88 THE FLORIST. 



of those days, which, perhaps from their being the days of my early 

 youth, I cannot but fancy were days of lighter heart, and freer from 

 the feverish agitations of politics and business, than those in which 

 we now live. 



Of the floral merits of the favourites of that time, as compared 

 with the varieties most esteemed at present, I am not competent to 

 give an opinion. I have never cultivated them myself to any extent, 

 and can only remember the general admiration with which they in- 

 spired me. Though I have always inherited my father's love of 

 flowers, I have had less opportunity of indulging it, for the in- 

 crease of the town in which I have passed the greater part of my life 

 has been very unfavourable to horticultural pursuits, and it is only in 

 the last few years, since my removal into the country, that I have 

 been able, in the evening of life, to indulge with much success in 

 pursuits of which I have always been very fond. 



My favourite plants are the Camellia, the Rhododendron, and the 

 Azalea, both hardy and tender. These were not known, indeed they 

 did not exist in any variety, in my father's time ; for the endless and 

 beautiful varieties now in cultivation have been created by horticul- 

 tural skill since. I do not, of course, exclude other things ; but the 

 three genera I have mentioned are the principal objects of my atten- 

 tion and interest. I have about one hundred varieties of the Azalea 

 Indica, and the same number of the hardy species, as also of the 

 Camellia and Rhododendron, though of the last-named genus many 

 of my plants of the most recently-raised novelties are yet but small. 



My greenhouse is about 200 feet long, and not more than 10 

 feet wide. It is warmed by a common smoke flue, which is carried 

 below the surface of the ground in a straight line from one end to 

 the other, and the slabs which cover it form the walk, and the only 

 floored part. On the side of the flue nearest the back wall is a bor- 

 der about five feet wide, in which are planted the trees and shrubs that 

 cover the wall. On the other side of the flue, to the front, is a bor- 

 der about two feet wide, in which are planted the shrubs and climbers, 

 which are trained along the rafters of the roof. About every third 

 one of these has a handsome variety of Fuchsia planted against it, 

 the pendent flowers of which, in this position, display the beautiful 

 contrast between the corolla and sepals much better than in any 

 other. I first observed the effect in one of the greenhouses at 

 Chatsworth, — that princely seat of horticulture in all its branches, 

 where the entire roof of one of the smaller greenhouses was at that 

 time covered with these elegant shrubs. They have moreover the 

 advantage of not obstructing the light in winter, for they are nearly 

 destitute of leaves at that season, and will bear, nay require, the 

 freest pruning. They are in their greatest beauty at the end of 

 autumn, and fall very conveniently into my system of rendering the 

 greenhouse most attractive for the six months of the year when the 

 garden is least so. 



When the fading leaves and falling rains announce that the reign 

 of summer is at an end, I rejoice to see a prolongation of it in the 

 canopy of Fuchsias which overspreads my greenhouse. Before these 



