356 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 3, 1900. 
feature occasionally in her garden and its 
immediate surroundings, but frequently goes 
further afield and “ finds tongues in trees, 
sermons in stones, books in the running 
brooks, and good in everything.” To such 
people a quiet place is no solitude, for the 
powers of observation enable one to see 
something worthy of admiration or find a 
friend anywhere, as has oft been attested by 
naturalists in various walks of life. 
The author commences by describing the 
building of her own house, which appeared 
to have been her home from youth up after 
being in it for only eighteen months, it was 
“ so restful, so satisfying, so kindly sympa¬ 
thetic.” Not everyone we fear can superin¬ 
tend the building of one’s own house, and 
order everything according to even a modest 
ideal. No jerry builder had a hand in this; 
but a cultured taste gradually evolved a 
building which, so to speak, wasin sympathy 
with its old time rural surroundings, and 
apparently as native to its own quiet English 
soil as the cottages which were dotted about 
the country side before screeching, smoky, 
railway engines, and all the other means of 
rapid intercommunication of modern life 
and times, were introduced. Too many of 
the beautiful spots of the country, within 
easy reach of London, are being invaded 
and gradually effaced by the tide of immi¬ 
grants from opulent, enlarged, and still 
increasing, London.” 
There are twenty-three chapters in the 
book, each dealing with a separate subject, 
in no way particularly connected, though 
smelling of the woods, Wallflowers, Prim¬ 
roses, Wild Honeysuckle, Brier Roses, 
Roses, wild Ferns and other features of 
garden and country life such as would occur 
to the keen observer, with eyes, ears and a 
heart to appreciate them, and clothe the 
story of them in interesting language. In 
speaking of a garden of Wallflowers, she 
says that “ no planted-out Wallflower can 
ever compare, in my light soil, with one 
sown where it is to remain ; it always 
retains the planted-out look to the end of its 
days ” and lacks the sturdiness of Nature’s 
handiwork. Those who have seen tufty 
bushes of golden yellow Wallflower growing 
out of the crevices of rocks or the craniesof 
old castle walls, often at a great height 
above the ground level, will agree about 
the difference between it and the formal 
lines and beds of the same plant under 
cultivation. In this particular case, how¬ 
ever, the self-sown seedlings sprang up on a 
mound of sand, thinly covered with poor 
soil, in a certain part of her garden. One 
seedling, above all others, gave her particu¬ 
lar delight, and this she describes with 
great minuteness and keen enthusiasm, as 
if it were a pearl of great price. The 
natural poverty of the soil in this particular 
part of Surrey is frequently impressed upon 
the readers’ attention. The district geologic¬ 
ally, is situated upon the lower cretaceous 
formation, and the sand may belong either 
to the Upper Green Sand or to the sands of 
the Hythe beds ; for there is an outcrop of 
both in the neighbourhood. In speaking of 
special gardens, that is, spaces suitable for 
the growth of particular classes of plants, 
Miss Jekyll says she has to content herself 
with gardens for Primroses, Paeonies, and 
Michaelmas Daises. Moreover, she would 
like to have a Rose-garden, a Tulip-garden, 
a Carnation-garden, a Columbine-garden, a 
Fern garden, and many others. She is 
thankful to have what she has ; and that is 
well, for Ferns would be particularly un¬ 
happy in her porous, sieve-like, thirsty soil 
that would let so many miles of water pass 
through it in a given time. Nevertheless, 
if she can lay hands upon some suitable 
soil, command plenty of water, and furnish 
a certain amount of shade, many species of 
hardy Ferns could be grown to perfection. 
To the town-dweller her pages must 
frequently appeal, for she seems to be always 
in cheerful spirit in the midst of her labours, 
or must write only when the spirit moves 
her. It must not be supposed that her 
pages are merely filled with sentiment and 
idealism ; for she convinces her readers of 
the practical and practicable nature of her 
various cultures, even under great difficul¬ 
ties, owing to the natural poverty of the 
soil, in this sunny and sun-baked Surrey 
garden. In a chapter on “ Gardening for 
short tenancies ” she compares the sandy 
soils of Aldershot with her own, and gives 
sound and reliable advice for the cultivation 
and planting of the same. Aldershot is on 
the sandy and gravelly strata of the Lower 
Bagshot Beds. Even here she believes in 
the deepest possible cultivation, and would 
trench the sands not only three spits but 
three feet deep, retaining the top layer with 
its humus or decayed vegetable matter on 
the surface. The official dwellers about the 
camp, she declares to be in a better position 
than herself, in having an unlimited com¬ 
mand of stable manure, which though not 
possessed of the same cooling quality as 
cow manure, yet “ puts into the ground the 
precious chemical constituents of the de¬ 
cayed straw.” The value of this consists 
largely in the greatly increased retentiveness 
with which it endows the soil. She would 
havethe more fermented or decayed portions 
dug into the soil and the rank litter employed 
as a mulch, at least where the crops would 
ultimately conceal it from the eye. The 
danger of using rank manure in proximity 
to certain plants, such as Paeoni^, Helle¬ 
bores, Gladioli and Tulips, is faithfully 
pointed out. “ Plants for poor soils ” has 
a bearing upon the above subject. The 
thinning of annuals as described by the 
author would serve to indicate that by her 
methods of cultivation she is able to secure 
excellent growth. The large Poppies should 
stand at least a foot apart, and a single plant 
of autumn sown Nemophila or Platystemon 
would easily cover a yard of ground. In 
the case of the last named, at least, the 
growth must be of no mean order, and 
gardeners will have to look to their laurels. 
