414 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Octobei'  39,  1888, 
namerous  vMes  and  isolated  specimen  plants.  The  specimen 
plants  consist  largely  of  Golden  Elders,  which  are  prominent  also 
in  many  vases.  There  is  this  to  be  said  aboat  them — they  are 
inexpensive,  hardy,  involve  little  trouble  ;  seem  as  happy  in  town 
as  in  country,  and  they  are  bright.  It  is  more  satisfactory  to  s^ 
what  may  be  regarded  as  common  things  thrifty  than  rarities,  as  if 
eking  out  a  miserable  existence  in  positions  where  they  cannot 
thrive  ;  and  sure  it  is  that  many  a  square  in  London  could  be  made 
far  more  cheerful  than  is  the  case  now  by  the  jadicious  disposal  of 
Golden  Elders,  properly  tended  in  washing,  watering,  and  pinching 
for  keeping  them  in  the  best  condition. 
“What !  pinching  Golden  Elders?”  Yes,  pinching  them  ;  and 
in  no  other  way  can  they  be  made  to  shine  so  brightly  as  by 
nipping  out  the  tips  of  the  shoots  in  summer.  Then  do  they  present 
clean  fleecy  masses  of  gold  instead  of  a  sickly  yellowish  green. 
This  is  Mr.  Molyneux’s  simple  method  at  Swanmore  when  he  wants 
the  shrubs  to  appear  at  their  best,  associated  with  purple  Hazel, 
and  as  is  also  done  in  some  continental  gardens.  Whoever  may 
have  two  of  the  shrubs  growing  together  in  their  gardens,  and  will 
pinch  out  the  green  tips  of  one  of  them  when  the  growths  have 
elongated  sufficiently  next  summer,  will  see  the  effect  in  a  moment, 
and  he  will  then  very  likely  set  to  work  pinching  the  other.  By 
winter  pruning  into  the  shape  appropriate  to  the  position ,  followed 
by  a  little  summer  maiiipulation,  these  too  often  wild,  gaunt,  and 
dingy  Elders  can  be  made  quite  ornamental.  All  this  has  come 
from  observing  Mr.  McLeod’s  simple  method  of  decorating 
Edinburgh.  It  will  not  be  very  interesting  to  my  magnate,  I  fear, 
while  the  sub-scribe  will  begin  to  wish  he  had  not  penned  his 
“  awful  ”  little  note  on  page  398  last  week. 
Now  we  leave  the  famous  city,  and  cross  that  great  monument 
of  engineering  skill  the  Forth  Bridge,  but  to  appreciate  its  stupen¬ 
dous  character  it  is  necessary  to  be  under  it  and  not  on  it.  One 
result  of  it  has  been  such  an  increase  in  traffic  that  the  Waverley 
Station  became  quite  inadequate,  and  a  new  and  larger  one  is  being 
built  over  the  same  site,  and  beyond  it,  while  in  some  mysterious 
way  the  trains  are  kept  running  all  the  time — a  spectacle  of  order 
a,mid  Oonfusion  that  makes  the  mere  tourist  think  what  clever  men 
these  railway  people  are.  Safe  over  the  bridge  and  into  the  “  king¬ 
dom  of  Fife,”  in  quest  of  what  cannot  be  elsewhere  seen — the  first 
Deodars  (Cedrus  Daodara)  that  were  raised  in  Great  Britain — 
namely,  at  Melville  House,  long  the  home  of  the  Earls  of  Leven 
and  Melville,  but  the  estate  no  longer  goes  with  the  title,  having 
passed  in  direct  lineage  to  the  granddaughter  of  the  last  Earl  who 
possessed  it,  the  title  to  a  collateral  branch.  The  present  owner  of 
Melville,  a  young  lady,  takes  up  her  residence  very  shortly,  the 
mansion  having  for  some  years  been  occupied  by  Mrs.  Brown 
Douglas,  a  niece  of  the  introducer  of  the  Deodars,  the  Hon.  William 
Leslie  Melville.  _ 
The  North  British  Kailway  from  Edinburgh  to  Perth  runs  on 
the  margin  of  the  coast  for  a  considerable  distance,  and  thus,  with 
the  sea  on  the  right  and  luxuriant  vegetation  on  the  left,  the  route 
in  summer  is  a  pleasant  one.  The  chief  centre  of  population  on 
the  way  is  Kirkcaldy — the  “  Lang  Toon”  it  is  called,  and  it  merits 
the  appellation.  There  appear  to  be  miles  of  it;  but  really  other 
“  toons  ”  have  spread  till  they  touch  each  other  under  the  stimulus 
of  the  great  trade  in  linoleums  and  other  fabrics  of  that  nature, 
of  which  Kirkcaldy  is  the  seat  and  centre.  In  time  Ladybank  is 
reached  and,  after  a  change,  Collessie.  Knowing  the  innate  kindness 
of  the  family  we  did  not  expect,  though  could  not  be  surprised  to 
find,  Mrs.  Brown- Douglas’  carriage  waiting,  and  we  were  soon  at 
stately  Melville,  a  huge  pile  that  has  stood  four-square  to  all  the 
winds  that  have  blown  there  through  two  centuries,  and  still  appears 
little  the  worse  for  wear.  An  inspection  of  the  family  portraits 
and  of  the  state  rooms  with  their  tapestries  and  superb  needlework 
hangings,  a  glance  at  the  splendid  avenue,  a  rest,  then  in  the  after¬ 
noon  a  search  for  the  Deodars. 
