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THE GARDENER'S MONTHL Y 



[May, 



Mr. Bridgeman was the author of the Gardener's 

 Assistant, a work having a large sale, and to 

 which hundreds of European Gardeners on com- 

 ing here, and unused to the American climate and 

 plants, are much indebted. By 1840 commercial 

 horticulture had come to be liberally patronized, 

 and nurseries, greenhouses, and market gardens, 

 of considerable extent had been established in 

 Long Island, New Jersey, and New York Island, 

 so that the markets were fairly supplied with 

 fruits, flowers and vegetables ; but meagre indeed 

 to what they are to-day. The advancement in 

 floriculture has been much the greatest. In those 

 days the gorgeous designs formed by cut flow- 

 ers, now such a feature in all our large cities, 

 had no existence, and the wonderful plants of the 

 tropics now seen in such profusion and variety, 

 embellishing public or private entertainments 

 were almost unknown. In nothing, perhaps, has 

 horticulture advanced so much as in the beautiful 

 designs that cut flowers are made to form, and 

 which in New York to-day is perhaps unsur- 

 passed by any city in the world. In 1844 I was 

 an assistant in one of the then largest floral es- 

 tablishments in New York City. If a wreath 

 was to be made, its base was usually a piece of 

 willow or a barrel hoop ; if a cross, two pieces 

 of lath formed the groundwork, and the work 

 when done was usually such as reflected but lit- 

 tle credit on the artist. Bouquets were then 

 about the only style of design in cut flowers ; 

 these were usually made flat or one sided, the 

 ground work being arbor vitae, through which 

 the stems of the flowers were drawn. Bouquets 

 made round were rare, for floral art had yet de- 

 veloped but few fitted to cope with such an un- 

 dertaking, and the few who did, made poor work 

 indeed. Our sales of flowers at that establish- 

 ment for New Year's Day, in 1844, hardly 

 amounted to S200, and probably for the whole 

 city of New York, it did not exceed $1000. Now, 

 it would probably be no exaggeration to say that 

 New York pays S50,000 for its flowers on that 

 day, and that the amount paid yearly for these 

 perishable commodities run into the millions. 



(To be continued.) 



HOLLYWOOD PARK. 



BY WILLIAM SUTHERLAND, PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



Long Branch, N. J., one of the finest summer 

 resorts on the American coast, is not only noted 

 for its bathing facilities, beautiful drives, villa 

 residences and hotel accommodations, of which 

 the West End, Ocean House, and Howland 



House, are among the largest summer hotels in 

 this country, but it has also become famous as 

 the residence of John Hoey, Esq., one of the 

 most liberal patrons of horticulture in the 

 United States ; and for the sake of the fine old 

 art we would there were a few more like him. 



Hollywood Park, the residence of Mr. John 

 Hoey, is situated about one mile from the Long 

 Branch depot, and is, with a few restrictions, 

 open to the public at all seasons; and every 

 lover of the beautiful misses a great treat who 

 does not visit it. Long before you arrive on the 

 grounds, you can see the rather conspicuous 

 fences, painted red and yellow, which is a feature 

 of the place and quite ornamental. 



On entering the grounds I was met by the 

 gardener, Mr. James McKay, who, when I ex- 

 plained my visit and tendered him my introduc- 

 tion by the editor of the Gardener's Monthly, 

 showed me every attention and courtesy that was 

 possible. The sight amazed me and is almost 

 beyond description. I feel that my feeble ef- 

 orts are quite inadequate to do justice to the 

 beauties of the place or to the skill of the gar- 

 dener. 



The grounds are beautifully laid out in walks 

 and drives; the lawns are embellished by a great, 

 many bronze statues with granite bases. But 

 the flower beds are the glory of the outside, and 

 require hundreds of thousands of plants to fill 

 them, and sixty men or more to take care of 

 them. One very large oval bed of Alternanthera, 

 which is clipped every three days, contained the 

 Shaksperian quotation: "This is an art which 

 does mend nature but the art itself is nature." 

 The letters were formed of Semperviviums, 

 which gave it a very pretty and novel eS"ect ; the 

 words were around the base of a statue and the 

 whole flower bed was as near perfect as human 

 hands could make it, and was alone well worth 

 a journey to see. 



Mr. McKay next called my attention to two 

 immense ribbon beds, one on each side of the 

 walk, and perhaps some eight to ten hundred 

 feet long, filled in eleven strips with, 1st, Ste- 

 via variegata; 2d, Geranium Mountain of Snow; 

 3d, Achyranthus Gilsonii; 4th, Geranium Moun- 

 tain of Snow ; 5th, Achyranthus Lindenii ; 6th, 

 Coleus El Dorado; 7th, Achyranthus Gilsonii; 

 8th, Stevia vaiiegata; 9th, Coleus VerschaflF- 

 eltii ; 10th, Stevia variegata; 11th, Coleus 

 Negro. The yellow Coleus El Dorado forming 

 the centre strip, gave it a gorgeous appearance. 

 Mr. McKay uses the variegated Stevia very 



