Jan. 24th, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
327 
NOTES FROM GARDENS. 
Broadlands, Hants.—The seat of Lord Mount 
Temple is beautifully situated on the banks of the 
winding Eiver Test, and is a noble structure with a lofty 
portico over the principal entrance. It is surrounded 
by a beautiful park of about 400 acres, embellished 
with noble specimens of Cedar of Lebanon, Elms 
of unusual size, and many other fine trees. It is 
situated on the south-east side of Eoinsey, but a 
few minutes’ walk from the town, and was the birth¬ 
place and favourite residence of that great statesman 
Lord Palmerston. 
The park and grounds surrounding this beautiful 
residence are frequently thrown open by permission of 
the noble owner for festive gatherings, such as of 
schools, friendly societies, and other institutes, of 
whatever sect or denomination, and few are the esta¬ 
blishments that offer such ample scope for enjoyment 
as this. In addition to the grounds, a spacious 
orangery, which will hold many hundreds of people, 
is placed at the disposal of visitors, and in this same 
building many earnest discussions on questions of 
public interest have taken place in which the noble 
owner has taken part, foremost amongst them being 
the temperance movement, of which Lord and Lady 
Mount Temple, and also their worthy gardener, Mr. 
Thirlby, are earnest advocates and supporters. 
On the north-west side of the mansion some 
beautiful views are obtained of the surrounding 
country. In front are the slopes of velvety green turf 
which reaches to the edge of the Eiver Test, and 
beyond in the distance, partially obscured by trees, is 
a massive stone bridge, carrying the Salisbury and 
Southampton road over the river, and which viewed 
from this point has a very pretty appearance. On one 
side of the mansion there is a large flower-garden, 
which is planted with both spring and summer bedding 
plants during their respective seasons, and in the 
orangery before-mentioned are some enormous speci¬ 
mens of Zonal Pelargoniums, which stand on the 
terrace in the summer months where they defy any 
winds when properly staked, &c., and, as Mr. Thirlby 
says, may be seen for a great distance, and present 
such a sight that few plants could equal. 
In the kitchen-garden one’s attention is immediately 
drawn to the splendid Peach-trees on the W T alls. Mr. 
Thirlby will probably tell the visitor, as he told me, 
that he had “ nothing better to show you,” and I need 
only add nothing better could be desired, for better 
furnished trees could not be found out-of-doors, nor 
can better crops of fruit be obtained, as I can testify, 
from having seen them on more than one occasion. 
Nectarines and Apricots do equally well out-of-doors 
here, and I should not care to commit to print the 
number of dozens of fruit which have been taken from 
individual specimens of the latter. Plums also do 
excellently here, but some little difficulty is experi¬ 
enced in getting Pears to succeed satisfactorily. 
The glass structures are numerous, there being, if 
my memory serves me aright, some six vineries. A whole 
house is devoted to Madresfield Court, and another 
one to Muscats, and the whole of the vines produce 
excellent crops which finish well. To bring about this 
satisfactory state of things, however, entailed a con¬ 
siderable amount of forethought and labour, for none 
of the vines nor fruit-trees in the garden could be said 
to be in a satisfactory state until then- roots had been 
lifted and laid in fresh soil, and when once brought 
near the surface, Mr. Thirlby’s great aim is to keep 
them there by liberal top-dressings of short manure, 
never allowing the surface to be broken up by spade or 
fork, and here, inside and out, the fruit-tree and vine 
borders are as hard as a road and a network of fibrous 
roots right up to the surface of the border, and in 
some places among the mulching. Under this treat¬ 
ment it is confidently hoped that it will not be 
necessary to again lift the roots for a very long time. 
In one of the vineries here, about three years ago, I 
saw a most marked instance of the good effects of lifting 
vine-roots out of bad soil and relaying them in good. 
It was a house of Hamburghs, half of which were 
lifted during the previous autumn, the want of material 
and labour preventing the other half being operated 
upon, and it was possible to see to a vine which had 
been lifted by the jet-black Grapes on them, those on 
the unlifted canes being red. Mr. Thirlby is not 
content to finish half a crop of fruit for the sake 
of producing sensational bunches, but aims prin¬ 
cipally to secure a good even crop. I well remember 
the words of a well-known cultivator and exhibitor 
who exclaimed on entering one of the vineries, “ The 
gardener should be seized by the Society for the 
Prevention of Cruelty to Vines.” But the responsible 
party knew well what he was about. There are three 
Peach-houses as well as a heated Peach-case with 
movable lights, and two Fig-houses from which 
abundant crops are obtained. 
After these come the Cucumber and Melon-houses 
and heated pits. In the Melon-house I noted a nice 
batch of perpetual-flowering Carnations, and in the 
pits an excellent lot of Primula sinensis, single and 
double. In the plant-stove were some well-grown 
plants of Calanthe Veitehii, with very fine spikes, inter¬ 
spersed among ferns and palms, of which there are a 
goodly number, well adapted for house decoration. 
The remainder of the house is made up of the usual 
occupants, such as Alocasias, Marantas, Pandanus, 
Gardenias, &c. The greenhouse, a large lean-to 
structure, contains quantities of Eichardia asthiopica 
Camellias, Primulas, Eoman Hyacinths, and last, but 
not least, about a hundred well-grown and flowered 
plants of the Persian Cyclamen, arranged in a row 
along the front of the house close to the glass. 
Whatever may be the extent of failure in producing 
Cyclamen Persicum in good condition among gardeners, 
it is evident that Mr. Thirlby must not be numbered 
amongst them. The treatment given to these is as 
follows : The seeds are sown in pans during August, 
placed in a gentle heat, and shaded from bright 
sunshine until the seeds germinate, and make a, good- 
sized leaf, when they are either placed in small 60-size 
pots, or are pricked out in pans again, in which they 
stand the whole of the winter. They are placed in a 
heated pit on a bed of ashes, in a temperature during 
the winter of from 50 degs. to 55 degs. 
