308 



JOURNAL OF HOiiTlCCLTURE AND COTTAGE GiRDENEB. 



I Kove:uber 20, 1S73. 



numerous other plants by the Japanese — a testimony to the 

 civilisation which must so long have existed there in order to 

 bring about this remarlcable result. In consequence of our 

 hitherto having but one sex of the Aucuba, it was long want- 

 ing in the beautiful scarlet berries which contain its seed, but 

 this deficiency has of late years been supplied, and the stami- 

 nate plant can now easily be procured. As the climate of 

 Japan closely resembles that of Great Britain, most of the 

 Japanese plants can be grown in this country without protection. 



A very short walk from the temperate house takes us to the 

 Chinese " Tai." This pagoda was built under the direction of 

 Sir William Chambers in 17Gl-'2, and was considered at the 

 time one of the finest specimens of brickwork in the country. 

 It consists of ten octagonal storeys, which diminish from the 

 lowest. The building is 163 feet in height, and the view from 

 the top is very beautiful, extending over a large area of country. 

 It is closed to the public in consequence of the inveterate 

 habit of name-cutting which affects a certain class of visitors. 

 The only Cedars of Lebanon of any size in the garden are 

 close to the building. They were planted in 1750, and conse- 

 quently are fine trees. 



Now that we are in the arboretum, or pleasure ground, which 

 the public so much affect, it will be as well to give some account 

 of it. It was mainly planted about the year 1730 by the Earl 

 of Bute, consequently the trees have grown to a noble size ; 

 but the wood has altogether lost its character within these 

 last fifty years — indeed, since the destruction of old London 

 Bridge. The old Ciurator, who still survives, tells us that in 

 his youth the Thames stood at least 3 feet higher than it does 

 now; in fact, there was never low water showing mud banks 

 such as we now see. The solid piles of the old bridge formed 

 an impediment to the flow of the stream, which kept it back 

 like a mill-dam — a fact which those old enough to have per- 

 _ formed the perilous feat of " shooting the bridge," as it was 

 called, can wtU remember. The effect of lowering the tide, no 

 doubt seconded by the general land drainage of the neighbour- 

 ing country, was that very many of the trees died; the present 

 Curator testifies to the fact that when their roots have been 

 dug up, they were marked at a certain depth, where the water 

 never reached them in the gravelly soil, by a fungus which 

 destroyed them. There used to he a tangled underwood 

 throughout, and rare Mosses and Ferns grew there, which col- 

 lectors in despair can no longer find. In fact, it wiis at one 

 time a covert for game, impassable to anyone but the royal 

 beaters. When the Queen made over the botanical garden 

 and the old arboretum to the public, Ihe pleasure ground was 

 in the possession of the late King of Hanover, and this Prince 

 refised to give up possession, but kept it as a preserve for 

 pheasants. At the aunual shooting the game were sent over 

 to Hanover, and we are informed found its way back again to 

 this country as presents to his friends ! Even as late as the 

 advent of Dr. Hooker, the present Director, it was imiiossible, 

 he tells us, to find a way through the dense undergrowths ; the 

 squirrels aud the wild birds were plentiful, and the aspect of 

 the place was quite forest-like. Since that time it has been 

 brought within the pale of civilisation. The undergrowth has 

 disappeared, paths have been cut through in every direction, 

 new trees have been planted, and it has assumed its true form 

 as a noble pleasure ground. The river, it is true, has become 

 very tidal, and the banks at time of low water muddy; but 

 the fide of these grounds overlooking the Thames is still the 

 favourite resort of the mere pleasure-lounger in the gardens. 



Finding our way back from the pleasure ground by way 

 of the gate near the Temple of Minden — a monument to a 

 battle Englishmen have almost forgotten — wo come in sight 

 of the flagstaff, said to be the finest spar in Europe ; it is 

 planted in a mound to a depth of 18 feet, and its entire length 

 is 159 feet. But the height is but that of a clothes-prop to 

 some of the spars the Welliugtonia gigantea trees could yield. 

 A specimen of this tree is to be found in the plantation on the 

 round mound near the Palm stove, of a very moderate height ; 

 but in California there are trees now standing 450 feet in 

 height aud 116 feet in circumference ! The fine square tower 

 we pass on our right once did double duty — as a smoke shaft, 

 drawing the smoke from the Palm stove furnaces, and as a 

 water-tower, in order to obtain a sufficient elevation for the 

 requirements of the gardens and houses. But both these 

 requirements have now been answered in another manner : 

 The smoke takes a short cut through the two wings of the 

 building, and the water is now provided by means of the lake 

 in the pleasure grounds, from which it is pumped by an engine 

 near the temperat3 house to tanks in Richmond Park. For- 



merly the smoke from the Palm stove was conveyed by under- 

 ground flues a distance of nearly 500 feet to the tower, whero 

 it was consumed. An underground railway also ran to the 

 stove, to convey coals to the furnace and remove the ashes. 



