



May 18, 1912.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



327 



Near More's residence lay Winchester William Penn), who resided at Chelsea 

 House, the home of eight successive Farm. The gardens were opened as plea- 

 Bishops of that See, among whom was Sir sure grounds in 1845, but they quickly ac- 

 Jonathan Trelawney, whose name has quired a sinister reputation, and were 

 been preserved in the old Cornish song. closed about 30 years later. 



Anne of Cleves died there in 1557. 



In Cheyne Walk lived the famous Sir 

 Hans Sloane, the first medical man upon 



William Curtis. 



William Curtis, the founder, in 1787, of 



THE 



whom a baronetcy was conferred. 



XT- the Botanical Magazine, lived for many 



(£>mbtxitx% €\)wvL\t\t 



No. 1,325—SATUBDAY, May 18, 1912. 



claim to distinction is supported in various 

 ways, perhaps chiefly by the fact that his 



years in Pond Place, Chelsea. 



He 



began life as an apothecary's assistant, 

 but he always showed a marked fondness 



collection of curios, acquired by the nation f , , , . , 



,,.,,,» ' 1,, i r il q for botany, and as soon as he was able, ne 



CONTENTS. 



Books, notices of— 



Irises - 



Publications received 



British Gardeners* As- 

 sociation 



Chelsea : its historic 

 horticulture 



Citrons in the open in 

 Devon and Cornwall 



Clarkia elegans 



Exhibiting, hints on ... 



Forest trees, exotic 



Fruit crops, prospects 

 of the 



Oazaland, the economic 

 flora of 



Oenetics, lectures on ... 



International Horticul- 

 tural Exhibition 830, 336, 343 



Laelio-Cattleya Hel^us... 333 



Law note — 

 Losses on a nursery 

 business 



Moraine gardening 



Myrtus communis, 

 seeds of 



Narcissus Croesus 



New York International 



Fbwer Show, 1913 ... 

 Nursery notes — 



William Bull & Sons, 

 Chelsea _ 



333 



333 



337 



327 



338 

 338 

 328 

 338 



337 



332 

 337 



346 

 538 



338 

 337 



337 



Obituary — 



bruant, Georges — 



Keating, John 



Seabrook, F. W. 

 Orphan Fund, Royal 



Gardeners' 



Royal Academy Exhibi- 

 tion, pictures at the... 



Scotland, notes from 



Shrewsbury Flower 



Show 



Societies — 



Haarlem Bulb 

 Growers* 



Horticultural Club ... 



Linnean 



Manchester and North 

 of England Orchid 



National Rose 



North of England 

 Horticultural 



Perpetual - flo.vering 



Carnation 



Royal Horticultural... 

 Royal Institution 

 Royal Meteorological 

 Royal National Tulip 

 Scottish Horticultural 

 Strawberries pot 

 Trees and shrubs— 



Cornus Nuttallii 

 Week's work, the 334, 



342 

 342 

 342 



341 



331 

 338 



333 



at his death, formed the nucleus of the 

 vast national treasure now housed at the 

 British Museum, but for horticulturists 

 his connection with the Chelsea Physic 

 Garden will possess paramount interest. 



Chelsea Hospital. 



as 



342 

 340 



337 



342 



337 



originally occupied by a college, founded which abutted on 



by Dr. Sutcliffe, Dean of Exeter. The 



college was intended for the study of 



Divinity, but it was not successful, and 



after a time the ground reverted to the 



Crown, by whom it was granted to the 



Eoyal Society. This body, having no im- 



gave himself up exclusively to the study 

 of his favourite subject. He opened a 

 botanical garden in Lambeth Marshes, but 

 later on removed his collection of plants 

 to a nursery ground at Queen's Elm, 

 Brompton. 

 There were two celebrated nurseries 



" Chelsea Common " 



(now, alas ! built over), which were favour- 

 ite resorts in the reign of George III — - 

 Colville's and Davey's. Colville's nursery 

 was distinguished by the possession of 

 what w T as then considered a large and 

 splendid conservatory, in which the visitor 

 might inspect no fewer than 500 species of 



mediate use for it, sold it to Sir Stephen Pe i , arffoni V ims There wa „ also a erpon 



a* _, . ■ i if» * m i tt mi -L tJlcll fctUlllUIlIo. Allele ndb dibU cl fclleLIl- 



■" Fox acting on behalf o Charles II. The house 8 specially constructed to show the 



Royal purchaser, coolly pocketing Dr mod e of growth of exotic parasitic plants. 



