March  4,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
185 
Where  labour  fs  a  consideration,  and  fuel  dear,  the  hot  water  cure 
is  not  nearly  so  economical  as  Little’s  soluble  phenyle. 
The  whole  are  sound — corrosive  sublimate  the  most  drastic  in 
effect  on  the  eelworm,  but  nives  nothing  to  the  plant,  and  is  a 
dangerous  poison,  therefore  I  abandoned  it  in  favour  of  Little’s 
soluble  phenyle,  and  have  striven  as  far  as  able  to  place  before 
growers  simple  preventives  and  remedies,  and  ask  nothing  at  their 
hands  but  a  fair  trial  on  intelligent  principles,  »uch  as  they  exercise 
in  their  cultural  treatment,  and  perhaps  know  more  about  than  I 
do.  If  they  wish  to  go  farther — and  I  would  urge  them  to  proceed 
only  in  the  direction  of  that  which  profits  the  plants  as  a  manure 
as  well  as  destroys  its  enemies — I  would  point  to  aniline  and 
naphthaline,  keeping  within  the  substances  which  are  com¬ 
pounds  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  nitrogen,  and  remember  that 
soluble  only  are  safe,  and  the  elements  readily  available  as  food  of 
plants.  Out  of  either  aniline,  or  naphthaline  it  would  be  easy  to 
prepare  a  proprietary  article,  but  I  am  content  with  phenol  in  the 
sol'ble  form,  and  for  economic  considerations  advise  its  use.— 
G.  Abbey. 
AN  OLD  AND  FRUITFUL  GARDEN. 
Like  not  a  few  old  fashioned  folk,  I  enjoy  a  saunter  through 
a  garden  of  the  olden  type.  Not  only  flowers  hardy,  beautiful, 
and  fragrant,  but  fruit  and  vegetables  must  grow  there,  and  there, 
too,  I  must  find  the  olitory — that  garden  of  simples  that  our  grand¬ 
mothers  were  wont  to  haunt.  It  happens,  fortunately,  that  I  know 
at  least  one  such  garden,  and  to  me  a  somewhat  famous  one.  It  is 
situated  about  a  score  miles  west  of  Charing  Cross,  on  a  side 
slope  of  a  hill,  facing  south.  The  charms  and  interest  of  a  garden 
are  greatly  enhanced  by  its  surroundings.  To  be  able  to  change 
the  focus  of  vision — to  lift  the  eyes  to  a  distant  horizon,  whether 
it  be  over  rolling  cornfields,  green  meadows,  or  towards  empurpled 
hills  ;  or  better  still  to  peep  through  bowers  of  Honeysuckle  and 
Roses  at  a  hundred  leagues  of  blue  sea,  o’ercanopied  by  a  wider 
horizon,  one  enjoys  the  garden  so  much  the  more. 
It  is  not  the  Italian  flower  garden  that  I  am  about  to  describe, 
although  that  is  beautiful,  nor  the  spacious  pleasure  grounds,  but 
a  plot  some  6  acres  or  more  half  contemptuously  designated  as  the 
kitchen  garden.  Now  there  is  a  quiet  beauty  in  carefully  culti¬ 
vated  vegetables.  There  is  not  much  to  admire,  perhaps,  in  the 
growth  of  that  homely  tuber  the  Potato  ;  but  glance  for  a 
moment  at  that  big,  green  Rose  the  Cabbage,  while  the  early  dew- 
drops  are  shimmering  in  their  emerald  cups  ;  or  the  graceful  Kail  that 
suggested  to  the  architect  the  Greek  Capitol.  Then  look  at  the 
elegant  outlines  of  the  Runner  Bean  and  Pea,  of  the  noble  leafage 
of  the  Gourd  tribe,  and  the  classic  elegance  of  the  Celery  aod 
Leek.  Were  these  not  edible  they  would  have  long  since  have 
been  prized  and  grown  in  our  gardens  on  account  of  their  beauty 
of  form. 
But  let  me  attempt  to  describe  the  genesis  of  this  old  garden. 
Over  a  century  and  a  half  ago  two  elderly  men  might  have  been  seen 
on  the  terrace  of  a  noble  house,  once  a  residence  of  the  unfortunate 
Monmouth.  In  front  is  a  beautiful  Italian  garden,  with  its 
statuary  and  fountains  ;  beyond  it  a  little  army  of  labourers  are  at 
work  in  making  a  great  lawn  with  sloping  woods  on  either  hand. 