A short winding path takes us to the herbaceous grounds, 

 which form one of the most interesting features in the gardens, 

 and answer many questions plant-growers feel interested in, 

 but which the uneducated passer-by thinks as of no account. 

 These herbaceous grounds may be looked upon as the living 

 reflex of the herbarium, to which we shall draw attention pre- 

 sently. It may be considered a map of hardy herbaceous 

 plants, arranged in the natural orders to which they belong. 



Some of the orders occujiy several beds, and some but few, 

 the order in many instances being represented by a typical 

 plant placed in a circular side bed, so that the botanist sees 

 at a glance the bed from which he may require to gather infor- 

 mation. The Grasses and Sedges are illustrated by a splendid 

 collection. The Thistle tribe — few people sufficiently appreciate 

 their beauty — are very numerous, culminating in the Artichoke, 

 which we have often wondered has not been introduced into 

 our flower gardens for the beauty of its foliage. Evelyn tells 

 us that they were appreciated by the ancients as they deserved. 

 " For not very long since this noble Thistle came out of Italy, 

 improved to this magnitude by culture, aud so rare in England 

 that they are commonly sold for a crown a-piece ; but what 

 Carthage yearly spent in them, as Pliny computes the sum, 

 amounted to i'30,000 sterling.'' Whether they were appre- 

 ciated for their beauty or for their gastronomic properties 

 Evelyn does not say ; but the nobhity of their appearance no 

 lover of the beautiful can deny. The infinite varieties of many 

 of the common flowers only the botanist has a notion of, the 

 differences in many cases only being observable to the keen 

 scientific eye. Nevertheless, only distinct types are represented 

 here, all cross-breeds being eliminated. Among the noble 

 foliage to bo found here we took especial note of the Gunnera 

 scabra — a plant which grows very like the Rhubarb, the leaf- 

 stalks springing at once from the ground, but flowering differ- 

 ently, the seed-pods springing also from the ground. The 

 leaves are of gigantic proportions, measuring 8 feet in length, 

 aud forming deep masses of shade, and presenting most strik- 

 ing forms. We trust we shall see it ere long embellishing 

 private gardens. A collection of hardy Ferns, Alpine plants, 

 ifcc. , close to the herbaceous garelens clearly attracts many 

 fanciers, as we see they are under the especial care of a watch- 

 man, rare Ferns being one of the articles some people see no 

 crime in appropriating clandestinely. 



Of the value of this herbaceous garden as a test by means 

 of which collectors are able to identify rare plants, the number 

 of persons who daily visit it is the best proof. It may be asked. 

 What's in a name, " a Rose by any other name would smell as 

 sweet?" but the nurserymen know otherwise, and iu order to 

 sell their plants they must give the true botanical name. This 

 garden, and the hortus siccus, or herbarium, by far the most 

 extensive collection of dried plants in existence, form a neces- 

 sary complement to each other. The house at the entrance of 

 the gardens where the late King of Hanover used to live, 

 forms what may be termed a huge album, where most of the 

 drietl plants in existence can be found duly indexed and ar- 

 ranged in folios. In this and the herbaceous grounds most of 

 the scientific work of the garden is done. The valuable 

 botanical library situated under the same roof attracts to it 

 botanists from all quarters of the globe, and nearly every 

 valuable work on the subject published iu this country his 

 issued from this spot. — [Edinhuryh Ilcvieic.) 



PORTRAITS OP PLANTS, FLOWERS, AND 

 FRUITS. 

 Sexecio (Kleinia) Haworihu. Nat. ord., Composita;. I.iiin., 

 Syngeuesia icqualis. — Native of South Africa. Flowers silvery, 

 anthers yellow. " This plant has been cultivated for many 

 years at Kew, where there is no record of its origin. It forms 

 a small suffrutescent herb a few inches high, in the succulent 

 house, growing freely enough, llaworth again (PI. Succ, 314) 

 says, ' This extraordinary plant has not yet produced any 

 flowers with me. It is completely envelopeel iu a short dense 

 skin-like cover of cottony wool, which is even capable of being 

 stripped off the leaves like a skin, leaving the leaves them- 

 selves green after being divested of it. This cotton, if lighted 

 in the flame of a candle, &c., slowly consumes iu the manner 

 of touch-paper, owing to the resinous quality this genus 

 abounds iu. Cacalia tomentosa is capable of living very long 



