46 Retrospective Criticism. 



Australia, infinitely more so than it will be to England. Here, professional 

 men, scientific gardeners, &c, can always be consulted ; there, no talent of the 

 kind is available, and consequently any man who purchases 200 or 300 acres 

 of ground must depend on his own unassisted efforts and natural taste in 

 planning, laying out, and planting them. Again, in England, there are few 

 parks and estates requiring laying out and planting ; but, in Australia, every 

 day sees fresh lands enclosed, and which are, doubtless, for want of artists, 

 laid out and planted in a most barbarous style. Your Suburban Gardener 

 is calculated to do great benefit in that country, in assisting the taste of 

 emigrants. 



But to return to the Suburban Horticulturist. Should you deem it advis- 

 able to treat in it of what might be done by emigrants in Australia, you will at 

 once see the necessity of instructing them in the first formation of their gar- 

 dens, and of raising their own trees, shrubs, flowers, &c, as it must be quite 

 impossible for them to purchase all the trees, shrubs, &c, that would be re- 

 quired, at Sydney, and cart them for ten days, or, perhaps, three weeks, into 

 the interior, exposed to the weather and other accidents ; but cuttings for grafts 

 could be packed up in any quantity, and forwarded to them without injury. 



There is in many parts of Australia a scarcity of water; should you think 

 proper to give in your next edition of the Suburban Gardener some hints how 

 tanks, &c, could be constructed, they would, I venture to say, be of great 

 importance to that country, more particularly if they were accompanied by 

 plans for filtering the surface water, and rendering it fit for culinary purposes, 

 on a scale large enough for a farm ; and sufficiently simple to be executed 

 by a farmer and his labourers, the information would be still more valuable. 

 I have seen, in your Manual of Cottage-Gardening, a suggestion to this effect, 

 but it is not quite explicit enough to be generally understood ; it mentions 

 charcoal and sand as the means of effecting the filtration. Every farmer, I 

 believe, has the means of making charcoal, and it is by no means a difficult 

 process, yet there are scarcely any that know how to do it. It is so very 

 useful an article, particularly in warm climates where it is an object to have 

 as small a fire as possible while cooking, that it is to be regretted the manner 

 of making it is not more generally known. 



There is one other subject which, in your next edition of the Suburban 

 Gardener, would, perhaps, add to it value as regards Australia ; that is, 

 whether manure tanks, drains for water, and from water-closets, could not be 

 formed of wood lined with Roman cement or pitch ; if so, the method of their 

 construction. These, and similar questions will occur to you, if you feel 

 desirous that the benefits of your book should be extended to that countr}\ 

 For many years to come the chief material for the construction of every part 

 of farm buildings at a short distance from the chief towns must be wood. 

 The carriage of a load of bricks and lime would cost ten times their value, if 

 into the interior, where few roads are yet formed. 



As you have frequently alluded to Australia in your works, I make no apology 

 for offering these remarks ; I feel an interest in that country, and I intend to visit 

 it in another year, if possible. I will not take up more of your time, except to 

 observe that the instructions which would be requisite in your Suburban Hor- 

 ticulturist, to suit it to the wants of emigrants in Australia, could either be 

 embodied with the other matter in the progress of the work (that is, in case 

 you should deem it worthy your notice) ; or a chapter or two might be added 

 at its conclusion ; in which latter case, a few useful hints might also be added 

 relative to the construction of dwellings with wood, except the fireplaces 

 and chimneys, and the making of drains, tanks, &c, of the same material. 

 — H. J. Denny, Lieut. 6th Dragoons. New Bridge Barracks, Ireland, Feb. 15. 

 18+1. 



Turns palustris. — You state (p. 386.) that this species thrives admirably in 

 the Bois de Boulogne without protection, but that it requires protection at 

 Dropmore during severe winters. I assure you, the tree of this species here 

 has been exposed every season for a number of years past, and was only 



