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JOUHNAL OP HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAKDENER. 



[ June 12, 1873. 



cultural societies in Euglaud, and its shows can boast of pro- 

 ductions as meritorious as are to be found at some where greater 

 pretension is made. Perhaps there is no place in England of 

 its size where ilowers are so extensively grown, and where ve- 

 getables are produced in greater excellence ; and although the 

 gardens about the city are small and the nurseries limited in 

 extent, there is no lack of the 



true gardening spirit among the 



inhabitauts. The Victoria Park, ' 



where the Exhibition of the 



Eoyal Horticultural Society is 



to be held on the 24th of this 



month, is an evidence of the 



public taste in this way. 



The Royal Victoria Park, of 

 which we gave a plan at page 

 .388 of our present volume, oc- 

 cupies twenty-one acres, and 

 was laid out in 18oO,wheu 2.5,0(10 

 trees were used in planting it. 

 The architect was Mr. Edward 

 Davis, who at the time, and for 

 some years afterw.ards, took a 

 prominent lead in the advance- 

 ment of the horticulture of 

 Bath. 



The principal approach to the 

 Victoria Park is from Queen's 

 Square, from which there is a 

 triplet entrance, the centre being 

 a wide cai'riage way, and the 

 two sides narrow gates for pe- 

 destrians, the two latter sur- 

 mounted each by a cast figure 

 of the British lion gamboUiag 

 with a cannon ball as kittens 

 gambol with a ball of worsted. 

 The ample drive, which is caUed 

 the Royal Avenue, ascends a 

 pretty steep incline, and winds 

 in a bold curve to the left, 

 where it is flanked on either 

 side by a handsome avenue of 

 trees, which stretches through- 

 out its whole length through 

 the park. The left side of tliiE 

 avenue, extending as far as the 

 obeUsk, is of various species 

 and varieties of Elms, and the 

 right entirely of Horse Chest- 

 nuts, which on the occasion of 

 our visit were in fuU bloom. 



No sooner had we entered 

 upon this avenue than we saw 

 an index to the Bathouian mind, 

 to which we strongly request the 

 attention of Borough Boards 

 and other heads of departments. 

 Every tree in this avenue of 

 Elms is marked with a con- 

 spicuous and distinctly written 

 label, with the botanical and 

 English names ; and those who 

 wish for enlightenment on the 

 difficult nomenclature of the 

 many forms of the native Elms 

 will here find a ready and re- 

 liable help. These trees were 

 planted about forty years ago, 

 when study of permanent orna- 

 ment held the place which is 

 now given to temporai-y de- 

 coration, and before bedding- 

 out occupied so much of the 

 gardening taste of the country. 

 But here the Bathonian judg- 

 ment is displayed in fostering both tastes ; for though atten- 

 tion is stiU paid to the arboricultural specialty of the park, 

 seasonable decoration is not neglected. This is as it ought to 

 be. This is indeed true gardening. All one thing or all 

 another thing indicates poverty of taste and poverty of genius. 

 Horticulture is a various and versatUe art, and he who fails or 



refuses to cultivate more than one branch of it is like a man 

 of one idea. The Victoria Park of Bath furnishes evidence 

 that the Bath people possess considerably more than one idea, 

 and can appreciate with varied tastes objects which are worthy 

 of all admiration. 

 But to return to the avenue. We found among the Elms 



full-grown specimens of many varieties which it would be diffi- 

 cult now to find, or at least to identify. The nomenclature of 

 these has been carefully preserved, and we commend the study 

 of them to those of the forthcoming visitors to the Royal Hor- 

 ticultural Society's meeting who are interested in arboriculture. 

 Some of the specimens we remarked more particularly were 



