638 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
August 12, 1905. 
Black Tartarian and Elton Red Cherries 
were under netting, as they carried heavy 
crops of excellent fruit being gathered. 
Amongst Plums, Denniston’s Superb was 
splendidly fruited on the wall. The same 
might- be said of Peach Violette Hative and 
Waterloo Peach, both carrying heavy crops 
that will ripen later. Lord Napier Nectarine 
was also superbly cropped. 
An excellent plan is pursued here in pro¬ 
tecting Gooseberries, Currants, and Rasp¬ 
berries from birds. A framework of light 
wooden poles is fixed up all round the square, 
and nets cover the top and upright sides of 
this casing. This plan is very effective, and 
facilitates the gathering of the fruit. 
Floral and Ornamental Gardening. 
Border Carnations are largely grown in a 
great number of varieties, including the best 
and most advanced of the present day. Space 
forbids us from enumerating these varieties, 
but we noted King’s Walden Scarlet. Mrs. 
Campbell. Pride of Great Britain, and a 
seedling dwarf pure white variety. Large 
numbers of Carnations are annually raised 
here and selections made- 
Near the gardener’s cottage we noted ex¬ 
cellent use made of Verbena Queen of the 
Scarlets and the golden-yellow Lantana Drap 
d’Or. Grossing the highway, towards the 
parish church, which is actuallv standing in 
the pleasure grounds, we passed through the 
nergola which was planted only two years ago 
last March. The pillars were beautifully 
draped with Rambler Roses and similar 
climbers, and though we were late in seeing 
them in their glory, still sufficient remained 
to uphold our admiration for Crimson 
Rambler, Dorothv Perkins, with its charm¬ 
ing flowers and glossy foliage, Waltham 
Rambler, Blush Rambler, and Psvche. All 
of these are excellent rambler Roses, the 
latter having rose flowers fading to pink and 
classed among the Polvantbas. A more 
recent variety is Blush Rambler, which we 
could not but admire for the huge size of the 
bunches. Honeysuckle was also utilised, 
and at one side of the pergola was a hedge 
of Penzance Briers partly covering an old 
hedge of composite planting. 
Passing into the 'grounds proper in front 
of the mansion, we noticed a recent extension 
of the rosery in the form of a rustic basket, 
of the Ohina Rose Felleubei-p. Another was 
a huge bed of the new Frau Karl Druschki, 
consisting of 145 plants, which had been in 
bloom throughout July, and was still covered 
with many advancing buds. At the corners 
of these beds were pillars which will pre¬ 
sently be covered with' Roses trained upon 
chains in the Italian style of gardening. 
Splendid plants of Clair Jacquier had made 
shoots 12 ft. long, and were still growing upon 
arches. Several standards are being pre¬ 
pared for supporting Roses to a single stem 
with a, wide-spreading umbrella-like head. 
The original device of this type is now a very 
massive batch requiring to be securely sup¬ 
ported. 
On a wall we noted a splendid 1 specimen of 
the orange-scarlet flowered Eccremocarpus 
scaber, simply laden with flowers at the end 
of July. On the wall of the mansion itself 
we were charmed with a monarchial specimen 
of the Rose William Allan Richardson, 25 ft. 
high and 15 ft. wide. The local Rose 
amateur, Mr. Lindsell, believes this to be 
the finest specimen of the Rose out of doors. 
The old Gloire de Dijon covers another por¬ 
tion of the house, and on the left-hand end 
of the front was a splendid mass of the 
Baoksian Rose, 30 ft. high. It is the white 
variety, and was in excellent form. 
Passing on to the terrace, we were delighted 
with massive standards of the Heliotrope 
Mme. Crousse, with dark-coloured and deli¬ 
ciously fragrant flowers. These Heliotropes 
are evidently favourites with the owner and 
his family. Another interesting bed con¬ 
sisted of Calceolaria amplexicaulis, planted 
under standard specimens of Plumbago 
capensis, which will flower till frost. 
_ Another pleasing bed consisted of a judi¬ 
cious mixture of Red Hot Pokers, Mont- 
bretias, Galtonia, and the scarlet Gladiolus 
brenchleyensis, calculated to give a long suc¬ 
cession of flowers. 
We next rounded the ornamental water of 
one acre extent and noted a splendid speci¬ 
men of Tilia petiolaris about 45 ft. high and 
30 ft., in spread of branches. Portions of the 
adjoining park continue to be taken in to the 
pleasure grounds for the extension of the 
shrubberies. Notable plants were Choisya 
ternata. 12 ft. in diameter and 7^ ft. high, 
said to be the largest in the midlands ; and 
Buddleia variabilis, about 10 ft. each way, 
and laden with flowers. Numerous very 
handsome trees and shrubs have been added 
to the collection and planted in suitable 
situations according to their kind, so that 
some of the dwarfest at present will be tho 
tallest in the course of a few years. Along 
the front of one shrubbery was a fine col¬ 
lection of the real Scotch Heather in selected 
varieties, such as Calluna vulgaris Ham- 
mondii, C. v. Serlei, and C. v. Alporti. 
Elsewhere in the grounds we came upon a 
fine bed of Pelargonium Paul Crampbell, 
which has larger trusses of flowers, though 
lighter than those of Henry Jaooby, which it 
grea-tlv excels in merit for bedding purposes. 
