1837] 



F A R iM E R S ' REGISTER 



499 



has gradually been left, off, and, in consequence, I 

 tlio sale of jjiirdeii implements has fiiiloii into the i 

 hands of iron-moiitjors and agricultuial implement j 

 nialvors, to the injury ot" the youiifr gardener, who | 

 has ilins no opportunity of seeing any tools, but ; 

 those used in the garden where he is at work'. 

 Filihiv, he proposes i,o have a library of rrlerenc-e 

 of tiie best gardening and botanical worl<s; and 

 he intends to keep a small stock of all such works, 

 and to sell them to working gardeners at very little 

 more than the trade price. Sixthly, in the library 

 of reference he_ will [dace his own very complete 

 hortus siccus, and collect specimens ol'seeds, fruits, 

 cones, &c., of useful and ornamental trees and 

 shrubs; and also specimens of woods, com- 

 mencing with a copy of the holz bibliothek from 

 Germany. And, lastly, he intends to devote a 

 room to the use of young gardeners, either work- 

 ing in his nurser}', or elsewhere, 'or them to meet 

 in to read, discuss, or otherwise to improve them- 

 selves; the young men being at the expense of 

 their own fire and candles, and paying a small sum 

 per volume for the loan of" books. 



xMr. Forrest will not be able to accomplish all 

 these things at once; but such is his activity of 

 mind, his ambiiion, and his perseverance, that, if 

 heal I h permits, we have no doubt he will carry the 

 whole into effect, and that sooner than any other 

 man we know. 



In no article sold by seedsmen has there been a 

 greater increase of consumption, durin;; the past 

 year, than in that of bulbous roots, which are now 

 imported fi'om Holland to more than double the 

 extent to which they were seven years ago. Of" 

 all the flowering plants in existence, bulbs are the 

 best adapted tor sm-,dl gardens, for street gardens, 

 and for all gardens that are not under the care of a 

 professed gardener. They are desirable lor street 

 and suburban gardens, because thev flower early 

 in the season; and gratify the citizen at a time 

 when the distant country is less inviting than du- 

 ring summer and autumn, when he may leave his 

 town or suburban residence for a watering-place 

 or a villa at some distance; and they are desirable 

 to all gardens whatever, because they are certain, 

 with little or no care, of flowering well for the first 

 year at least; and, with very little care, for several 

 years in succession. The transactions between 

 the London and American nurserymen and seeds- 

 men continue greatly to increase; and we only re- 

 gret that country gentlemen m Britain are not 

 aware of the very low prices at which American 

 tree seeds may be purchased in London, and by 

 which they might add some hundreds of new spe- 

 cies to their collections, at a far cheaper rate than 

 they could do by purchasinop plants. The only 

 diff'erence between seeds and plants is that of time. 

 The connexion oeiween British nurserymen and 

 those in France and Germany is steaclily on the 

 increase; and what will contribute to this perhaps 

 more than any thing else is, the now greatly ex- 

 tended cuhivalionof the English language in Ger- 

 many, and of the German in England. Conti- 

 nental gardeners, and the sons of French, German, 

 and Dutch nurserymen, are now very frequently 

 to be met with in this countr}^, either on a visit, or 

 on immediate business, or residing here for im- 

 provement. In the course of the "past year, the 

 gardener of Prince Metternich made a tour of up- 

 wards of two months through the diflerent coun- 

 ties of England at his master's expense (see p. 



550;) and Mr. Rosenthal, the son of a Vienna 



nurseryman, now resident in this country for his 

 instruction, has visited a number of gardens and 

 nurseries, not only in England, but m Scotland 

 and Ireland. A New York nurseryman has had 

 his son for some years in Paris with iNI. Vilmorin; 

 and the son ot a London seedsman is now work- 

 ing in a garden in the neighborhood of Paris. 

 Mr. Booth of Hamburgh makes a commercial 

 journey through Great Britain and Ireland every 

 year. 



T7t.e condition of gardeners may, we think, be 

 considered as improving rather than otherwise; 

 partly from the greatgeneral prosperity of thecoun- 

 trv, and partly from the increasing knowledge in 

 gardening of" the employers of gardeners: since 

 nothing can be more certain than this, that the more 

 a proprietor knows of gardening, the more anxious 

 will he be to employ afirst-rate;gardener; and this, 

 too, whether his garden' be large or small. Howe- 

 ver paradoxical it may appear, it is, nevertheless, 

 strictly true, that to manage a place of great extent 

 does not require one whit more gardening skill than 

 than to manage a very small place, even one of a 

 single rood; supposing the object to be to bring the 

 gardening of both places to the highest degree of 

 perfection. But to manage the large place, other 

 qualities in the gardener are required, in addition 

 to those of a knowledge of his art; such as fbre- 

 thought, unity of design in contriving work, and 

 system and vigilance in the management of men, 

 and in otherwise carrjnng work into execution. 

 These are qualities totally distinct from a knowl- 

 edge of gardening, and may, and often do, exist in 

 an individual who is belovv' mediocrity m his profes- 

 sion; while, on the other hand, a man may be a 

 first-rate cultivator, and yet below mediocrity in 

 comprehensive views, and in a system of man- 

 agement. When the beauties and enjoyments 

 of" gardening come to be duly appreciated by the 

 em[)loyers of gardeners, those who have small 

 places, of a quarter of an acre or less, will be just 

 as anxious to have first-rate gardeners to manage 

 these places, as those who have a walled-in gar- 

 den, and pleasure-grounds of one hundred acres. 

 For example, to make the most of our garden 

 here at Bayswater, which, exclusively of a few 

 square yards ibr culinary crops, is onl}^ fifty feet by 

 our: hundred and six'y feet, would require a man 

 with just as much scientific and practical knowl- 

 edge of gardening as Mr. Paxton, head garden- 

 er to the Duke of Devonshire, who has, perhaps, 

 2000 acres under his care; or as Mr. Marnock, cu- 

 rator of the botanic garden at ShefHeld, who has 

 the management of one of the most extensive bo- 

 tanical and horticultural establishments in the 

 country; though, in these two last situations, high- 

 er qualities of mind would require to be added, 

 than could ever be brought into use in taking care 

 of our garden, in order to insure proper general 

 management. Hence it follows, that, as a small 

 garden requires as much gardening knowledge as a 

 large one, all gardeners whatever ought to be 

 highly educated and scientific men; and that all 

 ought to have certificaies as to their physiological 

 and physical knowledge. This will raise the gar- 

 dener in the scale of society; and, as the love of 

 gardening and agriculture takes the place of the 

 love of dogs and horses in country gentlemtin, 

 and the cullivatidn and improvement of a man's 

 own estate or farm, affords him a deeper interest 



