156 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER 
February  21,  1901. 
or  leaf  soil,  according  to  nature ;  2,  deep  friable  loam,  or  if  soil  be 
clayey  sand  and  leaf  soil ;  3,  peat  and  moisture. 
Then  they  go  on  to  specify  certain  varieties  that  will  do  in  each  of 
these.  Well,  I  have  tried  in  No.  1,  excelsum,  Henryi,  white 
Martagon,  Szovitzianum,  speciosum,  Melpomene  and  varieties,  and 
tigrinum  varieties.  Henyri  and  the  Martagons  seem  to  last  well  and 
to  increase;  the  Martagon  album  is  lovely.  Henryi,  which  looks  like, 
and  is,  I  believe,  called  the  yellow  speciosum,  is  unlike  that  group  in 
growth,  and  does  not  to  my  fancy  equal  that  group  in  form  of  flower. 
It  blooms  grandly,  thirty  on  a  stalk  is  no  exaggeration,  and  several  of 
the  smaller  bloom  stalks  have  three  flowers,  and  this  seems  hardy 
enough.  Alas!  the  rest  of  the  speciosums  and  Melpomene  album 
have  dwindled  out  of  doors.  For  greenhouse  culture  album  and 
Melpomene  are  both  lovely,  the  cream  of  the  group,  and  for  any 
small  grower  sufficient.  Kraetzeri  is  flimsy  in  breadth  of  petal,  and, 
I  think,  feebler  in  constitution.  A  new  album  I  bought  last  year  and 
restricted  to  pot  culture  is  this  year  sending  up  two  promising  heads, 
certain,  I  fancy,  to  bloom  satisfactorily.  The  tigrinum  varieties  have 
done  well  for  two  or  three  years,  but  were  feebler  last  year,  whilst 
excelsum,  Szovitzianum,  Browni,  Humboldti,  longiflorum,  sulphureum, 
a  lovely  flower,  all  disappeared. 
Of  all  the  outdoor  trials  pardalinum  Bouzzei  seemed  the  most 
satisfactory  ;  the  flowers  are  showy,  gorgeously  so,  and  my  bulb 
increased  rapidly.  I  was  delighted.  Last  year  it  sent  up  eight  or  ten 
heads,  but  they  were  smaller,  and  at  18  inches  growth  ceased  and  decay 
came.  Messrs.  Wallace  suggested  drought,  advised  taking  up ;  bulbs 
looked  going  back— but  have  been  replanted  according  to  advice  in  moist 
peat  and  sand.  Shall  I  see  them  again  ?  I  fear  not.  And  now,  simply 
in  defence  of  the  advice  given  by  these  experienced  and  successful 
growers,  Do  we  follow  it  ?  I  acknowledge  that  in  small  stocked  gardens 
there  is  no  space  for  “  well  digging,”  and  I  have  contented  myself  with 
well  breaking  the  soil  as  far  as  I  could  with  the  trowel.  Is  this  “  well 
digging,”  on  which  Messrs.  Wallace  lay  great  stress  ?  I  confess,  No. 
Do  they  like  to  have  neighbours  close  at  hand  so  as  to  converse  with 
their  relatives?  Well,  where  they  succeed,  it  does  seem  to  me  that 
they  do.  Look  at  the  common  purple  Martagon  under  trees,  where 
they  often  seem  like  weeds,  and  this  idea  is  rather  forced  on  me,  as  I 
see  that  Messrs.  Wallace’s  beds,  as  by  photographs,  have  a  number  of 
the  same  sort  together  flourishir  g,  and  something  like  twenty. five 
varieties  are  in  a  list  with  prices  of  100  bulbs.  This,  again,  is  against 
the  small  otherwise  well  stocked  garden.  There  are  several  other 
points  I  would  notice,  but  your  space  and  patience,  I  fear,  is  exhausted. 
I  may  crave  space  later. — Y.  B.  A.  Z. 
- - i+.> - 
Planes. 
Notwithstanding  the  ample  descriptions  in  botanical  dictionaries 
and  the  horticultural  press,  including  also  that  recent  interesting 
illustration  and  instructive  exposition  in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture 
(August  9th),  relative  to  the  Thames  Embankment,  tnere  still  exists 
considerable  contusion  as  regards  the  identity  of  the  Eastern  and 
Western  Planes.  The  names  apparently  are  often  us>d  almost 
indiscriminately.  For  instance,  whilst  contemporaries  have  given  the 
Thames  Embankment  Plane  as  the  Western  or  occidental  species, 
the  Journal  gives  it  as  the  acerifolia  variety  of  the  species  oriental  is 
or  Eastern  Plane ;  and,  further,  I  have  somewhere  read  that  Mr. 
