442 
JOUR' 
.LU 
CF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  8,  13f8, 
ODDS  AND  ENDS. 
AMONGST  tho  lino  plants  wo  had  in  our  herbaceous  border  this 
year  few  wore  more  noteworthy  than  tho  stately  Ercmurus  robustus. 
Two  tine  spikes,  10  feet  in  height,  had  a  telling  offect,  towering  high 
above  everything  else  around  them.  Neaily  one-half  of  the  tall  spike 
was  literally  covered  with  the  delicate  peach  coloured  (lowers,  which  lasted 
for  several  weeks,  as  they  are  produced  in  succession.  Many  persons 
who  saw  it  were  struck  with  the  delicato  beauty  and  noble  proportions  of 
this  stately  plant.  I  was  fortunate  in  securing  a  quantity  of  well  matured 
seeds,  with  which  I  trust  I  may  be  able  to  increase  our  stock.  It  requires 
good  soil  to  develop  fine  flower  spikes. 
The  foregoing,  although  beautiful  as  a  b  rder  plant,  was  practically 
useless  as  a  plant  for  supplying  cut  flower  for  house  decoration,  but  wo  had 
an  abundance  for  cutting  from  some  large  clumps  of  Alstromerm 
aurantiaca.  From  this  old-fashioned  plant  we  cut  tor  upwards  of  three 
months.  The  blooms  last  well  in  water,  and  also  lend  themselves  readily 
to  vniious  types  of  room  decoration.  The  (lumps  had  been  undisturbed 
for  years,  but  this  autumn  in  making  alterali  >ns  we  had  to  remove  them, 
and  may  on  that  account  not  have  such  an  abundant  supply  next  summer. 
Itrequircs  a  deep  rich  loam,  and  should  bo  planted  at  least  12  inches 
beneath  the  surface.  There  arc  several  beautiful  varieties  which  arc  well 
worthy  of  cultivation. 
This  year,  which  is  fast  drawing  to  a  close,  has,  on  the  whole,  not 
been  a  bad  one — at  least,  in  Scotland.  We  have  been  blessed  with 
fairly  good  crops  on  tho  whole.  Some  tlrngs  may  have  been  a  little 
under  average,  but  on  the  other  hand  others  were  abundant.  Vegetables 
have  been  good,  and  fruit,  with  a  few  exceptions,  fully  up  to  the  average, 
and  flowers  have  never  been  finer.  At  the  autumn  show  of  the  Royal 
Caledonian  Horticultural  Society,  which  was  held  in  Edinburgh  last 
September,  the  display  of  cut  flowers  far  exceeded  anything  I  have  seen 
there  during  tho  last  twenty  years. 
While  on  the  subject  of  cut  flowers  there  is  another  matter  of  which 
Scotsmen  feel  a  little  proud  at  tho  present  time,  ar.d  that  is  the  excellent 
display  of  Chrysanthemums  made  at  tho  show  held  in  the  Scottish 
metropolis  a  few  weeks  ago.  In  the  after-dinner  speeches  the  two  censors, 
Messrs.  E.  Molyneux  and  Ed.  Beckett,  spoke  very  highly  of  the  excellent 
quality  of  the  Japanese  blooms  shown,  remarking  that  they  had  not  seen 
finer  anywhere.  Doubtless  the  extra  fine  summer  has  something  to  do 
with  the  high  quality  of  the  flowers,  but  wo  are  learning  too.  Speaking 
of  Chrysanthemums  there  is  one  fine  variety  which  has  been  seldom  seen 
this  year,  and  that  is  Western  King.  With  me  it  has  done  splendidly,  and 
consequently  I  have  been  astonished  to  observe  how  seldom  it  has  been 
seen  in  first  prize  stands.  I  think  it  is  one  of  the  finest  whites  of  its  type. 
A  Plum  tree  in  our  gitdens  produced  a  very  poor  crop  of  fruit  ;  but, 
as  if  ashamed  of  its  meagre  crop,  it  produced  a  second,  which  we  gathered 
in  the  first  week  in  November.  Although  net  first-class  dessert  fruit, 
they  did  capitally  for  tarts.  Tho  variety  is  Victoria,  aud  not  everybody 
can  say  he  had  Plum  tart  in  November. 
Another  example  of  the  o<  traordinardy  fine  season  and  I  have  done. 
About  the  lfith  or  1 7 1 h  of  November  wo  gathered  a  dish  of  excellent 
Mushrooms  in  one  of  the  parks.  These  were  of  fine  quality.  I  do  not 
remember  ever  having  seen  Mushrooms  in  the  open  fields  so  late  in  tho 
year.  Have  you  ALBYN. 
[“Fields”  are  scarce  within  four  miles  of  “Big  Ben,’  but  we  have 
recently  gathered  some  “  beauties’’  from  the  open  garden.] 
COTON  HOUSE. 
