578 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
December  26,  1901. 
obtained  great  celebrity.  Hepton  is  often  favourably  men¬ 
tioned  by  Loudon  in  his  “  Encyclopedia  of  Gardening.” 
Paxton  and  Wren. 
Sir  Joseph  Paxton  was  bom  in  1803,  died  1865,  and  some 
account  of  his  life,  together  with  a  portrait  of  him,  appeared 
in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  for  October  10,  1901.  At  Chats- 
worth,  Paxton  designed  the  building  of  the  Great  Exhibition 
of  1851,  and  also  the  Crystal  Palace  at  Sydenham,  as  well  as 
the  grounds  of  that  world-famed  place,  and  many  other 
public  parks  and  private  places  besides.  The  science  of 
landscape  gardening  received  great  impetus  from  the  hand 
of  Sir  Joseph,  from  whose  school  we  are  indebted  for  some 
excellent  men,  amongst  whom  was  the  late  Mr.  Milner,  who 
left  behind  him  some  remarkably  good  work.  In  Warwick¬ 
shire  he  laid  out  and  planted  the  gardens  at  Newbold  Revel, 
at  that  time  the  seat  of  the  late  Edward  Wood,  Esq.,  and 
Wroxall  for  the  late  James  Dugdale,  Esq.  At  both  of  these 
places  Mr.  Milner  left  the  mark  of  the  master-hand.  I  have 
not  the  pleasure  of  knowing  the  younger  Mr.  Milner,  but 
from  what  I  have  seen  of  his  work  and  hear  of  him,  I 
believe  him  to  be  a  thoroughgoing  chip  of  a  worthy  father. 
Sir  Christopher  Wren,  the  famous  architect,  when  owner 
of  the  Wroxall  Estate,  built  the  singularly  constructed  gar¬ 
den  walls.  These  are  a  series  of  segments  of  circles,  the 
concaves  of  which  face  southward,  and,  of  course,  the  convex 
northward.  The  concaves  when  I  saw  them  were  planted 
with  Pear  trees.  The  idea  of  those  recesses  was  no  doubt 
to  secure  shelter  and  warmth,  but  I  think  the  benefit  would 
be  more  imaginary  than  real,  as  the  morning  sun  would 
shine  only  on  those  surfaces  of  the  wall  which  faced  east¬ 
wards,  whilst  that  facing  the  west  would  get  none  until 
well  on  in  the  day,  and  then  the  east  face  would  lose  it. 
Nesfield. 
Mr.  W.  A.  Nesfield  was  chiefly  known  as  the  designer  of 
the  flor  d  style  of  parterre  gardens,  of  which  art  in  his  day 
he  stood  unrivalled.  His  designs  were  generally  wrought 
out  in  Box,  and  when  the  lines  were  so  finely  drawn  as  not 
to  admit  of  being  planted,  the  figure  was  completed  by  the 
use  of  coloured  gravel,  and  sometimes  of  broken  glass. 
Many  specimens  of  his  work  are  to  be  seen  about  the  country. 
It  was  Mr.  Nesfield  who  in  1860  provided  the  geometric 
plan  for  the  new  gardens  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society 
in  Kensington  Gore.  His  design  was  considered  a  very 
clever  piece  of  work.  It  was  as  cleverly  carried  out,  and 
when  I  was  a  much  younger  man  than  I  am  to-day,  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  helping  to  lay  down  the  plan,  which  has  stood 
me  in  good  stead  ever  since.  It  was  the  formation  of  those 
gardens,  according  to  Mr.  Nesfield’s  design,  that  so  depleted 
the  society’s  exchequer  as  to  severely  cripple  them  for  years 
after.  Of  Mr.  Nesfield  a  very  good  story  is  told.  A  friend 
asked  him  how  he  could  continue  making  so  many  fresh 
plans  and  to  always  have  them  different  in  design.  “  Look 
here,  friend — producing  a  very  large  book  which  was  designs 
from  end  to  end — when  I  have  exhausted  and  adapted  all 
these  to  suit  my  purposes  I  should  by  that  time  be  a  very 
old  man.”  As  Mr.  Nesfield  passed  away  years  ago,  I  have 
often  wondered  to  whom  he  bequeathed  that  famous  book. 
(To  be  continued.) 
Notes  from  Dublin. 