William  Paul  described  the  Embankment  Plane  as  of  the  Western 
kind.-  Evidently,  however,  it  must  have  been  the  Eastern  that  was 
intended,  but  unfortunately  I  have  never  had  the  opportunity  of 
examining  the  Embankment  Planes  when  in  leaf  or  iruit  myself  ; 
the  floral  and  frutescent  character,  as  well -as  the  forms  of  the  foliage 
in  the  different  species,  being  important  factors  in  identificat'on. 
A  contemporary  some  twenty  years  ago  remarked  that  the  Western 
Plane  appeared  to  be  more  generally  recommended  to  be  planted,  but 
for  what  reason  in  preference  to  its  Eastern  rival  it  was  incompre¬ 
hensible,  unless  owing  to  the  presumed  advantages  of  its  “  more  rapid 
growth  and  hardiness  than  that  of  the  Eastern  species.”  Other 
authorities,  however,  declare  that  the  latter  is  the  hardier.  The 
large  old  Plane — planted  in  1817 — in  Lambeth  Gardens  has  been 
mentioned  as  the  Western  species,  and  in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture, 
August  9th,  1900,  the  magnificent  Planes  in  Berkeley  Square,  and 
the  ancient  specimen  in  Wood  Street,  and  several  in  the  grounds  at 
Buckingham  Palace,  are  adverted  to  as  evidence  of  the  suitability  of 
the  Plane  for  town  planting,  but  it  does  not  say  what  species  are  the 
specimens  indicated. 
There  are  numerous  Plane  trees  which  have  been  planted  in  and 
around  Binning  iam  during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  also  several 
fine  old  specimens  in  residential  grounds,  including  a  still  flourishing 
old  specimen  in  the  centre  of  Birmingham,  in  Moor  Street.  About 
two  years  ago  large  numbers  were  planted  by  Lord  Calthorpe  on  the 
Edgbaston  estate  for  embellishing  the  sides  of  chiefly  all  old  and  new 
roads  apportioned  for  building  purposes,  alternately  with  Limes  and 
Horse  Chestnuts.  The  Plane  trees,  however,  are  taking  the  lead  in 
growth,  and  it  is  questionable  if  it  was  advisable  to  plant  the  Horse 
Chestnut,  except  in  sheltered  localities,  as  it  is  seriously  affected  by  cold 
winds  in  exposed  sites,  as  proved  by  long  established  specimens  annually 
presenting  a  very  sorry  aspect  early  in  the  season  of  foliation,  and  from 
which  state  they  do  not  entirely  recover  for  the  remainder  of  the  summer. 
It  is,  however,  with  the  Planes  we  here  have  to  do,  and  I  think  it 
will  be  conceded  that  ample  apology  is  rendered  by  the  foregoing 
remarks  regarding  my  deductions  as  to  the  real  identity  of  the  Planes 
in  question  ;  and,  in  conclusion,  I  would  just  advert  to  another  little 
known  species  of  the  Western  Planes — viz.,  the  Californian  Planp, 
Platanus  racemosa,  which  is  remarkable  for  the  large  size  of  its  leaves; 
it  is  said  to  be  the  hardiest  of  all  the  species.  It  is  of  rapid  growth, 
and  highly  ornamental,  and  can  be  distinguished  by  its  deeply  five-lobed 
leaves,  the  under  surface  of  which,  even  in  the  fully  matured  state,  is 
copiously  clad  with  woolly  hairs.  The  wood  is  said  to  be  far  preferable 
to  that  of  P.  occidentalis,  being  harder,  more  durable,  and  less  liable  to 
warp.  The  wood,  when  young,  is  yellowish- whim,  when  old,  brownish, 
and  is  esteemed  for  cabinet  work.  It  is  said  that  the  Eastern  Plane 
attains  to  a  great  age,  and  that  there  is  on  the  banks  of  the  Bosphorus 
— its  native  habitat — a  specimen  supposed  to  be  more  than  2000  years 
old,  more  than  141  feet  in  circumference  at  the  base  of  the  trunk,  and 
which  extends  its  branches  45  feet  from  the  trunk.  No  tree  was  more 
admired  for  its  ornamental  character  by  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans, 
and  for  centuries  the  youth  of  Greece  assembled  under  its  shade  in  the 
groves  of  Academus  to  receive  lessons  in  philosophy. — G.  W. 
