2l8 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[July. 



ramble through the sylvan shades of Laurel Hill 

 Cemetery, so picturesquely situated within a few 

 yards of the enterprising firm I was visiting. So 

 under his efficient guidance 1 was musingly led 

 along the silent avenues and peaceful paths which 

 intersect "the city of the dead." Among the 

 beautiful and symbolic designs of costly monu- 

 mental statuary grew many stately trees, handsome | 

 shrubs, lovely flowers, and the greenest of green 

 grass, beneath which the silent sleepers lay. 



While looking at the many marks death had 

 made around us, I thought how suitable seemed 

 the words of a meditative man : " Poor things, 

 they vexed themselves about very small matters 

 while they were alive, but they are all at peace at 

 last." 



On alluding to the great injury the past severe 

 winter had done to some of the evergreen shrubs 

 in exposed situations, especially to the native 

 Rhododendrons and hardy Box bushes, my com- 

 panion remarked, " You will be much surprised 

 with what I am about to show you further on." 

 And indeed I was, when he pointed to a sturdy 

 Azalea indica alba, three feet high and four feet 

 across, almost ready to burst into bloom. To my 

 great astonishment, this beautiful oriental shrub 

 had stood there without any protection for the last 

 ten years, and seemed as hardy in the Occident — • 

 like its pretty little congener A. amoena ; and, as are 

 the charming Ghent varieties. Of course the 

 poetical Hawthorn, the singular Gin£;ko, and inter- 

 esting Cedar of Lebanon trees, were too conspicu- 

 ous to pass unseen. 



After viewing the very remarkable work of 

 sculpture, considered the masterpiece of the famous 

 artist, Thom, known as "Old Mortality," which 

 the genius of Scott has rendered immortal, we 

 meandered among the well kept burial lots, until 

 we reached one at which my guide paused, and 

 pointmg to a grave on which was placed a mass 

 of fresh flowers, remarked, "That is where father 

 is buried." As a passing tribute to departed 

 worth, I will here say, that he who slumbered 

 there, the late Mr. David Fergusson, who has 

 " passed through the golden gate," was as noble a 

 man I verily believe, as ever left " Bonny Scot- 

 land ;" and was for years a sincere friend of the 

 writer. And while deeply regretting his loss, the 

 remembrance of other days vividly reminded me 

 of vanished friendships never to return. And as 

 our friends thus drop off, one by one, we realize 

 the truth of the sad aphorism, "The shadow of the 

 cypiess will be cast over all." I 



Mount Holly, New Jersey, May 23rd, /88s- ' 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



The Duke of Westminster's Garden.— Eaton 

 Hall is one of the most beautiful ducal palaces, 

 and has one of the most interesting gardening es- 

 tablishments in England. The gardener has fifty- 

 six men employed under him. The number of 

 glass houses is so large that the employees gener- 

 ally cannot tell you without stopping to count on 

 the fingers how many there are. The hot-water 

 pipes to warm these houses in length would ex- 

 tend six miles. Strawberries are forced for winter 

 use, about 6,000 pots being used for the plants. 

 Ten thousand persons visited the grounds last 

 year. In order to keep down crowds, the Duke 

 charges 25 cents to each person visiting the palace 

 and grounds. The receipts are given to a hos- 

 pital in the vicinity, the sum last year being S2500. 



Mummy Peas. — The modern Egyptian is nearly 

 as good as Ah Sin, when playing the game of 

 " Fleece your brethren." Employ one to get you 

 some mummy peas at a big figure, and he will get 

 you the mummy and carefully unwrap its rags, 

 when lo ! and behold ! you may see the peas roll 

 out before your eyes ! The delighted Yankee or 

 Britisher smilingly carries home his prize and 

 plants them. It is nothing to him that it is but 

 the modern purple flowered bush pea, seeds of 

 which he could get anywhere for a few pennies. 

 These came from an " old mummy, you know." 



P. B. HovEY. — The founder and senior partner 

 of the well-known seed firm of Hovey & Co., of 

 Boston, died at his home in Cambridge on the 3rd 

 of June, in his Sist year. He was born, in the 

 house where he always lived and died, on 3rd of 

 September, 1803. In 1834, he started the seed store 

 at Cornhill, now at 16 South Market. Mr. Hovey 

 left the seed firm in 1883, but continued till his 

 death his interest in the Cambridge greenhouses. 

 He was among the early founders of the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society under General Dear- 

 born's Presidency, in 1829, and had been its Vice 

 President, and active in many official capacities. 

 He served two terms as a member of Common 

 Council in the city of Cambridge, and was a re- 

 markably useful man in every relation of life, and 

 highly esteemed by the whole community in which 

 he lived. Mr. Phineas Brown Hovey, leaves a 

 widow and three children. They, with his esteemed 

 brother, Charles M. Hovey, will receive the 

 sympathies of the whole horticultural community 

 in whose service their long lives have been so 

 ably dedicated. 



