is a pale-coloured and 
more tender-skinned kind. 
The vegetable crops in 
the squares were remarkably 
healthy and growing with 
extraordinary vigour, testi¬ 
fying to the richness of the 
natural soil, which is here 
also of great depth. The 
culture of fruit and vege¬ 
tables constitute the primary 
raison cVilre of a garden, and 
here they receive a due 
amount of attention. 11 was 
too early to speak with 
any definiteness upon the 
various vegetable crops, 
but they certainly promised 
well. Moreover, we noted 
some Cauliflower which lrad 
been sown in heat on the 
2lst of January, and after¬ 
wards planted on a warm border, where they were 
prrotected with hand-lights for a time. The heads 
were already of good size when we saw them, and would 
be ready for use by the first week of June, thus bridging 
over the time between the late Broccoli and young 
Cauliflower brought on without protection. All parts 
of the garden reflected great credit on the management, 
of Mr. Nickols, the gardener, by the clean and well- 
tilled state of the kitchen garden, as well as fruit culture 
under glass and the keeping of the pleasure grounds. 
The Late Mr. John Day’s Collection of "Water- 
colour Drawings of Orchids, by Durham, was sold 
at Messrs. Protheroe & Morris’s Rooms on the 12th inst. 
for £350, the purchaser being Mr. Coleman. The 
collection comprised 286 drawings in 22 handsomely- 
bound volumes, and were specially painted for Mr. Day. 
I have Drummondi here in a large piece beyond the 
seedling plants, a bunch about 5 ft. through and very 
dense. When in full bloom it presents a beautiful 
mass of flowers and foliage. All the Everlasting Peas 
are charming, and worthy of a place in all large 
gardens. Drummondi is, however, one of the very 
best ; its seed progeny is always constant.— A. Dean. 
-*»*«-- 
NUNEHAM PARK, ABINGDON. 
On the banks of the Thames, and within easy distance 
of Oxford, is Nuneham Park, the residence of E. W. 
Harcourt, Esq. The mansion stands on slightly 
elevated ground, with the 
immediate surroundings 
sufficiently undulated to 
render, with a slight touch 
of art, a beautiful and varied 
landscape. There is an 
extensive park on that side 
which is approached from 
the railway station, and all 
over it are trees of great 
age and size, planted in 
groups or singly. At the 
time of our visit in the last 
week of May, the Horse 
Chestnuts were in perfection, 
and covered with a mass of 
bloom, whereas those near 
London were practically out 
of season. Hawthorns here 
and there were masses of the 
purest white; and Limes, 
Elms and Scotch Firs in their 
fresh foliage presented an 
endless seiies of pictures. 
In the immediate neighbour¬ 
hood of the mansion wer e 
some of the choicer Conifene 
and other trees, including 
a fine tree of Magnolia Um¬ 
brella, better known as M. 
tripetala. The large flowers 
are powerfully odoriferous. 
Close by, M. conspicua Sou- 
langeana and M. auriculata 
were also flowering freely, 
and have evidently been 
planted for many years. 
We also noted a richly 
floweredspecimen ofthe Judas 
Tree (Cercis Siliauastrum), 
and another of the curious 
Cytisus Adami with pale 
purple flowers, and yellow 
ones on branches which had 
reverted to one of the parent 
types. Vigorous young 
plants of Clematis montana 
on a wall were conspicuous 
by the size of their flowers, 
as compared with those 
produced by old specimens. 
The Glass Houses. 
A considerable amount of 
the area under glass is 
devoted to fruit culture. 
There are at least four 
vineries, the earliest of 
which is planted with Black 
Hamburgh. The berries 
of the same Grape in the 
second early house were 
colouring when we saw them. 
In the same house other kinds are grown, including 
Duke of Buccleuch and Foster’s Seedling, both bearing 
heavy bunches of fruit. The former is grown on the 
extension system, which evidently gives great satis¬ 
faction with this beautiful but troublesome Grape. 
The third early house was planted with Alicante, 
Madresfield Court, Lady Downes, and Gros Colmar, all 
of which were well cropped. In the Muscat house, 
besides Muscat of Alexandria and Golden Queen, there 
are also Vines of Gros Colmar, Alicante, and Lady 
Downes. The berries were already of good size, and 
the crop a good one. 
Some old trees in the Fig house were bearing an 
enormous crop. Amongst Peaches, Alexander, Early 
York, and Early Beatrice were already ripe, and were 
being gathered for the table. The trees in the late houses 
carried a heavy crop. The Countess Melon upholds its 
