488 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



r Jane 28, 1877. 



remaining old school of florists will no more be Been scrntinis- 

 ing with his patient and discriminating gazs those flowers in 

 which he especially delighted. He was one of those whom one 

 used to meet in the " salet days" of one's youth, when the 

 growth of florists' flowers in the metropolis was a reality ; and 

 wherever there was a meeting of florists — at Tlie Hums, Keu- 

 nington, at Worton Cottage, or at his own house, there he was 

 Bure to be fonnd. Quiet and unobtrusive in his ways, some- 

 what slow in his movements but always sure, he might 

 ever be depended npon for a cartful examination of every- 

 thing submitted to him, and for an honest opinion on its 

 merits. In former days he was a sucoessfal exhibitor cf 

 Pansies and Auriculas, and deplored the falling-off in their 

 culture around London, which few could speak of so well as 

 he. He had not entirely given up the latter, for only a few 

 years ago he had added to his little stock, but incrsasing in- 

 firmities made him less ardent than he used to be. There 

 may have been many more extensive florists than our good 

 friend, but no truer or heartier one could be found. He died 

 on the 20th inst., at the age of sixty-seven, and will be largely 

 and sincerely regretted. — D., Deal. 



THE OLD MARKET GARDENS and NURSERIES 

 OP LONDON.— No. 17. 



The highly respectable, and even yet semi-rural, suburb of 

 Hammersmith cannot, as it seems, claim a venerable history 

 as a distinct locality. For many centuries it is undistinguished 

 from Fulham, of which it is still a hamlet, that extensive 

 Tillage being considered to extend over a district about five 

 miles in length by two in breadth. It may be surmised, there- 

 fore, that the peculiarities of Hammersmith did not much 

 incline men to settle there, although a main road ran through 

 it to various places in West Middlesex. Doubtless until com- 

 paratively recent times the land in Hammersmith was ill 

 adapted for cultivation. Water flowed over its marshes from 

 the adjacent Thames on manv days, while the district received 

 water also from the forest of Middlesex above it, which stretched 

 along the hills to the north near Shepherd's Bush and Worm- 

 holt Scrubs. Apparently, when Sir Nicholas Crispe took into 

 his head to build himself a house at Himmersmith, there 

 was not another habitation in the place, saving, perhaps, a 

 hovel or two erected for thn occusional use of the peasauts who 

 attended to the cattle that grazed here. No doubt it was the 

 richness of Hammersmith in clay which led Sir Nicholas to 

 his experiments in brick-making there during the reign of 

 Charles I., and down to this hour bricks have been made in 

 the locality. 



Like other suburbs, Hammersmith has grown rapidly in the 

 Victorian era, for when Brewer wrote about it sixty years ago 

 the number of families living in the hamlet was about 1500, 

 and as out of this population 210 families were connected with 

 the cultivation of the ground, it was evidently an important 

 suburb as contributing fruit and vegetables to the Loudon 

 markets. Though the times have changed since the rail has 

 opened up an easy commuoioation between London and places 

 more remote than Hammersmith, the district has slill much 

 garden ground ; but here, as in other suburbs, the orchards 

 have rapidly decreased in number, partly perhaps owing to the 

 discouraging effects of Lon.ioQ's smoky atmosphere, partly, it 

 may be, through the difficulty of guarding the fruit sueceas- 

 fnlly from depredators. In the reigo of good old Gvorge III., 

 however, it was quite a sight in the autumn when driving 

 through Kensington, Himmersmith, and Turnham Green, to 

 notice the quantity of fruit ou both sidas of the road. D jubtless 

 the orchards were clustered near the main road for convenience 

 of transit, and also in several parts the ground is higher than 

 towards the Thames. Same garden produce was, until the 

 beginning of this century, sent to town by the circuitous route 

 of the river from the fields in Hammersmith and Fulham 

 that were handily situated for the transfer of Cabbages and 

 Potatoes to barges, and the growing of vegetables in Ham- 

 mersmith appears to have preceded the cultivation of fruit; 

 nor did the farmer at once withdraw when the market gar- 

 dener came upon the scene; so that here and there during the 

 eighteenth century fields of corn were interBpcrsed among the 

 market gardens, and the plough mialit have been seen at work. 



