420 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
March 2, 1901. 
worth, the “ Palace of the Peak.” Concern¬ 
ing “ The Peak” itself Mrs. Humphry 
Ward gives an interesting description, and 
this being the wildest and most elevated 
spot in that country it will bear quotation. 
“ The top of the Peak is, so to speak, a vast 
black glacier, whereof the crevasses are great 
fissures, ebon black in colour, sometimes 
ten feet deep, and with ten feet more of 
black water at the bottom. For miles on 
either side the ground is seamed and torn 
with these crevasses, now shallower, now 
deeper, succeeding each other at intervals 
of a yard or two ... a region which 
has no features and no landmarks, where 
the earth lays snares for you and the mists 
betray you, and where even in bright sun¬ 
shine there reigns an eternal and indescrib¬ 
able melancholy.” That this should be so 
is somewhat astonishing when one considers 
that the prevailing formation consists of 
limestone, relieved at intervals by millstone 
grit. 
When the members of the society reached 
Bakewell, they were met by the under 
forester, in the absence of the head forester 
to His Grace the Duke of Devonshire. 
During these annual excursions the mem¬ 
bers make a point of combining pleasure 
with business, in order that they may pick 
up hints of a useful nature that may be put 
into practice when they return home. This 
is not the least recommendable feature of 
excursions, and might well be adopted by 
societies in general, and is to our 
knowledge practised by some socie¬ 
ties, associations and communities of 
gardeners. It gives them wider views than 
those are likely to acquire whose scope of 
observation is confined to the scene of their 
daily labours. The primary object of the 
society under notice is the cultivation of 
trees for commercial purposes, so that in 
passing through the Duke’s grounds, the 
members paid good attention to the good 
specimens and plantations of timber, their 
kind, and the nature of the soil with the 
surroundings of the places where such 
occurred. Chatsworth House is in the 
Palladian style, the building being com¬ 
menced in 1687 by the first Duke of Devon¬ 
shire, and completed in 1706, the architect 
being William Talman, though rumour also 
states that Wren had something to do with 
it. The sixth duke made some additions to 
it, and the grounds were re-modelled by Sir 
Joseph Paxton, under his directions. The 
party were favoured with permission to in¬ 
spect the interior of the mansion, the Great 
Hall of which is 60 ft. long by 27 ft. wide. 
The chapel is wainscotted in the lower 
story with Cedar, which is here stated to give 
forth a pleasant odour. “ Between thelarger 
panels of Cedar are marvellously carved 
pendants of flowers, fruit, corn and foliage.” 
Other rooms are lined with various fancy 
woods. “ All the wood-carving in England 
fades away before that of Gibbons 3t Chats¬ 
worth. The birds seem to live, the foliage 
to shoot, and the flowers to expand before 
your eyes.” 
The party finally passed through the 
Orangery on their way to the grounds sur¬ 
rounding the mansion. The building is 
partially galiery and the rest conservatory. 
Here are fine old Orange trees many of 
which once formed part of the collection of 
the Empress Josephineat Malmaison. The 
Italian garden outside is furnished with 
sculptured figures, and in summer with 
bright parterres of flowers. The grounds 
and general landscape are adorned with 
fine old trees of variouskinds, reminiscences 
of old time planting. A tree of Abies nobilis 
stands 85 ft. high and contains 195 cubic 
feet of timber, and no doubt is one of the 
finest of its kind in the country. Beeches 
tower up above 100 ft., and a Sweet Chest¬ 
nut, 85 ft. high, contains some 700 cubic 
feet of timber. Great interest was aroused 
in a dendrometer which was originally de¬ 
signed by the head forester for measuring 
not only the height but the cubic contents 
of standing trees. 
The great conservatory, designed by Sir 
Joseph Paxton, is considered the finest 
building, perhaps, of its kind in the country. 
This was built in 1839, and supplied the 
design which was enlarged or extended so 
as to meet the requirements of the structure 
which housed the Great International Exhi- 
tion of 1851 at Kensington, and now form¬ 
ing the Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill. 