The  object  is  to  afford  a  distant  view  of  the  North  London  heights 
and  a  glimpse  beyond  to  the  right. .  After  a  few  minutes  they  turn 
and  walk  up  the  hill  beneath  some  ancient  pollard  Oaks.  Bluff 
Harry  and  Catherine  his  Queen,  when  on  a  visit,  would  walk  that 
way  at  times  ;  and  a  still  more  famous  man,  Cardinal  Wolsey, 
would  be  seen  accompanied  by  a  splendid  retinue.  He  would  be 
seated  for  a  time  beneath  a  tree  that  is  still  called  the  “  Cardinal’s 
Oak.”  Of  the  two  elderly  men  one  is  Commodore  Anson,  the  other 
the  famous  landscape  gardener,  Capability  Brown. 
They  are  about  to  determine  the  site  of  a  new  kitchen  garden. 
Aspect,  drainage,  and  soil  are  the  desiderata,  and  here  on  the  «lope 
of  the  hill  they  have  all  three.  In  front,  looking  south-west,  are 
just  discerned  the  grey  towers  of  Windsor  Castle,  and  along  its 
base  the  misty  grey  line  denotes  the  Yalley  of  the  Thame?. 
Sheltered  from  north  and  east,  open  to  the  south  and  west,  with 
natural  drainage  and  rich  friable  loam,  here  surely  is  the  spot ! 
And  that  is  the  garden  I  shall  attempt  to  describe.  I  have 
traversed  its  broad,  smooth,  flower-margined  paths  many  a  time.  It 
is  entirely  surrounded  by  walls  and  intersected  transversely  by 
other  walls,  the  main  purpose  being  protection  and  wall  space  for 
fruit.  It  was  here  the  famous  navigator,  Commodore  Anson,  after 
ploughing  the  sea,  with  the  assistance  of  “Capability  Brown  ” 
began  to  plough  the  land. 
The  garden  is  of  oblong  shape,  and  all  the  walks  are  parallel,  or 
at  right  angles  to  each  other,  with  borders  of  herbaceous  plants  on 
either  side.  No  ribbon  border  of  so-called  bedding  plants  could 
vie  for  a  moment  with  the  interest  and  beauty  of  these  borders. 
From  Christmas  Rose  to  Chrysanthemum  ;  from  Snowdrop, 
Daffodil,  and  Anemone  ;  Pseony,  Hollyhock, and  Phlox  ;  Delphinium, 
Hydrangea,  Foxglove,  and  huge  Fuchsias  to  Michaelmas  Daisies, 
which  used  to  be  sent  by  the  old  Earl  and  his  lady  to  cheer  the 
inmates  of  hospitals.  Then,  of  course,  there  are  beds  of  Roses, 
Carnation*,  and  Lilies  ;  and  just  as  the  Roses  are  in  bloom  we — 
no,  his  Lordship’s  family — have  only  to  step  over  the  border  to 
luxuriate  in  the  most  delicious  Strawberries.  Here  they  are  in 
abundance,  from  Keen’s  Seedling  to  La  Constante  and  Royal 
Sovereign.  And  then,  what  a  feast  of  the  plebeian  Gooseberry  is 
there  in  the  season  !  anu,  as  in  the  case  of  Strawberries  and 
Currants,  protected  by  means  of  careful  netting.  In  the  more 
sheltered  parts  of  the  garden  are  quarter*  of  Cherries,  Plums, 
Apples,  and  Pears.  Most  of  these  trees  are  pyramids,  from  fifteen 
to  twenty  years  old  ;  and  among  them,  as  one  may  see  by  the 
label,  are  the  choicer  sorts,  added  by  Mr.  Mundel,  the  late  highly 
esteemed  head  gardener,  as  they  came  out.  Of  Pears  there  is  a 
fine  collection.  Along  the  upper  walk  by  the  houses  is  a  row  of 
dome-shaped  trees,  the  branches  trained  down.  They  are  a  feature 
in  the  garden,  although  several  of  the  kinds,  among  them  Marie 
Louise  and  Beurre  Diel,  do  not  take  kindly  to  this  kind  of 
training.  The  trees  were  about  8  feet  high,  and  from  5  to  6  feet 
through.  They  are  very  handsome  when  in  flower.  Both  the 
Apples  and  Pears  are  beautiful  objects  in  blossom — no  two  blooms 
precisely  alike.  Beautiful  as  these  trees  are  in  April  and  early 
May,  they  cannot  vie  with  the  Cherry,  and  more  especially  the 
Morello  Cherry,  whose  silver  bells  the  bees  are  ringing  from  dawn 
to  sunset. 
