548 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
April 28, 1900 
Pang which has cut through the Eocene 
and flows over the Upper Cretaceous 
formation. The springs of crystal water 
known as the Kimber head in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Stanford Dingley, are the 
largest we have ever seen, and evidently 
bubble up from the chalk bringing with 
them white sand, probably calcareous; but 
as the bottom of the principal spring is said 
to be 30 ft. to 40 ft. in depth we did not try 
to sample the sand, but were satisfied with 
the blue colour of the water as to its rela¬ 
tive depth. It waters some acres of clean 
and vigorous Water Cresses before joining 
the Pang whose volume it must double or 
treble. The collecting ground of this water 
must be the high plateau of which we have 
been speaking, and which forms the water¬ 
shed between the Pang and the Kennet. 
Several gardens have been laid out on 
different parts of the estate, but by far the 
most interesting is The Dell Garden formed 
in one of the aforesaid gullies, southward 
from the mansion, and commencing just 
below the level of the plateau, from whence 
it dips down to a considerable depth. Until 
last autumn this gully was occupied with 
Alders, Hazel and Willows with a few tall 
Oaks. Most of these have been cleared 
away with the exception of the Oaks, and a 
belt of the others for temporary shelter 
until more ornamental subjects have been 
planted and reared. A shady walks runs 
along the top, overhung by Elders on one 
side, and Hazels on the other. At the end 
of this walk a charming and extensive view 
of the landscape is obtained, across a deep 
and wide valley till the horizon is shut in 
by a ridge of hills in Hampshire, the in¬ 
tervening country being laid out like a map 
with the physical features shown in relief. 
All the central area of the slope has been 
put into proper order and sown down with 
grass. Around this are borders for orna¬ 
mental flowering shrubs and flowers of 
various sorts ; while on the grass are large 
beds, with a few Deodar Cedars and other 
subjects standing singly. A winding 
walk, nowhere straight, encompasses the 
garden near the outskirts. Towards what 
appears to be the bottom of the gully the 
eye is arrested by a pond, with apparently 
an island on which stands a rustic summer 
house of elaborate design, and communicat¬ 
ing with the mainland by a rustic bridge. 
The outer thatch of the house consists of 
heather and the inner covering of clean 
straw. Some interesting panels have been 
worked out upon the sides of the octagonal 
house. Upon nearing this house we were 
surprised to find it standing only upon a 
peninsula; and had to appeal to Mr. A. 
Wright, the gardener, who planned the 
garden and has been busy upon it during 
the past winter and spring. He intended 
to make an island, but after much hard 
labour and failure, had to admit being fairly 
beaten. Below a certain level water oozes 
out everywhere, and when the soil beneath 
that level was removed, the whole mass 
above came slipping down. Piles were 
driven in to a considerable depth and the 
work of excavation recommenced, only to 
be stopped by a further landslip, for Nature 
would have her course. The gully indeed 
had been scooped out by the self same 
means, the high ground slipping down as 
water removed the earlier slips. The 
peninsula is to be planted with the taller 
and finer Bamboos, with some specimens 
of the Maidenhair Tree. 
A further descent brought another pond 
in sight at a considerably lower elevation. 
Both will be fed by a perennial stream and 
several lesser springs. Mr. Wright is busily 
engaged building imitation conglomerate 
rocks, in the converging gully of which will 
be a cascade. Around the margins Iris 
Pseud-acorus,I.Kaempferi and otheraquatic 
plants will be planted. Beds of suitable 
rock plants will overhang the water from 
behind the rocks. 
Some of the large beds on the upper 
slopes are planted with Ghent, mollis and 
other Azaleas and English Irises; Erica 
mediterranea and other hardy Heaths; 
Azaleas and Crown Imperials; Berberis 
stenophylla and other species ; Montbretias, 
&c. Some 800 Lilies have been planted, 
and must be productive of a glorious effect 
when in bloom. A pound of seed of St. 
Bridget Anemones was sown in one large 
patch. Many seeds have been sown under 
glass to be planted out later on, including 
hybrid Aquilegias, Iceland Poppies, dwarf 
Nasturtiums, to form masses of one colour 
by themselves or to form a groundwork to 
shrubs. Hyacinths and Daffodils are now 
in full display ; and great banks and masses 
of Tulips will take up the succession pre¬ 
sently. Winter Aconites, Snowdrops, in¬ 
cluding Galanthus Elwesi and a yellow 
variety of it, Scilla bifolia, S. sibirica, 
Chionodoxa Luciliae and C. gigantea are 
gay, or the earlier onesjust over. Muscari 
botryoides album, Scilla nutans and others 
will be the feature presently. The last 
named is native to the soil, as are Prim¬ 
roses of remarkable size, the tiny Adoxa 
Moschatellina and Orchis latifolia, the 
purple markings of whose leaves are magni- 
cent. A long border planted with standard 
Prunus Pissardi, Negundo aceroides varie- 
gatum and other subjects is to be further 
embellished with plantations of Cactus 
Dahlias, early Chrysanthemums and other 
showy and popular subjects. Along the 
front a collection of Daffodils is to be planted 
in clumps between the shrubs. The inten¬ 
tion is to add to the number now established 
till the collection amounts to a trial of all 
the best of the different types. 
It will thus be seen that the transforma¬ 
tion of this wild gully into a smiling garden 
has been rapid, extensive, and if not com¬ 
plete will be so in the course of a few years, 
during which time great progress will have 
been made by the newly planted trees, 
shrubs and flowers, the latter including 
bulbs and hardy herbaceous subjects. The 
situation, slopes, undulations, dips, ponds, 
rock works, trees, &c., must in the course of 
a few years make this a romantic spot. 
