72 



Tin; CIVIL EXr:T\EER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



l^Iarch, 



Fig. 5. — East Lo.lge of ilie Derln Ar'>orctum. showing the Entrance Gates. 

 Tuilur Style, lime of Henry VII. 



ceremony of the opening, not a single pl;int was injured. Some few 

 of the shrubs wliifh require peat .soil, such as the heaths, have hail 

 thatsoil prepared for them; and the genera C'istiis and lielianthemum, 

 whicli are apt to damp otf on a wet surface, are planted on a raised 

 mass of dry rubbish, covered with stones. All the climbing plants have 

 upright iron rods, with expanded umbrella-like tops, placed beside them ; 

 the lower end of the iron rod being leaded into a block of stone, and the 

 stone set in mortar on brickwork, so tliat the upper surface of the 

 stone appears 1 inch higher than the surrounding surface. This ap- 

 pearance of the stone above the surface is not only more architectural 

 and artistical, but better adapted for the preservation of the iron at 

 the point of its junction with the stone, than if the stone were buried 

 in the soil. 



With res))ect to the annual expense of keeping up the garden, it 

 will be evident to those who have seen it, or who understand this 

 description, that it will chiefly consist in mowing the grass in the sum- 

 mer season. As the extent of grassy surface to be mown will be re- 

 duced by the space occupied by the walks, and by the circles of earth 

 on which tliere is no grass (on which the trees and shrubs stand, or 

 which those in the belt cover entirely), to about six acres, one man will 

 be sufflcient to mow and sweep up this extent of lawn during (he 

 whole summer ; the daily space to mow being about half an acre, and 

 the grass mown to be distriljuted over the naked circles on which the 

 trees and shrubs stand. All the other work which will require to be 

 done in the garden during summer, such as weeding the walks, rolling 

 them, weeding the circles on which the trees and shrubs stand, picking 

 otf insects fiom the plants, watering the ground with lime water where 

 worm-casts appear, wiping the seats every morning so as to remove 

 the excrement of birds, or whatever leaves or other matters may drop 

 from the branches of the trees over them, &c. &c., may be accomplished 

 by a second labourer. The head gardener or curator may manage the 

 flower-garden and the vases of flowers at the junctions of the walks, 

 and see that the company who walk in the garden do not injure the 

 plants, &c. 



During the winter season, or from December 1, to May 1, more than 

 one labourer in addition to the head gardener will be unnecessary. 

 The second labourer may at tliat season, therefore, be allowed to retain 

 his house, and seek for labour elsewhere ; and the saving thus made, 

 it is presumed, would be a contribution towards the purchase, from 

 some of the Derby nurserymen or florists, of all the flowers or other 

 plants that may become necessary to fill the vases from May till Octo- 

 ber. Unless some arrangement of this sort be made, it will be impossi- 

 ble to do justice to the plan of exhibiting plants in the vases; because 

 the flower-garden, if made a source of supply, would be injured in ap- 

 pearance; and to have a reserve garden, with a green-house or pit, 

 would involve much more expense than hiring the plants from a nur- 

 seryman, and would be far from attaining the object in view so effec- 

 tually. On the supposition that there were fifty vases, there would 

 then be fifty dilTerent kinds of named flowers or green-house plants in 

 them every day during the summer; and supposing that these kinds 

 were changed once a week, and the same kind not repeated more than 

 once in the same season, there would then have been upwards of 500 

 dirterent kinds of handsome plants, with their names attached, ex- 

 hibited to the public in the course of a single year. To give an idea 

 of what these plants might be, 1 shall suppose them to consist of 200 

 showy hardy and tender annuals, 100 dwarf dahlias, 100 choice her- 

 baceous plants, 100 geraniums, 100 Australian plants, 50 heaths, and 

 50 miscellaneous green-house plants, including fuchsias, cacti, aloes, 



&c. One great use of these plants is, by their bright red, vellow, 

 orange, or white colours, to relieve the eye, and form a contrast to the 

 green of the foliage and grass with which they are surrounded on 

 every side. A similar contrast will be obtiiined by the colours of the 

 dresses and countenances of persons walking in the A boretum. 