With  pleasure  and  anticipation  I  recently  pressed  forward  to  visit 
the  gardens  of  Coton  House,  near  Rugby,  the  residence  of  Arthur  James, 
Esq.,  for  on  several  occasions  during  the  past  season  I  had  seen  the 
grand  Chrysanthemums  staged  by  Mr.  A.  Chandler,  the  enterprising 
gardener.  This  comparatively  new  exhibitor  has  made  such  rapid  strides 
that  his  fame  is  well  established  in  the  Midlands,  and  in  whatever  com¬ 
pany  he  may  in  the  future  exhibit  his  opponents  will  find  him  a  “  hard 
nut  to  crack.-’  This  year  Mr.  Chandler  has  exhibited  in  nineteen  classes, 
secured  seventeen  first  prizes  and  one  second. 
T  do  not  intend  in  this  case  to  follow  the  stereotyped  style  of  describing 
minutely  the  scenery  or  pcints  of  interest  on  my  journey,  for  an  autumn 
day,  even  after  an  “Indian  summer,”  docs  not  always  stir  the  imagination 
into  penning  glowing  descriptive  notes  ;  such  thoughts  come  instinctivoly 
with  the  fresh  beauties  of  spring.  Or  the  brilliancy  of  summer.  “My 
musings  on  this  particular  autumn  day  were  occupied  with  a  subject 
which  always  fascinates  me.  1  was  anticipating  that  I  should  be  able 
to  chronicle  some  good  cultural  achievements,  something  to  show  the 
croakers  that  “gardening  is  not  decaying,”  but  advancing,  and  that 
rapidly,  in  many  directions  ;  to  show  them  that  the  same  desire  to  excel, 
to  do  their  best  ns  true  Britons,  animates  tho  rising  generation  of 
gardeners  to-day  as  strongly  ns  it  did  their  predecessors,  even  in  tho 
“  forties.” 
The  glass  structures  at  Coton  House  are  situated  in  tho  kitchen 
garden  conveniently  near  the  mansicn.  There  are  five  plant  houses,  four 
vineries,  and  three  Peach  houses  ;  several  of  the  plant  houses  aro  of 
recent  construction,  tho  win  le  of  them  aro  built  on  modern  principles, 
and  are  well  arranged  and  useful.  The  vineries  were  the  first  to  claim 
attention,  and,  as  might  bo  supposed,  some  of  them  were  filled  with  Chrys¬ 
anthemums.  At  the  time  of  my  visit  Mr.  Chandler  had  finished  cutting 
exhibition  blooms  for  this  season,  but  I  fancy  many  growers  would  be 
well  pleased  if  they  could  at  the  beginning  of  tho  season  hnvo  ns  many 
grand  flowers  to  select  from  ns  those  I  saw  at  Coton  House  gardens.  An 
enormous  bloom  of  Miss  Ethel  Addison  claimed  special  attention,  as  I 
had  certainly  never  previously  seen  a  bloom  of  that  variety  anything 
approaching  it  in  s:ze.  Australie  was  also  in  grand  form,  not  ono  or  two 
blooms  only,  but  pretty  well  a  dozen  flowers  were  superb,  each  being 
of  great  depth  and  finely  incurved.  Madame  Carnot,  Lady  ltidgway, 
Mons.  Chenon  de  Lechd,  Mons.  Henri  Capitant,  and  Ella  Curtis  were  a 
few  varieties  w'hich  I  singled  out,  but  of  nearly  all  the  varieties  which 
Mr.  Chandler  has  recently  exhibited  fine  flowers  were  still  upon  the 
plants. 
The  incurved  section  is  not  largely  grown,  but  of  the  Queen  family 
many  good  flowers  remained,  as  well  of  deep  ones  of  Princess  of  Wales 
and  C.  II.  Curtis.  Many  of  the  plants  I  noticed  were  carrying  three 
flowers,  some  had  been  stopped,  others  allowed  to  make  tho  natural 
break,  and  in  some  instances  tho  best  flowers  were  produced  from  cuttings 
inserted  in  March,  one  bloom  being  taken  from  each  plant.  In  all  these 
matters  the  practice  of  treating  each  variety  according  to  its  peculiarity 
is  strictly  followed.  Mr.  Chandler  is  no  great  believer  in  enormous 
leaves.  The  characteristics  of  his  plants  are  hard  brown  wood  and 
leathery  leaves  of  moderate  size.  No  artificial  manure  is  mixed  with  the 
compost  used  for  the  final  potting.  It  consists  of  loam,  droppings,  and  a 
little  soot,  bones  being  placed  over  the  crocks.  Only  400  plants  are 
grown.  One  span-roofed  houso  was  filled  entirely  with  Chrysanthemums, 
the  remainder  of  the  plants  being  placed  in  three  vineries,  in  which 
Grapes  were  still  hanging  ;  and  yet  I  did  not  notice  a  single  decaying 
berry,  or  a  “gap”  where  one  had  been  cut  out. 
