March  31,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
in  Devonshiri'.  It  belongs  to  an  order  of  plants  of  which  Amaryllis 
is  a  type.  Lay  open  the  flower  with  a  sharp  knife.  If  it  be  a 
Daffodil  the  six  stamens  are  of  equal  length  and  in  one  series.  They 
have  insertion  low  down  in  the  tube.  In  the  true,  or  Poet’s  Narcissus, 
the  tube  is  longer  and  narrow,  while  the  stamens  are  divided  into  two 
sets  of  three  each  ;  one  set  appears  near  the  mouth,  the  other  is  lower 
down  in  the  tube. 
Standing  on  the  quay  at  St.  Mary’s  one  sees  across  the  Strait,  here 
over  two  miles  across,  a  wooded  island  with  a  stately  house  on  its 
summit.  A  small  steam  launch  runs  to  and  fro  daily.  On  landing, 
our  attention  is  arrested  by  a  semi-tropical  vegetation,  the  most  con¬ 
spicuous  objects  being  Agaves  in  flower,  a  score  feet  high,  tall  Palm¬ 
like  Dracaenas,  and  New  Zealand  Flax.  Tresco,  though  only  four  miles 
in  circuit,  has  a  variety  of  scenery,  open  moorland,  grand  cliffs,  and 
sandy  beaches.  Deliciously  quiet  and  beautiful  the  blue  waves  glide 
up,  silver-fiinged,  to  lap  the  dove-coloured  sands.  But  it  is  not  always 
so.  At  times  the  visitor  is  a  prisoner  for  v^eeks  together,  and,  were  it 
not  f'r'r  the  telegraph,  one  might  as  well  be  in  mid-ocean.  In  West¬ 
minster  Abbey  there  is  a  monument  to  Sir  Cloudsley  Shovel,  who, 
returning  from  the  capture  of  Gibraltar,  was  driven  ashore  at  St.  Mary’s. 
The  fleet  was  wrecked,  and  nearly  all  the  homeward  bound  were  lost. 
A  few  trees  mark  the  spot  where  they  were  buried. 
Presently  the  Lyonesse  winds  its  way  towards  the  rough  but 
substantial  stone  quay  at  St.  IMary’s.  We  are  hauled  up  an  extem¬ 
porised  ladder,  and  once  again  rejoice  in  stepi>ing  on  terra-firma. 
An  eminently  prosperous  and  respectable  race  t'nese  Scillinians, 
though  grave  and  reticent.  St.  Mary’s  and  the  neighbouring  Isles, 
in  summer  at  least,  are  a  delightful  resort  for  the  artist  and  the 
naturalist.  It  was  here,  it  may  be  remembered,  that  IMr,  Brett,  R.A,, 
painted  sorpe  of  his  best  pictures.  There  is  a  peculiarity  in  the  light, 
owing  probably  to  the  abundance  of  watery  vapour — sunshine,  but  no 
shadows.  Whilst  approaching  St.  Mary’s  one  is  struck  with  the 
beauty  of  the  sea.  The  colour  varies,  of  course,  with  the  depth, 
the  varying  light,  opal,  emerald  and  purple — bluer  than  sheets  of 
Hyacinth,  stretching  away  along  the  woodland  vistas ;  greener  than 
the  fresh  sprung  grass  beneath  the  Apple  trees,  where  the  lambs 
are  skipping ;  with  now  and  again  a  path  of  molten  gold  leading  up 
to  the  great  Sun’s  centre,  as  if  He  had  again  walked  its  surface, 
leaving  behind  Him  footprints  on  the  sea. 
Nearly  a  thousand  years  ago,  we  are  told,  the  island  of  Tresco  was 
the  seat  of  a  Benedictine  abbey.  Being  far  away  from  help,  it  suffered 
repeatedly  at  the  hands  of  French  and  Spanish  marauders.  That  pile 
of  rusted  cannon  balls  by  the  ruined  abbey  wall  was  exhumed  during 
excavations  from  time  to  time.  Queen  Elizabeth,  to  avoid  further 
complaints,  gave  the  island  to  a  Godolfihin,  strong  enough  to  protect 
it.  It  was  from  a  descendant  that  the  late  Lord-Proprietor,  Augustus 
Smith,  purchased  Tresco  and  the  neighbouring  islands.  The  present 
proprietor,  Colonel  Dorrien-Smith  is  a  nephew  of  Augustus. 