The  seeds  from  which  the  trees  were  raised  were  brought  from 
the  Himalayas  in  1831  and  sown  in  the  open  garden.  There  are 
only  three  or  four  of  the  originals  left,  and  the  first  of  them  was 
found  in  the  garden  of  the  manse- — a  timber  tree,  the  graceful 
habit  and  contour  of  youth  having  long  since  departed  ;  in  fact  it 
almost  exactly  answers  to  the  description  given  in  Mr.  Veitch’s 
fine  work  on  the  Coniferae,  from  Lawson’s  “  Pinetum  Britanicum  ” 
as  follows  : — “  In  its  maturity  the  branches  of  the  Deodars  spread 
out  in  horizontal  expansions,  rising  flight  above  flight  in  successive 
steps  into  a  rounded  or  slightly  flattened  top.  The  slightest  trace 
of  decay  is  seldom  seen  in  its  trunk  and  the  tree,  except  when 
growing  in  very  exposed  situations,  never  puts  on  the  depressed 
tabulated  character  of  the  Oedar  of  Lebanon.”  That  is  very  mnch 
the  character  of  the  original  Deodars  at  Melville,  now  over  sixty 
years  old.  They  are  not  nearly  so  tall  as  some  others  that  are 
younger,  at  Drupmore,  for  instance,  as  they  have  not  been  drawn 
up  by  other  trees,  and  may  be  about  60  feet  high,  but  the  sturdy 
trunks  are  perfectly  sound.  _ 
The  little  manse  garden  told  us  clearly  enough  that  it  was 
cherished  by  Mr,  and  Mrs.  Brnnton.  Such  splendid  beds  of 
Begonias  had  not  been  seen  in  the  south  during  the  hot  dry 
summer,  while  what  might  have  been  vegetable  quarters  were 
cropped  with  almost  all  kinds  of  border  flowers,  growing  and 
flowering  so  freely,  as  if  each  one  had  happened  to  find  the  exact 
place  best  suited  to  its  requirements.  The  greenhouse  was  crowded 
with  plants,  just  as  are  the  greenhouses  of  amateurs  who  love 
them,  and  the  Flame  Flower  (Tropseolum  speciosum)  was  sparkling 
on  the  wall  of  the  manse.  Altogether  a  delightful  little  garden 
and  unique,  as  the  only  one  in  Britain  containing  a  “  first”  Deodar, 
the  others  at  Melville  growing  in  the  park. 
