Dec. 6th, 1884. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
215 
spread, out straight, even, and nearly level, so as to 
keep them near the surface; a little fine soil should 
be spread over them and be well trodden. If dry, a 
soaking of water should then be given so as to 
thoroughly settle the soil around them. Two or 
three inches of half-decayed manure should then be 
spread over the surface to the full extent of the 
holes so as to protect the roots from frost and 
drought. 
An upright stake should then be placed against 
each tree in such a manner as not to injure 
either roots or bark. To this the tree should be 
carefully tied so as to secure it from injury by 
storms, and the operation of planting is completed— 
an operation, although extremely simple to experi¬ 
enced cultivators, is often sadly misunderstood and 
erroneously or negligently performed by amateurs, 
who are now beginning to take a keener interest in 
fruit culture than they have hitherto shown. For 
these reasons I have endeavoured to describe the 
operation as minutely as possible, and also tried to 
urge the necessity and the great importance of its 
being performed in a skilful manner. Having 
selected the most suitable soil and situation, having 
chosen the best trees, and planted them skilfully, 
the greatest and most difficult work is accomplished, 
and success may reasonably be expected; but when 
these preliminaries are negligently and improperly 
performed, disappointment and failure are but reason¬ 
able results.— Scribo. 
EUCHARIS AMAZONICA* 
The Amazon Lily needs no introduction from me, 
so well are its merits known and appreciated by all 
floriculturists ; and it will be sufficient to say that 
amongst all the novelties that are introduced from 
time to time it still holds its own. For conservatory 
decoration when in bloom no plant is better adapted; 
for producing cut flowers it is quite a first-rate 
subject; and as an exhibition plant it is not by any 
means to be despised. It is, besides, according to my 
experience, one of the easiest plants to culture, yet 
I have frequently of late heard of cases in which 
gardeners fail to succeed with it, but from what 
cause I cannot say. One of the largest growers in 
the neighbourhood of Manchester told me recently 
that they would not do with him, and at the same 
time named other places where they fail now also ; 
whether from disease or from having been grown too 
long in an unsuitable soil, I am unable to say, but the 
subject is certainly worthy of consideration. 
The soil in which we grow them is a compost of 
about two parts of loam to one of peat, and during 
the last ten years our plants have not shown any 
signs of disease or debility. Ordinary stove-plant 
treatment as regards heat and moisture suits the 
Eucharis very well in the growing season. In an 
intermediate-house I have found that they make but 
little growth, and they must have a stove temperature, 
with plenty of water at the roots, and frequent 
syringing overhead, to induce a good development of 
foliage. While the plants are growing we occasionally 
give them weak manure water from the farmyard, and 
soot water judiciously applied will give a fine healthy 
green colour to the foliage. Cases, however, frequently 
occur, in which healthy and vigorous plants fail to 
flower but very sparingly, and when this happens 
a well-timed period of rest will produce the 
desired, or, at any rate, a much better result. In 
such a case, if the stove that they have been growing 
in is too moist and too close, they may be put in the 
summer in cold frames, and for a time have only 
sufficient water to keep them from flagging. In the 
resting time there is a danger of subjecting them to 
too hard an ordeal, by weakening the health and 
vigour of the bulbs, W'hich should be avoided. 
. though this plant will bear any amount of heat 
in the growing season, when the blooming period 
comes on, an intermediate temperature brings out the 
finest blooms, as when the heat is too great for 
tflem the flowers come small; and although they 
open very well in the conservatory, they have 
6 purit y colour, with the fine green tint 
w Inch they have in their natural quarters. 
FdTOod a KStoi 1 l!^! tingo1 the Preston and 
We usually have no difficulty in having a lot of 
Eucharis in bloom especially in August and Sept¬ 
ember, which seems to be their natural season of 
flowering. To have them later we dry a few batches 
of plants longer in the vineries and cold frames. 
At the present time we have a nice lot in bloom, and 
expect to keep up a succession till after Christmas. 