Now  for  a  few  words  about  the  Vines  and  Grapes.  It  is  easy  to  seo 
at  a  glance  that  these  are  not  neglected  for  the  Chrysanthemums,  for 
both  are  in  splendid  condition.  The  Vines  appear  to  bo  about  seven  or 
e’ght  years  old,  and  are  planted  4  or  5  feet  apart.  On  both  Alicantes 
and  Muscats  the  bunches  were  largo  shapely  or  es,  averaging  from  2  to 
3  lbs.  in  weight,  tho  berries  being  good  and  colour  of  the  best — in  fact 
the  Grapes,  like  the  Chrysanthemums,  showed  culture  of  tho  highest 
order.  To  admit  light  to  the  plants  beneath,  tho  laterals  had  been 
shortened  back  to  the  bunch,  and  tho  strong  brown  wood  and  prominent 
buds  gave  promise  of  fine  results  another  season. 
In  the  Peach  houses  the  same  evidences  of  good  culture  w  ere  apparent. 
The  majority  of  tho  trees  were  young,  yet  wero  rapidly  covering  their 
allotted  space  with  well-balanced  beautifully  trained  shoots.  The  trees 
are  trained  to  trellises  fixed  across  the  house,  instead  of  immediately 
under  the  roof.  This  system  was  long  ago  adopted  by  Mr.  Challis,  tho 
able  gardener  at  Wilton  Houso  in  Wiltshire,  and  both  there  and  at  Coton 
House  tho  plan  is  much  liked,  as  the  results  are  good,  and  a  greater 
amount  of  spaco  is  secured. 
Passing  on  to  the  plant  houses  we  enter  one  entirely  devoted  to  winter 
flowering  Carnations,  and  a  grand  display  they  make.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  about  the  profitableness  of  Carnation  growing  when  they  can  be 
flowered  as  seen  here.  The  plants  were  not  rooted  till  February  last, 
yet  many  of  them  aro  in  7-inch  pots  and  have  four  or  five  shoots,  each 
carry  ing  many  flowers  and  buds.  Last  year  67A0  flowers  were  cut  from  this 
house,  which  is  only  30  feet  in  length.  A  seedling  of  very  dwarf  habit 
and  wonderfully  floriferous  has  been  named  the  lion.  Mrs.  Arthur  James. 
The  colour  of  the  flower  is  a  peculiar  one,  being  a  near  approach  to 
magenta.  So  good  a  variety'  should  be  put  in  commerce.  Mrs.  Leopold 
Rothschild  is  grown  in  quantity,  as  it  is  a  variety  which  can  always  be 
depended  upon  to  flower  well.  A  fino  white  is  Miss  May  Godfrey,  quite 
an  ideal  flower.  W.  Robinson  is  perhaps  the  finest  scarlet  y  et  sent  out, 
but  it  does  not  flower  quite  so  freely  as  some  other  varieties.  Another 
good  scarlet  is  J.  P.  Rogers.  Among  crimsons  the  most  striking  flower 
1  saw  was  an  unnamed  seedling.  President  Carnot  (crimson),  wTas  also  in 
good  form.  Duchess  of  Devonshire  was  grown  in  quantity  ;  in  its  way 
it  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  beautiful  among  Carnations.  Tho  pale 
pink  centres  of  the  flowers,  which  are  shaded  to  a  very  light  edge,  give  a 
delightful  example  of  colour  blending. 
That  grand  winter  flowering  Begonia,  Gloire  de  Lorraine,  is  seen  in 
perfection  in  another  house  in  which  tho  central  stage  is  filled  entirely 
with  it.  It  is  simply  a  mass  of  beautiful  pink.  The  plants  are  in  5  and 
6-inch  pots,  shapely,  and  well  balanced,  almost  like  cushions  of  pink.  The 
Palms  and  Ferns  around  the  sides  of  this  house  form  a  capital  setting  for 
tho  central  mass  of  flowers.  I  think  I  noticed  in  a  recent  number  of  the 
Journal  that  someone  stated  the  shoots  of  this  Begonia  should  be  stopped 
but  little.  Mr.  Chandler  stops  persistently',  and  I  cannot  conceive  how 
better  results  could  be  obtained. 
A  start  has  been  made  in  Orchid  growing,  and  in  the  new  houses 
erected  both  imported  and  established  plants  uro  being  treated  on 
systematic  lines.  Tho  stages  of  the  bouses  are  fixed  over  shallow  water 
tanks,  which  makes  tho  regulation  of  atmospheric  moisture  an  easy 
matter,  and  debars  slugs  from  working  havoc  among  the  young  growths. 
Pits  for  Odontoglossum  and  other  cool  Orchids  aro  built  against  the 
wall  of  one  house  on  the  outside,  arrangements  being  made  for  giving 
them  heat  when  required  by  admitting  warm  air  from  the  house. 
Hanging  from  the  roof  in  one  houro  I  noticed  well  flowered  plants  of 
Dendrobium  formosum  giganteum,  and  on  the  side  stage  attractive  spikes 
of  Oncidium  crispum,  and  “slippers  ’  in  the  form  of  Cypripedium  insigne 
and  Spicerianum ;  with  the  latter  variety  two  flowers  were  in  some 
instances  borne  on  a  single  spike.  Two  gigantic  plants  (in  pans)  of 
Coclogyne  cristata  were  in  superb  health,  giving  rich  promise  of  a  wealth 
of  flowers  in  the  early  spring  months.  In  the  conservatory  adjoining  the 