The  park  with  its  grand  trees,  and  especially  the  splendid 
avenue,  may  be  said  to  be  the  chief  feature  of  Melville.  The 
trees — Beeches — were  probably  planted  when  the  mansion  was 
erected.  There  are  two  rows  on  each  side  of  the  carriage  drive,  the 
nearest  row  being  18  yards  from  the  margin,  so  that  there  is  a 
broad  stretch  of  grass  between  the  trees  and  road.  The  Beeches 
are  stately  specimens,  with  grand  trunks  and  rich  green  leaves,  the 
general  effect  reminding  of  the  celebrated  “  Long  Walk  ”  at 
Windsor,  though  the  trees  there  are  Elms.  There  are  good  but 
not  extensive  gardens  at  Melville,  and  the  Apple  crop  in  bulk  and 
quality  of  fruit  was  wonderful,  but  the  most  noteworthy  trees 
were  Gooseberries  trained  fan  shape,  the  branches  reaching  the  top 
of  a  14  feet  wall  and  having  a  spread  of  about  20  feet.  The 
branches  are  quite  straight,  thinly  disposed,  and  have  borne 
abundant  crops  of  excellent  fruit.  Mr.  J.  Smith,  the  gardener,  has 
occupied  his  position  for  forty  years,  and  throughout  that  long 
period  the  gardens  have  been  noted  for  their  cleanliness  and  the 
good  cultivation  that  has  been  practised  in  them.  He  is  an  excel¬ 
lent  man  and  much  respected,  the  chief  pleasure  of  his  life  having 
been  in  striving  to  do  bis  duty.  After  a  night’s  rest,  and  with 
thanks  to  all  who  contributed  in  making  the  call  so  pleasant,  we 
journeyed  vid  Perth  from  fine  old  Melville  to  beautiful  Keir. 
No,  Mr.  Sub,  with  every  desire  to  oblige,  1  cannot  add  “  to  be 
continued  next  week.”  I  am  too  old  to  make  promises  that  it  may 
not  be  possible  to  fulfil.  A  phrenologist  once  told  me  that  my 
bump  of  caution  was  largely  developed  ;  yet  as  language  was  not 
low,  and  self-esteem  high,  he  thought  there  might  be  some  danger 
in  my  acting  rashly  in  just  one  thing,  and  I  was  to  guard  against  it 
—  namely,  writing  to  the  press.  Of  rashness  there  has  been  enough, 
and  caution  now  restrains  the  pen  from  saying  more  than  this — 
to  be  continued  some  time  if  health  and  space  permit,  by — 
The  Scribe. 
ROOT  EELWORM. 
Mb.  Abbbv  does  me  the  honour  to  say  that  be  cannot  make  “  head 
or  tail  ”  of  my  communication,  which,  I  take  it,  is  a  confession  of 
inability  to  explain  the  failure  of  the  remedy  which  he  advocates.  In 
my  opinion  the  nodosities  on  the  French  Beans  were  caused  by  eelworms, 
and,  if  it  will  help  Mr.  Abbey  in  any  way,  I  may  state  that  the  solution 
employed  as  a  preventive  was  a  quarter  of  a  pint  of  soluble  phenyle  to  a 
gallon  of  water. — J.  Shalpobd. 
In  reference  to  the  immersion  of  plants  in  solutions  “  W.  D.”  and 
myself  are  told  that  everybody  knows  that  applying  solutions  to  the 
soil  to  be  two  different  things  ;  then  Mr.  Abbey  proceeds  to  “  clear  up  ” 
this  question  by  telling  us  at  the  end  of  his  clearing  up  paragraph 
that  there  is  actually  no  difference  between  them,  and  that  they  are 
one  and  the  same  thing,  I  cannot  understand  it. 
I  asked  for  a  record  of  the  beneficial  resnlts  of  a  trial  of  the  advised 
remedies,  and  am  told  I  expect  miracles.  We  are  given  a  full  list  of 
these  remedies,  and  the  various  strengths  at  which  they  are  to  be  used. 
Cannot  we  then  use  them  and  state  the  facts  ?  Would  Mr.  Abbey  object 
to  their  statement  if  they  were  favourable  to  himself  7  May  I  suggest 
that  his  method  of  treating  those  who  wish  to  give  his  prescriptions  a 
fair  trial  is  not  very  encouraging?  Beal  searchers  for  truth  like  to 
have  facts  recorded  whatever  they  may  be, 
I  should  like  to  say  that  no  one  of  the  readers  of  the  Journal  is 
more  ready  to  admit  that  Mr.  Abbey  has  given  us  many  good  things  in 
these  pages,  and  I  trust  he  may  long  continue  to  do  so ;  I  also  sincerely 
hops  his  investigations  may  lead  to  ultimate  success,  then  I  for  one 
shall  not  begrudge  his  wearing  the  whole  of  the  laurels ;  I  shall  be 
well  satisfied  with  courteous  treatment. — By-the-Sea. 
