May 20, 1905. 
The Gardening World 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK : 
“ If vain our toil, we ought to blame the culture, not the soil.”— -Pope. 
WEEKLY PRIZES 
FO R 
SHORT ARTICLES. 
The Proprietors of The Gardening World 
will give a cash prize of [Seven Shillings and 
Sixpence for the best paragraph, or short 
article, sent by readers during the week, and 
Two Shillings and Sixpence as a second 
prize. The Editor’s judgment must be con¬ 
sidered final, and he will be at liberty to use 
any of the contributions sent in. The para¬ 
graph, or article, must not exceed one 
column in length, but the value, rather than 
the length, of the article will be considered in 
making the award. Competitors may send in 
items of news or comments on news; hints of 
practical interest to gardeners or growers of 
plants, fruits, or flowers: successful methods of 
propagating plants usually considered difficult; 
or contributions on any subject coming 
WITHIN THE SPHERE OF GARDENING PROPER. 
Letters should be addressed to The Editor, 
marked “Competition,” and posted not later 
than Friday night to ensure insertion in the 
issue of next week. 
The following Coloured Plates 
have appeared in recent num- ^ 
bers :— 
, September 12.— SIX NEW DAFFODILS. 
October 3. — LILIUM AURATUM PLA- 
s TYPHYLLUM SHIRLEY VAR. 
Novembei 14.—ROSE MME. N. LEVA- 
VASSEUR. 
January 2.- HYBRID TEA-SCENTED 
ROSE IRENE. 
January 30. — TUBEROUS BEGONIA 
COUNTESS OF WARWICK. 
February 27.— A FINE STRAIN OF 
GLOXINIAS. 
April 2. — WISTARIA MULTIJUGA 
RUSSELLIANA. 
May 7 —CACTUS DAHLIA DAINTY. 
June 4.— CACTUS DAHLIA SPITFIRE. 
July 16.— ROSE LADY BATTERSEA. 
superbum 1 ' ~~ GEUM nEEDREICHI 
October 15.— ROSE HUGH DICKSON. 
Back numbers may be obtained from the 
.publishers, price 2£d. post free. 
1 
This week we present a Coloured 
Plate of 
\ EREMURUS WAREI. 
Next week we shall give a Half-tone 
1 Plate of 
IRIS JAPONICA. 
The first prize last week in the 
j headers’ Competition was awarded to 
{ Arnold,” for his article on “ Tecoma 
pandiflora,” p. 396 ; and the second to 
< 1 A. V. M.” for his article on “Mar¬ 
guerite Carnations.” p. 393. 
Views and Reviews. 
Highclere Castle. 
The beauty of most of the old-established 
private places in the country consists of the 
aged and monarchial trees in the park and 
pleasure-grounds, where the oldest and finest 
are usually situated near the house, indicat¬ 
ing that planting commenced there first. 
Many of these monarchs are amongst the 
commonest trees in this country, hut when 
planted two or three hundred years ago, they 
would not then have been regarded as 
common, if they consisted of introduced 
trees. 
Highclere Castle is the seat of the Earl of 
Carnarvon, and, though situated in the 
county of Hants, the post, town is Newbury 
in Berks. The castle itself is a magnificent 
pile, and in the immediate neighbourhood is 
surrounded by some spreading and umbra¬ 
geous trees of the Cedar of Lebanon, which 
had no doubt been new to the country when 
planted. The date of the original mansion 
is unknown, hut it has been handed down 
from family ix> family at least since the 
reign of Edward VI. The present style of 
the Castle is that of the time of James I. of 
England. 
The' chief centre of attraction of the estate 
lies in the park and pleasure-grounds, 
though we are aware that Mr. William Pope, 
the gardener, has until recently been an ex¬ 
hibitor of first-class vegetables at London 
and other shows. The estate has also' taken 
a high position in horticulture and arboricul¬ 
ture for a long period of time. Azaleas and 
Rhododendrons are still a. feature of the 
place, and at one time the Himalayan Rho¬ 
dodendron arboreum was used for hybridis¬ 
ing pui-poses, and some splendid sorts were 
raised in this way, one of these having been 
named R. altaclarense, the Latinised form of 
Highclere. 
An account of the finest trees, both for 
ornamental and for timber purposes, has 
been given by the English Arboricultural 
Society in its “ Transactions.” The members 
of this society have an annual outing of some 
days’ duration, and make a point of visiting 
some of the finest places in the country. The 
pleasure-grounds stand at 587 ft. above sea- 
level, but the Siddown Hill not far off rises 
to 942 ft., while Beacon Hill is 900 ft. above 
sea-level. The park has been admirably 
laid out, and towards the northern edge of it 
is a large lake surrounded by woodland. To 
the south is Dunsmere Lake. The combined 
area of the lakes is supposed to amount to 
70 acres, and this will serve to give some 
idea of the extensive character of the 
grounds. 
Rising above tlie water of the first-men¬ 
tioned lake is a fine timbered hank of Oak, 
Ash and Beech, the trees being of splendid 
size and quality. North American Oaks 
have also been freely planted. The area 
covered with woods on the estate runs to 
4,000 acres, situated in five parishes. 
According to the custom in the south of Eng¬ 
land, much of the woodland for many years 
consisted of undergrowth or copse, but as 
that is of less importance than timber at the 
present day encouragement is being given to 
the growth of timber trees. Several gullies 
on the estate have been planted with Alder, 
Birch, and TV illow, which delight in damp 
situations. Coniferous trees include the 
Scotch Fir, Corsican Pine, Weymouth Pine, 
Norway Spruce, and Douglas Spruce. 
On the lawn immediately surrounding the 
Castle a Cedar of Lebanon stands 100 ft. 
high, with very nearly the same spread of 
branches. The Deodar Cedar has attained 
a height of 73 ft. An interesting tree also 
is the Cephalonian Silver Fir, which has 
reached a height of 81 ft. The Tulip tree 
stands 86 ft. high. Several fine Welling- 
tonias may be seen in the park, one of which 
is 97 ft. high, and must he one of the finest 
in the country. Menzies’ Spruce is only 1 ft. 
shorter. The common Silver Fir is much 
neglected in the south at the present day, 
hut it must have enjoyed some reputation 
in the South as well as in the North in the 
olden times. One tree runs up to 124 ft., 
and another is 116 ft. high. The more re¬ 
cently introduced Douglas Spruce towers up 
to a height of 100 ft., though this is con¬ 
siderably behind the celebrated tree at 
Dropmore. The largest Cedar of Lebanon 
in the park towers up to a height of 110 ft. 
with a spread of branches only 1 ft. less. 
The effect of these trees in the landscape can 
be well imagined, considering tlie elevated 
character of the land even where the Castle 
and the pleasure-grounds are situated, thus 
well befitting the name Highclere. 
Longleat. 
The earliest planting at Longleat, the 
seat of the Marquis of Bath, Warminster, 
also commenced at a very early period, being 
supposed to be contemporaneous with the 
mansion. These trees are, however, chiefly 
confined to the avenue, but as they consisted 
