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JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 16, 1875. 



the arcade, but it gives au insecure appearance. Close to this 

 and at the end of the Piazza, is Evans's famous hotel and 

 supper rooms, once a mansion dating from the time of 

 Charles II., though afterwards rebuilt. Its fine carved stair- 

 case, painted ceiling, and new music hall — the design of the 

 latter by Mr. Finch Hill — are features of interest, and are 

 memorials of a past full of associations. 



The Church of .St. Paul on the west side of the market was, 

 as is recorded over the eastern doorway, totally destroyed by 

 fire in 1795, and was rebuilt upon the old plan of Inigo Jones 

 by John Hardwick, the architect. Its architecture, familiar to 

 the student of London antiquities, was much lampooned by 

 that noted art-critic, Horace Walpole, for its barn-like over- 

 hanging roofs, and its Tuscan proportions. It is rumoured 

 the Duke of Bedford intends to restore the church, and re- 

 instate its old services. The author of "Hudibras" lies in 

 the graveyard, and we believe a fiat, almost undecipherable 

 Btone marks the spot near the east end of the north wall, 

 though there is a conflict of opinion on this point. Other 

 celebrities repose here also — among them Sir Peter Lely, the 

 painter ; Estcourt, Edward Kynaston, Wycherley, and Macklin, 

 actors and dramatists ; Worsdale, the painter ; and John 

 Wolcot, the satirist. We understand, on good authority, the 

 tablet of Charles Macklin, the comedian, was taken down by 

 the last rector. One of the latest and probably best adaptations 

 of iron to architectural purposes is the Floral Hall at the north- 

 east corner of the square, and which runs parallel and close to 

 the new Opera House, with a covered entrance in Bow Street. 

 This building seems to unite the floral and festive elements of 

 the neighbourhood. We thick its architect, Mr. Edward M. 

 Barry, the architect also of the adjoining Opera House, suc- 

 cessfully blended the Italian faride of his great building with 

 this work. The project of forming a central flower market is 

 due to Mr. Oye. On the rebuilding of Covent Garden Theatre, 

 after its destruction by fire in 1856, the idea was realised by \ 

 the present iron and glass arcade. Though designed as a 

 flower market, such is the " irony of fate " that it has chiefly 

 been used as a concert hall, and is now proposed to be turned 

 into a skating rink. The size of this structure is belied by its 

 contiguity to the Opera House, which completely dwarfs the 

 proportions. Few who pass it believe it to be a structure 

 divided into a nave and aisles 280 feet in extreme length, and 

 having a frontage of 75 feet in Bow Street. The nave or 

 central arcade is 50 feet span, and the aisles are each 12 feet 

 6 inches. The dome at the crossing of the roofs at the Covent 

 Garden end is a conspicuous feature. The height of the circular 

 ribbed iron and glass roof is also 50 feet to the crown, and to 

 the lantern-roof ridge 70 feet. The ribs are 21 feet C inches 

 from centre to centre, connected by light purlins, and are 

 supported by twenty-four hollow columns from the base- 

 ment on York stone slabs, 2 feet C inches square and 2 feet 

 8 inches thick, resting a solid bed of concrete 2 feet in thick- 

 ness. At the springing of the arches in the hall enriched 

 capitals adorn the columns, which are cast iron hollow, and 

 the capitals perforated to ventilate the basement. The side 

 avenues have lean-to roofa, and are connected to the main roof 

 by ornamental spandrels. The hall floor consists of thirty-two 

 arched girders, 18 inches deep, with two hundred others placed 

 transversely, having flanges to receive hollow tile arches. The 

 roofs are covered with bent Hartley <t- Co.'s glass, 21-oz. to the 

 foot._ In the fa(;ades of this structure we have the circle as the 

 leading element in the design. This figure is the predomi- 

 nating one in the circular-headed radiating panelled gable ; it 

 adorns the faces of the pilasters and spandrels, and, in fact, is 

 visible everywhere. We may add Mr. Henry Grissell, of the 

 Regent's Canel Ironworks, was the contractor. Wo admire the 

 recessed panelled fronts within the projecting wide runs of 

 open ironwork, which take off the usual flatness of iron build- 

 ings in a manner to be commended, and we have before hinted 

 the value of this kind of effect in iron buildings. Let us wander 

 through the neighbourhood so loved by Dickens and by Thack- 

 eray. Every street recalls the memories of literati, artists, 

 dramatists, and notabihties of wealth or fashion. King Street 

 and Henrietta Street can boast of Coleridge the poet and 

 other residents of note. One of the old houses we visited in 

 King Street retains sumptuous interior fittings — as mahogany 

 doors and dadoes, handsome cornices, and massive mouldings. 

