MR. RIDER FIAGOARD'S delightful volume is the record of the
year's work done in his Eastern Counties gardens at Ditchingham and Kesaingland in 1903. At the outset he tells us that he has still much to learn, and so places himself in sympathy with his readers, for even humble learners are apt to resent a didactic style. In both his gardens he has an ungenial soil to contend with, stiff clay being a bad founda- tion, unless the gardener has a large command of money and labour. But when well worked it has its merits, and at Ditchingham excellent results have been attained without undue expenditure. Here, indeed, remarkably little labour is employed. With three acres of garden under cultiva- tion, Mr. Rider Haggard's staff consists only of three regular men, with the frequent use of a fourth. Yet there are six glasahousee, in which he grows orchids which win first prizes at the county shows, a highly cultivated kitchen garden, orchard, tennis court, and croquet ground, not to speak of herbaceous borders and two ponds in which he grows aquatic plants. No doubt the secret of his success consists largely in his being his own head gardener. Nothing is done in the garden without his personal super- vision, while he often lends a band in carrying it out. In this way a highly educated intelligence is brought to bear upon every detail, and if anything goes wrong a method of setting it right is quickly found. Equal interest and equal • A Gardsnee. Toon By U., Bider Haggard. London ; Longman' and CO. [12a. 6d. net.]
attention are directed to the growth of orchids or the clearing out of a stable pond. The wide experience thus gained is of inestimable value in instructing others, for what is taught theoretically is apt soon to be forgotten, whereas difficulties overcome by ingenuity and common-sense are remembered for future use. One very interesting operation was the drawing out of thirty feet of Ampelopsis roots from some earthenware soft-water pipes, through the entire length of which the roots had forced themselves in their effort to reach a water-tank the other side of the house. The illustration he gives shows a. mass of fibrous root very much like a long tress of hair. So greedy is the Ampelopsis of moisture that it is risky to allow it any chance of approaching forbidden supplies. Drainage plays a large part in Mr. Rider Haggard's garden operations. Rain-water being at a premium in Norfolk, as elsewhere, he contrives by an ingenious arrangement of pipes and a small oil engine to utilise the water of a pond for soft- water purposes in the house,—an operation which was so successful that it might well be adopted by others. All this was done by the ordinary garden staff, superintended and directed by himself, without any special knowledge of engi- neering. Practical intelligence will often work wonders if put into action with a bold confidence.
His orchard, too, is of great interest, and in the vexed question of growing grass up to the roots of apple-trees he gives his opinion strongly against it, though he makes an exception if the orchard is well established and on certain soils. On the subject of lawn-making Mr. Rider Haggard has much to say. Expensive seeds he finds of little use when they are not those of the natural grasses of the locality. On this, of course, there will be different opinions, and a good deal depends upon subsoil; but some of the best gardeners in the Southern Counties would tell the same story. But local grass is not always easy to cultivate, and generally takes a longer time to establish. Still, Mr. Rider Haggard's experience goes for much, and what he advises should be carefully studied by those working on the same stiff foundation where good drainage will be found essential. His lawn pond, too, is an object of much attention, filled as it is with aquatic plants and bordered by moisture-loving growth of all kinds. A useful word of warning is given to avoid introducing the two water plants Villarsia (Limnanihemum Nymplimoides) and Stratiotes Abides, which, if left undisturbed, will quickly destroy all other vegetation in their neighbourhood.
In orchid culture Mr. Rider Haggard is particularly successful. Without any heavy expenditure in labour or money, he produces orchids which would compete with any except those of the most renowned growers. But in the matter of orchid-growing he offers one excellent bit of advice. "Unless the would-be grower is prepared to love and to learn to understand his orchids, he had far better leave them alone. To abandon them to the hands of any casual gardener, who often proves ignorant, or obstinate, or both, will frequently only mean a gigantic bill, dying plants, and very few flowers." This gigantic bill in the case of one of his friends amounted to £3,000, which the unfortunate orchid-grower had to pay, after fighting the matter in the Law Courts, the gardener being held to have had implied authority to purchase what he liked.' But with a happy combination of intelligence and luck the orchids grown at Ditchingham have been most successful. Plants of Cypripedium Insigne Cobbianum, which were priced at eight guineas each in a gardening catalogue, Mr. Rider Haggard bought for ten shillings apiece in a London auction-room. Indeed, his experience is that if orchids " are bought with discretion, or, better still, imported, all the moat easily grown varieties can now be had for a few shillings each, and if they are undetstood and properly managed many of these should actually increase in value." For one of his own Cymbidium Tracyanum, which was bought as a root for 12s., he refused £100 before it had flowered, as he was unwilling that the friend who offered the money should risk it on what might prove a valueless article after all. But though it proved a bright and good variety, it quickly fell in price, as its habitat had in the meantime been discovered, and the selling value therefore diminished, so speculative is the market for orchids.
The Kessingland garden is in some ways more inter- esting than the one at Ditchingham. The strong gales and torrents of rain on the exposed coast of Suffolk make gardening difficult, while the salt spray, though good for some plants, is most destructive to others. After some years of experience the only shrubs which seem to Mr. Rider Haggard to do well there are tamarisk and Buonymus, besides sea-buckthorn and privet. After blooming well, the young shoots of his Pyramid apple-trees get withered by the summer storms ; and the flower-beds, unless well protected, are naturally good for nothing. On the other hand, vege- tables do excellently, and have a far finer flavour than those grown inland. Even in such a bad season as 1903 he speaks of asparagus, cauliflowers, and New Zealand spinach as having been remarkably fine. But the most interesting work at Kessingland is the cultivation of the Marum grass on the seashore. When planted on a shelving beach it accumulates sand with every driving sea and high tide, and thus becomes a natural breakwater, and if divided and encouraged it increases very fairly quickly. If this natural system of coast protection proves serviceable, it may become of great use in the solution of some pressing problems. Such terrible disasters occur on weather-beaten coasts that no remedy should remain untried, and we hope Mr. Rider Haggard will return to the subject again in a future work.
In the matters of herbaceous borders, which do not seem to claim enough attention at Ditchingham, and still more in the making of rockwork, Mr. Rider Haggard has something to learn. The introduction of tree-roots into rockwork is fatal. They rot and develop fungus, and give ample accommodation to garden pests of all kinds. Clinkers, too, are inadmissible, and if stones cannot be got without too great cost, it is better to have no rockwork at all. Indeed, the construction of a rock garden even on the most modest scale requires both science and art. Where parts of the ground are sloping, or lie between banks, rockwork- can be made to look very natural. But where the ground is level the construction is far more difficult. A broad surface of mould of varying height should then be thrown up, and large stones should be placed with a view to making comfortable pockets for the plants. But as the idea of rockwork is that it is part of the natural strata of hilly ground, the stones must lie in the same direction. Of course where all is artificial the main slope of the rookwork may be made to face any way; but as some parts of it will be higher than others, various situations will be obtained for plants which will only flourish in certain aspects. The stones, too, should be few in comparison with the amount of soil, as they are only needed for the plants to grow over, and under, and to keep their roots cool. Probably to make a good rockwork in certain parts of Norfolk would mean very considerable outlay, as Mr. Rider Haggard says stones are not easily got in his neighbourhood; but what bad cultivation of orchids is to an orchid-grower, wrongly planned rockwork is to the lover of Alpine plants,—though perhaps Mr. Rider Haggard will say that he has not attempted to grow Alpine plants upon his rock work. If this is the case, we can assure him there is yet great pleasure awaiting him. It is part of the charm and usefulness of this book that its author knows that gardening is a pursuit which has no limits.
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