January  27,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
75 
Votes  for  the  Best  Fifty  Japanese — continued. 
21  Mrs.  G.  W.  Palmer 
21  A.  H.  Wood 
21  Western  King 
2 1  Pride  of  Exmouth 
20  Duke  of  York 
20  MiSiS  Elsie  Teichmann 
1 9  International 
19  C.  W.  Kichardson 
19  G.  C.  Schwabe 
18  Mrs.  Charles  Blick 
18  Mrs.  C.  H.  Payne 
17  Mdlle.  T,  Key 
15  Thomas  Wilkins 
1 5  Emily  Silsbury 
15  Mons.  Hoste 
14  J,  Bidencope 
14  Mons.  C.  Molin 
14  Col.  W.  B.  Smith 
14  John  Seward 
13  Julia  Scaramanga 
12  Ella  Curtis 
1 2  Sunstone 
12  Mrs.  G.  Carpenter 
12  Mrs.  Hermann  Kloss 
12  Niveus 
12  Mons.  Richard  Dean 
1 2  Mdlle.  Marie  Hoste 
12  Mrs.  E.  A.  Bevan 
11  Mary  Molyneux 
10  Mrs.  W.  Mease 
1 0  Mdme.  Ad.  Chatin 
10  Mons.  Gruyer 
10  Hairy  Wonder 
10  Dorothy  Seward 
8  Joseph  Brooks 
8  N.C.S.  Jubilee 
8  Mdlle.  M.  A.  de  Galbert 
8  Robert  Owen 
8  General  Roberts 
8  Mdlle.  Laurence  Zede 
8  Mrs.  J.  Shrimpton 
8  Mrs.  A.  G.  Hubbuck 
7  Viscountess  Hambledon 
7  Royal  Standard 
7  Amiral  Avellan 
7  Mons.  Edouard  Andre 
7  Golden  Gate 
6  Madame  Rozain 
6  Primrose  League 
6  Baronne  Ad.  de  Rothschild 
6  Mrs.  S.  C.  Probin 
6  Miss  Dorothy  Shea 
6  Rose  Wynne 
6  George  Seward 
6  Snowdon 
6  Mdlle.  Philippe  Rivoire 
5  Matthew  Hodgson 
5  Louise 
5  Mrs.  Maling  Grant 
5  Mrs.  R.  Jones 
5  Mons.  Demay  Taillandier 
5  William  Seward 
5  Master  H.  Tucker 
5  Georgina  Pitcher 
5  John  Neville 
4  Robert  Powell 
4  W.  G.  Newitt 
4  Mons.  G.  Biron 
4  President  Borel 
4  Miss  Maggie  Blenkiron 
4  C.  Harman  Payne 
4  Bellam 
4  Milano 
4  Van  den  Heede 
3  Mrs.  E.  G.  Hill 
3  Royal  Sovereign 
3  Col.  Chase 
3  Madame  Ad.  Moulin 
3  Reine  d’Angleterre 
3  Mrs.  C.  Orchard 
3  President  Nonin 
3  Deuil  de  Jules  Ferry 
3  Silver  King 
3  Madame  M.  Ricoud 
3  Commandant  Blnsset 
3  Mrs.  Hume  Long 
2  Eda  Prass 
2  Goldfinder 
2  In  Memoriam 
2  Mons.  M.  de  la  Rocheterio 
2  A.  H.  Fewkes 
2  Neva  Teichmann 
2  C.  Shrimpton 
2  H.  L.  Sunderbruch 
2  Mrs.  Briscoe  Ironside 
2  Sunflower 
2  Duchess  of  Wellington 
2  Mons.  E.  Rosette 
2  W.  Marshall 
2  Lady  Northcote 
2  J.  Chamberlain 
2  Vicomte  Roger  de  Chezelles 
2  Sunclad 
2  Pallanza 
2  Sur passe  Amiral 
1  Violetta 
1  Ponderosum 
1  R.  Pinnington 
1  Mons.  Joseph  Allemana 
I  Maggie  Shea 
1  Mrs.  Magee 
1  Duke  of  Wellington 
1  Croda 
1  Mrs.  Charles  Keyser 
1  Col.  T.  C.  Bourne 
1  Wood’s  Pet 
1  Mrs.  D.  Dewar 
1  Princess  Ena 
I  Midnight 
1  W.  Wright 
1  Beauty  of  Castlewood 
1  Mons.  A  de  Galbert 
1  Jules  Chretien 
1  Le  Moucherotte 
1  G.  W.  Childs 
1  Mrs.  C.  Birch 
1  Mrs.  Ritson 
1  Mdme.  E.  Roger 
1  Calvat’s  Boule  d’Or 
1  Directeur  Tisserand 
1  F.  Davis 
1  Tofana 
1  W.  W.  Coles 
1  Boule  d’Or 
1  Mdme.  H.  Hoste 
1  E.  G.  Hill 
1  Mrs.  Dr.  Ward 
1  Waban 
1  Stanstead  White 
1  W.  H.  Lincoln 
1  Pride  of  Maidenhead 
1  Beauty  of  Adelaide 
1  Miss  Rita  Schroeter 
1  Lady  Kennaway 
1  Mephisto 
1  Mrs.  H.  Chiesman 
1  Belle  Mauve 
1  Spencer 
1  Baronne  Tait 