Space compels us to defer notice of the glass 
ranges and other gardens till another 
occasion. 
Black Fly.—A correspondent speaks of the black 
fly being a terrible pest to eradicate, so much so as 
to try the temper even of a " gentleman of the 
cloth." 
Synanthy of a Primrose.—A curious form of 
Primrose was picked up some years ago by Mr. W. 
Matthews, The School House, Midgham, Berks., 
and which has remained constant. In the first 
place the common peduncle would seem to have be¬ 
come elongated, carrying up the flowers somewhat 
after the style of a Cowslip. The pedicels do not 
arise from one point like an umbel, however, but they 
start off irregularly at irregular intervals as if it 
was really a case of the pedicels having become 
amalgamated. Yet each separate pedicel is sub¬ 
tended by a bract, at whatever level it is given off. 
All the flowers are normal except the middle or 
terminal one, which has a short and very stout pedi¬ 
cel, and something like 12 to 14 segments to the 
corolla, as well as a similar multiplication of the 
parts of the calyx. It is, therefore, a case of syn¬ 
anthy, consisting of the complete amalgamation of 
three flowers. Abnormal conditions of the flowers 
are not uncommon amongst garden varieties of 
Primroses, but here we have synanthy that is con¬ 
stant in a wild Primrose, and which Mr. Matthews, 
the schoolmaster, picked up and planted in his gar¬ 
den some years ago, and where the plant now has 
many crowns, all bearing similar arrangements of 
the flowers. 
The Petals of the Common White Lily, L. candi- 
dum, when steeped in brandy may be used with con¬ 
spicuous success in the healing of wounds such as 
cuts and bruises. 
Use of the Hose in April.—We guess the men 
of Kew are almost alone in the employment of the 
hose in the rock garden and herbaceous grounds for 
the provision of moisture at so early a date as mid- 
April, and in such a season as the present. But we 
must remember that the Kew soil is scarcely a soil, 
but nearly pure sand, and that each season sees a 
lot of re-arranging and planting done. It is mainly 
for the refreshing and safe establishing of shifted 
plants that the lengths of hose are just now kept at 
work. 
National Physical Laboratory.—The director of 
the National Physical Laboratory, Mr. R. T. Glaze- 
brook, F.R.S., Old Deer Park, Richmond, Surrey, 
has issued a circular letter respecting this newly- 
formed establishment, Two years ago a treasury 
committee, with Lord Rayleigh as chairman, recom¬ 
mended the establishment of such an institution as 
has now been formed. The object and work of the 
laboratory shall include the standardising and veri¬ 
fying of instruments for testing materials, and also 
the determination of physical constants. An 
executive committee has been appointed to manage 
the laboratory. The work of testing scientific 
instruments has hitherto been carried on at the Kew 
Observatory. Articles sent for testing should be 
addressed the Director, National Physical Labora¬ 
tory, Richmond, Surrey. 
St. George and Roses. — Who St. George, 
the patron saint of England, really was, is a matter 
of much controversy. One account depicts him as 
a being who embodied all that was bad. His par¬ 
tisans deny such a biography, and have chosen a 
character of more amenity in manners and methods, 
and he is their Saint George. How Roses came to 
be associated with him, and through him as the 
national floral emblem, is a point equally disquieting. 
The Rcs^s of St. George’s period (vaguely stated at 
between the eighth and eleventh centuries) were none 
other than those found indigenous in our land. The 
first exotic Rose introduced to our country, or what 
was then exotics to us, seems to have been the Dam¬ 
ask Rose (Rosa damascena), from Sj ria. This was 
so early as 1573, a period of 327 years ago. Since then, 
other species from various parts of the world have 
been brought to England. Their joint variation has 
by careful hybridisation, cross-breeding, selection 
and development given us the fine Roses we now 
admire. And though we may wear Marechal Niel, 
Niphetos, La France, or any other fine Rose on 
St. George’s Day, we must not suppose that the saint 
ever viewed Roses like these in the England of his 
time. The York and Lancaster Rose is a variety of 
R. damascena. 
Royal Dublin Show.—At the recent show of the 
Royal Agricultural Society, Dublin, a number of 
firms well known to horticulturists, arranged exhibits. 
Messrs Sutton & Sons, the Queen's Seedsmen, 
Reading, had an attractive office and a display of 
grasses, seeds, roots, Potatos, &c. Messrs. Hogg 
and Robertson, the Queen’s Seedsmen, 22, Mary 
Street, Dublin, set up an extensive display of cut 
Narcissi, Tulips, and Hyacinths. In the exhibit was 
a new variety of Narcissus, N. incomparabilis Clon- 
curry. This is a handsome variety, having a rich 
orange chalice and large creamy white perianth, 
three of the divisions of which are flat and broad, 
the other three narrow and twisted. Messrs. C. 
Ramsey & Sons, Ballsbridge, staged a fine collection 
of foliage and flowering plants. Messrs. E. and F. 
Browett, Valetta Nurseries, Kingston, set up an ex¬ 
hibit of garden sundries. Messrs. A. Shanks & Son, 
Ltd., Dens Ironworks, Arbroath, had a splendid 
exhibit of lawn mowers in all sizes. Messrs. 
Ransomes, Sims, and Jefferies, Ltd. Ipswich, had 
also an exhibit of lawn mowers together with a large 
display of agricultural implements and machinery. 
Messrs. Barford and Perkins, Queen Street Iron¬ 
works, Peterborough, showed a large collection of 
their famous lawn mowers for hand and horse power. 
Messrs. C. and W. Bushwell, Victoria Works, Tor¬ 
quay, had garden seats, hammocks, awnings, tents 
and garden shelters in great variety. The Perma¬ 
nent Nitrate Committee were also represented. 