All this lot made an early growth, that is, early in the 
year, and have been kept dry for the last two or three 
months, and nearly all of them might have been in 
flower in September had they not been timed other¬ 
wise. In resting I have observed that the Eucharis 
will not bear too much cold. A few years ago I had 
about this time of the year several pots in the Heath- 
house, where the frost got in, and though none of the 
Heaths were in the least injured, scarcely one of the 
plants of the Eucharis recovered. 
It is a surprising fact to many that a single potful 
of Eucharis bulbs will throw up flowers more than 
once a year. Some years ago a specinjen flowered 
with us three or four times in the twelve months, and 
during that period produced about one hundred 
spikes of flowers. No doubt the specimen was in very 
good condition, and several times when in flower it 
was taken from the stove to the conservatory, where 
the change of temperature afforded a few weeks’ rest. 
This year a specimen which we exhibited at the 
Cheadle Flower Show bore about seventy spikes in 
August, and a month ago bore about a dozen more. 
But although such is frequently the case, I do not 
think that individual bulbs as a rule can be depended 
upon to flower oftener than once a year, nor do I 
think that anything more need be expected from 
them. 
As to insects, the Eucharis is very easily managed, 
the only difficulty being experienced where mealy¬ 
bug exists; that, I need scarcely say, should be got 
rid of as soon as possible.— Robert Mackellar. 
■——- 
NOTES ON GARDENS. 
Iwerne Minster.—The seat of Lord Wolverton is 
situated on the borders of Dorset and Wilts, a few 
miles from the old market town of Shaftesbury. 
Although comparatively speaking a new place, it is 
one of the leading private gardening establishments 
in the south of England, and well worth a visit from 
any enthusiastic horticulturist, who, if he does not 
derive a certain amount of pleasure and instruction 
thereby, must be singularly unfortunate in his powers 
of observations and conception of much that pertains 
to real merit and worth. 
Having for some time past been acquainted with 
the high repute of the gardens and being within a 
measurable distance of the same, on a cold November 
day, the writer in company with a friend, resolved on 
gratifying an ardent desire to make a personal 
acquaintance with the place, as well as with the kind 
and courteous gardener in chief. To indulge in word 
painting over a written description of such a place 
as Iwerne, is quite unnecessary ; I shall therefore 
content myself for the present by recording bare 
facts, and adding such other remarks as may be put 
to a practical test, concerning the treatment of one or 
two species of plants, the which we have not seen 
equalled elsewhere. 
The Kitchen - garden is about 3 acres in extent, 
and under a thoroughly systematic course of cropping, 
which, with deep tilth and liberal dressings of manure, 
produce fruit and vegetables of more than average 
quality. From a gardening point of view, the only 
apparent drawback here is the small amount of wall 
space for fruit-growing, and for affording shelter to 
early and tender crops of vegetables. At the upper 
end of the garden is Mr. Davidson’s residence—a 
model of what a gardener’s house should be—and at 
the lower end are the plant and fruit-houses. Of 
these, owing to their being so many, and the limited 
space at our command, it will be advisable to deal 
with only in general terms, instead of entering into 
lengthy details. 
The Collection of Stove and Greenhouse Plants 
is a varied and extensive one, many houses being 
devoted to their culture. Amongst the former, one 
of the first plants to come under our special notice 
was the sweet-scented Jasminum gracillimum, a plant 
of somewhat recent introduction, the character of 
which may be briefly stated thus : flowers pure white, 
borne in dense clusters, graceful habit, very floriferous, 
and invaluable for decorative work and for cutting. 
Euphorbia Jacquiniaffiora is largely grown and particu¬ 
larly well done; as also are Poinsettias and Calan- 
thes, of which, at the time of writing, there is a fine 
show, and being tastefully arranged amongst ferns 
and other subjects, render the houses, in which they 
are placed, very attractive. There are many fine 
specimens of Adiantum farleyense, quite up to 
exhibition standard, and the same remark is appli¬ 
cable to Eucharis amazonica ; indeed, we can honestly 
say respecting the latter, that we had not previously 
seen their equal. One huge specimen we were in¬ 
formed, had at one time during the current year, no 
less than forty flowers open and opening. Palms, 
Ferns, and other ornamental foliaged plants, are too 
numerous to particularize. 
