Jane S, 1666. ] 



JOURNAIj of HOBTICtJLTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



Toids. Now, here we venture to differ from him. One pier in 

 the centre, and only one void on each side, in our opiuiou gives 

 a greater breadth, and is most pleasing to the eye. 



As " breadih " required tea pages of illustration, we antici- 

 pated that to " variety " and " contrast " at least as many 

 would have been devoted; but Mr. Hughes dismisses them 

 thus — " The writer does not think that variety and contrast 

 need any special illustrations, iua.^much as every one knovrs 

 what is meant by these terms." It is quite true that every 

 ■one knows what is meant by " variety," but it is quite as true 

 that in garden arrangements nothing is more difficult to attain 

 than harmonous variety. 



Having thus dared "to differ, let us next give a few brief 

 extracts in justihcation of our opinion that it is a useful and 

 clever work. 



Paeish JliTs. — To many of our readers it will be new and 

 Dsefid information, that " there is a public office in St. James's 

 Square, where may be found the map of every parish in Eng- 

 land, and whtre a copy of any portion can be obtained for a 

 very small sum, and in a very short time." 



Trees near the House and Lawn. — "Trees in any con- 

 siderable quantity should not be suffered very near the house ; 

 they are causes of much damp. A Cedar is one of the least 

 objectionable trees for such a situation, as it is dry in itself, 

 does not check the current of air like an Elm or Beech, nor 

 does it hold such a body of damp. The Pinaster is equally 

 free fiom objection. A Yew or Thorn will do no harm, be- 

 cause they are mostly of small size, and will not screen large 

 portions of the walls from the sun and wind. But when large 

 £lms. Beeches, and Sycamores, are allowed to almost overhang 

 the roofs, choking the gutters, darkening the rooms, and 

 <K)vering walls and roof with a green deposit, it is time for the 

 .sanitary inspector to interfere. 



" All writers on landscape gardening agree that a backing of 

 iiees Ls the best that can be obtained ; and if there is any 

 piece of timber on the ground which would form even the '•. 

 iiucleus of an extensive plantation, its situation with respect to 

 ihe house should be well considered. A house should not be 

 nearer to a wood than .'iO yards, but may be within half that 

 distance of a mere row of trees. Some trees of a very marked 

 .character are necessary in the vicinity of the house, to give in- 

 dividuality to the place. Cedars and WeUiugionias are very 

 ■well suited for this piu'pose. The Larch, when well grown, is 

 & most graceful tree, Uttle inferior to the Cedar. A Chestnut 

 ^ves great character; as does a Tulip Tree. The Spanish 

 Chestnut is very ornamental, but is only suitable where the 

 park comes very close to the house. 



" In settling the space to be occupied by the lawn, recollect 

 the expense of keeping it in high order, and that every square 

 yard adds to that expense ; do not, therefore, give it too mag- 

 nificent proportions on your plan, unless you are sure it will be 

 kept up at that size. 



" Nothing has a more comfortable English appearance than 

 .a well-kept lawn, though it cannot be valued as it deserves 

 except by those who have missed it in foreign lands, where the 

 well-shaven velvety lawn is unknown." 



Style or liARDEXS. — " The style of the garden may at all 

 4imes be later than that of the house. Changes of fashion and 

 .taste would affect the garden sooner than the house. In the 

 x>ne the whole external and internal decoration would have to 

 be changed at great cost ; in the other it is only the trouble of 

 making or destroying a few walks and beds. A few loads of 

 earth to make a bank, and a few yards of cutting, wiU materi- 

 .ally alter the style of a garden ; and as we are prepared for 

 .greater caprice, we are not shocked at slight incongruities. In 

 digging up almost any old garden, remains of still older can be 

 traced, and this in cases where we know the house itself has 

 not been altered. 



" The writer has always thought that the architecture of gar- 

 dens should be to a certain extent florid — that is to say, more 

 so than the house. Perhaps it is, that being in the midst of 

 flowers, leaves, tendrils, and delicate forms generally, the 

 transition to extreme simpUcity is too violent, and shocks the 

 .spectator. 



" As an example : A perfectly plain die or pedestal of polished 

 ;granite or marble would bo considered quite good enough, and, 

 indeed, most appropriate to support a handsome vase, tazza, 

 or bust, if within-doors, whether in sculpture-gallery, hall, 

 library, or observatory, yet this does not look well in a garden, 

 where a pedestal of fantastically carved freestone would be 

 more pleasing. The; glitter of the polished. surface ia destruc- 

 trre to all repose;"' X." "'Ji-ivij ud i,ii..jt iii« i U l^'j i^lu .. 



