Toxvn Garde7is. ' 409 



tioner, as well in London as in the country, may grow his 

 own pine-apples on the top of his own house, heating a cis- 

 tern of water, placed under them, by the smoke of the chim- 

 neys. The garden of Mr. Bullock contains a number of the 

 most choice hardy, green-house, and stove plants, besides 

 select collections of florists' flowers. The two Coventry gar- 

 dens are perfection's self, in regard to order and high keeping. 

 The detached town gardens are situated in the suburbs of 

 towns, generally collected together, and separated by hedges. 

 There are upwards of two thousand of such gardens in the 

 neighbourhood of Birmingham, a considerable number at 

 Wolverhampton, some at Dudley and at Manchester, and a 

 few even in the neighbourhood of that stationary town Buck- 

 ingham. There are also potato gardens near many of the 

 towns through which we have passed, in which are cultivated 

 only the commoner culinary vegetables, and not either fruits 

 or flowers. The rent paid for the enclosed gardens is gene- 

 rally about 2s. 6d. a rod ; and the extent of ground in each 

 garden is from 7 rods to the fourth of an acre. When a 

 party possessing such a garden is about to leave it, the plants 

 and trees, and the right of possession, are bought by the suc- 

 cessor for a price which, at Birmingham and Wolverhampton, 

 sometimes amounts to as high a sum as 60 guineas. Twenty 

 guineas is the usual price given for a garden paying from a 

 guinea to 30^. annual rental. It is not uncommon for single 

 men, amateurs, clerks, journeymen, &c., to possess such gar- 

 dens, and to pass a part of their evenings in their culture. In 

 one of these gardens, occupied by Mr. Clarke, chemist and 

 druggist, Birmingham (the inventor of darkens MarJcing Ink), 

 we found a selection of hardy shrubs and plants, which 

 quite astonished us ; we shall give a list in a future Number. 

 It were much to be wished that such gardens were general 

 near all towns ; as they afford a rational recreation to the 

 sedentary, and a useful and agreeable manner of passing the 

 leisure time of mechanics and workmen of every description. 

 There ought to be no such thing, in our opinion, as a dwell- 

 ing without a garden, either attached or detached ; and, when 

 self-government comes to be applied to towns in a more per- 

 fect manner than it now is, arrangements will be made accord- 

 ingly. In the mean time, it appears to us to be the duty, as 

 it would be for the advantage, of townsmen of wealth, to en- 

 courage the laying out of fields in small gardens at moderate 

 rents, for those persons in their vicinity who live in houses or 

 lodgings without gardens. A great drawback from improve- 

 ments of this kind, as well as from many others, is occasioned 

 by the tenure of landed property, and especially by entails, and 