The design of these buildings is known as 
the ridge and furrow system. The Chats¬ 
worth conservatory is 277 ft. long, 123 ft. 
wide, and 67 ft. high in the centre. As a 
glass structure it is exceeded by the Temper¬ 
ate House at Kew, which has a total length 
of 628 ft. and a width of 164 ft. The 
Chatsworth building contains 70,000 square 
feet of glass. The writer of the report pro¬ 
bably had little time for note-taking and 
sums up the vegetable contents by saying 
that they ranged “from the smallest aqua¬ 
tic plants to the most stately Palm trees, 
and from the Banana to the Papyrus. 
After the luncheon liberally supplied by 
the Duke of Devonshire the party proceeded 
to the Stand Wood where are extensive 
plantations of young and thriving trees. On 
the way up the hill some fine old trees were 
noted, including a Beech over 100 ft. high. 
The Stand Wood is situated at an elevation 
of 800 ft. above sea level, and on rocky 
ground. Here much of the timber is old 
and the trees stand thinly apart owing to 
necessary removals from time to time. Now 
a certain area is cleared of trees annually, 
and the ground prepared for replanting ; 
and this is being done upon a plan which 
will apportion the ground into regular rota¬ 
tions. Where the old wood consisted of 
Coniferous trees, the bark is carefully peeled 
off the roots so as to destroy the breeding 
places for the Pine Weevil (Hylobius 
Abietis) and other insect pests of woods and 
forests. The young plantations are thriv¬ 
ing splendidly. Beech and Sycamore are 
intended for the final crop, while the inter¬ 
spaces in the meantime are occupied with 
Scots Fir and Larch. The Bunker’s Hill 
plantations, at an elevation of 1,000 ft., are 
also in a flourishing condition. Chatsworth 
is one of the few English estates on which 
the proper management of woods has been 
systematised or put into a regular working 
plan. The secretary of the society is Mr. 
John Davidson, Estate Office, Haydon 
Bridge, Northumberland. 
-- 
Glasgow Botanic Gardens Management—With 
a view to secure greater unity of management in the 
work of the department as a whole, it is recommended 
by the Parks Committee that the duties of Mr. 
James Whitton, the superintendent of parks, should 
be extended to the Botanic Gardens, which are at 
present under the charge of Mr. Daniel Dewar, 
curator. 
Botanic Garden for the Seychelles.—Mr. 
Chamberlain has given his sanction to the establish¬ 
ment of a botanic station in the Seychelles, which, 
with the co-operation of the director of Kew Gar¬ 
dens, was started on the first day of the new century. 
Some people have actually assigned the site of the 
Garden of Eden to the Aldabra group in the Indian 
Ocean, now famous for little else than the gigantic 
land tortoises, of which so many have been sent to 
the Zoological Gardens through the instrumentality 
of the Hon. Walter Rothschild, M.P. Every de¬ 
scription of plant which is likely to be of the slightest 
economic value will be obtained from other coun¬ 
tries, and the treatment of the soil will be made the 
subject of special experiments. The islands are in 
direct communication by steamer with Colombo, 
Mauritius, Aden, Zanzibar and Bombay, a factor 
which is likely to play an important part in the 
development of their internal resources 
Thyrsacanthus rutilans as shown from Alden- 
ham House, at the Drill Hall, on Tuesday last, was 
much admired. The plant has been long known to 
our stoves but somehow has become neglected. It is 
easily grown and for decorative effect its long pend¬ 
ent racemes of crimson flowers are valuable. 
Fumigation.—A bill requiring the fumigation of 
all nursery stock has been re-instated in the New 
York legislature, and is again arousing the deter¬ 
mined opposition of all nurserymen. Wm. Pitkin, 
secretary of the Eastern Nurserymen's Association, 
says the bill will be fought to the limit. 
