484 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  7,  1900. 
and  I  sought  diligently  for  particulars,  but  beyond  the  palpable  fact 
that  it  was  a  Schizanthus,  nothing  could  be  gleaned. 
Cannot  something  be  done  to  remedy  this  state  of  affairs  ?  It  is 
clearly  against  the  wishes  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  for  we 
find  on  page  50  of  the  society’s  “  Arrangements  ”  for  the  current  year, 
the  following  ; — “  The  name  of  the  fruit,  flower,  plant,  or  vegetable, 
and  in  the  case  of  seedlings  particulars  of  parentage  and  date  of 
raising,  should  be  given  if  possible.  If  an  importation  the  name  of  its 
native  country  should  be  added.  Exhibitors  are  invited  to  commu¬ 
nicate,  ill  writing,  such  further  details  of  the  origin,  history,  introduction, 
or  peculiarities  of  their  exhibits  as  they  may  think  interesting.  .  . 
I  venture  to  think  that  almost  the  whole  of  the  information  sought 
in  the  above  notes  could  be  provided  in  many  cases,  and  I  think  that 
all  readers  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  will  be  at  one  with  me  when  I 
assert  that  the  interest  of  the  exhibits  would  be  increased  fifty  fold 
by  its  being  inscribed  on  cards  attached  to  each  exhibit.  I  should, 
however,  like  to  read  the  opinions  of  other  frequenters  of  the  R.H.S. 
meetings  on  the  subject.  I  may  say  that  my  remarks  have  particular 
reference  to  the  exhibits  placed  before  the  Floral  Committee  ;  both  the 
Orchid  and  the  Fruit  and  Vegetable  Committees  are  far  better  served 
in  this  particular  respect. — F.  J.  B. 
TI|e  Royal  Horticultural  Society — Looking  Both  Ways. 
“  Scrutator,”  on  page  460,  has  some  significant  remarks  as 
affecting  the  present  status  and  the  future  prospects  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society.  He  traces  the  present  prosperity  of  the  society 
and  its  ever  growing  strength  and  influence  to  the  policy  of  the  council. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  attribute  it  to  anything  else.  What  has  been 
the  policy  so  steadily  pursued  ?  It  has  been  one  having  for  its  objects 
the  advancement  and  exemplification  of  horticulture  in  its  different 
phases  ;  or  in  other  words,  a  true  gardening  policy,  adopted  and 
pursued  as  far  and  as  well  as  its  means  allowed. 
This,  as  many,  or  most,  old  friends  of  the  society  well  know,  has  not 
always  been  the  case.  There  has  been  at  least  one  deplorable  departure 
from  a  sound  line  of  action.  This  was  known  as  the  South  Kensington 
policy — a  policy  of  gewgaws  and  glitters  that  brought  the  once 
prosperous  society  to  the  dust.  It  was  against  such  policy  that  the  late 
Dr.  Hogg  and  other  good  men  and  true  fought  so  strenuously ;  and 
after  the  crash  came  sought  with  assiduous  effort  to  rehabilitate  the 
old  society  again.  Others  followed  with  the  same  commendable  object 
in  view,  and  the  present  flourishing  state  of  the  society  shows  with 
what  success. 
Is  it  to  be  supposed  that  the  present  directorate,  under  whose 
management  the  society  has  made  such  gratifying  progress,  would  take 
any  steps  in  the  least  likely  to  jeopardise  its  fame  and  bring  about  their 
own  ignominy  ?  The  idea  is  preposterous.  The  council,  as  a  body,  is 
essentially  conservative — too  much  so,  some  people  have  thought — and 
the  last  men  that  could  be  thought  of  to  indulge  in  any  fanciful  or 
sentimental  speculation.  They  are  practical  business  men,  and  do  not 
act  without  serious  thought  and  anxious  deliberation.  Having,  as 
“  Scrutator  ”  suggests,  the  worst  national  garden  in  Europe,  they 
evidently  consider  the  time  has  arrived  for  providing  a  garden  worthy 
of  the  kirgdom,  and  with  the  time  have  come  the  means  for  carrying 
out  the  object. 
