THE 



H §Uf©E. 



March, 1858. 



' <d3 B^ ^ none of the many remarks which 

 ||~ C~~ have lately appeared in the garden- 



V^^^ ing periodicals on the subject of 



town gardens, have the writers at- 

 tempted to lay down anything like definite plans for 

 the guidance of those whose poor attempts at horti- 

 culture they so justly characterise as a disgrace to our 

 cities, and more especially so to London, where the public 

 squares, which ought to be examples of how much may be accomplished, 

 are rather examples of the meanness and utter want of taste on the part 

 of those whose duty it is to conserve them. Yet, town gardening has 

 made some substantial progress since the compulsory abolition of the 

 smoke nuisance, and though the public evidences of improvement, as at 

 the Temple Gardens and the Inns of Law, are as striking as they are 

 few, private gardens — not in London and its suburbs only, but in all the 

 towns of the kingdom — have, within the last three years, undergone many 

 changes. If we can get individuals to take a real interest in their limited 

 town and suburban plots, and to manage them in a sensible and tasteful 

 way, a visible impiwement in the public squares is pretty sure to follow ; 

 for we are strongly of opinion that, when examples of success are multi- 

 plied by private individuals, a general public recognition of the rights 

 of intramural vegetation must speedily take place. Admitting that town 

 atmospheres must still continue to deposit soot, in spite of the most vigi- 

 lant legislative action, the plentiful distribution of water, by means of 

 suitable engines, all through the summer, is an obvious remedy ; but it 

 is still more important to impress upon the possessors of gardens in towns, 

 that virgin soil fresh from the country, to replace or refresh the worn- 

 out, sour, and consolidated black mould usually met with in such spots, 

 would do more towards ensuring a good display of evergreens and flowers, 

 than any amount of manure or drenchings of water, as we are convinced 

 that, in the majority of cases, where attempts at gardening in towns are 

 found to be certain recipes for the heartache, the money wasted on 



NO. III. — VOL. I. D 



