66 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



r July S!5, 1865. 



tion of dctuclitd liou«c« for tlit growtli of fruit it «ci-m» an 

 error of jiulgmint to cover the wall with gJasK. I think that 

 glatfH hoiiKCH Kiioulrl ]}(! frcctod for thoHo friiitH tliat d(j not 

 ripfij well on wallH ; aiifl if tiny are jiot Hiiflieicntly warm 

 through »(jlar lieat, lieat tlieiii artiiieially witliont any liesi- 

 tation. Let everything l;c done in order that Hucce«» may be 

 certain if proper care and attention be exerciHed. (irow on 

 wallH Hiicli fniitt) an do well, and tlione that do but indifferently 

 M BtandardH, huHhe«, and pyratrjids, in the o))on expoHed Kromid. 

 WJiere ex)iiTiBe in liVi.rythiug, then covering a v.all with glasH 

 would be the bent plan to adojit. Thin would ariKwer the pur- 

 pose in a cold climate ; but it would lie a jiity, for there i« no 

 finer Bight in a garden than walln of I'eaehes covei'cd with 

 MosHoni in «pring and loaded witli fruit in autumn, or a I'ear 

 wall covei-ed with a carjjet of leaven througliout tlie Hummer, 

 and Ijung with large handHome fruit in autumn. Covered 

 wallH ju;ver alTord ho agrec.'able a promenade aH a large detached 

 houHC, or, if they did, the pleaHure of breathing the frcBh air 

 and viewing the trecH on the wallB Ih gone. If we are to be, 

 and I HU]i|)oHe mUHt he, modcnii»ed in our notions, let U8 not 

 ado)>t half-nu.'aHurcH. 



I am jierKuaded that those wlio have gardens, wliether pro- 

 prietors or those in charge, would confer a henelit on tJu;m- 

 gelvcK and offer a gn^at stimulUH to fruit culture if they were 

 to keep a register of the fruit trees in cool houses or those 

 without artificial lieat, on walls, anfl in the open ground, be- 

 ginning Ist, with the soil ; 2nd, description of tree and how 

 traini^d — busli, jiyramid, or standard ; ;ird, age of trees where 

 practicable; 4tl], time of flowering, noting whether injured or 

 not by frost; .Ith, tlie time of the fruit being ripe — Pears, 

 ■when gathered and (it for tahle, and the same of Apples, with 

 the continuance (»f their season ; Olh, size, obtained by mea- 

 Buring rou7jd the middle of the fruit and also round by the eye 

 and stalk, also weight of a single fruit, and half a dozen of a 

 fair canijjie. ]f grown on walls, the asjiect and other ]>arti- 

 culars should be named, and the wliolo tabulated like a meteor- 

 ological table, tliere lieing a column for gc.-neral remarks not 

 coming within the range of the separate iicadings. It would 

 add njuch to the vidue of tlie observations if the highest and 

 lowest daily trmiperatures were registered with the rainfall and 

 hygrom<'tricaI cruidition of tlie atmosjihere. 1 think these 

 observations would hi! highly interesting and valuable to all 

 growers of fruit, and Ihe mutual exchange of observations could 

 Tiot fail to be of considerable advantage. A few sliillings annual 

 »ubscri])tion would be all that would be needed to carry the 

 j)roje(^t into (effect — to defray the exjieniies of forma and the 

 publication of annual reports. I have already done a little in 

 this way, and gleaned a few facts whi<^h memory fails to 

 furnish when wanted accurately and ))rou]ptly. — G. Aiujky. 



Till', 1!KI)])1NG-0UI'1X KENSINGTON GAl'.DENS 

 ANJJ IIYDK ]'A1!K. 



Kknsinoton Palacts is an irregular jiile, chiefly liuilt by 

 William III., but considerably alteied and enlarged by suc- 

 ceeding rrionarchs. The struitttire is composed of brick, and 

 the principal division inclines in shape towards a sijuarc, and 

 shows tljree fronts on the garden side. The ollices attached to 

 the main building aio very extensive. Only the south front is 

 favoun^d with (lower-beds, which are planted in the following 

 order in jiairs to match at each side of a bro.ad walk heading uji 

 to the j'alace. The first, third, (iftlj, and seventh are jilanteil 

 alike with three rows of Stella Geranium in the centre, then 

 two rows of Flower of tlie Day Geranium, then a row of Lnbfclia 

 speciosa, edged with (innjilialium lanatuin. The second bed, 

 a circle, is planted with (Christine Geranium in the c ntre, 

 then bliu! Tjobelia, edgi-d with Cerastium tomentosum. The 

 fourth, also a circle, is jiliintcd willi Miiiliinie Viiucber Gera- 

 nium in the centre, then blue Lobelia, edged willi Cerastium 

 tomentosum ; and the sixth bed the same as the second. 



\Vb(Oi T say that the Pabice has no hall or front door, iiiul 

 that t)ie walk is at the east oiul of t,)ui jsirtion of lawn devoted 

 to (lowers, I am sure that this will appear inctjiigruous to the 

 eye of taste. Tlu; ribbon-border is composed of Lady I'lymoutli 

 and blue fjobeliii alternately, then Jenny lutid Heliotrope, 

 Perilla nankinensis, a row of I'lowcr of (lie Day (ieranium, 

 and yellow Calceolaria planted alternately in the row, then a 

 row of Punch Geranium, and tlicn a row of white Feverfew, 

 backed liy Monkshood and Chiyfianthemums. On the west 

 Hide, in front of the offices, the beds around tlie (Kiuare piece 

 of lawn look gay, but there seems a want nl balance and some- 



thing of a framework to Bejtarate it from the broad expanse ol 



tlje |):irk scenery. 