A fine tree of Juniperis macroearpa stood 
about 60 ft. high, with a diameter of 30 ft., 
and is something to be proud of at such a 
high elevation. 
The ornamental fruit garden consists of 
half standard trees, with borders of Holly¬ 
hocks, Phloxes, and other herbaceous plants. 
Apples were not fruiting well, but some of 
the best of them were Peasgood’s Nonsuch, 
Mere de Menage, and Alfriston. 
The Glasshouses. 
A treat awaited us as we approached the 
glass structures and entered a house of Car¬ 
nations. The house was a low span-roofed 
one, well calculated for rearing Carnations 
under the best possible conditions. It would 
be' futile to attempt to name a fraction of 
the varieties grown here, for the house we 
entered was only one of several in which Car¬ 
nations were grown in pots. Mr. Harrison 
is very fond of Carnations, .and this accounts 
for the wealth of flowers and the amount of 
space devoted to them. In the house the 
space was chiefly occupied by the Malmaison 
strain in named varieties, as well as tree 
Carnations 'and border varieties. Amongst 
the first strain we noted fine plants of Prime 
Minister, Horace Hutchinson, Mrs. Tre- 
lawny, and the delicate flesh-coloured 
Nautilus. 
In another house we came upon Pride of 
Great Britain, a very handsome yellow that 
succeeds admirably here; Mrs. Nicholson, 
Nell Gwvnne, H. J. Cutbush, Lady Wolver- 
ton, and the Pasha. We were particularly 
charmed with a tree Carnation named King’s 
Walden Lady, with soft salmon-pink flalTes 
on a light yellow ground. We had seen this 
one much earlier in the year, but the colour 
at this season is a great improvement upon 
that produced by the plant in winter. The 
blending of colour is practically unique as 
far as we remember. 
Reluctantly leaving the Carnations, we 
passed through the Peach house, containing 
a heavy crop of Peach Grosse Mignonne and 
Elruge Nectarine. The trees had been root- 
pruned in autumn. A heavy crop of Grapes 
greeted us in the vinery we entered, containing 
Muscat of Alexandria, Mrs. Pince, Alicante” 
Madresfield Court, Appley Towers, and Lady 
Downes. The crop was just commencing to 
colour. We may say that 60 lb. of fruit”was 
taken off one Vine a few years ago, but this 
was considered rather heavy, although the 
A ine consisted of two or more rods.” The 
Peaches had been cleared in the next house 
entered, and we passed on to a vinerv of 
Muscats and Madresfield Court. By cutting 
half through the shoots carrying the berries 
of the latter the usual splitting of the berries 
is prevented. 
In. the greenhouse were Heliotropes and 
the similarly coloured Trachelium coeruleum. 
Seedling Amaryllis are largely raised by the 
gardener, and in a batch of plants flowering 
for the first time we noted several very choice 
varieties. Crotons are largely used in the 
mansion, as they are great favourites with 
the owner, and -a house is devoted to a large 
number of varieties in various sizes. In the 
1 aim house some of the older Kentias had 
reached the top of the ridge, and will require 
shifting elsewhere if they are to he preserved. 
Fine baskets of Asparagus Sprengeri and 
Nephrolepis were suspended in this house. 
The stems of the former sometimes trailed 
downwards to a length of 13^ ft. In the stove 
an area was surrounded with bricks for the 
purpose of confining the roots of Musa Caven- 
dishii, which fruits better Under such con¬ 
ditions than when grown in pots or tubs. 
Here also we noted large and healthy plants 
of Eucharis grandiflora in the best of con¬ 
dition. 
Orchids are not a feature of the place, 
nevertheless a house is devoted to them, and 
contained a number of different kinds in 
bloom, including Cypripediums. Growths 
made by Dendrobium wardianum were better 
than the imported ones. 
The Fruit Room. 
Here we had the pleasure of inspecting the 
splendid fruitroom designed by Mr. Hart¬ 
less. It measures 30 ft. by 20 ft., and has 
practically two fruitrooms under ’one roof, 
each of which is entered from the ground 
level. The basement, room is entered from 
the bottom of a slope, while the room above 
it is entered from the walk a little higher up. 
At present the house is empty, but we could 
see that it was substantially built, with a 
framework of shelves in the centre, around 
which is a pathway. The sides are entirely 
covered, with shelving. The room above 
shows just a repetition of this, but we may 
add that the floors consist of concrete, botii 
the upper and the lower, the top floor being 
supported on iron girders. 
Hie walls are very substantial, though 
hollow, and built so that a circulation of air 
can be procured- if wanted. There are, how- 
evei, ventilators through these walls and 
through the uppermost roof for the sake of 
ventilation when wanted, while during frost 
everything can be securely shut up. The 
roof is thatched with a great depth of Reeds, 
which will remain sound for many years, as 
the excellent method of thatching keeps 
them dry. 
The hollow walls of the fruit room also 
remind us that the walls covered with fruit 
trees are also hollow, which keeps them drier 
and warmer than they would otherwise be. 
After partaking of Mr. Hartless’ hospitality 
for the second time we made our way to 
Hitchin Station for the sake of a shorter 
route and change of scenery, thus Concluding 
a very pleasant day, 
