298 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  OOTTAIE  GARDEN RH. 
April  3,  1902. 
Ily  watching  onr  plants  carefully  in  spring,  and  removing  all 
dise^ised  foliage,  and  syringing  them  frequently  with  the  above 
.solution  all  the  summer  and  early  autumn,  we  have  so  far  mastered 
the  enemy  that,  unless  anyone  examined  our  plants  very  care¬ 
fully  in  November,  they  would  certainly  say,  as  many  have  done, 
that  we  were  perfectly  free  from  rust,  and  as  long  as  we  have  it 
no  worse  than  that  we  Avill  not  complain. — Modesto. 
The  Taj  Gardens,  Agra,  India. 
We  have  been  favoured  Avith  vieAvs  and  a  brief  description  of 
the  Taj  Gardens  in  the  city  of  Agra,  Avhich  was  originally  the 
capital  of  the  Mogul  Empire,  one  of  which,  known  as  the  Locust 
View,  is  represented  in  the  annexed  engravings.  The  Taj  Garden 
contains  fifteen  acres  of  cultivable  ground.  Many  vistas  have 
been  made  during  the  last  feAv  years.  Ten  years  ago  nearly  the 
of  locusts  visited  the  garden.  They  did  not  fly  as  locusts  usually 
do,  but  came  marching,  crept  over  the  high  AAalls,  and  ate  the 
leaves  and  floAvers  of  a  large  number  of  ornamental  shrubs  and 
creepers.  In  a  very  short  time  they  devoured  the  leaves  of  the 
Bougainvillea  Avhicli  now  forms  the  Ioaa-  hedge.  It  Avas  perceived 
that  this  opened  out  a  neAV  view  of  the  building,  and  at  once  the 
hedge  was  lowered.  The  locusts  marched  from  the  east  into  the 
garden  because  their  Avings  had  not  groAvn  ;  hence  they  remained 
in  the  garden  until  they  Avere  all  destroyed.  TAventy  men  and 
boys  Avere  employed  ten  days  in  destroying  them.  They  greedily 
ate  the  bark  of  Cupressus  sempervirens  and  Juniperus  prostrata. 
The  naked  trees  and  shrubs  presented  a  curious  sight;  but  no 
permanent  damage  AA'as  sustained,  as  they  Avere  soon  all  covered 
AA’ith  light  green  new  foliage. 
On  page  299  we  submit  another  vioAv  of  these  garden.';, 
and  it  is  plea.sing  to  observe  that  gardening  is  being 
so  well  and  intelligently  carried  out  in  this  ancient  and 
historical  station,  once  for  magnificence  and  commerce 
the  first  city  of  India.  It  AA’as  the  court  of  the  great 
Akbar  nearly  three  hundred  years  ago,  on  Avhose  palace  a 
thousand  labourers  Avere  employed  for  tAvelve  years  at  a  cost  of 
View  in  the  Taj  Gardens,  Agra. 
whole  of  it  was  in  the  native  stjde,  in  fact  little  better  than  a 
native  market  fruit  garden.  Eight  plots,  containing  nine-tenths 
of  an  acre  each  have  been  cleared,  and  converted  into  ornamental 
garden,  which  is  being  kept  up  at  veiy  little  more  expense  than 
the  former  native  style.  The  fruit  revenue  has  suffered  to  some 
extent,  but  not  much,  as  the  best  fruit  has  been  left.  There 
are  about  four  hundred  varieties  of  choice  Roses  planted  by  a 
Mr.  Smith,  Superintendent,  some  of  them  not  by  any  means  old, 
as  the  following  have  bloomed  well: — Diana,  Magna  Charta, 
Princess  Beatrice,  Antoine  Mouton,  Anna  Blanchon,  Pierre 
Guillot,  Madame  Ducher,  Julius  Finger,  Souvenir  d’Adolphe 
Thiers,  Paul  Neyron,  Madame  Maurice  Kuppenheim,  Madame 
Alexandre  Bernaix,  Madame  Lambard,  Capt.  Christy,  and  many 
others. _  A  large  bed  of  Marechal  Niel  on  rough  trellises  has  been 
a  pleasing  sight. 
The  view  on  page  299  is  taken  from  the  south-west  corner  of 
the  marble  platform  or  dam.  The  plants  in  pots  on  the  ground 
are  Opuntias  of  various  curious  kinds.  The  hedge  in  front  is 
Bougainvillea  spectabilis ;  the  Palm  leaf  hanging  over  the  tall 
Cypress  is  Arenga  saccharifera  :  the  thick  dense  foliage  is  mostly 
composed  of  Mimusops  Elengi  ;  the  plants  in  tubs  on  the  platform 
are  Dracoenas  and  Excsecarias.  The  view  was  opened  out  about 
two  years  ago,  and  is  called  Locust  View  because  a  large  army 
three  millions  of  rupees.  But  the  splendour  of  this  former  place 
has  departed,  and  the  gardens  for  which  it  AA’as  remarkable  are 
changed  Avith  the  lapse  of  time.  From  this  city  to  Lahore,  a 
distance  of  five  hundred  miles,  is  said  to  be  the  finest  avenue  of 
trees  in  the  Avorld,  the  road  being  canopied  Avith  foliage  the  entire 
distance.  In- the  Taj  Gardeias  that  have  been  so  much  improved 
of  late,  Ave  are  informed  there  is  a  large  A’ariety  of  trees,  shrubs, 
and  plants  from  nearly  all  parts  of  the  globe.  At  the  entrance 
to  the  right  there  is  a  Conifer  plantation,  and  on  the  left 
there  is  a  palmatum,  both  thriving  equally  well.  One  of  the  main 
points  in  the  neAv  arrangements  has  been  to  have  as  much  laAvn 
as  possible.  The  designs  are  simple.  Everything  pertaining  to 
fantastic,  angular,  and  intricate  forms  and  shapes  has  been 
avoided.  All  designs  of  beds  Avhich  would  be  likely  to  clash  with 
or  pretend  in  any  way  to  imitate  the  floral  and  ornamental  designs 
Avhich  are  so  conspicuous  in  all  the  buildings  have  been  carefully 
eschewed,  and  the  result  is  a  garden  at  once  attractive  and  enjoy¬ 
able.  The  picturesq(ue  character  of  this  garden  is  shown  in  the 
engraving.  This  view  has  been  taken  from  the  circular  Rose 
garden.  The  naked  tree  is  Bombyx  pentaudrum,  and  is  over  three 
hundred  years  old.  It  measures  45ft  round  the  base.  The  hole 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  trunk  is  where  a  large  limb  Avas  blown  off 
in  a  storm  fifty- two  years  ago. 
