March  10,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
213 
Under  glass  fruit  is  as  carefully  tended  as  that  which  is  grown  out  of 
doors,  and  the  results  attained  are  equally  as  gratifying  and  satisfactory 
to  everyone  concerned.  In  all  there  are  seven  vineries  containing  the 
customary  varieties,  and  it  is  the  boast  of  the  grower  that  for  sixteen 
years  he  has  never  been  without  Grapes  for  a  single  day.  His  pride  on 
this  point  is  quite  pardonable,  for  it  is  an  achievement  deserving  of  all 
praise.  At  the  time  this  visit  was  made  there  were  in  the  Grape  room 
just  over  100  bunches.  The  roots  of  all  the  Vin'es  are  both  inside  and 
outside  of  the  houses,  and  the  borders  inside  have  to  be  utilised  for 
bedding  plants  during  the  resting  period.  Every  two  or  three  years  the 
borders  are  extended  a  little  by  the  addition  of  squares  of  excellent 
loam.  Of  the  remaining  fruits  under  glass  the  most  notable  is  a  Royal 
George  Peach,  which  was  planted  by  the  present  gardener  just  twenty 
years  ago.  For  sixteen  years  an  average  of  300  fruits  per  annum  have 
been  gathered  from  this  tree,  and 
in  some  seasons  there  have  been  as 
many  as  400  good  specimens.  In 
round  numbers  this  gives  5000  fruits 
from  one  tree,  at  which  even  the  most 
hypercritical  would  scarcely  grumble. 
The  tree  is  not  yet  exhausted  ;  in 
fact,  it  is  in  the  best  of  health,  and 
has  now  an  enormous  number  of 
Itonler  fruits  set  for  tbe  coming  season.  The 
- wood  is  clean,  straight,  and  not  very 
l^'tge,  while  the  flowers  are  perfectly 
developed.  It  occupie%  one  side  of  a 
low  span-roofed  house  that  is  about 
Outside 
50  feet  long. 
A  Hird 
l\ 
1 
The  number  of  houses  devoted  to 
plants  is  verj'  considerable,  and  these 
are  augmented  by  long  rows  of  frames 
and  hotbeds,  where  Violets.  Carna¬ 
tions,  Chrysanthemums,  and  Cycla¬ 
mens  are  accommodated.  All  the 
plants  grown  are  chosen  with  a  view 
either  to  supplying  cut  flowers  or  for 
the  purposes  of  house  decoration,  and 
for  the  latter  purpose  everyone  knows 
exactly  what  would  be  selected,  so 
none  need  be  named.  Of  flowering 
plants  those  are  mainly  chosen  that 
^  ^  produce  fragrant  flowers,  such  as  Lily 
of  ‘he  Valley  (now  being  in  great 
demand).  Hyacinths,  Carnations,  and 
the  many  others  that  will  occur  to  the 
minds  of  readers,  and  call  for  no 
special  mention.  Roses  have  a  bed 
in  one  of  the  span  -  roofed  houses 
devoted  to  them ;  in  this  the  plants 
are  pegged  down,  and  during  the  year 
many  thousands  of  flowers  are  cut 
therefrom.  All  the  varieties  are  such 
as  produce  blooms  suitable  for  button¬ 
hole  bouquets.  The  cleanliness  of 
every  plant  in  all  the  many  houses  is 
worthy  of  remark,  for  no  vestige  of 
enemies  of  any  kind  could  be  dis¬ 
cerned.  To  a  large  extent  this, 
without  doubt,  accounts  for  the  fine 
condition  of  the  plants.  The  wood¬ 
work,  walls,  and  glass  are  also,  and 
wisely,  kept  as  clean  as  possible.  The 
conservatory,  referred  to  as  being 
—  within  sight  of  the  trains,  is  a  long, 
comparatively  narrow,  co.ridor-like 
structure,  with  a  central  bay.  This 
is  now  very  bright  with  Camellias,  of 
E.0. 37.-EscA,.«r.  root. 
coloured  flowi  rs  amidst  the  glistening 
green  leaves.  They  are  very  handsome,  and  remind  of  the  Waltham 
Cross  collection  of  Mr.  William  Paul,  whence  perhaps  they  came, 
lletween  the  Camellias,  which  are  planted  out,  are  some  of  the  finer- 
growing  Bamboos,  and  these  enhance  the  general  effect. 
Inside  Border 
The  task  is  almost  done.  Hatfield  has  been  spoken  of  as  it  was 
300  years  ago,  and  as  it  is  to-day.  Much  more  could  be  said  without 
iloing  adequate  justice  to  this  grand  estate.  However,  the  future  holds 
many  possibilities,  amongst  which  may  come  the  opportunity  of  a  second 
visit  to  Hatfield.  Let  us  hope  it  will,  for  it  is  certain  that,  considering 
the  interest  in  horticulture  and  allied  subjects  possessed  by  both  the 
Marcjuis  and  Marchioness  of  Salisbury,  there  will  be  no  deterioration  in 
such  interest  and  no  diminution  in  the  beauty  of  its  many  and  varied 
features.  We  have  pleasu’c  in  giving  the  portrait  of  Hatfield's  past- 
master  gardener  of  161 1  — Tradescant,  and  also  that  of  his  successor, 
after  nearly  three  centuries —  Mr.  George  Norman,  who  for  twent3-twu 
years  has  been  entrusted  with  the  management  of  these  gardens,  and  who 
throughout  that  time  has  proved  himself  fully  equal  to  his  great  and 
responsible  charge. — H.  J.  WRIGHT. 
m 
,  Border 
IJineh  in 
diameter 
INSIDE  AND  OUTSIDE  VINE  BORDERS. 