 Garrick Street within the past few years opened up a thorough- 

 fare to Leicester Square. Tavistock Street, partly on the site 

 of the gardens of old Bedford House, according to a rare map 

 from a survey of W. Lyboru, in 1G8G, was once the Regent 

 Street of fashion ; in it Defoe, the author of " Robinson 



Crusoe," lived. Maiden Lane was noted for its " Cider Cellars," 

 a resort of "swells." Turner lived in the street now occupied 

 by the extensive show rooms of Messrs. Cox & Sons, the de- 

 corators, and the well-designed Roman Catholic Church of the 

 " Sacred Heart," opened by Archbishop Manning last year. 

 Chandos Street is noted as having seen the first introduction 

 of the " balcony," that English feature of our houses, which 

 was first set up here, and was said to be the invention of Lord 

 Arundel. Messrs. Benham & Froud have a warehouse in this 

 street in progress of completion, from a design of Mr. Frederick 

 Meeson of Adam Street, to which we shall refer further on. 

 Southampton Street is associated with Garrick. James Street 

 borrows its name from the Stuarts, and many other streets 

 from the Russell family — all are deeply interesting, both on 

 account of the pictures of old London life they open to our 

 view, and the various architectural changes which they have 

 undergone. — {Building News.) 



PRINCE OF APPLE-GROWERS. 



It may not be known that we have in America an " Apple 

 prince," whose income from his handsome Apple orchard on 

 the banks of the Hudson river exceeds that of many bankers. 

 He is a scion of British nobility and the chief among American 

 farmers — that is, his lands are made to produce a better return 

 to capital than in any other instance on record. Robert L. 

 Pell, the gentleman to whom reference is now made, is the 

 lineal descendant of Lord Pell, a peer of the realm, who ob- 

 tained a patent for a vast tract of land in Ulster county, near 

 the old town of Esopus. Mr. Pell occupies the ancestral farm, 

 which contains 1200 acres, all of which he cultivates under 

 his own personal attention. During the spring, summer, and 

 the autumn he resides upon the place. 



Mr. Pell's father, who was noted for his good judgment in 

 agricultural matters, stopping many years in the little village 

 of Newtown, L. I., observed two Pippin trees of English origin, 

 whose fruit was much sought for. The one produced an Apple 

 tinted with yellow and red, and the other of a green hue, the 

 difference in colour being solely caused by the difference in 

 the soil. He was ao much pleased with the fruit that he 

 determined to create an extensive orchard of a simUar kind. 

 The cuttings were obtained from time to time, trees were 

 planted and grafted, and after many years of perseverance 

 and labour the grand orchard was in existence. Mr. Pell 

 then could show 200 acres planted with the Newtown Pippin 

 alone, and containing 21,000 trees. He then remarked, if 

 each tree should yield his son one dollar a-year it would be a 

 handsome income. His plan, however, has been greatly 

 exceeded, for some of these very trees have yielded eighteen 

 bushels at a picking. 



During Apple harvest about one hundred men are employed, 

 and the work generally requires a fortnight. The rule is to 

 pick the trees clean, and not to let go of an Apple until it rests 

 in the basket. The latter are laid carefully on the ground, 

 and the teamster picks them up with equal care, and conveys 

 them to the Apple house. The latter is one of Mr. Pell's 

 inventions, and he has four in use. They are spacious struc- 

 tures, perhaps 40 by 100 feet (such, at least, is my recollection 

 from seeing one of them), and are what may be called two 

 storeys high. The first storey has no windows. You enter by 

 a wide door, and the Apples are seen covering the entire 

 interior to the depth of 4 feet. The upper part of the build- 

 ing has a few windows, and the door is grated, so that when 

 closed there is an ascending draught. The fruit will while in 

 this place discharge a very large amount of moisture, and thus 

 deliver itself from the chief cause of decay. • 



An Apple house at such a time is really a fine eight. In 

 three days the sweating is done, and the draught removes the 

 moisture. The fruit is then sorted, and all below a certain 

 size are carted to the cider mOl, while the rest are packed for 

 shipment. They are placed in boxes, each of which contains 

 one hundred of the best Newtown Pippins, and are at once 

 shipped to Liverpool. Mr. Pell's fruit is well known there, and 

 he has adopted the custom which prevails in the Orange and 

 Lemon trade in this city — viz., selling it by auction. The 

 sales are largely attended, and the Pippins from the Pelham 

 farm are sold all over Europe. They sometimes bring 14o. 

 a-pieoe by the box. Such is the value of a reputation, and 

 in this point the Pelham fruit has for forty years been 

 unrivalled. 



Mr. Pell has 80 acres devoted to Grapes, which are in great 

 demand. He has a peculiar way of placing the best (if there 



