RIVERS' NURSERIES. 



181 



white ; Highland Chief, a beautiful tipped 

 flower ; Striata perfecta, a good variety, but 

 we have rarely seen it well grown, being al- 

 ways small, loose, and open in the heart ; 

 Keepsake is a superb flower, and Flying 

 Dutchman one of the first fancy Dahlias 

 grown. 



Proceeding through the Dahlia grounds 

 towards the house, we passed a group of large 

 Conifers, Acacias, Banksias, and other New- 

 Holland plants ; also, in the same group, some 

 very large plants of the Sieus Rivulata. In 

 front of the house were arranged some fine 

 rare plants, of different species ; but what 

 fixed our attention more than any other in 

 this group, was a Double variegated Pome- 

 granate, with flowers as large as a good sized 

 Camellia, and perfectly double. We had 

 never seen this admirable shrub before, and 

 consider it one of the finest things we ever 

 saw. On showing a single bloom, which we 

 carried with us, to a botanical friend, he 

 thought it was a hollyhock, which at a dis- 

 tance it somewhat resembled. We believe 

 this remarkable shrub came from China ; but 

 it is still very rare, for we have not seen it in 

 any collection in this country or elsewhere. 



Perhaps Mr. Tiiorburn would oblige your 

 readers with some account of it ; for it cer- 

 tainly deserves to be better known, and more 

 widely distributed. 



Turning to the right, you approach the 

 green-houses, passing a small flower garden, 

 appropriated to exotics chiefly. We observed 

 here in great perfection, for the first time, the 

 new Zauschneria, a new Ipomea, and various 

 other new plants. We cannot omit to notice 

 a plant of the Diauthus barbatus — quite a 

 novelty in its way ; its beauty exceeded any- 

 thing of the kind we had seen before. It 

 forms a compact globular truss, very close 

 and double, with massy petals and dark 

 colour. We regai'd it as a valuable addition 

 to the herbaceous family. 



In the green-houses, we found many fine 

 plants, which the length of this renders it im- 

 possible for me to mention in detail. Splen- 

 did collections of Fuchsias, Geraniums, Ca- 

 mellias, Azaleas, and summer flowering plants 

 in great variety. We were much gratified 

 with our visit to these nursei'ies, and feel as- 

 sured that others who may visit them will be 

 the same. A Subscriber. 



Philadelphia, Sept. 14(/(, ISoO. 



VISIT TO MR. RIVERS' NURSERIES, SAWB RIDGE WORTH, HERTS. 



Among the many commercial gardening es- 

 tablishments which we have visited on this 

 side of the Atlantic, we have found none more 

 thoroughly interesting in all its details than 

 that of Mr. Rivers. We lingered nearly 

 two days with Mr. RiVERS, (who, we must 

 be allowed to say, is not only a horticulturist 

 of great ability and experience, but a thorough- 

 ly agreeable and cultivated man,) and could 

 not but feel that twenty four-hours spent in 

 carefully investigating the nurseries here, 

 would •\vell repay any of our intelligent young 



nurserymen for the trouble and expense of a 

 voyage across the Atlantic. 



The distinctive feature of the establishment, 

 as compared with most others in England, is 

 to be found in the improved modes of propa- 

 gation, culture, and adaptation to the wants 

 of the time, which it exhibits in every depart- 

 ment, while, in most of the English nurseries, 

 one notices that a certain routine, often excel- 

 lent in many respects, is followed, without 

 change, from year to year ; here, on the con- 

 trary, it is in the highest degree interesting 