Some  very  sensible  remarks  have  recently  appeared  in  tbe  Journal 
from  Mr.  Temple  and  others  on  the  always  interesting  subject  of  Vines 
and  Vine  borders.  Perhaps  a  few  more  remarks  may  not  be  unacceptable 
to  some  of  your  rea<lers.  In  many  cases  Grape  growers  have  to  trim 
tneir  methods  to  suit  peculiar  conditions  that  a'e  not,  as  a  rule,  taken 
into  account  in  ordinary  treatises  on  Grape  culture,  hence  the  desultory 
remarks  of  cultivators  are  calculated  to  serve  some  useful  purpose. 
As  to  the  cmnparative  advantages  of  having  the  roots  of  early 
forced  Vines  entirely  restricted  to  an  inside  border  over  that  of  their 
having  also  the  run  of  an  outside 
border,  it  may  be  said  that  it  is  a 
question  on  which  it  may  be  well  not 
to  dogmatise,  as  so  much  depends 
on  other  conditions  that  may  be 
])eculiar  b)  individual  cases.  There 
can  be  no  question  as  to  the  desir¬ 
ability  of  having  the  roots  of  Vines 
that  have  to  be  forced  to  ripen  — 
Grapes  in  April  and  May  well 
established  in  a  good  inside  border, 
and  if  it  is  intended  ultimately  to 
let  them  into  an  outside  medium  they 
should  be  compelled  to  first  take  good 
possession  of  the  inside  border. 
For  my  own  part  I  have  a  bias 
— if  it  may  be  so  termed — in  favour 
of  the  double  run.  It  is  easy  to  have 
Vines  well  established  inside  before 
letting  them  work  outside.  This  can 
be  done  by  building  up  the  openings 
in  the  front  wall,  and  when  these 
are  opened  to  let  the  roots  out  it  is 
M'ell  not  to  remove  more  of  the 
brickwork  than  the  .two  toji  courses,  2 
so  that  the  roots  go  out  near  the  x 
surface  of  the  border.  Vine  roots,  if  -g 
left  to  themselves,  seem  to  have  a  •= 
predilection  in  favour  of  an  outside 
border  and  of  proceeding  in  the  = 
opposite  direction  to  the  rods,  and  " 
soon  find  their  way  outside.  Indeed, 
ordinary  brick  and  mortar  work  is 
i]Ot  a  sufficient  barrier  to  their  doing 
so.  Nothing  short  of  cement  joints 
can  baffle  their  efforts  to  get  access 
to  an  outside  border.  This  natural 
course  is  worthy  of  being  noted,  and 
may  be  considered  as  pointing  in 
favour  of  an  outside  as  well  as  an 
inside  border,  no  matter  what  may 
be  the  date  when  ripe  Grapes  are 
required. 
The  Editor  has  sent  me  two  very 
interesting  illustrations,  that  may  be 
regarded  as  proofs  of  the  foregoing  inside 
remarks  as  to  the  strong  bias  Vine 
roots  have  for  outside  borders.  They 
are  certainly  very  striking  examples 
of  the  determination  and  power  that 
Vines  exert  in  carrying  out  this  bias. 
As  the  illustrations  demonstrate,  they 
have  forced  their  way  through  a 
0-inch  wall,  and  flattened  themselves 
abnormally  in  the  process.  Mr.  W. 
Taylor,  gardener  to  C.  Bayer,  Esq.,  „ 
Tewkesbury  Lodge,  Forest  Hill,  who  Fig.  38.-Escaping  Vine  Root. 
won  the  silver  medal  of  the  K.II.S. 
last  year,  has  charge  of  the  Vines  in  question.  He  also  was  the 
winner  of  a  special  medal  at  Beckenham.  The  illustrations  are  ]ust 
half  the  size  of  the  persistent  roots. 
Of  course  if  the  outside  border  is  to  be  of  the  greatest  possible 
service  to  the  Vines  and  crop,  it  should  be  managed  on  certain  lines. 
The  well-known  fact  that  the  temperature  ol  the  soil  m  early  autumn 
is  warmer  than  that  of  the  atmosphere  ought  to  be  sufficient  reason  to 
lead  the  cultivator,  who  elects  to  have  the  assistance  of  an  outside 
border,  to  take  the  best  means  to  conserve  its  heat,  and  not  a  low 
this  natural  warmth  to  be,  so  to  speak,  stolen  away  by  the  chilling 
blasts  and  rains  of  autumn,  before  taking  timely  measures  to  retain 
it.  A  good  way  of  effecting  this  is  to  cover  the  border  early  in 
autumn  with  some  loose  non-conducting  material,  such  as  dry  leaves, 
hay,  or  straw,  and  tho  whole  with  a  thick  thatch  of  well-draun  s  law, 
to  throw  off  all  rain  and  searching  winds. 
Border 
