710 lletrospectwe Criticism. 



for twelve months in the borders at Bury Hill, where they have, in all pro- 

 bability, received more attention than can be bestowed by persons generally, 

 that Mr. Sweet can be justified in recommending to his readers a practice 

 which must inevitably expose them to serious losses. I do not hesitate 

 to assert, that very many of the herbaceous and bulbous plants which are 

 described in The Flower-Garden as hardy would, at any rate in the im- 

 mediate neighbourhood of London, fall a sacrifice, by being subjected to a 

 dense atmosphere, and the wet and frost of winter. There are many plants 

 that will bear a very great degree of cold, but are at the same time very 

 impatient of wet. In this country severe winters are usually preceded by 

 heavy and continual rain. Now, it must be obvious to the most common 

 observers, that, when the ground is saturated with wet, the plants must, 

 necessarily suffer from sudden frost. In placing too much reliance on 

 catalogues, and acting on the advice of some nurserymen, I have lost a very 

 considerable number of plants that have been described as hardy, by plant- 

 ing them in the open ground, and have, in consequence, suffered a great deal 

 of disappointment and loss. It is to prevent others from experiencing the 

 same misfortune that I take this method of cautioning those who are fond 

 of cultivating alpine and hardy herbaceous plants not to place implicit 

 reliance on books ; but, when they obtain a new plant, to wait until they 

 have increased it before risking it in the open ground. 



Mr. Sweet, I find, recommends planting ixias, gladiolus, &c., in the 

 spring in the open ground. As I have no experience in this method, I do 

 not for a moment doubt that it may be done with success ; but a difficulty 

 presents itself to my mind, and I should be much obliged to this gentleman, 

 or to some of your readers who have acted upon his suggestion, to point 

 out how it can be obviated. I observe, that, however dry the bulbs are 

 kept, the roots begin to grow, and also the leaves, about September or 

 October. Now, I apprehend, if they are not planted, but kept until the 

 spring, it must tend to injure their growth, and, of course, cause them to 

 flower very weakly. I shall be very thankful for some information on the 

 treatment of ixia, gladiolus, &c. ; for I am free to confess that I meet with 

 disappointment year after year-; the bulbs, although growing apparently 

 luxuriantly, seldom producing bloom. 



I trust it will not be supposed that I have any intention of impugning 

 Mr. Sweet's work : I am fully sensible that the character of The Flower- 

 Garden is too well established to suffer from any remarks of mine, and no 

 one can be mof e ready to bear testimony to the ability and talent which are 

 displayed in the conducting of it ; but, as I think, in the case in point, it is 

 likely to be misunderstood, I have taken the liberty to advert to it. If I am 

 wrong in my view of the matter, so much the better for those who have 

 acted upon his recommendation. 



Erpetion reniformis is represented in Mr. Sweet's Hortiis Britannicus, 

 and I believe also in The Flower-Garden, but I have not the number before 

 me in which it is figured, as hardy. Now, I placed one in a frame with some 

 alpines in the winter of 1829-30, and lost it. I put one in the green-house 

 in the same winter : this, of course, I preserved, and it flowered very beau- 

 tifully. Last winter I put another in the frame, one I planted in the open 

 ground in a warm aspect, and also kept one in the green-house again : the 

 only one I preserved was that placed in the house; the other two having 

 perished. Campanula pulla perished last winter in the frame, and also in 

 the ground. — E. April 17. 1 831. [See p. 475. — J, D.] 



Mr. Hoiuden^s Strictures on the Irish Peasantry. — In Vol. VI. p. 657., 

 your correspondent Mr. Howden has indulged himself in very unwarrant- 

 able and severe strictures on the Irish peasantry, their cabins, &c. On 

 reference to " Retrospective Criticism," p. 505.;of the current Volume, I 

 perceive that Mr. Murphy of Moydrum Castle, Athlone, has very naturally 

 (as an Irishman, T presume) taken it up. To this gentleman I feel obliged j 