Faulkner, in his description of Hammersmith published in 

 1838, indulges in some rather amusing observations on the 

 taste for vegetables developed in modern times, these being 

 snggested, eeemingly, by his suburban perambulations. "As 



to the produce of a garden," says he, "every middle-aged 

 person may observe within his own memory how vastly the 

 consumption of vegetables has increased. Green stalls in 

 cities now support multitudes in a comfortable state, while 

 gardeners get fortunes. Our Saxon ancestors certainly had 

 some sort of a Cabbage, because tbey called the month of 

 February ' Sproutcale ;' but long after their days the cultiva- 

 tion of gardens was little attended to." In this assumption 

 our philosophising friend is not quite correct. London citizens 

 at any rate had quite a fancy for greens before the times of 

 the Stuarts, and, as stated in a previous article, when the 

 growth of the metropolis interfered with the citizens' gardens 

 in Holborn and Cheapside many of them took plots for ihem- 

 selves out at Finsbnry or towards Islington. Vegetable soups, 

 indeed, played no unimportant part in the cookery of our 

 ancestors. Then, as to the fortunes supposed to have been 

 made by market gardeners, it has, I believe, been rather the 

 exception than the rule in most London suburbs. Fortunes 

 are and have been made by nurserymen, especially by those 

 successful in the introduction of exotics before the calling be- 

 came, like most other callings in our day, considerably over- 

 stocked. But Faulkner may be quite right when he attributes 

 an increased taste for vegetables to the influence of the monks 

 in the middle ages, who came, many of them, into England 

 from Italy, and having little to do took up with gardening 

 pursuits. And, quoting from the venerable Ray, Faulkner 

 remarks that the Euglish seem to have been especially de- 

 lighted with the introduction of Endive and Celery. The latter, 

 however, they were at first so far from appreciating that they 

 ate it with oil and pepper, dressed somewhat, I suppose, as we 

 dress Lettuce salad. 



Returning to Hammersmith from this digression, it should 

 be noticed that when the locality was at its best, so far as gar- 

 dening interests went, more than 250 acres were under culti- 

 vation ; at present perhaps not half as much through the up- 

 springing of new streets. Methods, too, have been altered, 

 generally for the better, and it is curious to compare with 

 modern modes the style pursued by tbe grandfathers of our 

 present horticulturibta. In the Hammersmith orchards was 

 exemplified the plan of having an upper and an uudur crop of 

 fruit, the upper being Apples, Pears, Cherries, Plums, and 

 Walnuts (the soil of the district, however, was long regarded 

 as unfavourable for the growth of the Pear), while the under 

 crop was Currants, Gooseberries, and Raspberries. This fashion 

 of planting has not jet gone out, and plenty of illustrations 

 may be found in the fruit-producing districts of Kent ; but 

 forty years ago the London gardeners began to find it had 

 grave objections, so they set fruit trees in rows, giving a suffi- 

 cient space between the rows to allow of the occasional culture 

 of vegetables. The gardeners depended much on the crops of 

 Bsans and Ptfas,mauyof them preparing banks sloped towards 

 the south for early P^as. Onions were also grown largely, 

 and the bulk of them sown in February. The land, which 

 was gradually cleared of Cabbages during the winter, was 

 usually sown with Carrots or Peas for a later gathering. Cu- 

 cumbers were frequently put in amongst the rows of early 

 Cabbages for the sake of succession, as also Spinach. At 

 Hammersmith Cauliflowers, Broccoli, and Parsnips were not 

 much attended to in Faulkner's time, but the gardeners sent 

 to markat large supplies of " small salad " raised under glass, 

 and they were famjus for their Lettuces. Through their 

 plentiful use of manure three or four crops of vegetables were 

 had from the same land during one year, and the chronicler 

 hints tbat the gardeners had a practice of making what were 

 called " muek holes" for the fermentation of their manure, to 

 which persons with sensitive noses might perhaps object. And 

 he seems to regret that the " old orchards" were already gra- 

 dually disappearing, because by the culture of vegetables a 

 steadier income was attainable. 



But Hammersmith is bast known to fame, not through any 

 market gardener of the place, although it had many of some 

 repute. The mention of it at once reminds one of the " Vine- 

 yard Nursery ;" necessarily, however, the increase in the num- 

 ber of nurseries has changed the position of an establishment 

 deemed almost unrivalled in the reign of George III. I could 

 give more credence, I must confess, to the statement that the 

 nursery was once considered the " first in the world " if I had 

 not discovered the same assertion is made about Loddige'B 

 and Brompton Park Nursery, very probably about others also. 

 Undoubtedly Messrs. Lee & Kennedy do occupy high rank 

 amongst the pioneers of horticultural and even of scientific 

 progress, for those who have devoted their energies to the 



