June  17,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
623 
best  were  all  Hybrid  Teas,  and  all  from  Pernet-Ducher — Madame 
Cadeau  Ramey,  Ferdinand  Batel,  and  Souvenir  du  President 
Carnot,  which  last  was  only  new  to  me.  The  first- named  of  these 
three  impressed  me  most,  but  it  requires  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  standard  of  perfection  attainable  by  grafted  plants  under  glass 
to  judge  of  their  comparative  merits  as  outdoor  plants. 
And  then,  after  a  grateful  cup  of  tea,  for  the  pleasant  ride  of 
seventeen  miles  home  :  a  little  marred  by  one  of  my  pedals  coming 
hopelessly  off  halfway,  and  necessitating  the  somewhat  lame  con¬ 
clusion  of  riding  the  last  eight  miles  home  on  one  leg,  but  a  very 
enjoyable  trip  all  the  same. — W.  R.  Raillem. 
PRIMULA  TRAILLI. 
In  your  note  of  29th  April,  page  361,  on  the  award  of  merit  to 
Primula  Trailli,  shown  by  me  at  the  Drill  Hall  on  27th  April,  you  say, 
“  The  flowers  of  this  rare  Primula  are  borne  on  footstalks  about  • 
4  inches  of  well-packed  large  stones,  and  about  8  inches  of  smaller 
ones,  finishing  with  a  raised  centre  (1  inch  rise  per  6  feet  breadth) 
with  pit  or  other  gravel,  and  some  binding  material ;  soak  and  roll 
the  now-completed  walk  till  it  is  smooth  and  hard. 
Various  surfacings  are  employed  other  than  gravel,  such  as 
asphalt  or  a  dressing  of  coal  tar,  heavily  sprinkled  before  it  sets 
with  yellow  Derbyshire  spar,  white  “chuckies,”  or  quartz  chips, 
mayhap  red  or  yellow  sandstone,  rolling  firmly  and  clean.  Such 
walks  are  at  all  times  pleasant,  always  smooth  and  free  from  weeds. 
The  best  of  gravel  walks  become  rough  in  continued  dry  weather, 
at  which  time  to  walk  on  them  is  not  a  pleasure,  but  a  punishment. 
The  colour  of  walks  is  another  consideration.  Red  and  yellow 
are  warm  colours  ;  grey,  and  it  may  be  white,  are  cold  in  appear¬ 
ance.  Grey  river  gravel  harmonises  with  grey  buildings,  and  is 
much  used  for  pleasure  grounds  and  by  lakes.  Woodland  walks 
should  match  the  soil  in  colour.  Dazzling  and  glassy  hues  we 
banish.  Recently  I  learned  of  a  novelty  (to  me)  in  “  elastic  ” 
walks,  recommended  for  flower  gardens.  Twelve  inches  of  soil  is 
9  inches  in  leDgth.”  As  a  question  has  been  raised  m  some  of 
your  contemporaries  as  to  its  being  closely  allied  to  P.  Munroi 
and  P.  involucrata  I  send  you  a  photograph  to  show  its  much 
larger  growth.  I  took  the  measurements  carefully.  Breadth 
of  plant,  Ilf  inches  ;  height  of  tallest  stem,  16  inches;  length 
of  leaf,  6£  inches  ;  expanded  part  of  this,  3  inches  ;  width  of 
this  last,  inch.  It  had  ten  flower  stems.  The  plant  was 
grown  in  a  cold  frame,  and  when  the  light  was  on  placed  close 
to  it,  so  as  not  to  be  drawn  up. 
I  received  the  seed  about  two  years  ago  from  a  friend 
(a  good  botanist)  in  the  Himalayas,  with  injunctions  to  be 
careful  with  it,  as  the  plant  had  not  been  flowered  in  this 
country.  He  described  it  as  Primula  Trailli  (Watt),  Himalayas, 
17,000  feet.  I  think  that  with  gome  points  of  resemblance  to 
P.  Munroi  and  P.  involucrata,  notably  in  its  very  sweet  smell, 
it  is  essentially  distinct,  and  a  new  Primrose  that  will  be  a 
valuable  addition  to  the  hardy  flower  garden.  This  note  would 
have  been  sent  earlier,  but  I  had  to  wait  for  the  photographs. 
— George  F.  Wilson. 
[We  are  much  obliged  to  Mr.  Wilson  for  the  information 
he  has  furnished,  and  for  the  photograph  from  which  the 
illustration  (fig.  99)  is  reproduced.] 
