328 
THE HARDENING WORLD. 
Jan. 24th, 1885. 
Tie Jlmatems’ Gap,hen. 
THE GREENHOUSE. 
Damp is the great enemy to contend against at 
this season, but it may be overcome by the aid of 
gentle fires, which should be kept going almost 
constantly, so as to maintain the air in slight 
motion, as it is only by doing this that flowers 
can be preserved from spotting or suffering from 
decay in the petals, which soon sets in when the 
atmosphere is heavy and surcharged with fog oi 
moisture. To allow for the escape of these, or 
admit of their being driven out, it is necessaiy to 
have the ventilators a little open, but it must be 
only to a very slight extent, or the damp outside 
will rush in and defeat the aim of the cultivator, 
by rendering nugatory the heat given off by the 
pipes, which will be overcome unless there is more 
of it than is needed for the purpose referred to. 
The most suitable temperature to keep up in a green¬ 
house at this season is about 45 degs.to 50 degs., which 
will suit all plants well if they are arranged according 
to then.' several requirements, the Heaths, if there be 
any, at the coolest and most airy end, where they do 
not feel much artificialwarmth, and those benefited by 
a little should be placed where they will get it. The 
most suitable situation for Primulas and Cinerarias 
is on shelves, up near the glass, and even there they 
require careful watering, or the first named will be 
found, if wetted at the heart or crown, to damp or 
rot off at the collar. Mignonette will also turn yellow 
and sickly, if kept too wet at the roots. 
Camellias will now take a good deal of water, and 
increased supplies may be given to most things that 
are growing, or have flowers to carry, but the great 
thing at this dull season is to preserve the happy 
medium, and only to have the balls of plants just 
moist, as in that state the soil remains in a nice 
healthy condition, and suitable for the demands of 
the roots, the exception being with such things as 
Calceolarias, Cinerarias, and Callas, which like more 
moisture than others, and should never have the soil 
dry. 
In cases where these soft-wooded subjects are 
confined to limited sized pots, they will be much 
helped by weak liquid manure made from compounds, 
such as Clay’s Fertilizer, which is good for nearly all 
plants, and is not offensive, as it gives off no odour, 
and may therefore be used in a room. Soot water, if 
perfectly clear, is also an excellent stimulant, and 
it is always advisable to have a tub of this standing, 
with a tap at the bottom, that it may be drawn off 
without any disturbance. 
PITS AND FRAMES. 
Simple as these structures are, there are many uses 
to which they may be put, and so many things that 
may be grown in them, besides affording the best of 
all shelter places for half-hardy plants, and keeping 
up a supply of Lettuces and other salading. Cape 
bulbs, Japan Lilies, Violets, Cinerarias, Calceolarias, 
and numerous other subjects may also be cultivated 
by their friendly aid, in the greatest state of perfec¬ 
tion. The way to treat the Cape subjects, such as 
Ixias and Sparaxis, &c., is to pot the bulbs six or 
seven together, in 6-in. pots, using good fibry loam, 
with a little sand, and if these are in a moist state, as 
they generally are, no water will be needed till the 
plants start, and then but very little before they get 
into free growth, as there are no leaves or roots 
previous to that period, to take it up and make use 
of it. 
Japan Lilies, like the gorgeous L. auratum, and 
the different varieties of L. speciosum or lancifolium 
as commonly so called, require similar treatment, 
but, being so much larger than those referred to, they 
must have bigger pots, even if potted singly, in 
which way they look well, and are very useful for 
decorative purposes, but they produce the best effect 
in threes or more together, if placed well apart in the 
pots. To grow these Lilies, a mixture of peat and 
fibry loam is the most suitable, or they will do well 
in either alone, but they should have a pinch of sand 
dropped over each bulb, and, when potted, be stood in 
the pit or frame and kept close till they start into 
growth. 
FLOWER-BEDS AND BORDERS. 
These, as generally seen at this season, have a drear 
and naked aspect, but they may be made to look, if 
not gay, quite cheerful by the help of a few common 
materials, such as Primroses, Daisies,Violas, Forget-me- 
Nots, Snowdrops, Aconites, Anemones, and such like, 
which will soon be in bloom, and if these are used in 
quantity and judiciously blended, a galaxy of beauty 
will be the result. Even red and white Daisies alone 
make a fine show if planted in lines without mixing 
the colours, and by arranging a bed with white outside, 
then red, and filling the centre with Wood Primroses 
a most pleasing effect is produced. It is only to 
reverse the order, as regards the Daisies, and plant 
Forget-me-Nots in the middle, to have an equally 
telling combination ; and the same again by the use 
of Snowdrops, or Violas, as it is only to blend them in 
different sorts of ways to have as much variety of 
colour as one pleases. 
What does more harm in the mixed border than 
anything else is the digging and delving to which they 
are too often subjected, as the disturbance displaces, 
and very frequently destroys, many bulbous and other 
plan! i that are buried beneath the surface, which get 
trodden on or turned over and mixed up with the soil, 
and to prevent this it is far better to simply top-dress 
by putting on a thin layer of very rotten manure and 
fine mould mixed up together, the goodness from which 
is gradually washed in, and the surfacing encourages 
and nurtures the roots and helps to keep the frost 
from them. If any pricking over or digging is done, 
it should only be carried out in the spring when the 
tops of the plants are through and can be seen, but to 
make all safe they ought to be marked or named, as 
then their positions are known. 
