December  26,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
583 
Westerlea,  Edinburgh. 
Of  the  many  beautiful  gardens  in  the  suburbs  of  Edin¬ 
burgh,  this  is,  without  doubt,  one  of  the  most  delightful, 
occunving,  as  it  does,  a  fine  southern  exposure  on  well 
elevated  ground,  and  commanding  a  charming  view  of  the 
long  chain  of  the  Pentlancl  Hills.  The  house  is  a  modern 
building  of  fine  proportions,  and  is  the  property  of  J.  J. 
Cowan,  Esq.  The  gardens  and  grounds  have  been,  for  the 
past  eight  years  or  so,  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Alexander 
Proctor,  and  have  been  maintained  in  the  highest  stage  of 
good  gardening.  Stretching  east  and  west,  in  front  of  the 
house,  is  a  fine,  broad,  gravel  walk,  while  to  the  south,  and 
under  a  terrace  from  the  walk-level,  is  a  nicely  designed 
flower-garden,  the  beds  of  which,  at  our  visit,  in  late 
October,  had  been  filled  with  their  winter  occupants.  A 
varied  shrubbery  borders  this  flower-garden,  being  finished 
off  at  the  west  side  by  a  fine  wTalk,  overhung  with  Roses  on 
to  the  beauty  of  the  house.  A  very  good  plan  adopted  by 
Mr.  Proctor  for  such  a  house  as  this  is  that  of  having  rue 
hot-water  pipes,  that  are  under  the  stage,  hidden  by  virgin 
cork.  This  is  carried  out  by  first  facing  up  the  pipes  by  a 
strong  board,  leaving  a  space  of  3m  or  4in  for  soil,  the 
front  being  built  with  cork,  and  covered  over  with  Ficus 
repens,  and  having  little  pockets  for  Ferns  to  give  a  finished 
effect. 
Leaving  the  conservatory  we  pass  along  the  north  side  of 
a  neat  little  kitchen  garden,  and  in  spite  of  the  great 
difficulties  against  pests  in  the  soil,  some  good  winter  crops 
were  to  be  seen.  Dahlias,  just  blackened  by  the  early  frost, 
and  a  border  of  Chrysanthemums  bordered  this  top  walk, 
and  when  seen  at  their  best  must  have  made  a  fine  show. 
Entering  the  range  of  glass  houses  from  the  east  end,  the  first 
is  a  fine  Peach  house,  where  we  found,  instead  of  wires  along 
the  rafters,  espaliers,  that  are  placed  about  4ft  apart  at 
right  angles  to  the  length  of  the  house.  This  gives  equally 
^  as  much  space  for  the  trees,  and  the  object  is  that  it  does 
i 
WESTERLEA,  EDINBURGH. 
wire  espaliers.  Immediately  under  the  terrace  there  is  a 
long  border,  furnishing  a  grand  display  of  early  flowering 
Chrysanthemums. 
From  the  Rose  walk  we  return  to  the  main  walk  by  a 
flight  of  steps,  and  find  at  the  north-west  side  of  the  house 
a  large-sized  croquet  or  lawn-tennis  green,  with  pretty 
shrubbery,  herbaceous  flower  borders  all  round.  Attached 
to  the  east  side  of  the  house  is  a  very  attractive  and 
spacious  conservatory,  which  can  be  entered  by  a  side  door, 
and  we  find  ourselves  in  a  pretty  corridor,  the  walls  and 
roof  of  which  are  nicely  covered  with  such  climbers  as 
S  mptoselon  Jmvosom  Tib  aic'iih-i.  (Lasianrira)  macrantha, 
Smilax,  Ivy-leaved  Pelargoniums,  and  Heliotropes.  By  a 
cross  passage  from  this,  and  down  a  few  steps,  we  reach 
the  conservatory"  proper.  This  is  a  splendid  show-house, 
and  at  our  visit  was  gay  with  Chrysanthemums.  The  floor 
space  is  left  clear  in  the  centre,  and  is  finely  laid  with  red- 
coloured  cement,  which  gives  it  a  warm  and  clean  appear¬ 
ance,  and  bareness  is  avoided  by  placing  about  a  few  nice 
specimens  of  Kentia  Behnoreana  a"d  K.  Fosteriana.  The 
presence  of  a  chair  or  two  makes  it  a  delightful  smoking- 
room  ;  some  fine  climbers  and  pretty  hanging  baskets  add 
not  obstruct  the  light  from  those  on  the  back  wall,  at  the 
same  time  not  interfering  very  much  with  the  space  of  the 
border.  In  another  vinery  we  were  delighted  to  find  a 
grand  batch  of  Chrysanthemums  grown  to  my  own  taste, 
that  is  dwarf,  and  all  under  the  eye.  Mr.  Proctor  adopts 
this  plan  with  his  ’Mums  throughout,  with  most  satisfactory 
results  ;  all  are  grown  on  the  cut-back  principle.  Cuttings 
are  inserted  during  November,  or  as  early  as  they  can  be 
got,  and  kept  in  cold  frames  so  long  as  weather  will  permit, 
and  are  taken  in  for  six  weeks  or  two  months,  while  again 
in  March  they  are  potted-up  and  put  out  to  cold  frame. 
They  are  cut  back  about  May.  I  give  a  list  of  some  of 
those  grown  by  Mr.  Proctor,  all  of  which  were  very  fine,  and 
some  were  more  than  4ft  in  height,  many  of  them  3ft  and 
under.  The  best  were :  Commandant  Beusset,  Robert 
Powell,  President  Borel,  Autumn  Bride,  Charles  H.  Curtis, 
La  Triumphante,  Yellow  Mrs.  S.  C.  Probin,  A.  M.  Rin^, 
Wm.  Holmes,  Madame  Capitante,  Vivian  Morel,  Mrs.  Rit- 
son,  Colonel  Chase,  Colonel  W.  B.  Smith,  Madame  Fullet, 
Mutual  Friend,  R.  Hooper  Pearson,  Louise,  Lady  Randolph, 
and  Edwin  Molyneux. 
In  two  of  the  vineries  the  gardener  has  been  engaged 