Despite  the  bitterness  of  winter,  the  dull  green  shoots  of  Jasminum 
nudiflorum  are  festooned  with  yellow  flowers.  One  finds  it  in  abun¬ 
dance  against  our  suburban  houses,  and  where  our  gardens  have  an 
odd  wall  whereon  it  can  bloom.  It  is  a  very  useful  little  shrub  for 
decorative  work.  [It  is  used  as  a  pot  subject  in  the  greenhouse  at 
Kew.]  Primulas  are  a  strong  feature  hereabouts.  P.  sinensis  is 
prominent ;  its  huge  foliage  encloses  the  inflorescence,  rendering  the 
plants  scarcely  useful,  but  it  is  gradually  giving  way  to  the  hand¬ 
somer  types,  as  P.  obconica  and  P.  stellata.  Their  almost  recum¬ 
bent  foliage,  combined  with  an  abundant  flower  spike  borne  well  up, 
lends  to  them  a  better  display.  As  yet  the  new  winter-flowering 
Begonias  mentioned  by  “  Wandering  Willie,”  on  page  541,  are 
strangers.  Our  cultivators  find  Gloire  de  Lorraine  indispensable, 
but  the  white  variety  is  not  much  in  evidence.  President  Carnot  is 
radiant,  and  a  superb  plant  is  one  mass  of  flower  at  Trinity  College. 
In  the  vicinity  of  Booterstown.  a  visit  to  the  pretty  little  gardens 
of  G.  Drimmie,  Esq.,  Bellevue,  showed  me  a  fine  plant  of  Cymbidium 
Mastersi — about  the  best  of  the  genus — a  mass  of  flower.  There 
were  three  spikes,  each  bearing  a  large  percentage  of  blooms  ;  whilst 
Oncidiums  and  Lselias  were  bursting  into  flower.  Mr.  -J.  Byrne,  the 
gardener,  had  every  reason  to  feel  proud  of  his  offspring. 
Sparmannia  africana  is  not  finding  favour.  This  fine  old  green¬ 
house  shrub,  whose  white  flowers  are  so  pleasing,  has  to  take  the 
road  of  many  old  favourites  that  have  been  discarded.  Despite  the 
general  tendency,  some  establishments  retain  it  in  many  cases  as  a 
link 'in  the  chain  of  memories  from  younger  days. — A.  O’Neill. 
Angrsccum  Chailluanum. 
Angrsecums  are  essentially  heat  and  moisture-loving  Orchids,, 
and  with  few  exceptions — as,  for  instance,  the  Japanese  A.  fal- 
catum — they  require  the  warmest  part  of  the  structure  devoted 
to  such  plants.  Being  epiphytal  in  habit,  the  majority  require 
to  be  grown  in  baskets  or  on  blocks  of  wood ;  but  those  of  a 
vigorous  habit,  like  A.  eburneum  and  A.  sesquipedale,  are  usually 
grown  in  pots  with  abundance  of  potsherds  as  drainage,  good 
fibrous  peat  and  sphagnum,  or  the  latter  alone;  that  moss  also 
being  employed  when  the  small  forms  are  grown  in  baskets  or  on 
blocks.  The  species  we  illustrate  on  the  opposite  page  has  been 
grown  in  English,  Scottish,  and  Irish  gardens  for  thirty  years  or 
more,  yet  it  is  not  so  well  known  as  it  might  be.  It  was  found  in 
the  Gaboon  region  of  Western  Africa  by  M.  du  Chaillu,  and  a. 
plant  sent  by  him  to  Kew  first  flowered  in  May,  1866.  It  is  of 
comparatively  small  growth,  with  slender  stems  rarely  exceeding 
a  foot  in  height.  The  leaves  are  4in  to  6in  long,  and  half  an  inch 
broad.  The  flowers  are  white,  with  long,  tapering  sepals  and 
petals,  and  the  yellowish  spurs  are  4in  or  bin  in  length.  The 
racemes,  as  depicted,  are  loose  and  drooping.  This  Angrsecum 
succeeds  in  a  basket,  and  likes  the  temperature  of  the  East  India 
or  Cattleya  house.  It  flowers  in  summer. 
Mlltonia  spectabilis. 