It  is  chiefly  at  Tresco  where  the  “  Lilies  ”  are  grown.  The  Daffodil 
is  a  hardy  plant,  needing  no  protection  except  from  the  boisterous 
winds.  This  is  afforded' chiefly  by  everg'een  hedges — Euonymus, 
Veronica,  Tamarisk,  and  Escallonia  macrantha.  The  latter  is  a  shruh 
with  stiff,  glossy  evergreen  leaves  and  trusses  of  rosy,  trumpet  shaped 
flowers.  The  plant  was  introduced  by  the  late  Mr.  Augustus  Smith.  It 
luxuriates  in  the  mild,  salt-seasoned  air  of  the  Scillies,  and  will  make 
a  fence  from  cuttings  4  feet  in  height  in  as  many  years.  There  is  a 
fresh-water  lake  beneath  the  hill,  and  on  the  slopes  the  flowers  are 
grown  by  acres,  from  the  grand  Empress,  Emperor,  Sir  Watkin,  Horse- 
fieldi,  to  the  tiny  nanus  and  Angel’s  Tears.  The  soil  is  a  smooth, 
brown,  silky  lo-m,  largely  mixed  with  sand.  It  is  not  only  the 
Narcissus  that  is  largely  grown  at  St.  hLary’s  and  Tresco ;  there  are 
others  of  the  Lily  tribe,  besides  acres  of  Stocks  and  Wallflowers,  which 
are  ready  for  market  weeks  before  ours.  Perhaps  the  brightest  bit  of 
colour  is  Anemone  fulgens — a  dazzling  scarlet.  One  of  the  tribe,  it 
may  be  remembered,  clothes  the  hill  sides  of  the  Riviera. 
One  must  say  a  word  about  the  world-famed  gardens,  for  there 
flourish  all  the  year  round  Palms,  Tree  Ferns,  Dracaenas,  Agaves,- 
huge  Hydrangeas,  Fuchsias,  and  the  handsome  Phormium  tenax, 
or  New  Zealand  Flax.  The  gardens — a  series  of  terraces,  crossed 
transversely  by  paths  and  stone  steps,  are  filled  with  rare  flowers  and 
shrubs  One  enters,  in  response  to  a  courteous  invitation  by  the  rock 
garden,  and  we  are  surprised  (I  am  speaking  of  June  now)  by  the 
masses  of  brilliant  colours — ^Mesembryanthemums  chiefly,  from  pure 
white,  various  shades  of  yellow,  rose,  scarlet,  mauve,  purple,  and 
crimson.  The  flower  evidently  delights  in  bright  sunlight  and  sea  air; 
everywhere  it  is  at  home  here  in  Tresco.  Pieces  of  it  flung  aside  alight 
on  a  stone  wall,  fake  root  in  a  few  days,  and  present  a  delightful  bit 
of  colour.  One  of  a  larger  kind  bears  canary-coloured  flowers,  and 
rambles  unchecked  along  the  beach  in  dense  masses. 
Ferns  are  not  very  abundant  at  d’resco  or  St.  Mary’s.  I  noticed  a  few 
tufts  of  the  Sea  Spleenwort,  Asplenium  marinum,  on  the  rocks  by 
Cromwell’s  Castle,  and  a  strong  stool  of  Osmunda  regalis.  The  Heather 
luxuriates,  and  is  especially  charming  where  sheltered. — Heega, 
LAWNS  AND  ALLIED  SUBJECTS. 
{Continued  from  page  215.) 
Supposing  the  lawn  site,  either  for  turfing  or  for  seeds,  to  have 
been  primarily  levelled  according  to  whatever  slope  or  fall  h;is  been 
decided  upon,  and  that  a  certain  amount  of  consolidation  of  the  soil  by 
tramping  or  other  means  has  been  uniformly  given  to  it,  the  finishing 
process  by  surface  levelling  is  one  requiring  some  little  amount  of 
skilful  management.  If  this  is  done  in  tolerably  small  sections  where 
turf  is  to  be  employed  it  will  be  conducive  to  a  goi  d  finish,  the 
object  being  to  have  the  least  amountof  traffic  possible  on  the  prepared 
ground.  With  this  end  in  view,  light  shutters  made  by  nailing  three 
nr  four  boards  together  with  cross  laths  (the  fiat  side  to  be  always 
down  when  using)  with  a  few  long,  licht  planks  will  he  found  a  satis¬ 
factory  way  to  avoid  undue  tramping  upon  the  soil.  On  a  large  scope 
of  ground  this  may  possibly  be  considered  superfluous.  I  do  not 
think  so,  even  in  fine  weather,  which  of  course  should  always  be  taken 
advantage  of  if  possible.  In  any  ca-e,  for  a  tennis  or  croquet  ground 
I  should  insist  upon  their  use.  Iir  theory  the  turf-beater  and  roller 
will  reduce  all  to  a  smooth  plane,  but  in  practice  they  do  not  always 
jrrove  to  be  so  effective.  Care  must  be  taken  to  cut  the  turves  of  a 
uniform  thickness,  and  not  of  unwieldly  breadth  or  length,  resulting 
probably  in  a  waste  of  time  and  temper.  Respecting  size,  much 
depends  upon  the  texture  of  the  turf;  but  15  inches  by  30  inches  may 
be  generally  regarded  as  convenient  for  handling. 