Dunkeld  House, 
About  fifteen  miles  of  a  ride  from  Perth  by  rail  or  cycle  on  what 
may  be  called  in  either  case  the  Inverness  Road  brings  you  to  Dunkeld, 
near  which  the  Duke  of  Atholl  has  one  of  his  residences.  Dunkeld 
was  a  place  of  hoary  antiquity  long  before  the  foundations  of  its 
Cathedral  were  laid  early  in  the  fourteenth  century,  being  at  one  time 
the  capital  of  ancient  Caledonia.  The  Culdee  monastery,  founded  there 
by  a  Piotish  king,  was  in  1130  made  by  King  David  I.  the  seat  of  a 
bishopric,  which  ranked  the  first  in  Scotland.  No  landscape  gardener 
could  possibly  desire  a  finer  field  for  his  labours.  The  wonderful 
fertility  of  the  Tay  basin,  which  extends  from  the  dark  Pine  woods  and 
green  glens  far  up  in  the  mountains  to  the  north  and  west  of  Perth¬ 
shire  all  the  way  down  to  the  smiling  Carse  of  Gowrie,  seems  here  to 
reach  a  olimax.  Nearly  all  our  hardy  trees  thrive  as  they  do  in  few  other 
places,  the  perfect  shelter  of  the  encircling  hills  excluding  all  rude 
winds.  Down  by  the  side  of  the  river,  under  the  thickest  shades,  is 
seated  the  town  of  Dunkeld. 
But  the  modern  gardens  and  pleasure  grounds  and  not  ancient 
town  claim  our  attention.  Passing  from  the  bridge  and  along  the  main 
street,  out  the  north  road  we  soon  come  to  a  fine  gateway,  which  is  the 
principal  entranoe  to  Dunkeld  House.  The  kitchen  and  fruit  gardens; 
just  above  us  to  the  right,  form  an  enclosure  of  6  or  8  acres.  They 
have  long  enjoyed  an  enviable  notoriety,  indeed  it  may  almost  be  said 
that  the  late  P.  W.  Fairgrieve  made  them  for  a  time  the  hardy  fruit 
growing  capital  of  Scotland,  taking  as  he  did  the  principal  prizes  in  that 
department  for  years  in  succession.  At  the  time  of  our  visit  at  the  end 
of  September,  the  place  seemed  like  the  mouth  of  a  cornucopia.  Apples 
were  bending  their  branches  to  the  ground  and  rolling  about  every¬ 
where.  They  were  growing  in  cordons,  pyramids,  trained  to  the  walls, 
but  chiefly  as  bushes  or  dwarf  standards  with  very  little  pruning. 
Pears  were  mostly  cordons  or  large  wall  trees ;  many  were  loaded,  some 
thinner,  and  a  very  few  with  few  or  none.  Plums  were  very  fine,  many 
sorts  usually  grown  on  walls  being  here  loaded  as  standards.  Peaohes, 
Nectarines,  and  Apricots  were  all  represented  by  numbers  of  healthy 
trees,  some  rather  old  and  the  fruit  consequently  small,  but  others 
in  their  prime.  A  considerable  part  of  the  area  is  taken  up  with 
Strawberries  and  small  bush  fruits. 
In  the  centre  stands  a  good  long  lean-to  Peach  house,  with  the  trees 
on  a  front  trellis  and  on  the  back  wall.  The  fruit  was  gathered,  but 
the  trees  looked  satisfactory.  Vegetables  were  mostly  good,  being  clean 
and  well  grown,  a  quarter  of  extremely  fine  Carrots  being  specially 
noted.  The  glass  department,  save  the  Peach  house  already  referred 
to,  stands  outside  the  walls  to  the  south-east.  It  is  in  rather  bad 
repair  at  present,  but  is  expected  to  be  renewed  shortly.  The  inmates, 
however,  are  mostly  robust  enough,  Tomatoes  and  Melons  being  as  fine 
as  one  could  wish  to  see.  The  Melons  are  growing  in  an  old-fashioned 
pit,  fine  green  plants  with  three  or  four  good  fruit  on  each.  We  felt  a 
certain  pleasant  cool  damp  in  the  house  owing  to  the  earthen  floor,  with 
only  a  rail  or  two  for  a  path,  the  turf  walls,  and  the  minimum  of  stone¬ 
work  or  concrete.  Tomatoes  were  growing  in  similar  structures,  very 
fine  large  fruits  from  end  to  end.  Other  sections  of  the  same  range 
