14 Commercial Gardening 



the desired opportunity for collecting some of the many beautiful trees, 

 shrubs, and other plants that were likely to succeed under the climatic 

 conditions that obtain in the United Kingdom, and placing them at the 

 disposal of the general body of plant lovers. Then as now the nursery 

 firms of this country were remarkable for their enterprise, and there- 

 fore not slow to take advantage of the opportunity thus given them 

 for enriching gardens with new and beautiful forms of plant life. 



As a proof of this one example will be sufficient. In April, 1860, the 

 late John Gould Veitch, a member of the well-known Chelsea firm, left 

 England on a voyage to the Far East, and arrived at Nagasaki in the 

 July following. He remained in Japan about twelve months, and during 

 that period he sent home a large number of trees, shrubs, and bulbous 

 and other plants, and of these the greater proportion have proved of so 

 high a degree of value as to obtain a place in gardens generally. Coni- 

 ferous trees included Abies firma, A. microsperma, Cryptomeria japonica 

 elegans, Juniperus chinensis aurea, Larix leptolepis, Picea Alcockiana, 

 P ajanensis, P. polita, Pinus densiflora, P. parviflora, P. Thunbergi, 

 and the varieties of Retinospora obtusa. The deciduous trees included 

 the varieties of Acer palmatum, the climber Ampelopsis tricuspidata 

 (or Vitis inconstans), and the plants Lilium auratum, Primula japonica 

 and P. cortusioides. The introduction of so many kinds of first-rate im- 

 portance within so short a period evinces much enterprise, for travel- 

 ling in Japan was very different in those days from what it is at the 

 present time. The Abies, Cryptomeria, Piceas, and Pinus represent species 

 that rank high in their respective genera, and the varieties of Retinospora 

 obtusa are so diversified in form and colour, and withal so attractive, 

 that they have throughout the period that has elapsed since their intro- 

 duction enjoyed a high degree of popularity and have been freely used 

 in the creation of garden scenery. 



The varieties of Acer palmatum, in the varied form and colour of 

 their elegant foliage, are recognized as forming a group of small-grow- 

 ing trees of immense value for garden decoration; and Ampelopsis tri- 

 cuspidata is used more largely in clothing wall surfaces than all the 

 other climbers combined, and it contributes in no small degree to the 

 amenities of town life. The richly coloured Primula japonica continues 

 to be highly appreciated as one of the best of the moisture-loving plants 

 for fringing streamlet and pool in shady positions, and as the result of 

 the activities of various commercial horticulturists the varieties of 

 Primula cortusioides have been so multiplied as to form a large group 

 in which there is so great a range of colour as to greatly enhance their 

 value for various decorative purposes both under glass and in the open. 



The plants thus briefly enumerated rapidly came into favour. They 

 were largely used, and soon made an impression on the scenery of gardens 

 where novelties of merit received a welcome. They greatly enhanced the 

 interest and attractions of gardens in which they were given a place, and 

 as a result they greatly stimulated an interest in Japanese plants, and 



