NOVEMBER 223 



book in 1895, I believe this was the only existing book of 

 reference on the history of English gardening. 



1830. ' On the Portraits of English Authors on Gar- 

 dening, with Biographical Notices,' by S. Felton. A 

 curious and really valuable book of reference. Mr. 

 Felton, in his preface, pays high tribute to the ' History 

 of English Gardening/ just described, and says : ' Mr. 

 Johnson's work is the result of original thought and of 

 an ardent and extended scientific research. Mine is a 

 compilation " made with a pair of scissors," to copy the 

 words of Mr. Mathias, which he applies to a certain 

 edition of Pope. I content myself, however, with the 

 reflection of Mr. Walpole, that " they who cannot perform 

 great things themselves may yet have a satisfaction in 

 doing justice to those who can." ' This reminds me of the 

 flippant newspaper critic who called Sir George Cornewall 

 Lewis's ' Influence of Authority in Matters of Opinion ' * a 

 book to prove that, if you did not know a thing, you 

 should ask some one who did.' There is a delightful 

 wisdom in this remark. 



1830 (about). 'The Florist's Journal and Gardening 

 .Record.' I have two volumes of this publication. The 

 plates are well drawn and coloured, and are more delicate 

 than those in Mrs. Loudon's books. One volume con- 

 tains a fascinating picture of that rather rare flower, 

 which I have failed as yet to bloom, called Zauschncria 

 californica. The two volumes are good specimens of 

 the books of the period. 



1834. ' The Magazine of Botany,' by Joseph Paxton. 

 In this year the intelligent gardener at Chatsworth started 

 his 'Magazine of Botany,' which was finished in 1849. 

 I have the complete set of sixteen volumes. The first 

 volume contains a somewhat fulsome and yet touchingly 

 hearty dedication to his master, the Duke of Devonshire. 

 Each of the succeeding volumes are dedicated to more or 



