Olitorial Notices. 39 



Art. XV. Olitorial Notices ; or, Notices of 7iew Culiyiary Vegetables, 

 deserving of General Cultivation in British Gardens. 



Very little can be added to the lists in the new edition of the 

 J&ncyclopcedia of Gardejiing, which, are contained in Nos. 13. and 

 l^. ; but it may be useful to quote the following introductory 

 remarks to that list : — 



" Most culinary vegetables are propagated by seeds, and these seeds the 

 gardener, for the greater part, purchases annually from the seedsman ; raising 

 only in his own garden some few of the more select or important kinds. It 

 follows from this, that the qualities of the seeds vary exceedingly, not only 

 according to the season in which they may have been grown, but according to 

 the means of the seedsmen for procuring the best varieties. Experience also 

 shows that the varieties of the more common culinary vegetables in cultivation 

 are continually changing, from soil, culture, climate, or other causes ; so that 

 a sort of pea, or cabbage, or onion, which is very popular one year, may, in 

 three or four years, be almost forgotten. Varieties also are continually 

 changing their names, and often many names are applied to one variety. 

 Hence a number of the varieties enumerated in the following catalogue were 

 not known when the first edition of this Encyclopaedia was prepared in 1820 ; 

 and a number of those mentioned in that edition are now nearly forgotten. 

 From all this it follows, that the business of procuring garden seeds is one of 

 very great dif&culty, though it is one of the greatest importance to the culti- 

 vator, since a bad variety requires the same care and attention as a good one, 

 while it produces an inferior article, or perhaps fails altogether. As no gar- 

 dener can grow all or even the greater part of the seeds which he requires, he 

 must necessarily deal with seedsmen; and, as a matter of prudence, he should 

 choose one in whom he has perfect confidence. He should also give a certain 

 latitude in his orders as to new varieties, always requesting to have sent to 

 him, in addition to the usual sorts, any new sorts which may be considered 

 superior. It were much to be desired, that seedsmen would print their cata- 

 logues annually, instead of once in every four or five years; and that they 

 would include in them all the synonymes, distinguishing them as such, and not 

 introducing them as distinct sorts. This M^onld greatly reduce the apparent 

 number of varieties, and much simplify the business both of gardener and 

 seedsman. As the seed business is at present carried on, there are perhaps 

 twenty names in a list for which there are not more than ten, or sometimes 

 not even five, distinct articles; but the seedsman answers orders for the whole 

 of the twenty names, by sending out the same sorts under several names ; 

 thus perpetuating throughout the country a number of names which can only 

 serve to create confusion. In the following catalogue we have simplified the 

 lists as much as possible ; in which task we have had the invaluable assistance 

 of Mr. Mnnro, of the London Horticultural Society's Garden, where nearly 

 all the culinary vegetables of Europe have been grov/n, compared, and had 

 their nomenclature adjusted." 



Though we gave a pressing general invitation to seedsmen and 

 gardeners to furnish us with hints for this article, in the preface 

 to the tenth volume of the Gardener's Magazine, published in 

 December last, yet none have sent us any information except 

 Mr. Charlwood, seedsman, Tavistock Row, Covent Garden ; and 

 Mr. Gordon, foreman of the arboretum in the Horticultural 

 Society's garden at Chiswick, and formerly, and for some years, 

 at the head of the horticultural department of that garden. 



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