August 6,1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
777 
to fall in any case before long as their energies are 
crippled. The healthy leaves will not fall. 
Grape Backland’s Sweetwater Splitting — G L \ 
The splitting of the Grapes is due to a rush of 
moisture, although we have found the variety, Buck- 
land's Sweetwater, to be much given to cracking. 
Allow a moderate extension of the laterals so as to 
carry off some of the superfluous sap. 
--«•- 
ORMISTON HOUSE. 
The half-hour’s railway journey from Edinburgh to 
Ormiston carries the Saturday afternoon tourist 
through a very charming piece of East Lothian 
scenery. 
Near Inveresk he turns off the main line and rises 
round Carberry Hill, the seat of Lord Elphinstone, 
and down into the valley of the upper Tyne, which 
minutes further we reach the gate of Ormiston 
Grounds ; in another couple of minutes we arrive at 
the house of Mr. Bannerman, the head gardener. 
Ormiston is not only a beautiful estate, it is a place 
with a history, and we are, therefore, glad to find so 
courteous and well-informed a guide. It was the 
home of the Cockburns, several of whom occupied 
conspicuous places in Scottish history, and dis¬ 
tinguished themselves by their active and enlightened 
efforts to advance Scottish agriculture and horiculture 
in the days of their infancy. Moreover, it was in 
Ormiston House that George Wishart, one of the 
chief Martyrs of the Scottish reformation, was seized 
by the emissaries of Cardinal Beaton. Part of the 
old house is still standing where the Martyr slept on 
the night on which the mansion was surrounded by 
the Earl of Bothwell’s men, and Wishart was 
arrested. Such facts quicken our interest in this 
historic spot, as Mr. Bannerman takes us round and 
great Yew tree, one of the oldest, if not the oldest in 
Scotland. The tree was spoken of in an old lease in 
the possession of the Earl of Hopetoun as a remark¬ 
able one as early as the fifteenth century. It would 
be useless to hazard a guess as to its age, but its 
magnificent proportions incline one to be very 
generous indeed in reckoning, not merely the years, 
but the centuries. Its girth, when last measured at 
an elevation of 3 ft. above the ground, was r6 ft. 
6 in.; its height 36 ft., and the circumference of the 
branches 250 ft. It is a glorious and graceful pile, 
but further comment is needless in presence of the 
accompanying photograph,which will speak for itself. 
The Yew tree, of course, bulks most in our eyes as 
we write these lines and must form the Ne Plus Ultra 
of the letter. We shall only add that Ormiston looks 
extremely well under Mr. MacDougall’s enlightened, 
tenancy. Seldom, in fact, does one see a tenant take 
such an interest in its proper upkeep. In Mr. 
Ancient Yew at Ormiston House. 
enters the Firth of Forth below Haddington. This 
sequestered vale is rich in pastoral beauties, 
consisting as it does of fertile agricultural ground 
along the Tyne banks, and magnificent woods along 
the higher ground. Among these woods those of 
Qxenford, Prestonhall, Ormiston, Winton, Salton, 
and several other fine estates are conspicuous. Our 
visit to-day is to Ormiston, one of the seats of the 
Earl of Hopetoun, and rented at present by Mr. 
MacDougall. On the way thither from the station 
you pass through the pretty village of that name, a 
quaint, pleasant little place with great shady trees 
lining either side of its one street and high gabled 
houses peeping out from behind them. 
It is one of the most idyllic of Scottish villages, and 
the fine rich soil of the surrounding lands, which is 
used to produce splendid crops of fruits, vegetables, 
notably Strawberries and Raspberries, lends to the 
village an air of plenty and prosperity which does 
the heart good. Continuing our way for twenty 
himself answers our enquiries as to the historical 
associations connected with it. 
A stroll through the kitchen garden by way ot 
preface is very enjoyable. The Portugal Laurels in 
full flower are particularly striking, and one magnifi¬ 
cent old Holly tree deserves mentioning for its rare 
proportions. Excellent crops of fruit and vegetables 
with fine old-fashioned flower borders in full July 
blaze bespeak a charming blending of the practical 
and the pictorial in this fine old garden. From the 
kitchen garden we pass along a fine avenue of 
Beeches and Oaks, flanking a stately park to Ormis¬ 
ton House. 
Here again there are more floral charms awaiting 
us, for there are two fine flower gardens in the rear of 
the mansion, one very old, near where the remnants 
of the old house stands, the other, more modern in 
style, alongside it. There are magnificent collections 
of Roses, Iris, etc., to arrest and delight the eye. 
But the feature of Ormiston flower gardens is the 
Bannerman he has found an admirable practical man 
to direct the management of the gardens and 
beautiful grounds.— Tyneside. 
BERRY HILL, MAIDENHEAD. 
In taking a hasty look through this pretty place a 
short time ago, I was impressed with two or three 
things that are grown here in a remarkably success¬ 
ful manner. Mr. Allen, the gardener, kindly acted 
as our guide, and our thanks are due to him for his 
kindness. The first, then, to which I would call 
attention were the grand flowering plants of Begonia 
corallina, and the newer form, President Carnot. 
These were specimens some six feet high, covered 
with clusters of large size of their distinct scarlet 
coloured flowers. They were just in splendid con¬ 
dition, a mass of colour, deserving in every respect 
the space they occupied. Another type equally 
meritorious was the seedling double Begonias that 