1  Elthorne  Beauty 
1  Mdme.  J.  Bernard 
1  Madame  G.  Bruant 
1  Mrs.  Barks 
1  Gertrude  Salter 
1  Madame  Louis  Remy 
1  Lady  E.  Saunders 
1  lalene 
1  Mdlle.  Rosette 
1  Werther 
1  Vicar  of  Exmouth 
1  Madame  E.  Capitante 
1  Captain  L.  Chaure 
1  Dennis-Smith-Rylands 
1  Miss  E.  Addison 
190 
(To  be  continued.) 
Williams’  Memorial.  —  At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Williams’ 
Memorial  Trustees,  Dr.  Masters  in  the  chair,  it  was  decided  to  offer  two 
silver  Memorial  medals  at  the  summer  show  of  the  Royal  Botanic  Society, 
to  be  held  in  May,  and  two  silver  Memorial  medals  at  the  York  Gala  to 
be  held  this  year. 
LAWNS. 
The  alternating  smiles  and  tears  of  our  much-abused  climate  may 
be  credited  with  the  fostering  of  a  feature  of  paramount  importance  to 
picturesque  gardening.  This  in  allusion  to  our  lawns  which,  whether 
they  be  according  to  scale  but  little  more  than  the  grass  plat  on  the 
one  hand,  or  stretch  into  bold  sweeps  measured  by  acres  on  the  other, 
strike  the  keynote  of  a  harmony  we  islanders  have  become  so  accus¬ 
tomed  to  as  a  matter  of  course,  that  but  few,  perhaps,  fully  recognise 
how  much  is  owing  to  this  grand  feature. 
Yet,  as  there  are  gardens  and  gardens,  so  are  there  lawns  and 
lawns,  good,  bad,  and  indifferent;  but  none  so  bad,  even  under  their 
most  impoverished  forms,  as  not  to  contribute  in  some  degree  to  one  of 
the  chief  characteristics  of  British  landscape  gardening.  How  much 
more,  then,  must  this  be  the  case  where  the  cultivation  of  the  best 
Grasses  adapted  to  the  purpose  is  intelligently  carried  out,  and  the 
keeping  is  all  that  could  be  desired  !  It  is,  perhaps,  only  during  an 
exceptional  season  of  drought  that  signs  of  neglect  from  sins  of 
omission  become  fully  apparent,  and  the  lawn,  which  has  been  so 
persistently  shaven  and  shorn  for  years,  with  never  a  thought  of  any 
return  being  made,  becomes  an  arid  waste  until  the  kindly  rain  restores 
its  half-hearted  vigour. 
Were  there  anything  wanting  to  emphasise  the  importance  of  this 
phase  of  gardening,  for  such,  I  think,  it  may  be  reasonably  termed,  it 
is  probably  to  be  found  in  the  high  esteem  afforded  to  it  by  more 
impartial  observers.  Some  transatlantic  cousins  when  “  doing  ”  one 
of  our  historic  Universities  with  all  its  time-honoured  associations, 
were  asked  what  particular  feature  had  impressed  them  most.  The 
reply  was,  “We  guess  it  is  your  grass.”  Hence  we  may  see  at  a  glance 
the  beauty  of  our  English  lawns  as  others  see  it.  Most  have,  perhaps, 
come  to  regard  this  subject  as  one  being  exclusively  a  part  and  parcel 
of  the  ornamental  grounds  in  direct  connection  with  or  contiguity  of 
a  mansion.  This  is,  indeed,  the  principal  feature  with  which  we  have 
now  to  deal,  but  in  the  landscape  gardeners’ art  no  such  restriction  is 
implied. 
