Dec. 13th, 1884. 
THE * GARDENING WORLD, 
233 
couered with a barke of the colour of ashes, where¬ 
upon doe growe rounde pointed leaues, somewhat 
nickt about the edges, very soft, not vnlike to those 
of the common marsh mallow, and of an ouerworne 
hoarie colour; the flowers do growe at the top of the 
stalkes, of a purple colour,” &c. The flowers, 4 ins. 
or more across, are produced from the axils of the 
leaves of the new wood. This accounts for Gerard 
saying “ at the top of the stalkes,” and the “ hoarie” 
or downy quality of the leaves only belongs to their 
young state, they being quite smooth and shining, as 
already stated, in the latter part of the season. This 
shrub is deciduous. 
Like the Hollyhock, to which it is nearly allied, 
there are varieties of it, with purple, red, white, 
yellow, and tricoloured flowers, and some of these 
are repeated in double forms. All are charac¬ 
terized by having dark spots at the bases of the 
petals. In this range of colour in big flowers, 
A GARDENER’S BOTHY. 
That a bothy life is a pleasant one, few of our 
practical readers will deny. Many of the fraternity, 
like ourselves, who have reached mature age, have 
experienced it, and look back with mingled envy and 
surprise at the amount of enjoyment we then managed 
to extract from what now seems to us to be very slight 
material. Could but the thrill of pleasure which 
pervades the whole body of the thrifty bothy lad as he 
counts over the small store of savings stowed away in 
the corner of his box, or the pleasant excitement 
which takes hold on him some time before each select 
and social bothy gathering, and retains its hold on 
him for a long time after the cause of excitement has 
passed, be only increased in proportion to the accu¬ 
mulation of store, or the more frequent opportunities 
of pleasure at more important gatherings, his life 
would indeed be one of enjoyment. 
shine seldom reaches it. Its roof is leaky and 
its walls damp, and it is altogether a disgrace 
to the garden. Still, even in such a place youth 
is irrepressible, and we have seen merry gather¬ 
ings in the tumble-down sheds, happy little parties, 
at which the flute and an extemporized tam¬ 
bourine supplied by the bottom of an old watering- 
pot brought forth the strains by which the dances of 
England, Ireland, and Scotland were executed, and 
danced, too, with more than usual energy, difficult 
steps having to be executed in order to escape may be 
the large cracks in the floor. Generally speaking, the 
rougher the bothy is, the rougher the amusements of 
the inmates ; and on the contrary, the more refined 
the arrangements of the modern bothy so in proportion 
is the improvement in the habits of its occupants. 
The bothy represented in our illustration is that in 
Mr. Leopold de Rothschild’s garden at Ascott, near 
Leighton Buzzard, and which is the perfection of what 
there is offered a fine opportunity of making a good 
display. 
Its culture is as easy as that of the commonest 
shrubs; but it should be borne in mind in planting, 
that this native of Syria should get every possible ray 
of sunshine, in order to have it flowering well; and 
if the soil is made warm by a liberal mixture of sand, 
and slightly raising it above the ordinary level, all 
the better. There is no tenderness about it; this 
treatment is only such as has been found in practice 
to be needful, in order to induce a somewhat late- 
blooming exotic to flower well in a very opposite 
climate to its own. 
It is readily propagated; the young side shoots 
may be slipped off in July, and if set in sand, well 
watered, and a hand-glass placed over them for two 
or three weeks, they will be ready for potting. Plunge 
the pots in ashes in a cold frame, and there leave them 
until spring. In April they may be set in their per¬ 
manent quarters. Older plants may be transplanted in 
the autumn as soon as the flowers are over, even if 
many leaves remain unfallen.— J. I food, in The Field. 
But unfortunately, as the means of pleasure increases 
the appetite for its enjoyment decreases, and what we 
regard as pleasant things in youth are very matter-of- 
fact occurrences in later years. Not the least among 
the pleasant recollections of bothy life is the firm and 
life-long friendships which spring up between the 
young men associated together, friendships of more 
than ordinary warmth by reason of the intimate rela¬ 
tions existing betwmen the men on account of their 
inhabiting the same rooms, and sharing the same 
employment and pleasures together. 
Often at flower-show's do the old “ bothy chums ” 
meet and chat over old times, and warm is the grasp 
of the hand and cordial the friendly feelings v'hich 
exists between such old friends. But although of late 
years much has been done to improve the places 
provided for the young gardeners to live in, there are 
yet many very rough habitations still left. We have 
one in our mind as we write, which is situated in one 
of the home counties, and which is a true type of a 
bad bothy. It faces north and is near the stoke-hole, 
and so shaded by a high wall that a gleam of sun- 
such a place should be, being comfortable within and 
ornamental without. It is constructed to accommodate 
five young men, and has five rooms, viz., living-room 
or mess-room, 15 ft. by 1G ft., two bed-rooms, each 
12 ft. by 14 ft., a large kitchen, and a bath-room fitted 
well enough for any gentleman’s house. Gas and 
water are conveniently laid on, and the place is 
comfortably, not to say elegantly furnished, and 
supplied with books, periodicals, &c , w'hich offer 
every inducement to the young men to make them¬ 
selves comfortable, and at the same time to extend 
their knowledge. The Ascott bothy is thatched with 
reeds, and further rendered more rustic-looking by the 
verandah, which extends 3 ft. all round. 
Altogether the bothy at Ascott is of such beauty that 
there is no need to try and hide it, as is sometimes 
done, for it is an ornament to the garden. At the 
same time it is one of those improvements for the 
benefit of young gardeners which our present advanced 
state of civilization seems to demand, and which in 
some degree we are happy to say are becoming much 
more common than in our young days. 
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