jie 27, 1903. 
Phe Gardening World 
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rhe following Coloured : 
^lateS have appeared 
March 14 .— NEW CHINESE PRIMULAS. 
March 21.— A GROUP OF DAVALLIAS. 
March28.— TEA ROSE “ CHAMELEON,” 
nd COOMBE CLIFFE GARDENS. S 
April 4.-COLEUS THYRSOIDEUS. 
April 11.— PITCHER PLANTS. 
April 18.— CESTRUM SMITHII. 
1 April 25.— JAPANESE PIGMY TREE. ( 
May 23.—Coloured Plate of SAXIFRAGA ( 
iRISEBACHII and A GROUP OF ALO ( 
1ASIAS. 
May 30.—Coloured Plate of DENDROBIUM ( 
MOBILE ROTUNDIFLORUM and D.n. ( 
flOBILIUS. 
June 6.—Monochvome plate of CALADIUMS. ' 
June 13.—Half-tone plate of the ROCKERY ( 
IT KEW. 
June 20.—Half-tone Plate of ZENOBIA \ 
•PECIOSA PULVERULENTA. ( 
Back numbers may be obtained from the [ 
Publishers, price 2^d. post free. • ) 
With the PRESENT ISSUE we present a ; 
Jalf-Tone Plate of AZALEAS AT THE ) 
3HENT QUINQUENNIAL. 
NEXT WEEK we shall present a Coloured ) 
Hate of APHELANDRA AURANTIACA < 
ROEZLII. 
A Gloucestershire Wild Garden.* 
In this we have another book on garden 
lore running to something like 230 pages, 
and including, according to its sub-title, some 
extraneous matter of a quasi-philosophic 
kind between the author and two of his 
friends named Padre and Professor respec¬ 
tively. The chapters on this other matter 
are intercalated with the other chapters in 
the book, but, in our opinion, are rather 
foreign to the subject, coming in as it were 
a.t right angles to the question of gardening. 
The subject of gardening is sufficiently large 
in itself to have filled the whole book, and we 
feel sure the author would have done justice 
to the subject if he had confined himself to 
one topic. The author himself says that 
these semi-scientific discourses may not be 
acceptable to some, but he confesses to 
having read a hook outlined in this manner, 
or interleaved with irrelevant matter, and, 
he liked the latter best. 
He discusses having been in India many 
years ago, and reading a charming book on 
the wild garden, he pictured to himself the 
making of one whenever he should return to 
England. That he has been successful we 
have no manner of doubt, and even confess 
that he has been very fortunate in getting 
a garden and mansion situated in a spot that 
is most admirably adapted for the construc¬ 
tion of a wild garden—indeed, one of the rare 
places that can fall to the lot of one having 
a propensity for gardening. 
The location of the estate is on an outlier 
of the Cotswold Hills, facing the Bristol Chan¬ 
nel, and in that area which is cut off from the 
rest of the county of Gloucestershire by the 
River Severn. We should say, then, that 
the estate lies between the Severn and the 
river Wye. The whole range on which it is 
situated is 600 ft. or 700 ft., in height, and 
in a. deep recess of a horse-shoe-shaped valley, 
and at an elevation of 500 ft., above the river 
the wild garden is situated. As frequently 
happens on the slopes of hills, water is ob- 
* “ A Gloucestershire Wild Garden," with some ex¬ 
traneous Matter, by the Curator. With photogranhic Illus¬ 
trations. London : Elliot Stock, Cl, Paternoster Row, E.C. 
1903. Price Gs. net. 
tamable which can always, as in this case, 
be turned to excellent account in the forma¬ 
tion and beautifying of a garden, as well as 
being capable of being turned to utilitarian 
account. From this point of vantage beau¬ 
tiful views are obtainable down the river, 
or rather, we might say, the Bristol Channel, 
for a distance of twenty miles on fine days, 
when there is just sufficient moisture in the 
atmosphere to render objects in the distance 
clearly discernible. This latter fact, is 
always apparent to even the most illiterate 
who live in hilly districts, for the moisture 
seems to bring the distant hills nearer, in 
the same manner as a telescope. 
In a chapter on the sub-tropical garden 
the author discusses the occupants of the 
same, together with the general features of 
the garden itself. A discussion of the 
making and management of a wild garden is 
given in the twelfth chapter, but in that, as 
well as in the first one, we get a fair idea of 
the conditions of the ground when first ob¬ 
tained and the gradual evolution of the wild 
garden, sub-tropical garden, water, and 
jungle. The garden consisted of some two 
acres within a wire fencing, and at first, was 
chiefly occupied by forest trees and three 
ponds of water at different levels. It was, in 
fact, a garden some sixty years ago, when its 
then owner laid out the garden and con¬ 
structed the ponds. In the interim, as often 
occurs in human affairs, “ another king arose 
who knew not Joseph,” or. in other words, 
cared not for the garden. The garden then, 
a few years ago, consisted of a few orna¬ 
mental and many forest trees. The garden 
might truly have been described as 
a wild one, for the original fence had 
been broken down, and the principal 
natives of an ornam.ental character 
were Gorse, Bracken, and Brambles. 
Amongst the ornamental exotics were som“ 
fine Deodars, Araucarias, Wellingtonia, and 
Eucalyptus. From this description we 
think the author had no room to complain, 
seeing that he.had the materials, and excel¬ 
lent materials, ready at hand for the making 
of a wild garden ; and the interval between 
the first and the present owner simply gave 
time for the situation to ripen into excellent 
form. When old trees are ready to hand on 
an estate, wild gardens, and everything else 
