20 Garde7iing in the Vicinity of Flushings L. I. 



boasting of the greatest establishment of the kind on this 

 continent, that of the late William Prince & Sons. I re- 

 member well a day passed thereat in 1823; indeed it 

 would be difficult to forget it, for the mind was completely 

 absorbed in wonder and delight. Time brings about many 

 changes every where, and we can see these abundantly ex- 

 hibited in Flushing. Apart from the improvements visible 

 at every step in new houses, streets, public schools, &c., 

 we perceive a wonderful change in the nursery depart- 

 ments. Instead of two or three we now count five, and of 

 these that of the Messrs. Parsons is decidedly the largest 

 though but of recent formation. The ancient and celebrated 

 " Linnsean Botanic Garden and Nursery," has now two 

 sets of proprietors, William R. Prince & Co. and Win- 

 ter &/ Co., both assuring the public that theirs is the 

 veritable, true, and getiidne establishment. I shall not 

 undertake to say which is which ; but of one thing I am 

 perfectly certain, that neither of the parties can lay claim 

 to what was the garden, &c. during the life time of the 

 elder Prince. All these nurseries are pretty well stocked 

 with fruit and forest trees, and ornamental shrubbery, and 

 if a man, of peculiar fancy or fastidious taste, is not satis- 

 fied witti what he may find in the whole five, 1 can inform 

 him of a sixth, that of Ewbank & Son, but ichere it is 

 located, of what size, &c. &c., I am in the dark, though 

 Messrs. E. advertise a very respectable assortment of trees, 

 shrubs, &;c. 



I visited them all, (except Ewbanks,) and though I 

 found in each something to admire, and was greatly pleased 

 with the taste displayed in that of Winter &• Co., yet I 

 was disappointed, in a very great degree, at the almost 

 total absence of glass ; for, if I except a few old fashioned 

 and indifferent structures at Winter's, and a small and 

 very poor house at Parsons's, there is nothing worthy the 

 name of a green-house, hot-house, or conservatory, among 

 the whole. 



Remarking on this to a friend, and stating that my ex- 

 pectations had not been realized, I was informed that a 

 visit to the residence of a private gentleman, (J. R. Valk, 

 Esq.,) a short distance east of Parsons's nursery, might 

 afford me much pleasure, as there I should find not only 

 the objects of my delight, but see a building in progress of 

 erection, (a Vinery,) probably the largest in the United 