This  policy — this  truly  horticultural  policy — is  opposed,  the  lead 
not  being  taken  by  horticulturists  as  a  body,  but  in  its  more  active 
form  by  scientists.  They  want  no  new  garden  for  the  exemplification 
of  horticulture,  but  denounce  its  cost  while  advocating  the  erection  of 
a  grand  hall  in  London  that  would  cost  about  ten  times  more  than  a 
garden,  the  hall  to  be  occupied  once  a  fortnight,  and  bring  practically 
nothing  in  commensurate  with  the  outlay  involved. 
Is  history  going  to  repeat  itself,  and  the  welfare,  or  even  existence, 
of  the  society  risked  in  pursuance  of  a  London  show  policy,  in 
contradistinction  to  a  policy  of  national  scientific  and  practical 
horticulture  ?  The  Temple  Shows  are  successful  because  they  occur 
just  once  a  year.  With  many  shows  of  magnitude  the  fickle  public 
appetite  would  pall,  interest  slacken,  the  shows  dwindle,  as  they  did — 
first  at  Chiswick,  then  at  South  Kensington,  and  later  in  the  Regent’s 
Park.  What,  then,  would  be  the  society’s  asset  ?  Just  a  grandiloquent 
hall — a  costly  white  elephant. 
The  best  gardening  in  Europe  and  the  finest  of  gardens  are  found 
in  Great  Britain.  The  love  and  the  practice  of  gardening  is  spreading 
far  and  wide.  The  Royal  Horticultural  Society  is  perhaps  the  foremost 
of  its  kind  in  the  world.  It  and  the  great  gardening  community  are 
as  much  entitled  to  a  garden  worthy  of  themselves  and  the  country,  for 
the  practical  demonstration  of  true  horticulture  in  its  varied  phases 
and  useful  aspects,  as  the  botanical  part  of  the  community  is  entitled 
to  the  grand  establishment  of  Kew.  We  are  all  proud  of  Kew,  and 
wish  to  see  it  flourish.  No  one  grudges  its  cost,  though  great ;  and  it 
would  lose  none  of  its  characteristics  and  charms  by  the  establishment 
of  a  great  national  garden  and  school  of  industrial  and  commercial 
horticulture,  that  would  command  support  and  benefit  the  nation.  Why 
should  not  this  be  provided  ?■  Turn  out  a  council  willing  and  able  to 
provide  it,  in  favour  of  a  London  policy,  and  what  then  ?  A  mere 
London  local  society,  with  a  life  worth  perhaps  ten  years’  purchase,  or 
a  return  to  the  conflicts  of  the  past. — An  Old  Fellow. 
St.  Fagan’s  Castle. 
A  Foreword. 
For  upwards  of  half  a  century  the  pages  of  the  Journal  of  Horti¬ 
culture  have  been  adorned  at  frequent  intervals  with  illustrations  of  the 
various  beautiful  estates  in  different  parts  of  the  country  ;  but  so  far  as 
the  present  writer  can  ascertain,  the  gardens  and  grounds  of  St.  Fagan  s 
Castle  have  received  no  recognition.  This  must  perforce  be  ascribed  to 
the  remissness  of  contributors  in  that  corner  of  South  Wales,  as  in 
variety  of  interest,  from  a  gardening  point  of  view,  it  is  one  of  the 
richest  in  the  entire  principality.  There  are  others  of  broader  acres, 
which  contain  features  that  St.  Fagan’s  has  not ;  but  this  does  not 
alter  the  fact  that  its  omission  from  the  Journal  pages  is  a  dereliction 
of  duty  that  cannot  be  put  right  too  soon.  It  is  not  a  place  of  modern 
creation,  but  counts  its  history  by  hundreds  of  years,  as  the  architecture 
of  the  mansion — it  can  scarcely  be  termed  a  castle — amply  demonstrates. 
