Nursery of Messrs. Lee. 365 



(upwards of $1,000,000.) The nursery was first established 

 about the middle of the last century, by a German gardener of 

 the name of Buish, and about 1771 he was succeeded by Mr. 

 Conrad Loddiges, the father of the present proprietors. In their 

 hands it has risen to an eminence, even exceeding any of the 

 royal collections of Europe. Indefatigable in their exertions 

 to procure every thing new, they have, by a well system- 

 atized correspondence in all parts of the world, gathered to- 

 gether, what the wealth of the richest noblemen has been 

 unable to obtaia. 



We were somewhat disappointed in not finding the same 

 neatness and order, in the general keeping of the grounds, 

 which we observed at many places, though, as regards the 

 health of the plants, they were in the best condition. To the 

 politeness of Mr. Loddiges, we are much indebted, and em- 

 brace the opportunity to return our thanks. 



Hammersmith Nursery^ Messrs. Lee. — This old and well 

 known nursery, is still kept up in fine condition. It is sit- 

 uated on the Turnham Green road, about four miles from 

 the city, and contains, we should judge, fifteen or twenty 

 acres. The greenhouses and stoves are numerous and exten- 

 sive, facing the street, the ground in front, two or three acres, 

 being devoted principally to a collection of standard roses, 

 for which this nursery is celebrated. Great quantities of an- 

 nuals are also cultivated for the seeds, which are supplied to 

 the London seedsmen. The roses are cultivated in rows 

 about two feet apart. The stocks are grubbed up in the woods, 

 and set out in the spring ; one or two young shoots are thrown 

 out, and those in August are budded : the following season 

 they make plants with fine heads. 



The first house we entered, was a grape-house, in which 

 a large collection of young plants were growing ; and some 

 in bearing on the rafters ; but the crop had been nearly all 

 cut : one called theDuzetta, a black grape, from Spain, was 

 stated to us, by the foreman, to be an excellent variety. One 

 house is mostly devoted to the growth of fig trees, of which 

 Messrs. Lee cultivate a great number of kinds. A house for 

 Cacti contained a fine collection, among which were Epi- 

 phyllum crenatus and setaceus, and one called Leedy^a, a 

 seedling raised here between grandiflorus and speciosissimus. 