WALKS. 
We  have  decked  our  much-praised  island  home,  the 
Bonnie  Britain,  with  many  fair  gardens,  the  premier 
emblems  of  civilisation.  To  enjoy  our  beautiful  scenery, 
we  trace  out  certain  tracks  upon  which  we  are  led  to 
enchanting  nooks  or  gay  fairyland  spots  of  waterfalls  and 
wet  herbage.  Past  these,  to  calm,  cool  meadows,  and  still 
quiet  waters  ;  now  changing  a  gravel-laid  track  for  soft 
green  sward,  anon  a  sandstone-coated,  serpent-like  trail, 
among  shady  woods,  or  more  open  groups  of  graceful  trees 
and  flowering  shrubs,  planning  all  on  the  principles  of 
utility  and  purpose. 
Walks,  where’er  they  go,  miftt  have  an  apparent  pur¬ 
pose  ;  no  unneeded  detours  or  meaningless  sweeps  on  open 
surface.  Reasons  must  be  apparent  for  divergences  or 
curves  in  walks.  To  conceal  the  extent  of  limited  grounds, 
ingenuity  in  the  grouping  of  trees  and  shrubs,  or  in  raising 
and  mantling  a  mound,  bower,  rootery,  rockery  or  other 
object,  is  desirable,  and  winding  our  paths  between  and 
among  these,  in  easy  flows,  are  items  of  landscape  gardening  upon 
which  much  has  been  said  and  depends.  Under  circumstances, 
then,  it  may  behove  us  to  “  make  ”  obstacles  in  our  path’s  course 
if  they  do  not  naturally  exist. 
We  do  not  purpose  mentioning  the  general  routes  of  walks 
between  the  mansion’s  entrances  and  the  scenes  of  interest  about, 
for  all  are  surely  acquainted  with  the  prevailing  adoptions.  The 
more  formal  walks  embrace  the  circuit  of  the  house,  its  terraces,  if 
there  be  any,  and  the  formal  flower  garden  and  fore-work  of 
pleasure  grounds.  Briefly  let  us  record  a  few  observations  on 
the  .making  of  walks,  and  their  fitness  to  surroundings.  According 
to  the  extent  of  the  demesne  and  their  positions  their  breadths  vary  ; 
7  or  8  feet  is  frequently  suitable,  but  “  circumstances  alter  cases.” 
Properly  made  walks  ought  to  have  a  solid  dry  base,  drained  in 
all  cases,  except  on  gravelly  lands,,  with  a  foot  or  so  of  graded 
stones,  surfaced  finely,  and  rolled  bard.  Thus — 1  foot  depth  of 
material  is  removed  from  the  staked-out  breadth,  the  foundation 
secured  hard  and  dry — for  the  foundation  is  the  road — made 
convex  with  side  drains  as  required.  Place  on  the  hardened  base 
FIG.  99.— PRIMULA  TRAILLI. 
removed  ;  4  inches  of  packed  small  stones  are  placed  on  the  drained 
foundation,  above  which  8  inches  of  peat  or  moss  (sphagnum)  is 
trodden  as  firmly  as  possible.  The  moss  is  covered  with  a  layer  of 
twice  burned  engine  ashes  (grey  colour),  rolling  this  till  it  cakes 
hard.  This  is  said  to  form  a  durable  elastic  path. 
Ash  walks  may  properly  be  used  in  the  working  parts  of  the 
kitchen  garden.  If  they  run  next  to  walls  slope  them  slightly  to 
the  outer  edge.  To'properly  enjoy  park  and  outland  strolls  let  us 
have  grass  paths  or  glades.  Mark  off  the  ground,  dig  and  level 
it,  making  sure  there  is  uniformity  in  depth  and  quality.  On  this 
sow  in  April  grass  seeds,  selected  ;  or  lay  down,  good  turf,  brushing 
fine  soil  or  sand  over  it,  solidifying  with  a  hea vy  roller.  Open  side 
drains  (screened)  may  be  on  certain  soils  necessary.  Dressings  of 
soot  and  ifine  soil  aid  these  grass  walks  when  they  deteriorate. 
Stone  laid  walks  have  not  come  within  ro.y  notice  ;  will  some 
fellow  writer  tablet  his  experience  with  these  ?  It  is  well  to 
make  walks  thoroughly  at  the  outset. 
We  need  not  compare  ill-made  and  well-made  walks.  Even- 
neis,  with  depth  and  hardness  throughout,  is  highly  necessary. 