In spring they are potted, those in pans into small 
pots and the others into their flowering pots, in a 
mixture of loam, manure, and road grit, this being 
preferred to ordinary sand. They are then stood 
well up to the glass in a pit, where they remain until 
they come into bloom about Christmas. The pit used 
being of the usual description, the bed of ashes on 
which the plants stand is brought up to within a little 
more than a foot of the glass, so that they have a 
cool bottom to stand on. This pit is heated with two 
rows of 2-in. pipes connected with the boiler, which 
heats the Cucumber and Melon-houses, and the heat 
is never turned off, so that whenever it is necessary 
that the Melons should have^ heat, the Cyclamens 
obtain a little. It would appear from the treatment 
of these plants here, that they are gross feeders, for 
from the time that the plants have filled their pots 
with roots, or probably about July, they never have 
clear water given them, but a weak solution of Guano- 
water at every watering until they come into flower. 
Thrips seldom give trouble when the plants are kept 
in health, and occasionally syringed during hot 
weather in summer; shade is of course necessary 
during the hottest part of summer for an hour or two 
each bright day. 
Under two large lights in one part of the kitchen- 
garden, I saw a grand lot of Christmas Eoses throwing 
up hundreds of flowers. They were covered with 
sawdust, to guard off slugs and keep them clean, and 
to all appearance it answered the purpose well. This 
plan of covering the Heleborus with glass has a con¬ 
siderable advantage over lifting and disturbing them. 
I do not pretend to have mentioned all that is inter¬ 
esting and worthy of notice at Broadlands, as I took 
no notes at the time, and merely jot down now what 
may be of interest to some of your readers.— C. 
T Varden. 
How to get Bid of Slugs. —At the approach of winter 
and in the early spring, after warm rains, when slugs 
swarm forth, I give my garden, at the former period, 
a good dressing of salt, and at the latter one of newly 
slacked lime, taking care to have all refuse, such as 
the stalks and leaves of Cauliflowers, Brussels Sprouts, 
&c., placed in small heaps everywhere. Under these 
the slugs collect in numbers, and by repeatedly over¬ 
turning them and applying either of the above reme¬ 
dies, thousands are destroyed, the result being that 
throughout the summer I am spared the annoyance 
which I formerly experienced before adopting these 
measures.— E. TV. IV., in The Field. 
SELECT VEGETABLES. 
(Continued from p. 294.) 
Capsicums or Chillis. 
A considerable variety of these exist, although but 
few are required. 
1. Cayenne or Pepper. 
2. Long Eed. 
3. Long Yellow. 
4. Bell or Bull’s Nose. 
No. 1 is the ordinary and most generally used sort. 
Nos. 2 and 3 are large and useful sorts. No. 4 is very 
large and sweet to the taste, and a very ornamental 
fruit. 
Carrots. 
The variety amongst Carrots is not so great as in 
most other vegetables. The following form a good 
successional selection:— 
1. Very Early Paris Forcing. 
2. Early Short Horn. 
3. Early Scarlet Nantes. 
4. Long Surrey. 
5. Altrincham. 
No. 1 is a very short, almost round, variety, which 
can be forced early. No. 2 is somewhat later and 
larger. No. 3 is a good sort to grow for summer 
use, and No. 4 for the main crop, along with No. 5 
which, when growing, raises itself about one-third 
out of the ground. Most other names that may be 
noted are but selections of the above. 
Celery. 
In this we have one of the most important of 
vegetables, of which there are many both good and 
bad varieties, so that it is important to secure and 
grow only good sorts. The following may be relied 
upon:— 
1. Incomparable Dwarf White. 
2. Leicester Bed or Major Clarke’s. 
3. Manchester Bed or Williams’s Matchless. 
No. 1 is a well-known old sort, which cannot be 
surpassed. It requires little earthing up, and is 
almost the only good white Celery. It is procurable 
under many names, the oldest being Seymour’s 
White and Celeri Turc, of the French. No. 2 is 
probably the best red Celery, and is fit for use 
early, but does not keep so well as No. 3 in very 
severe winters. The number of names applied to 
the latter, or with but little variation, is very great. 
Cucumbers. 
The differences of quality existing amongst the 
various varieties of Cucumbers is so very slight that, 
given a variety which grows to a fair length and crops 
freely no other sort is required. Cucumbers are, 
however, pet subjects of culture by many amateurs 
and gardeners, hence novelty is eagerly sought after. 
Amongst the best types we name the following :— 
1. Bollisson’s Telegraph. 
2. Tender and True. 
3. Cardiff Castle. 
No. 3 is specially well adapted for winter use. A 
true stock of Telegraph is a good all-round variety. 
Cress. 
Of this but little variety is required. 
1. Curled. 
2. Erfurt Sweet Water-cress. 
No. 1 is the ordinary variety. No. 2 is a fine variety 
of Water-cress, suitable for growing in pots or on a 
shady border. 
Endive. 
Of this there are two very distinct type3, the Curled 
and the Batavian. 
1. Moss-curled Summer. 
2. Green-curled Bouen. 
3. Broad-leaved Batavian. 
Nos. 1 and 2 are finely curled varieties, No. 2 being 
somewhat the hardier of the pair. No. 3 produces a 
large close heart with broad leaves, and is an excellent 
sort for winter use. It is the “ Scarole en comet” of 
the French. 
Leeks. 
Excepting in regard to size the variety amongst 
Leeks is not very pronounced. 
1. Musselburgh. 
2. The Lyon. 
May be named as good stocks. The latter a rather 
large-growing variety.— B. 