Seychelle Islands.—The administrator of the 
Seychelle Islands has recently issued an ordinance 
which provides for the admission lree of duty into 
the islinds of fresh fruits and vegetables, except 
Potatos, Onions and Garlic. Also of all live plants 
and vegetable productions connected with the study 
cf botany and illustrative of natural history. Also 
seeds intended for agricultural and horticultural 
purposes. 
Best Market Cabbages—By the use of a few 
early and late varieties and by sowing and planting 
at different seasons of the year, the year’s supply is 
kept up. The varieties recommended are Ellam’s 
Dwarf, Earliest of All, Wheeler's Imperial, Early 
Oflenham, Early York, Enfield Market, and Win- 
nigstadt. The last is a very shapely, conical 
Cabbage, but a variety of it named Dobbie's 
Selected Winnigstadt (also spelt Winningstadt) is, 
by reason of its small size and dwarf, compact 
habit, more recommendable for private culture and 
use. 
Beckenham Horticultural Society.—On Febru¬ 
ary 22nd, Mr. E. Beckett, gardener to Lord Alden- 
ham, Aldenham House, Elstree, gave a lecture on 
growing vegetables for exhibition. Mr. Beckett 
stated that good fertility must be in the soil before 
good results could be expected. Deep trenching was 
absolutely necessary,from 3 ft.to 3ft. 6in. deep. When 
trenching, the work should be carefully done. The 
manures should be thoroughly Incorporated with the 
soil. Light soils needed trenching earlier in the 
winter than the heavier soils. Each vegetable was 
taken separately, and it was thoroughly explained to 
the members how such good results could be obtained 
as Mr. Beckett exhibits at the leading shows. But 
to obtain them gardeners must be thoroughly ener¬ 
getic. In the description which followed, the 
members must have gained some valuable inform¬ 
ation, which should be noticed at their forthcoming 
show. Mr. Burge (who occupied the chair) thanked 
Mr. Beckett for his lecture and all the members 
thoroughly endorsed it. 
Croydon and District Horticultural Mutual Im¬ 
provement Society.—There was a crowded meeting 
in the Society’s Room at the •' Sunflower Temper¬ 
ance Hotel ” on Tuesday evening, 19th ult. The 
usual preliminary business being disposed of, the 
chairman, Mr. W J. Simpson, introduced Mr. Cole, 
of Messrs. John Peed & Sons, who gave a very in¬ 
teresting paper on " The Cultivation of the Glox¬ 
inia.” Mr. Cole prefaced bis subject with the intro¬ 
duction of the Gloxinia and origin of the name. He 
then treated of the practical cultivation, the sowing 
of the seed, management of the seedlings, and 
growth up to the flowering stages. The popularity 
of the Gloxinia and its beautiful decorative effects 
were specially noted, and a list of the most charming 
varieties were given, the following being a few of the 
best, viz., Mrs. W. Weaver, Charles Young. Lady 
Warwick, Duchess of York, Queen of My Heart, 
Lady Roberts, Princess of Wales, Ellen, Mrs. 
Fisher, Burgundy, Mrs. John Peed, Her Majesty, 
&c. Few flowers possess such lovely colouring and 
form as the Gloxinia. The interest in the subject 
was evidenced by the remarks and discussions which 
followed the reading of the paper, and a hearty and 
unanimous vote of thanks was given Mr. Cole, and 
the members will, no doubt, be treated to a fine dis¬ 
play of Gloxinias later in the season. To Messrs. 
Peed was given a vote of thanks for a table of 
Primula stellata of very good form and colour. To 
Mr. J. R. Box the society’s thanks were given for a 
beautiful exhibit of his splendid varieties of Primula 
sinensis. Tne secretary, Mr. Gregory, announced 
the special arrangements for the dinner and social 
at the ” Greyhound Hotel ” on Wednesday evening 
next. With a vote of thanks to the chairman, a 
very profitable evening was brought to a close, 
Ten new members were elected. 
