177 



OUR PUBLIC GAEDENS. 



The progress of decorative horticulture is 

 in no way more agreeably exemplified than 

 in the wonderful changes wrought iu the 

 aspects of our public gardens during the 

 past few years. The man who wishes to 

 know in what direction public amuse- 

 ments are advancing, cannot do better than 

 make a trip to Kew, St. James's, Hyde, 

 Kegent's, Victoria, or Battersea Parks just 

 now, to be convinced that the poorest 

 denizen of the great metropolis has at com- 

 mand a source of the most exalting of 

 pleasures, at no other expense than that of 

 conveyance to the show; and as public gar- 

 dens are on the increase, we shall hope fur 

 the day when there will be a sufficient 

 number in various parts of London, to 

 place within walking distance of every 

 section of its population an annual feast 

 of green leaves and flowers. The exqui- 

 sitely designed bedding patterns adopted 

 by Mr. Massey, the able superintendent of 

 the flower-beds at Hyde Park, are not only 

 a credit to him, but to the metropolis. It 

 is net long since in a walk through the 

 parks, the only flowers we saw were Vir- 

 ginian stock and African marigolds, and 

 miserable examples they were both of cul- 

 ture and adaptation. Now, London has 

 its mosaics, ribbons, Berlin-wool shadings, 

 and all the rest of the simple and intricate 

 examples of flower grouping, so that people 

 who are disgusted with the admixture of 

 floral elegancies with tight-rope dancing, 

 and the morbid excitement arising out of 

 the probability that a certain man or wo- 

 man may be killed in the presence of a 

 gaping crowd, may enjoy the better part of 

 the entertainment in one of the public 

 parks, free from the excitements provided 

 for morbid appetites, and from temptations 

 to excess and lolly. In almost every direc- 



tion now, the few people who remain in 

 London may participate in rural pleasures. 

 The two gardens at the Temple, where Mr. 

 Broome and Mr. Dale, who labour inces- 

 santly to keep up the gaiety of their 

 grounds in spite of smoke and drought, are 

 real ly beautiful. 



If we look nbout us in any of the lead- 

 ing midland and northern towns, we shall 

 find that the same happy changes are being 

 effected. The borders that a few years ago 

 were given up to stunted lilacs, dead leaves, 

 and mouldiness, ai-e now treated as wor- 

 thy of a better garniture; and drinking 

 fountains, public scats, and mauy other 

 sources of comfort, are provided for the 

 weary pedestrian. To wiiat shall we at- 

 tribute this great change in the aspects of 

 public grounds? Generally to the advance 

 of intellect and morals, the decline of every 

 species of debasing amusements, the pro- 

 gress of education, and the diffusion 

 amongst all classes of the people of a 

 better order of literature; amongst which 

 let cheap newspapers have their proper 

 place. Shall we not say, too, that garden- 

 ing periodicals have done mucli to foster 

 the germs of a pure taste, and encourage 

 pursuits of an elevating and refining 

 nature? Certainly they have ; and if 

 their pages are not so crowded with re- 

 potts of new discoveries, descriptions of 

 new inventions, and criticisms on plants of 

 questionable value, as some of the garden- 

 ing fraternity would have them ; they 

 nevertheless tend, by affording an arena 

 for the discussion of principles, and the 

 display of the results occasionally attained 

 by inquiry and experiment, to the educa- 

 tion of the masses and the improvement 

 of the moral and intellectual tone of so- 

 ciety at large. 



Earwig Traps. — The prevailing prac- 

 tice of placing garden-pots on the tops of 

 dahlia stakes to entrap the earwig, so in- 

 jurious to the blossom of that plant, tome 

 appears highly discordant with good taste, 

 and yet these unsightly objects are exhibited 

 in almost every garden and pleasure-ground 

 from the time of planting the dahlia to the 

 end of the season. Permit me to suggest 

 as an improvement, that the pot be placed 

 erect on the ground behind the plant close 

 to its stem, with a small quantity of wool 

 inside, or anything else that would afford 

 warmth and concealment to the insect, 

 which feeds in the night and secretes itself 

 during the day; or, in place of the pot, a 

 small piece of woollen cloth may be put 



between the stem of the plant and the 

 stake, or a bundle composed of half a dozen 

 bean-stalks, five or six inches long, may 

 be placed between the plant and the stake, 

 or amongst the branches. Indeed, almost 

 anything that would afford concealment to 

 the insect, and at the same time not look 

 untidy, would answer : of whatever ma- 

 terial the trap is, it should be frequently 

 examined, and the insect shaken out and 

 destroyed. I may also mention that the 

 caterpillar, which feeds upon the dahlia 

 blooms, and secretes itself during the day 

 between the stake and plant and in the 

 bloom, may be entrapped by placing the 

 old blossoms about the plant in the above 

 manner. Majoe. 