It  is  difficult  to  understand  the  prejudice  against  fruit  trees  in 
the  pleasure  ground.  There  are  few  more  delightful  objects  on  a 
lawn  than  a  well-furnished  Apple  tree  ;  and,  indeed,  there  are  few 
more  beautiful  trees  for  flower  and  fruit. 
The  first  long  range  of  glass  is  used  as  a  fruit  house — for 
Peaches  and  Nectarines  mainly.  It  is  an  agreeable  surprise  when 
one  steps  out  of  the  keen  March  air  into  such  a  little  world  of  sun¬ 
shine.  The  masses  of  lovely  pink  blossoms  are  open  then  ;  there 
is  the  suggestive  fragrance,  and  the  soothing  hum  of  hundreds  of 
bees  busily  at  work.  The  gardener,  as  a  rule,  thinks  little  of  the 
value  of  these  humble  creatures.  Without  their  aid  in  fertilising 
the  flowers  he  would  look  in  vain  for  the  crop  that  follows.  George 
Herbert  has  some  quaint  lines  on  the  bee  that  may  not  be  known 
to  some  readers  : — 
“  Bees  work  for  man  ;  and  yet  they  never  bruise 
Their  master’s  flower,  but  leave  it,  having  done, 
As  fair  as  ever,  and  as  fit  for  use  ; 
So  both  the  flower  doth  stay,  and  honey  run.” 
This  is  scarcely  the  truth,  by  the  way.  In  some  species  of  flowers 
the  petals  drop  soon  after  the  blossom  is  fertilised,  so  rapidly  is  the 
function  completed. 
It  is  probable  that  the  fruit  grown  on  the  walls  here  during  the 
past  halt  century  would,  if  sold,  have  paid  more  than  thrice  over 
for  the  cost  of  the  walls.  Peaches,  Nectarine*,  and  Apricots  are 
grown  by  thousands.  The  bloom  on  the  open  walls  is  protected 
from  frost,  and  there  is  scarcely  ever  a  failure. 
Much  more  might  be  said  of  this  fruitful  old  garden,  of  its  fine 
crops  of  Muscat*  and  Black  Hamburghs,  its  Figs  and  forcing 
houses,  and  plants,  and  also  about  the  pretty  geometrical  garden 
close  to  the  entrance  to  the  second  garden.  If  the  old  Commodore 
and  Capability  Brown  could  visit  that  spot  once  again  it  would 
gladden  their  eyes  to  see  their  labours  matured,  the  garden  still 
flourishing  in  its  green  old  age. — Herga. 
OUR  HARDY  PLANT  BORDER. 
( Continued  from  page  153.) 
Sweet  Williams. 
These  old  garden  favourites,  which  in  some  districts  may  be 
seen  near  almost  every  cottage,  are  still  worth  a  place  wherever 
beautiful  flowers  are  prized,  though  they  are  specially  adapted  for 
certain  positions.  For  example,  where  there  are  narrow  borders 
skirting  a  shrubbery  they  make  a  good  margin,  while  we  have  also 
had  them  as  a  margin  for  large  circular  beds,  the  central  portion  of 
which  has  been  devoted  to  sub-tropical  plants.  They  are  not 
adapted  for  beds  laid  out  in  geometrical  design,  nor  for  any 
elaborate  series  of  beds  on  terraces  in  view  of  the  mansion,  unless 
they  can  be  removed  immediately  after  flowering  and  their  places 
filled  with  some  other  suitable  plants.  In  very  hot  seasons  and  dry 
situations  they  last  but  a  comparatively  short  time  in  flower,  and 
the  tall  seedy  stems  then  have  an  untidy  and  dreary  appearance. 
For  line*  and  masses,  however,  in  less  conspicuous  places  they  are 
unquestionably  most  useful,  and  they  have  much  to  recommend 
them  for  general  cultivation. 
One  of  the  reasons  that  induced  us  to  include  them  in  our 
collection  was  because  they  are  easily  railed  from  seed,  thus 
