Jan. 24th, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
329 
some idea may be formed of the importance of the 
estate which is so well and ably managed, and which 
contributes so largely to the comfortable support of a 
great part of the inhabitants of the district in which 
it is situated. 
Passing to the right from the porch, beside which 
an Apple-tree with Mistleto on it stands, and through 
the winding rockery the conservatory is reached. This 
is very cleverly managed, the whole of the marble floor 
with its fur rugs and comfortable seats being at the 
disposal of the visitor, while the structure is not 
allowed to lose anything of its beauty as a plant- 
house. All round it the Tufa rockery is planted with 
ferns, and up the pillars and over the roof climbers 
are run in the most luxuriant fashion, the freest and 
best of them being the green Cobrca scandens, which 
hangs in many places almost to the ground. But in 
this pretty conservatory Mr. Jennings has found a 
pleasure of seeing them with their own load of lovely 
blossoms, aided by the avalanches of flowers from the 
Hoses climbing up among their branches, and we are 
not likely to forget the unusually beautiful picture 
they presented. At the bottom of the old orchard is 
a lovely piece of natural sunk garden, terminating in 
a deep rocky dell, with water in the bottom, beside 
which Bamboos and other graceful plants are growing, 
while rock-work covered with pretty Alpines extend all 
round. 
Beauty is the chief object in the garden and plea¬ 
sure-ground, but away at a convenient distance is 
situated the kitchen-garden and plant-houses, and 
there usefulness and beauty is the order of the day. 
The walled-in kitchen-garden is a pattern of neatness 
and good management, and the extensive new system 
of fruit wall-cases cannot fail to be a great and 
profitable acquisition. Such things always pay for 
Thomas Wallis, scarlet flake; Irma, bright rose; 
Andalusia, yellow; Pride of Penshurst, a splendid 
bright yellow; Valentia, fringed crimsom; Miss Jolliffe, 
blush; Sir Evelyn Wood, bluish-purple; Laura, fringed 
blush; Vulcan, scarlet; and Lucifer, scarlet. Summer 
Carnations and pot Pinks, too, are finely grown, and 
in immense quantity ; that lovely bright rose-coloured 
variety, Mary Morris, which is good for summer or 
winter blooming, being here, as everywhere else, the 
first favourite. Another house is full of lovely scarlet, 
carmine, and pink Pelargoniums, and double ivy-leaved 
kinds, chiefly of Cannell’s strain. These are very 
useful and very effective when set up with white 
Homan Hyacinths as at Ascott. 
Among the other good batches of plants in bloom 
are pretty little bushes of Lilacs, Guelder Hoses, and 
well-flow T ered pots of Lily of the Valley, and other 
forced things; while the house of Cyclamens, which 
ASCOTT, THE SEAT OF LEOPOLD DE ROTHSCHILD, ESQ. 
means of doing away with the too visible presence of 
the roof, which is the general defect in conservatories 
which are for the sake of the comfort of the visitors 
not devoted to plant-culture alone, and this is accom¬ 
plished by a number of hanging baskets filled with 
ferns, palms, and other suitable plants, being so well 
arranged that they grow out of the tops, bottoms, and 
sides of the baskets in such a natural manner that not 
even the baskets themselves catch the eye, the beau¬ 
tiful foliage seeming to hang in mid-air. The general 
arrangement of the conservatory at Ascott might 
well be copied as a pattern of what such an outlet from 
the house should be to be beautiful and yet comfort¬ 
able. 
To the right of the conservatory stands the orchard, 
a pleasant relic of the olden times. Many of the trees 
are said to be over one hundred years old for certain, 
and goodness knows howmuch more, their mossy trunks 
seeming to say that they might even be as old as the 
oldest portion of the house. Last summer we had the 
themselves when managed with that determined care 
and untiring perseverance which Mr. Jennings gives 
to everything he takes in hand, as witness his extra¬ 
ordinary Souvenir de la Malmaison Carnation culture 
mentioned in our columns at p. 201. His system of 
managing this plant is infallible, and this year his 
stock of over five hundred plants of it iB worth a 
journey to see, and yet there is no disguising the 
fact that the least hitch in its management always 
upsets the whole batch, and ; o there is the greater 
credit to be given to him for never failing. 
The Mushroom Cave, too, is another well-managed 
thing, and good crops are now, as usual, on the beds. 
Hoses, Carnations, Eucharis, Stephanotis, Winter 
Pelargoniums, Lilies of the Valley, and everything 
else good for growing a quantity of handsome flowers, 
are well done at Ascott, and even at the present dull 
season every one of the well built span-roofed houses 
are bright with them. One house is full of Carnations, 
the best of which seem to be Guelder Rose, white ; 
are only one-year-old plants, are in size of bulb and 
beauty of flower of the highest excellence. The 
Gardenias, too, are grand. For the rest of the indoor 
plants at Ascott, quantities of Maiden-hair Fern, 
and nicely cultivated batches of Dractenas, Crotons, 
Pandanus, Palms, and other plants suitable for indoor 
decoration appear, not even the almost incorrigible 
Stephanotis, Ixora, or Gardenia bearing the slightest 
trace of mealy-bug or other insects on their shiny, 
healthy leaves. In the frames Violets are extensively 
grow T n, and are in good flower ; Swanley White seeming 
to be the best of its class. 
Conveniently near to the garden and houses is 
situated the picturesque bothy illustrated by us at 
p. 233, its reed-thatched roof and quaint irregular 
sides of home-sawn boards rendering it a pretty 
object. Altogether it may be said that Ascott is a 
model establishment, bearing evidence in all its 
details of the fitness of master, man, and all concerned 
for the positions which they occupy. 