In  all  cases  I  have  dealt  with  in  the  use  of  turf,  it  has  been  taken 
from  some  part  of  the  demesne,  a  breadih  of  the  most  suitable  being 
previously  prepared  by  mowing,  sweeping,  and  rolling;  the  despoiled 
place  being  sown  as  early  as  possible  -with  grass  seeds.  This  was,  in 
fact,  the  condition  at  one.  pdace  under  which  we  were  allowed  to  rob 
the  pas  u re,  and  where  the  soil  was  found  to  be  in  good  heart,  a  little 
hand  tillage  and  sowing  down  with  a  clean  quality  of  grass  seeds 
enabled  us  to  take  a  second  or  even  a  third  crop  of  turf  off  the  one 
spot,  according  to  subsequent  requirements.  In  the  matter  of  turf  v. 
seeds,  if  the  former  is  of  fine  qnaliiy,  there  appears  not  much  to  choose 
between  the  two  methods.  I  must  confess  to  a  predilection  for  the 
former,  for  a  lawn  thus  made  has  apparently  more  variety,  and,  con¬ 
sequently,  more  character  in  it,  and  the  finest  types  of  grass  seed 
mixtures  never  appear  to  be  quite  mixed  enough  in  the  way  of  variety 
to  prevent  a  kind  of  sameness.  But  few  may  agree  with  me  upon 
that  point;  one  advantage  with  turf,  however,  will  probably  be 
admitted,  alvvays  provided  that  it  is  of  good  quality — viz.,  that  the 
grasses  present  are  the  survival  of  the  fittest  to  the  locality  ;  whilst 
with  seeds,  some  varieties  may  be  present  and  in  considerable  bulk, 
not  so  well  suited  to  the  local  conditions.  With  seeds,  some  study  of 
ihe  subject  is  necessary  to  obtain  the  best  results.  Several  of  our 
eminent  seedsmen  have  so  comprehensively  and  exhaustively  gone  into 
this  matter,  that  the  highest  possible  has  been  attained  in  this  direction, 
and  with  a  lucid  explanation  as  regards  soil,  position,  and  substrata, 
their  practical  advice  can  be  seldom  equalled  and  never  excelled. 
In  the  matter  of  seed-sowing  quick  germination  and  unchecked 
growth  are  the  desiderata,  hence  nothing  is  gained,  and  much  may 
be  lost,  if  sowing  takes  place  prior  to  a  spell  of  genial  wtather  being 
reasonably  expected,  flhe  middle  of  April  in  most  situations  will  be 
early  enough,  when  given  a  calm  day,  a  dry  surface,  even  distribution 
of  the  seeds,  with  a  thorough  rough  raking  over  to  cover  them  as 
much  as  possible,  and  one  final  rolling  as  a  finish,  under  favourable 
growing  conditions  the  lawn  will  quickly  appear  in  its  incipient  stage. 
A  single  horse  iron  roller  worked  by  four  men,  two  at  the  shafts  and 
two  pushing,  occasionally  used  afterwards  js  able  by  its  greater 
breadth  and  weight  to  accomplish  more  and  better  work  than  several 
applications  of  the  band  roller.  In  rolling  the  operation  should  be 
alternate,  where  the  fall  is  not  too  great  to  prevent  uphill  work — thus 
rolling  in  the  length  one  time,  the  next  crossways  —  transversely. 
With  seeds  it  is  important  that  mowing  should  not  occur  before  the 
delicate  plants  have  time  to  develop  a  certain  amount  of  character 
and  robustness,  any  attempt  to  bring  the  lawn  into  a  perfectly  kept 
appearance  too  hastily  being  more  or  less  detrimental  to  its  future 
prospects.  With  the  employment  of  turf  this  does  not  obtain  there¬ 
fore  for  tennis  grounds  which  are  required  for  almost  immediate  use 
the  turfing  method  is  preferable. 
Compared  with  making  new  lawns  the  task  of  renovating  old  ones 
is  simple,  although  no  sparing  of  labour  should  entail  to  prevent  its 
being  efficient.  A  mistake  not  infrequently  met  with  is  that  of 
making  up  certain  sinkages  which  have  taken  place  from  time  to  time 
by  the  removal  of  trees,  turfing  over  flower  beds,  alteration  of  walks, 
nr  other  causes.  The  filling  of  these  hollows  with  fresh  soil  tends  to 
a  spotty  appearance  by  the  more  vigorous  growth,  which  will,  possibly, 
continue  to  be  noticeable  for  years;  and,  gem  rally,  this  patchwork 
performance  is  not  commendable,  especially  in  regai  d  to  the  simplicity 
of  lifting  and  relaying  the  turf,  which  according  to  circumstances 
may  be  done  in  sections  spread  over  two  or  more  seasons.  By  the 
simple  action  of  lifting  the  turf  all  the  coasrer  weeds  disappear,  and  the 