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
As the season is now advancing, every advantage 
should be taken of fine warm days to push on the 
pruning of all fruit-trees and bushes, the buds of 
which will soon be swelling fast, and, therefore, if the 
work is left, there will be a danger of knocking them 
out. Gooseberries and Currants, especially near towns 
and farms, where there are many sparrows, often get 
denuded of their buds, as these birds pick them out 
and devour them wholesale, which not only causes 
the loss of the crop the same season, but spoils the 
plants, as it makes them bare and naked below, and 
to prevent this it is necessary to protect in some way, 
the readiest and safest being to syringe the bushes 
with lime wash, and the most cleanly to thread them 
with cotton, or cover with old net. 
To be early in gathering Broad Beans and Peas, 
seed miifit, at once be got in, one of the most useful 
sorts among the former being Beck’s Green Gem, 
which only grows a foot or so high, and is therefore 
good for growing on borders, and the Seville Long-pod 
should be had for open ground, and there planted a 
yard apart in the rows. Among Peas, the American 
Wonder and McLean’s Gem are fine and dwarf, and to 
succeed these sow Day’s Early Sunrise and Advancer, 
which are both marrow-fats that grow about 3 ft. high, 
and bear freely nearly down to the ground. 
THE SEED-LIST. 
Catalogues and order-sheets are now being dis¬ 
tributed by all the principal seed merchants among 
their customers. This is therefore not an inopportune 
time to mention, for the benefit of young members of 
the craft, a very easy and reliable method of making 
out a seed order. I do not claim it as original; on 
the contrary, I am indebted for the hint to an aged 
and venerable member of the fraternity, and I can 
aver that since it has fallen to my lot to make the 
annual selection of seeds the advice has been of gieat 
assistance to me. To those who have been selecting 
for the same garden for several years, the task is of 
the simplest, as the names of the kinds that have 
served them well are sure to be fresh on then - mind. 
If any one has an old catalogue with the kinds 
marked that have been procured the previous year, 
it should be produced and examined side by side 
with the new one, and those kinds that have proved 
satisfactory should be marked for the current year’s 
use, while those which have not succeeded should be 
discarded. Add a few of the newer introductions for 
trial, according as space and means will permit. 
Anything good that has been seen and noted during 
the past season should also be added. This done, it 
is an easy matter to transfer the notes as to kinds 
and quantities required to the seed order-list. It is 
surprising how everything obtained during the past 
year, and its behaviour, comes fresh to our memory 
when brought under notice in this way. 
To those who have to make out an order for the 
first time, and who have not an old list to refer to, the 
case is more difficult to deal with, as they have no 
guide to the requirements of the place more than 
their own judgment serves them, so that both as 
to quantities and varieties it will be well if they 
have noted what has proved satisfactory in the 
other establishments in which they have served, 
and take their cue from that. 
The seed-list having been sent to the seedsman, 
and the catalogue retained, the latter should be 
produced when the seeds arrive to check them with, 
and all being right, the seed packets should be 
arranged in groups, such as the Broccoli and Bore¬ 
cole together; Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, and 
Lettuce, &c., and the annuals for spring sowing. 
Arranged somewhat in this order, they come much 
more readily to hand, and are far less likely to be 
overlooked than when all are mixed together. The 
new seeds should also be kept separate from the 
old ones, and in a thoroughly dry place. By these 
means much disappointment to ourselves and dis¬ 
credit to our seedsman will be saved.—IF. C. C. S. 
ASCOTT. 
Me. Leopold de Rothschild’s model of an old 
English homestead is one of the most pleasant 
residences in the country. So used are we now to 
massively pretentious architectural mansions, that it 
is a relief and a pleasure to behold in Ascott a 
connecting link between the present day and tfce 
good old times gone by, when homely farmers 
pursued their healthy calling, and gathered to their 
innocent amusements on the very spot where Mr. 
Leopold de Rothschild’s residence now stands. 
Great are the gatherings now at Ascott, and familiar 
there are the best people in the landbut as homelv, 
and as pleasant still as of old, are the unceremonious 
arrangements of the place, while need it be said that 
in the old custom of alms-giving and kindness to the 
poor and needy, Ascott, like every other residence of 
a Rothschild, is a centre around which for a consider¬ 
able distance want need never be known? 
Far back as record goes, the site has been occupied 
by a farmhouse, a portion of which on coming into 
the present owner’s hands dated back as far as the 
year 1606. Some twelve or fourteen years ago Mr. 
Leopold de Rothschild conceived the idea of building 
his present grand residence, and at the same time 
incorporating the old portion and taking from it the 
plan to be worked out on the more extensive scale. 
The notion was a most happy one, and so well was 
it carried out that it is difficult to believe that the 
greater part of that which is shown in our illustration, 
and a great deal more which cannot be got into the 
narrow limits of a single view, are of recent date, and 
that only the first portion on the right hand side of 
the porch dates back to 1606. Inside and out Ascott 
is replete with cosy corners and comfortable crannies 
—beautiful and homelike is it in every aspect with its 
porches, verandahs, balconies, and arches covered 
with climbing Roses, Woodbine, Passion-flowers, and 
other climbing plants which always play such a 
material part in softening the angles and breaking 
the straight lines which must exist in every building. 
Beneath these and among the rare coniferous 
plants and flowering shrubs the botanist and the 
mere lover of the beautiful may alike wander with 
interest, and in the grand view across the grounds, 
which now stretch away in garden and park to the 
verge of Mentmore, the artist might find good and 
congenial employment. The garden, pleasure-ground, 
and park now number between three and four hundred 
acres, and if the immense farm acreage be added to it, 
