128 



THE FLORAL WOELD AKD GARDEN aUIDE. 



nation of practical heads and hands ; 

 henceforth to keep its place, the Horticul- 

 tural Society must lead the ivat/, must go in 

 advance, must be the parent of ideas, the 

 promoter of discovery and invention, and a 

 bond of union between all classes interested 

 in economic and ornamental gardening. 

 We fully anticipate that in a few years the 

 embroidery and carpet patterns will be 

 pronounced a waste of money on a mere- 

 tricious order of decoration, to be classed 

 with the now obsolete plan of furnishing 

 gardens with branches of shrubs ; for who 

 will be bold enough to say that the forma- 

 tion of mosaics in coloured earths is a 

 legitimate element of any department of 

 horticulture ? But that will not crush the 

 society ; it will only amount to a reform in 

 accordance with change of fashion. But 

 we shall not be surprised if the water- 

 works next prove a heavier burden than 

 the funds can bear, and that the next dif- 

 ficulty will be found in securing good exhi- 

 bitions and paying attendances. We have 

 not forgotten Chiswick and its mistakes 

 and failures. We have before us the ex- 

 ample of the Crystal Palace, where scenic 

 elaborations were orginally carried to an 

 extent beyond all means of insuring re- 

 muneration for outlay. Put these proba- 

 bilities together and add one more — 

 namely, the decline of public interest when 

 the novelty of the thing is over ; and it 

 must be considered that the society has to 

 walk up-hill in its monetary proceedings 

 as well as in its new, and beautiful, and 

 promising garden at Kensington. To 

 strengthen itself for the toil it must boldly 

 lead the way, and, as the door is opened 

 for song-birds and pheasants, why are not 

 bees to be admitted, so as to gather round 

 the society the great Apiarian interest, 

 which includes an immense number of 

 persons possessed of taste, and leisure, and 

 wealth ? If the society is to shed genial 

 rays upon the cottager's hearth by en- 

 couraging the growth of improved varieties 

 of the most useful esculents, and dissemin- 

 ating information on the best modes of 

 cultivating the most valuable of garden 

 produce, the bees, which pay the cottager's 

 rent, should have shelter under the shadow 

 of its wing, as recognized contributors to 

 the national resources. But more impor- 

 tant still is it for the society to take in 

 hand the subject of garden implements, 



and, if possible, lay the foundation of an 

 implement museum, so that when the 

 Exhibition of 1862 is past, all that is not- 

 able in horticultural machinery may be 

 gathered into one place for purposes of 

 reference and comparison. What of the 

 myriad lawn mowers, each better than all 

 the rest ; are these to be tested, their pecu- 

 liarities defined, and their relative values 

 determined by uninterested umpires ? Pro- 

 tecting materials, tools in every-day use, 

 barrows, tree-lifters, and a thousand other 

 constructive appliances demand attention 

 as much as the varieties of pears, and 

 apples, grapes, strawberries, peas, and pota- 

 toes, and last, though not least, the new 

 lawn plant, Spergula pilifera. It is odd 

 that after all that the public has heard of 

 this substitute for grass, and extinguisher 

 of scythes and lawn mowers, the Horticul- 

 tural Society has not yet uttered one word 

 either to condemn or praise it. To improve 

 the properties of South Kensington, to 

 afford a new source of recreation to the 

 people, to present the luxurious and taste- 

 ful with a noble example of high art in gar- 

 dening, and so gather together the scattered 

 interests of the floral world ; these are 

 worthy objects of the society's new im- 

 pulse : but the improvement of the science 

 and the diffusion of information among all 

 ranks of the community will give it still 

 higher claims to support, and only by such 

 will it attain permanent prosperity. Such 

 prosperity we wish it, in making the world 

 happier and wiser, and in fulfilling the 

 smallest of its duties with as much zeal 

 as the greatest. 



The above is from the pen of a writer 

 well known to our readers. It appeared in 

 the Mechanics' Magazine, and its transfer- 

 ence to our pages renders it unnecessary 

 to offer any further remarks on the subject 

 for the present. Since the paper was 

 written, the works at Kensington have 

 progressed most favourably, and by the 

 5th of June the gardens will be in a credit- 

 able condition. For the information of 

 Fellows we should state that the new 

 garden will remain partially closed after 

 the 6th of June, until it is in a state of 

 greater completion, and only Fellows and 

 friends that accompany them, will be ad- 

 mitted. The public will be admitted only 

 on Saturdays by the payment of 2s. 6(/. 

 each person. 



VAEIEQATED HOLLIES. 



Theke is no variegated shrub or tree in 

 existence capable of giving a more chaste 



and finished character to a plantation than 

 the variegated holly ; and the silver varieties 