Having passed along tlie broad avenue of Elms we enter what 

 is called the fjong Walk on the sriuth side of Kensington Gar- 

 dens ; it is jilanted ribbon-fahbi<in with an edging of Stachyg 

 lanata, then u yellow ('alceolaria, said to be received from 

 Hampton Court, then J'unch (ieranium, then Ageratum mexi- 

 canum, backed with shrubs. It is an improvement upon the 

 planting of last year, and looking along the rows you are led to 

 expect that it is well filled, but during your ]u-ogresa you are 

 surprised to find that every plant is IH inches apart in the 

 rows. Wlien you reach the end of the walk bear a little to the 

 left (leaving the bridge that sjians the Ser]ientinc on your 

 right), and there, on a gradual slope, stands a low. Ivy-clad, 

 castellated lodge, the residence of the foreman, with o semicir- 

 cular grass plat in front, not surjiassed for its floral beauty 

 and retired scenery of wood and water by any other place with 

 wbicb f am a(H|uainted. The small ])lot is furnisbi'd with five 

 circles of diib^ent sizes — the largest, in the middle, planted 

 with (Jlotb of Gold, two with Christine Geranium, two with 

 Madame Vaucher Geranium; and a band surrounds the half 

 circle composed of eight rows of different plants, and eleven or 

 twelve No. 1 pots, filled with plants in flower, set on the grass 

 and walk. There are, besides, two stages, 8 or 10 feet high, 

 tilled with plants in jiots against what may bo called the Ivy- 

 clad wings of tliis Jiigmy castle. Much taste is displayed in 

 the arrangement of the ccdours in the pots and beds, and it is 

 a scene well worthy of a visit. 



'The gardens are three miles and a half in circumference, and 

 contain a circular basin called tli(^ Kound I'ond, near the Palace, 

 with three straight avenues diverging to three dilTerent points 

 eastward. Two main gravel walks, each lialf a mile long and 

 21 yards wide, intersect these beautiful gardens from north- 

 west to south-east with a broad circumferential and other gravel 

 walks communicating with different parts of these thickly 

 wooded and extensive landscape scenes. Nature in the tmdu- 

 lations of the ground, and Art in the hands of the landscape 

 gardeiu'r, liave contributed to their beauty by presenting to the 

 spectator distant views tlrrough long vistas of stately trees, and 

 the Herpentive river winding through the valley. Placed near 

 the city's western extremity, between its two principal thorough- 

 fares, whicli here approximate so closely as almost to embrace 

 it, and from which it is just sulliciently separated to protect it 

 from the annoyance attendant upon a too (dose apjiroximation 

 to a great highway, and a]>proach*;d through the jiarks and its 

 own grounds by beautiful walks it is a sjiot visited by all for its 

 own sake, and to which we would with pride and pl( asure con- 

 duct the footsteps of a stranger. Tlie air of trani|uillity which 

 reigns around the S)iot itself, embraced as it is within the circle 

 f)f the most populous capital in Europe, is almost marvellous. 

 'The trees in some parts of the grounds have been planted in 

 masses of u sort, in other parts they arc gathered into thick 

 groves of mixed kinds, and intersect by long avenues from 

 diffei-cnt jioints. An I'llm tree that I measiin^d was 1.5J feet, 

 a Horse-Chestnut 12j feet, a Hornbeam 7 feet H indies, and a 

 Spanish Chestnut IS feet 8 inches in girth 3 feet from the 

 ground. On a narrow strip of ground, about 150 yards long, 

 running parallel with liotten How from Hyde Park Comer, I 

 n^>ticed sfune mounds and clumps that liav<; lately been made 

 and ]ilanted there. It is the first instalment of an im)irove- 

 nient which I hojie to see extended along the now-neglected 

 site of the ever-memorable Fjxhibition of 1831. 



F'rom Stanhojie Gate to (irosvenor Gate, beside Park Lane, 

 the beds ami borders are jdanted in the following order: — 

 1st bed: centre, Stella (ieranium, then Pul^lle King Verbena. 

 The opposite bod : centre, C(immander-)n-(!liief (ieranium, with 

 two rings of variegated Mint and blue Lobelia planted triangu- 

 larly. '2nd bed : centre, (jhristine (ieranium, tlien White Ivy- 

 leaved (Jeraniiim. 0|i]ioBite lied : centre, Commander-in-Chief 

 Geranium, then I'lirjile King Verbena. Hrd bed : centre, Tren- 

 tham Hose Geranium, then Mangles' Variegiiled Geranium. 

 Opposite bed : centre, Punch Geranium, then Purple King Ver- 

 bena. 4tli bed : centre, Tom Thumb (ieranium, then Flower of 

 the Day Geranium. ()p|iosite bed : Tom 'I'liumb Geranium 

 centnj, then Purple King Verbena. .5th bed : centre, Stella Ge- 

 ranium, thin Miidiime Vaucher (ieranium. Opposite bed: 

 centre, Prince of Orange Calceolaria, then Verbena Purple King. 

 Oth bed : centre, Stella (ieranium, then Bijou Geranium. 

 Opposite bod: centre, yellow Calceolaria, then Purple King 

 Verbena. 7th bed, centre, Tom Thumb (ieranium, then Ma- 

 dame Vaucher (ieranium. Opposite bed ; centre, Horsoshoo 

 Geranium, then Purple King Verbena. 8th bed : centre, Tren- 