The plan of the Arboretum was made in May, 1^539; and, being 

 approved of by Mr. Strutt, as soon as the crop of hay was removed 

 from the ground, in the July following, the work was commenced by 

 Mr. Tomlinson, a contractor for ground work, who laid out the walks, 

 made the drains, and raised the general masses of the mounds. The 

 mounds were afterwards moulded into suitable shapes, and connected 

 by concave sides and lateral ridges with the surrounding surface, under 

 the direction of my assistant, -Mr. Rauch, who also superintended the 

 planting of all the trees and shrubs, and all the other details connected 

 with the ground, till the completion of the whole in September, lb40. 

 The trees and shrubs were supplied chiefly by Messrs. Whitley and 

 Osborn, but partly also by Mr. Masters of Canterbury ; and the mis- 

 cellaneous collection of roses was furnished by Mr. Rivers of Sawbridge- 

 worth ; the mistletoe was supplied by Mr. Godsall of Hereford ; and 

 some species, which could not be procured in the nurseries, were ob- 

 t.iined from the Horticultural Society's Garden. The lodges and pa- 

 vilions were designed by Mr. Lamb, as already mentioned : the north, 

 or main, lodge in the Elizabethan style; the east lodge in the Tudor 

 style, and in that variety of this style which was prevalent in the time 

 of Henry V^ll. ; and the pavilions in the style of James I. They were 

 all built by Mr. Thompson of Derby; and the gates to the north, or 

 principal, lodge were cast from Mr. Lamb's designs by Messrs. Mar- 

 shall, ijarber, and Co., of Derby. 



ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION. 



Sir — The spirited manner in which you acted respecting the pro- 

 ceedings of the Gresham Committee in their attempt to extort the 

 sum of one pound from architects desirous of compeliug for the Royal 

 Exchange, and for whieh you received a vote of thanks from the Man- 

 chester Architectural Society, in which I (being a member) heartily 

 concurred, has induced me to forward you the enclosed advertisement, 

 which appeared in the Times newspaper, in compliance with which 

 I wrote to the Vicar for the necessary particulars, and received in 

 answer the accompanying note, by which it appears that the Vicar 

 and Churchwardens are following the notable examf,le of the Gresham 

 Committee. Surely if the demand of twenty shillings for the neces- 

 sary instructions was an extortionate act of the Gresham Committee, 

 how much more so is the same demand in this case, where even the 

 successful competitor is only to receive his commission upon £1,000, 

 instead of the much larger sum at stake in the case of the Royal Ex- 

 change. 



I leave you to comment upon this subject (should you think it worth 

 notice in your valuable Journal), in any way you deem proper, but I 

 think you will agree with me that the practice of charging architects 

 anything, be the sum either large or small, for the instructions neces- 

 sary in the preparation of competition designs, is very impolitic and 

 reprehensible, and one that ought to be most strongly protested against 

 by the profession. 



The loss of time and expense architects must necessarily incur one 

 would imagine quite sufficient for the most exacting Committee, with- 

 out having new burdens continually heaped upon them. 



I am, Sir, 



A.S OCCASIONAL COMPETITOK. 



Ftbruary 8, 1841. 



The following is the advertisement and letter referred to by our 

 correspondent: — " Architects desirous of submitting plans for the new 

 pewing of the church of Fordingbridge, Hants, may apply to the Vicar 

 and Churchwardens of Fordingbridge, until the 16tli day of January 

 next." 



"The Vicar and Churchwardens in reply to A. B.'s letter, beg to 

 inform him that the plans for repewing the Church of Fordingbridge, 

 must be sent in by the 2(jth of February, and be in strict accordance 

 with the instructions of the Church Building Society, but the estimate 

 must not exceed £1,000. 



"A lithographic ground plan is now ready to be forwarded on the 

 remittance of a Post-oflSce order for £ 1. 



" A motto must be inscribed on the plan, and also a sealed letter 

 enclosing the name of the candidate." 



Fordingbridge, Jan. 20, lb41. 