"We would briefly refer, however, to Plumbago 
capensis rosea, as successfully flowered and grown in 
pots ; for to see it as we did here with a profusion of 
its beautifully rose-coloured flowers on plants in 
comparatively small pots, is rather the exception than 
the rule, and a concise statement respecting its 
treatment may not be unacceptable to some of your 
readers. Cuttings are put in in February, and as 
soon as rooted, are potted off in a compost consisting 
of good fibrous peat, loam and sand; their next shift 
is into 6-in. and 8-in. pots, with an addition this time 
of a little charcoal and half-rotten leaves to the 
compost. From the time the cuttings are struck till 
the plants are established in the larger-sized pots 
they are grown in a stove heat, and subsequently in 
an intermediate or cool house, which has the effect 
of hardening and thoroughly ripening the wood, and 
this last point is probably the nutshell in which the 
whole secret of success is contained. In the autumn 
the plants are again introduced into the stove, and 
commence to flower in October. 
That old and much neglected plant Clivia nobilis 
is well grown, and made a speciality at Iwerne, and is 
much preferred to its popular congener Imatophyllum 
miniatum. Except in a young state the plants 
receive greenhouse treatment and are grown in a 
mixture of about equal parts of loam and peat, with a 
little sand and small pieces of charcoal added thereto, 
being watered when the pots are full of roots with liquid 
manure about twice a week. At the time of our visit 
we noted a good house or two of Tomatos and winter 
Cucumbers. Peach-houses and vineries are numerous, 
in one of the latter a few good bunches of Alicante 
and one or two late varieties were still hanging. 
Hamburghs and Muscats have made extremely good 
wood this season and will doubtless produce bunches 
of a high order next year. 
The Pleasure Grounds. —Leaving the glass depart¬ 
ment and kitchen-garden a move is next made for the 
pleasure grounds, passing on the way through a well- 
made and tastefully laid out rootery. We were much 
interested in the latter, and the original idea respecting 
it must have been somewhat novel in its conception. 
No true and correctly written description of it, we 
fear, can be given here. Of old tree roots and stumps 
arranged into grotesque shapes and forms there must 
be a good many cart-loads ; interstices, odd nooks and 
corners here and there are filled up with soil and 
planted with such shrubs and hardy ferns as Lastrea 
Filix-mas, Athyrium Filix-fcemina, Scolopendrium 
vulgare, Barbury, and Rhododendrons, the whole 
being shaded, by overhanging branches of trees, which 
must render it a very pleasant and cool retreat in the 
hot summer months. 
If the term is admissible, the pleasure grounds 
may be described as being of a high classical order, 
and are about 12 acres in extent, and more than 
ordinarily neat and well kept. The excellent walks, 
which are made d la Pulliam and are, perhaps two or 
three miles long, deserve a passing word of comment. 
The material of which they are made and its prepara¬ 
tion is probably a trade secret, but of its superiority 
over asphalt there cannot be much doubt. The 
hardened and smooth surface, which is of a slightly 
reddish tinge, has decidedly a more pleasing and 
warm appearance than asphalt, it is equally proof 
against weeds, and is not affected by either of the 
two extremes of heat or cold. Adjoining the mansion 
is a large and handsome conservatory and a fine 
broad terrace, the latter being a vantage point from 
which to obtain a beautiful view of the park and 
vale on the one side, and of the flower-garden and 
a wide expanse of the pleasure grounds on the other. 
In conclusion, we may add that there is a choice 
collection of conifers, deciduous trees and shrubs, in 
the planting and disposal of which there is ample 
evidence that present and future effect has not been 
lost sight of.— J. Horsefield, Heytesbury. 
i 