We cannot afford space for more extracts, although we have 

 many marked. The work is illustrated by more than 130 ex- 

 cellent woodcuts, which render the author's directions and 

 opinions readily understood. 



PROPRIETORSHIP IN HOME-GRO-WN SEEDS. 



A gabdesek having collected and dried seeds, having first 

 supplied his master's garden, is the overplus the property of 

 his master or for the gardener's own disposal ? — X. Y. Z. 



[The seeds belong to the master. His soil produced them, 

 and he paid for the labour which cultivated and dressed them. — 

 Eds.] 



A PEEP AT THE WOODS IN ODD PLACES.— No. 5. 



OIL PALM— CANE. 

 Having had a peep at the JMangrove, and a few of its com- 

 panious, I will now show a much more elegant, though not so 

 noble a tree, the one being an exogen, and the other an endogen. 

 Before showing the lovely Oil Palm fElais guineensis), I must 

 ask my reader to follow me out of the Bonny river, where we 

 are at present lying, into the New Calabar river — (these so- 

 called rivers are only different arms of the delta of the Niger, 

 to which sailors give the.se titles in consequence of the re- 

 spective towns standing on them ; thus amongst seafaring men 

 the Thames is almost invariably called the liondon river, and 

 the Mersey the Liverpool river) — and let us pass up stream 

 through the salt marsh district until we reach the higher 

 country, in which the Elais guineensis grows. As we want 

 water for the ship, we will take a boat and some water-casks to 

 bring it back, the boat's crew being composed of Crewe boys, 

 since white men cannot stand the labour of rowing in the sun 

 so well, and are more valuable on board the vessel. 



The boat is now ready, so we will away. Between the Bonny 

 and New Calabar river is a narrow channel formed by an island 

 on one side, and a gently rising headland, or rather sandbank, 

 on the other. This headland is most richly covered with line 

 Mangrove timber, and presents a very beautiful appearance, 

 yet in spite of its beauty it bears a very evil name, bemg called 

 Crucifixion Point, on account of a most horrible transaction 

 said to have taken place there, in which a boat's crew were 

 captured by the natives and eaten, with the exception of 

 the officer m charge, who was crucified on one of the trees, 

 head downwards, and there left to die. He was discovered and 

 taken on board his ship, where he lived long enough to narrate 

 the story, and then expired. Though numbers of the natives 

 suffered for this foul deed, the actual perpetrators were never 

 known, but one chief in particular was suspected on account of 

 his acknowledged detestation of the whites, and his penchant 

 for cannibalism. Our boat, however, has fortunately escaped 

 safely through the pass, and is now floating in the New Calabar 

 river, so let us turn our faces up the stream, and make the 

 best of our way to the town, for here we shall have to stop for 

 a few hours to enable us to obtain a native to act as pilot and 

 interpreter, for we are going into a country in which neither 

 English nor the Crewe language is spoken or understood ; and 

 as we shall be compelled to hold some communication with the 

 natives of the different territories through which we must pass, 

 all of whom are troubled with the bumps of pugnacity and 

 cannibalism, it would be unpleasant not to know what they 

 mean, should they tell us to stand and deliver some portion of 

 our goods, or demand an explanation of our presence in that 

 country. We should, of course, feel it extremely unpoHshed 

 couduct on our part to go on without returning an answer to 

 what might possibly be a polite speech, through our barbarian 

 ignorance of their euphonious language, the verbal mode of 

 communication of any of these tribes seeming to be carried on 

 by Bounds varying in sweetness from the bass grunt of a pig to 

 the mclUfluous nasai whine of a thorough-bred Yankee. 



Passing up a fine wide river lined on both sides with mag- 

 nificent foliage of all descriptions, from various kinds of grass 

 to enormous timber trees, we came in sight of the vessels lying 

 moored off the town of New Calabar, the natives of which town 

 liave, as I see by a recent account in a Liverpool paper, been 

 indulging in their old offence of cannibalism, for having gone 

 to war, or rather made a raid upon the Brassmen, and taken a 

 number of prisoners, they, according to custom, killed and 

 made a feast of them. But this having nothing to do with our 

 present trip to view the Oil Palm, we wiU leave them, and 

 having taken our guide and pilot (who is hkewise responsible 



