Garden of the London Horticultural Society, 351 



Woods and Forests in planting single trees. The consequence of neglecting 

 this mode of planting will not only be a want of beauty in the appearance of 

 the trees, but a want of thriving, in consequence of the sinking down of the 

 soil on which they are planted, and consequent burying of their collars by the 

 levelling of the surface which necessarily follows to prevent the tree from 

 standing in a hollow. This burying of the stem seldom fails to bring on canker 

 in fruit trees, and every planter knows that it stunts the growth of all trees 

 whatever. Our next objection is to a double thorn hedge planted as a boun- 

 dary to this belt on the side next the orchard. We object to the boundary, 

 as producing the appearance of confinement, and recalling to mind the con- 

 fined walks in the belts of plantations, so admirably ridiculed by Price and 

 Knight. But supposing that some line of separation were deemed necessary 

 between the belt and the orchard, would not a single line of thorns have been 

 sufficient ? A single line is found to produce an excellent fence in Ber- 

 wickshire, the first county for hedges in Britain. However, we merely mention 

 this to show the commonplace careless way in which things appear to us to 

 be conducted in this garden, by the garden committee. 



We have alluded above to the new conservatory which has been begun in 

 the Society's garden, and, having never seen the plan, we wrote a letter 

 to the secretary, requesting permission to see it, and to take a tracing for 

 publication. The following is an extract from the secretary's answer : — 



" As many points of detail in the construction of the conservatory are re- 

 served until the erection of the outline shall enable us better to judge of the 

 effect, no other than working plans and elevations have been made, and we 

 are anxious that no plan should be published until the first wing is actually 

 finished ; the precise form of the central dome, which cannot be begun upon 

 for the present, is left for future consideration." 



Under the above circumstances, we are precluded from making any remarks 

 on the elevation or the mode of heating, the walks, whether the plants are 

 to be planted in the soil or kept in pots or boxes (see what we have said on 

 the plants in the conservatory at Kew Gardens, p. 348.) ; but we may be 

 permitted to remark on the haphazard way in which the garden committee 

 are going to work, by beginning to build a part before they have fixed on the 

 design for the whole. At least this is the point of view in which the pro- 

 ceeding strikes us. We also object to the situation in which the conserv- 

 atory is to be placed. We stated in our letter to the secretary, immediately 

 after seeing the foundation, that we thought the site objectionable as being 

 in one corner of the arboretum ; because it must be recollected that the 

 whole of what was originally the flower-garden is now laid down in grass 

 and added to the arboretum. To our objection Mr. Bentham's reply is : 

 " The site and direction of the houses were fixed when the garden was 

 originally laid out, and the ground was left accordingly. I am sorry you 

 differ so much from the whole of the committee on these points, but I would 

 beg to observe that the site is very near the centre of the garden, and I 

 cannot conceive how it can be said to be thrust into one corner even of 

 the arboretum." With due submission to Mr. Bentham, what was a valid 

 reason when the flower-garden was kept distinct, and separated from the arbo- 

 retum, cannot be a valid reason now that these two departments are united. 

 If our readers will turn to the plan of the garden in Vol. VI. p. 250., and 

 here repeated ySg. 73., they will perhaps better understand what we mean. 



In that figure, b 4 is the arboretum, b 2 the flower-garden, and b 3 the site 

 for ornamental glass. Now, as every person who has walked in the gardens 

 and will compare them in his mind with this plan, must be aware, the fences 

 which separated b 2 and b 3 from b 4 are removed, and the whole thrown 

 into one; consequently b 3 becomes a corner, and this corner bounded on the 

 south by the fruit-shed at the back of the peach-wall, and on the west by 

 another fruit-wall. This, we think, makes good our assertion, that the con- 

 servatory is to be placed in " a corner." 



The direction of the foundation is east and west, in consequence of which 

 the plants on the north side will never look so well as those on the south 