We have witnessed the marvellous vigour 
of growth she infuses into her Primroses 
and Polyanthus ; but they are children of 
the cool days of spring, and the cultivation 
accorded is of the highest order fostered and 
superintended by a specialist. 
For the benefit of those who take interest 
in the embellishment of their homes, the 
chapter on “ Cut flowers ” will afford many 
a useful hint. Some flowers may give fairly 
satisfactory results if cut in the early morn¬ 
ing and immediately sent away; but even 
they and most others intended to be sent to 
a distance give much more ample satisfac¬ 
tion to the recipient, after being unpacked, 
if they had been cut late in the previous 
day, or early in the morning of despatch 
and placed for an hour or two in pails or 
other vessels of water before packing them 
for the journey. Many kinds of flowers 
travel badly, but those containing a milky 
juice in their stems and leaves are particu¬ 
larly troublesome as many a gardener knows. 
Such flowers when put in water without any 
special preparation soon become limp and 
useless. Poppies, Stephanotis and Physian- 
thus come under this category. The milky 
juice, escaping from the stalks, soon dries 
up, forming a sort of india-rubber coating 
over the cut ends, thereby preventing the 
ingress of water. The plan advocated is to 
cut the stems afresh, even slitting them up 
for three inches, after the flowers have been 
tied up in bunches, and then plunging them 
into the water immediately while the juice 
is still flowing. Lenten Roses or Hellebores 
are treated in the same way with satisfac¬ 
tory results. After years of regret at her 
failures to maintain the freshness ..of cut 
Bamboo sprays in decoration, she ultimately 
succeeded in discovering a means of preserv¬ 
ing the foliage in the cut state. She takes 
a jar of sufficient depth for immersing at 
least three joints of the Bamboo stems. 
Before putting them in the water she cuts 
or notches the upper pait of each internode, 
so that the water runs into and fills 
each of the hollow spaces between the nodes 
or joints. During the drought of last 
season, when her Bamboos in the open were 
showing signs of distress, she cut some long 
sprays, the foliage of which became 
shrivelled before being conveyed to the 
house. An hour after being put into water 
the leaves had regained their normal rigidity, 
colour and flattened shape. This is a 
wrinkle worth knowing. Other chapters 
treat of Roses, Lilies, conservatories, large 
and small rockeries, the making of pot¬ 
pourri, wild Ferns, the kitchen garden, &c. 
The book runs to 296 pages, exclusive of 
the index. Paper and printing are all that 
could be desired; the type is large and 
readable; and 53 illustrations, prepared 
from photographs by the author, and 
printed on smooth, rolled paper are dis¬ 
persed through the work. 
The Largest Lemon Grove in the World is reputed 
to be that of 1,000 acres in San Diego County, Cali¬ 
fornia. 
Mushroom Juice is a sure anti-toxin and cure for 
snake bite, says an eminent scientific man. He 
further states that all Mushrooms (and, we suppose, 
Toadstools as well) contain a juice that will answer 
the same purpose. 
Monument to Alphand.—We learn that in the Bois 
de Boulogne, the Parisians intend to raise a hand, 
some monument to the memory of Alphand, a past 
inspector of parks and plantations in Paris. With 
all its boulevards and monuments Paris hopes to 
be “ the modern rival of the finest of ancient cities." 
The Late Mr. Charles Wood.—The late Mr. Charles 
Wood died at the age of eighty-four, at his nursery, 
Woodlands, Maresfield, Uckfield, on January 16th. 
Mr. Wood was among the oldest of our nurserymen 
and one of the most respected among them. From 
the time of leaving school in 1S30, till his death, he 
had always been connected with nurseries and nur¬ 
sery training, being almost all his time at the Wood¬ 
lands. Up to the period of his death he was fond 
of, and able to follow out, his office duties. 
Gift of a Hospital.—From Thursday’s Morning 
Leader we learn Messrs. Boulton & Paul, Ltd , 
Norwich, have generously offered to provide at their 
own expense a hospital of thirty-four beds, mainly 
for the use of the Imperial Yeomanry. Messrs. 
Boulton & Paul, who are well-known horticultural 
builders, &c., but add another to many kind contri¬ 
butions of a like nature which have emanated from 
firms connected with horticulture. The above offer 
has been accepted by Lady Georgina Curzon. 
Hop Picking Machine.—I note a short paragraph 
in your last issue that the engineering world think it 
probable that before long a machine will be devised 
for this work. As much as we value machinery we 
we should much regret to see such introduced, and I 
was almost saying it would prove a national calamity, 
it would certainly be a county one, especially in Kent 
and Hereford, the two largest hop-growing counties. 
Scores of families in Herefordshire quite look forward 
to this harvest, when the mother and three or four 
of her childeen are known to have taken up as much 
as £5 during the season, which usually lasts a month. 
Hundreds of men and women flock down from 
Staffordshire to assist in the ingathering. Not only 
this, it is one of the healthiest occupations one can 
take up, proving quite a tonic for scores of people 
whose general health is far from satisfactory, and 
proving so invigorating that it creates quite a raving 
appetite when many other things fail.— Hereford. 
