THE FLOKAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 5 • 



their bark, cliokes and poisons it, and eventually causes their decay ; but 

 some few conifers, such as Arbor-vita, Araucaria imlricata — which Mr. 

 Hibberd describes as flourishing in tlie Temple Gardens — and others, will 

 bear the smoke with patience ; and in the lists appended to the " Town 

 Garden," about a dozen of the most beautiful conifers are entered as capable 

 of culture in the very heart of London. The result cf a comparison of 

 these two works is to convince us that there need not any longer be a 

 single excuse urged by the possessor of even the smallest plot of ground 

 in a town locality for alloAving it to remain a dirty waste for cats and 

 sparrows. Is a grass-plot Avanted ? Mr. Hibberd tells how it may be made, 

 what grasses to choose for it, no matter how high the walls that sun'ound 

 it, or how smoky the atmosphere; as well as how, when made, to keep it 

 firm, and green, and cheerful, a welcome embellishment to a place frowned 

 upon by a thousand chimneys. In the way of trees and shrubs, we have 

 choice of the ash, which is described as flourishing in Thames Street, 

 and other places not less smoky ; the plane, of which there are examples in 

 Cheapsidc, Stationers' Court, Queenhithe, the Temple, and elsewhere; 

 the lime, several species of maple, the sumach, the ailanthus, the 

 laburnum, lilac, birch, willow, apple, pear, wild cherry, and many others 

 noted fur fine foliage and beautiful flowers, as well as many of the ever- 

 green shrubs, which are the pride of country gardens. In the way of 

 flowers, Mr. Hibberd puts up the notice " dangerous" at the head of his 

 chapter on roses, and enumerates the best sorts that may be trusted with 

 safety as capable of endiuiug the smoke ; but in herbaceous flowers and 

 annuals, he, with Mr. Paul, is liberal in his list of sorts, and gives the 

 townsman the key to the proper principle of selection. He says hard-eyed 

 dahlias never bloom well near towns; and in managing choice subjects, 

 such as named pansies, or roses of questionable hardiness, he advises the use 

 of beU-glasscs to place over them during the day-time, but to be removed at 

 night. Here is a piece of advice which may be useful to many besides 

 those who are " in populous cities pent:" — '"'la the suburbs of London 

 there are numbers of small nurseries where a little of everything may be 

 had at a moment's notice — fruit-trees, evergreens, roses, etc. The way in 

 which most of these are grown is such that they are totally unfit to be 

 removed when sold. They are planted in close rows, have as little atten- 

 tion as possible, and are never transplanted, because the cost of labour is 

 considered a waste of money. The trees do pretty well, and a purchaser 

 makes his selection according to their healthy appearance, not aware that 

 many of them have been allowed to form tap-roots, and have never been 

 moved or pruned from the clay they were put out to make heads. When 

 it comes to removal, the roots are cut in all round Avith the spade, the deep 

 roots are loosened, and the tree is ivrenched out. It never recovers the 

 shock, and people think the soil, the air, or their own management to 

 blame for the perishing of fruit trees, roses, and deciduous shi'ubs ; but the 

 caiise lies farther back. The trees ought to have been lifted every other 

 year, at least, as long as they were in the nursery, to prepare them for 

 final removal, and instead of having plenty of fibrous roots, they have only 

 long taps that have penetrated to an immense depth, and the tearing and 

 chopping of these ruins them for ever." 



Having reviewed Mr. Hibberd's work this time last year, we should 

 not have been justified in again calling attention to it as a text-book for 

 toAvnsmeu fond of their gardens, had it not undergone an entire revisiofti 



