and Suburban Gardens. 551 



resene ground of Allen and Rogers's establishment in the King's Road : it 

 was formerly the kitchen-garden of Lord Bolingbroke, the fi-iend of Pope ; 

 but it exhibits no other remains of its former application, than the massive 

 brick walls with which it is surrounded, and a large mulberry tree. Some 

 years ago a part of this wall was covered with vines, which w ere thought 

 to be among the most productive in the neighbom'hood of London. 

 Messrs. Allen and Rogers, who have had the grounds five or six vears, 

 have built several forcing-houses and pits, established stools of vines, roses, 

 and other articles, and otherwise done what was required for the object in 

 view ; that of supplying the show-house in the King's Road with articles 

 in blossom. In the pits we observed remarkably strong stools of green 

 tea ; a most desirable shrub for planting against a warm southern exposure, 

 on account of its beautiful green leaves and very fragrant white camellia- 

 like blossoms ; it requires very little protection. A stake from a branch of 

 the mulbeiTv tree, which happened to be driven in soon after 3L-. Allen 

 took possession of the ground, has become a handsome tree ; thus con- 

 firming what has been stated bv our correspondent Superficial and others. 

 The mulberry, however, does not grow very readily from young cuttings. 

 Dennis and Co.'s 2\^urseri/, Grosvenor lioir, Chelsea. — Feb. 18. We regret 

 that we did not sooner visit the grounds of this extraordinarily successftil 

 cultivator. His garden is of small extent, and his houses though numerous 

 are not very specious in appearance ; they contain, however, more plants 

 than, we should suppose, any houses of the same si^e about London ; be- 

 cause almost all the plants are in very small pots, for the convenience of 

 sending to a distance in little bulk. Mr. Dennis possesses about 700 varie- 

 ties of pelargoniums, or, as they are usually called, geraniums, and estimates 

 his stock of plants at from 15,000 to 20,000; of which 6000 are in what 

 are called thumbs, that is to say, pots not larger than the flower of a tulip. 

 As the reason for an imusual name ought always, in this Magazine, to be 

 made known where it can, for the benefit of the young gai'dener, we may- 

 state that, in moulding all pots above the size of thumbs, the potter keeps 

 his fingers within and the thumb outside the pot ; but, in moidduig thumb 

 pots, the thumb alone is kept inside. 



Pelargoniums, georginas, and Cacteae seem to be the main articles of pro- 

 pagation by Mr. Dennis, though his collection contains many other objects 

 of interest. Of Cereus speciosus, speciosissimus, truncatus, and Jenkinson/, 

 we observed many hundred plants of various sizes. A plant of C. Jenkinsoni 

 had ripe fruit, tlie fruit ha\-ing spines like the wood ; C. truncatus was 

 also in finiit, a thing by no means common ; the other species mentioned 

 had several large and handsome fruits, some of which had been muled, as 

 the phrase is, with a view to creating new varieties. On a plant of Pe- 

 resk/a aculeata ^Ir. Dennis has grafted twenty species or more of Cacteae ; 

 most of them being what is termed double-worked : that is, upon the 

 Peresk/a aie worked Cereus speciosissimus, C. cyllndricus, C. flagelliformis, 

 Opuntia brasiliensis, and another species of Opuntia ; and upon these, as 

 stocks, are worked another series. On the C. flagelliformis, for instance', 

 are worked two varieties of C. truncatus, C. Jenkinsoni, C. Vandes//, C. spe- 

 ciosus, C. speciosissimus, C. grandifl6rus,0puntia curassa\-ica, Echinocactus 

 tenuispina, and other species and seedlings without names. On one of 

 the Opuntiae first worked on Peresk/a, C. speciosus has taken ; and on the 

 C speciosus, which is worked on the C. flagelliformis, as noticed above, 

 two species of Opuntia ai"e engrafted, making the fourth series of plants 

 reckoned from the soil. This plant is quite a vegetable curiosity, and will 

 have its admii'ers. ls\x. Dennis is considered by his brethren to be one of 

 the most successftil propagators, in the neighbourhood of London, of the 

 plants to which he applies his attention, even if they be plants very difficult 

 to increase ; and very rare articles have been multiplied by him, while they 

 have been lost by others. We wish he were in possession of all the ran- 