It  is,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  illustration  (fig.  130)  of  Elizabethan 
character,  and  has  grand  old  stone  walls  with  mock  embrasures,  that 
may  or  may  not  have  seen  actual  warfare.  It  is  said  that  one  of  the 
last  serious  battles  of  the  Cromwellian  era  was  fought  within  sight  of 
St.  Fagan’s — in  fact,  that  the  Royalist  officers  made  their  headquarters 
at  the  castle  ere  they  succumbed  to  or  escaped  from  the  doughty  Round- 
heads.  But  while  so  much  of  historical  tradition  clusters  round 
St.  Fagan’s,  it  has  also  a  present  day  interest  attaching  to  it,  for 
Lord  and  Lady  Windsor  take  a  keen  delight  in  horticulture.  Both  are 
in  a  sense  enthusiasts,  and  favour  any  scheme  that  contains  promise 
of  enhancing  the  beauty  of  their  estate. 
The  Dutch  Garden. 
To  all  intents  and  purposes  the  expression  Dutch  garden  spells 
formality.  The  mind  instinctively  associates  with  it  the  dwarf  clipped 
hedges,  the  orthodox  shrubs,  and,  though  perhaps  inclining  rather  to 
the  Italianesque,  the  statuary.  There  are  all  these  at  St.  Fagan’s,  and 
more,  for  here  steps  in  the  influence  of  Lady  Windsor,  whose  predilec¬ 
tions  do  not  lie  with  the  customary  bedding  plants.  Instead  therefore 
of  the  “  Geraniums,”  the  Calceolarias,  and  similar  things,  we  find  those 
of  a  freer  habit  of  growth,  and  which  produce,  generally  speaking, 
fragrant  flowers  during  the  months  of  July,  August,  and  September. 
Stocks  are  particularly  in  request,  and  one  can  easily  imagine  what  a 
delightful  picture  is  made  by  the  many  branched  plants  producing 
spikes  of  sweet  scented  crimson,  purple,  white,  and  scarlet  flowers. 
These,  while  retaining  an  element  of  shapeliness,  have  not  the 
geometrical  precision  of  growth  that  characterises  the  habit  of  the 
plants  customarily  employed  in  such  positions.  The  clipped  shrubs 
observable  in  the  illustration,  and  the  small  amount  of  statuary,  justify 
the  retention  of  the  title  of  the  Dutch  garden. 
The  Mulberry  Grove, 
In  the  left  foreground  of  the  same  picture  may  be  seen  a  number 
of  trees  the  majority  of  which  are  Mulberries.  These  give  an  air  of 
antiquity  to  this  home  garden,  for  the  older  specimens  must  have 
passed  the  summers  and  winters  of  more  than  300  years.  They  spread 
their  great  branches  and  growths  over  a  considerable  area  of  ground, 
and  yearly  bring  forth  an  abundance  of  the  much  appreciated  fruits. 
To  many  visitors  this  small  garden  would  be  one  of  the  most  interesting 
on  the  estate.  All  the  trees  are  not  of  one  age,  several  being  much 
younger,  they  having  been  planted  with  a  view  to  forming  a  veritable 
Mulberry  grove.  One  might  almost  weave  a  story  on  the  lines  of 
”  Looking  Forward,”  and  speculate  therein  as  to  what  the  Castle  of 
St.  Fagan’s  will  be  like  when  these  youngsters  bear  the  impress  of  a 
century’s  hand,  and  what  might  then  be  the  tale  that  the  trees  could  tell ! 
Here  again  on  the  right  we  see  the  square  beds  for  summer  flowers. 
Between  the  beds  just  mentioned  and  the  wall  is  a  broad  border  of 
herbaceous  plants,  there  being  another  one  also  running  by  the  side  of 
the  only  other  wall ;  they  contain  the  stock  customarily  placed  in  such 
positions,  preference  being  given  to  those  that  flower  in  the  summer 
and  autumn. 
The  Fleasannce. 
Let  the  reader  now  accompany  us  to  that  most  delightful  part  of 
an  estate  in  the  spring  time — namely,  the  Pleasaunce.  To  reach  it 
from  the  gardens  through  which  we  have  just  passed,  we  must  descend 
the  terraces,  cross  the  lakes  at  the  most  convenient  spot  and  ascend  the 
slopes  on  the  other  side.  But  when  the  soft  grass  of  the  level  walk  on 
the  ridge  is  reached,  a  more  charming  picture  could  not  easily  be 
imagined.  On  one  hand  we  find  a  rovr  of  splendid  Cedars  (Cedrus 
deodara),  with  miscellaneous  foliage  and  |flowering  shrubs  on  the  other. 