This  is  one  of  the  finest  of  autumn  flowering  Orchids,  and  a 
favourite  everywhere.  The  growth  of  the  plants  is  not  particu¬ 
larly  strong,  and  care  is  necessary  in  its  culture.  In  many  cases 
the  plants  take  on  a  yellowish  tinge,  tut  this  is  not  necessarily 
a  sign  of  ill-health.  The  roots  are  small  and  close  clinging,  con¬ 
sequently  the  compost  may  be  made  rather  finer,  but  with  plenty 
of  small  nodules  of  charcoal  and  crocks  to  prevent  closeness. 
This  is  better  suited  to  the  roots  than  a  very  rough  make  up 
such  as  is  suitable  for  larger,  more  succulent  roots. 
About  an  inch  of  this  material  over  good  drainage  is  enough 
for  small  and  medium  sized  specimens.  During  the  growing 
season  keep  the  plants  close  up  (o  the  light  and  water  freely  ;  in 
hot  weather  they  may  need  attention  twice  daily.  Even  when 
at  rest  nothing  like  a  dry  regime  is  admissible;  the  growth  must 
never  shrivel,  and  the  roots  must  be  kept  alive.  The  inter¬ 
mediate  house,  or  where  the  Mexican  Lae  lias  flourish,  will  be 
found  a  suitable  temperature  for  this  fine  species. — H.  R.  R. 
The  Week's  Cultural  Notes. 
The  temperatures  in  all  departments  should  be  kept  as  low 
now  as  is  consistent  with  safety,  and  the  weather  must  be  care¬ 
fully  watched.  In  very  cold  mornings  the  readings  will  often  be 
rather  lower  than  one  likes  to  see,  and  there  is  a  disposition  to 
push  the  fires  on  rather  strongly.  When  the  day  is  likely  to  be 
dull  or  stormy  this  is  all  right,  but  if  it  turns  out  bright,  the 
sun  is  just  gaining  power  by  the  time  the  heat  is  rising  in  the 
pipes ;  consequently  the  house  soon  gets  overheated,  and  air 
has  to  be  admitted  freely  to  the  destruction  of  a  properly 
balanced  atmosphere. 
The  aim  should  be  to  keep  a  thin  but  bright  fire,  as  this  may 
be  easily  pushed  forward  if  necessary,  or,  on  the  other  hand, 
damped  down  should  the  conditions  warrant  it.  Waste  of  fuel  is 
thereby  avoided,  and  the  plants  are  improved  in  health.  No  one 
should"  go  to  the  fires  who  has  not  previously  been  in  the  houses 
and  read  the  temperatures.  As  soon  as  the  temperature  has 
reached  about  5deg  above  the  night  minimum  a  little  air  should 
be  given  on  the  top  of  the  house,  not  sufficient  to  cause  a  draught, 
but  just  to  let  out  the  accumulated  moisture,  and  this  must  be 
increased  very  gradually  as  the  heat  rises.  It  will  seldom  be 
necessary  now  to  open  the  side  lights. 
Perhaps  the  most  active  of  the  labiata  Cattleyas  now  is 
C.  Warneri,  or  the  spring-flowering  labiata,  as  it  has  been  termed. 
Rather  more  warmth  than  the  Cattleya  house  affords  should  be 
given  it  now,  and  a  light  position  not  far  from  the  roof  glass  in 
the  East  Indian  house  will  be  as  good  as  any  for  it.  Do  not  be 
led  into  repotting  or  pulling  the  roots  about,  for  with  this  pretty 
species  there  is  sure  to  be  a  flush  of  young  roots  after  the  flowers 
are  past,  and  this  is  the  time  that  should  be  taken  advantage  of 
for  the  operation. 
Cleaning  will  be  an  important  part  of  the  work  at  this  time 
of  year,  advantage  being  taken  of  the  slack  season  for  potting  and 
other  details  to  sponge  the  plants  and  clean  the  stages.  In  the' 
cool  house  many  spikes  of  Odontoglossums  and  others  will  be  show¬ 
ing,  and  as  during  frosty  weather  slugs  and  small  snails  seem, 
unusually  voracious,  it  is  well  to  be  on  the  look  out  for  them. 
A  little  cotton  wadding  around  the  spikes  is  a  comparative  pro¬ 
tection,  but  constant 'searching  at  night  must  also  be  resorted  to, 
and  the  removal  of  all  litter  or  any  material  likely  to  harbour 
them.— H.  R.  R. 