So  far  back  as  1776,  Arthur  Young  in  his  descriptive  notes 
(“Young’s  Tour  in  Ireland,”  vol.  i.,  page  23),  si)eaking  of  the  Duke  of 
Leinster’s  seat,  says,  “  fl'he  park  ranks  'among  the  finest  in  Ireland, 
it  is  a  vast  lawn.”  And  again,  “  The  park  spreads  on  every  side  in 
fine  sheets  of  lawn.”  Only  in  one  way  can  this  be  viewed  in  direct 
relation  to  our  subject,  and  that  is,  literally,  from  the  garden  front  of 
the  grand  old  limestone  mansion ;  and,  in  spite  of  many  alterations 
which  have  taken  place  since  Young  visited  Carton,  the  same  vantage 
point  in  all  probability  occasioned  his  critical  remarks,  it  being  an 
excellent  example  of  that  happy  blending  ot  the  kept  grounds  and  a 
mile  of  unbroken  stretch  beyond  to  where  umbrageous  plantations  and 
a  background  of  distant  mountains  complete  the  scene. 
The  importance  of  pressing  into  service  a  wide,  or  rather  deep 
stretch  of  greensward  in  the  picturesque  treatment  of  grounds 
surrounding  a  mansion,  connected  by  the  invisible  link  of  a  sunk 
fence,  can  hardly  be  over-estimated,  although  the  style  and  size  of  the 
building  are  considerations  not  to  be  ignored,  for  instances  may  be 
noted,  although  but  rarely,  in  w'hich  undue  amplitude  of  unbroken 
space  dwarfs  the  residence  it  is  intended  to  dignify  ;  particularly  is 
this  the  case  with  some  old  Tudor  mansions.  The  error,  however,  is 
more  often  one  of  foreshortening  where  ample  margin  is  afforded  for 
bolder  treatment. 
With  what  may  be  termed  the  lawn  proper,  and  which  is  of  more 
immediate  concern,  it  is  easier  to  point  evils  than  apply  remedies,  for 
many  a  man  at  the  head  of  affairs  has  perforce  of  circumstances  to 
follow  the  routine  of  mowing,  rolling,  and  sweeping  with  but  little 
more  than  a  passing  thought  of  those  thorough  measures  conducive  to 
the  best  results.  I  cannot  regard  the  now  indispensable  lawn-mower 
as  an  unmixed  blessing,  for  from  long  observation  the  conclusion  has 
been  deduced  that  its  persistent  use  promotes  the  growth  of  Daisies, 
to  the  detriment  of  the  grass.  So  much  so  was  the  case  in  one 
particular  place,  that,  to  perpetrate  a  “  bull,”  our  grass  was  all  Daisies 
in  the  early  summer  months.  In  this  case  distinct  advantages  were 
noticeable  whenever  an  opportunity  offered  of  letting  the  grass  get 
well  ahead,  and  resorting  to  the  scythe  when  it  was  again  necessary 
to  have  all  things  decent  and  in  order. 
In  another  place  where  local  conditions  altered  cases,  and  during 
winter,  and  well  on  into  spring,  our  grass  was  all  moss,  whilst  little 
or  no  improvement  was  gained  by  the  usual  superficiaUremedies ;  a 
liberal  surplus  of  superphosphate  of  lime  over  and  above  what  was 
required  for  some  old  pastures  led  to  a  trial  of  it  on  the  lawn,  on  the 
lines  that  what  is  sauce  for  the  goose  is  sauce  for  the  gander. 
Fortunately  the  family  were  absent  for  some  considerable  jtimo,  for  a 
somewhat  liberal  dressing,  in  the  words  of  an  old  workman,  burnt 
everything  up ;  but,  practically,  as  everything  visible  was  moss,  and 
the  burning  was  succeeded  by  the  best  growth  of  grass  that  had  been 
seen  for  years,  it  was  “  All’s  well  that  ends  well,”  and  worthy  of 
note.  Further  trials  showed  the  superiority  of  superphosphate  over 
fresh  slaked  lime  for  the  purpose. 