• • • 



... 332 



ILLUSTRATIO 



Chelsea Physic Garden, plai of. in 1753 



Cups and medal to be offered at the International 

 Exhibition 337,343, 



International Exhibition, plan of the 



Lae.io-Cattleya Helius — 



Narcissus Croesus (Coloured Supplementary Illustra- 

 tion) 



Railways, map of the London underground 

 View in the conservatory at Messrs. Bi 



340 



339 

 340 

 337 

 342 

 341 

 338 



331 



335 



Sutcliff 



James Sweet, the author of the two clas- 



the site for the erection, at public expense, sical works on the Qeraniacese and Cista- 



of a Royal Hospital for aged and disabled 

 soldiers. 



Part of the site, however, was utilised 

 towards the end of the 17th century for 



ceae, was for some time connected with 

 Colville's nursery as manager. The site 

 of this famous nursery is perpetuated in 

 the " Colville Arms Hotel." Davey's 



329 



344 



331 

 333 



330 



nursery ... 



Bull & Sons' 



the erection of a mansion by the Earl of nursery lay to the west of Colville's, and 

 Ranelagh, whose name is perpetuated in was almost equally famous. 



a portion of the grounds east of the Hospi- At the western end of King's Road 



many other nurseries have been estab- 



_ lished ; notably those of Knight and Perry, 



He writes which were later taken over by James 



tal. Gibson mentions the garden of this 



... 332 



house in his Views of the 

 London, published in 1691. 



that " My Lord Ranelagh's garden is 



Veitch, who moved from Exeter to Lon- 



CHELSEA: ITS HISTORIC 



newly-made ; the plants are small, but the d ° n T in ^53, and founded the present firm 

 plats, borders, and walks are curiously <* Jara u es Y ^ & Sons. To enumerate 



HORTICULTURE. 



EW 



kept and elegantly designed, having the 

 advantage of opening into Chelsea College 

 walks. The Kitchen Garden there lies 



the achievements of this firm in the de- 

 velopment of horticulture for the past cen- 

 tury would occupy far more space than we 

 have at our command ; suffice to mention 



can claim to have played a more un- very fine, with walks and seats ; one of the names of Dominy> Sedeil| Heal and 



which, being large and covered, is then Tivey> renowned in the anna i s f hybridi- 



portant part in the history of horti- 

 culture than Chelsea— the smallest of 

 them all. 



under the hands of a curious painter/' 

 At the death of Lord Ranelagh, the pro- 



sation, and those of some of their more 

 famous collectors, such as the brothers 



From a very early period its market- perty passed into other hands, and the Lobb, Pearce, John Gould Veitch, Davis, 



gardens were famous, the alluvial soil of s it e was eventually bought by Sir Thomas Burbidge, Maries, Curtis, Burke, J. H. 



this low-lying district being peculiarly Robinson, who formed a company, and Veitch, and Wilson : all honourable names 



adapted to the cultivation of vegetables, erected a huge " Rotunda " in 1741. For in the history of horticulture and botanical 



fruit and flowers ; and many of the largest about half a century this place was the science, 



nurseries of the present day had their resort of the whole fashionable world ; 

 origin in this fertile plain. 



It is claimed that the first red Pelarsro- 



The details of the 



ett 



dancing, talking scandal, and showing off this nursery are intensely 

 fine clothes w r ere the chief amusements, 



' years of 

 interesting, 



cannot 



i here ; they 

 ilium was raised at Chelsea, in the nursery and even royalty did not disdain to put ma y, however, be found in the introdue- 



a Mr. Davis, who lived at the begin- in an occasional appearance. We 



of 



ning of the 19th century 



In forme 

 tion of Chelsea, on the banks of the river, 

 clothed with 



tion to the Hortus Veitchii. Another 



that of 

 It was 



that it was not uncommon for an assem- these Chelsea nurseries is 

 blage of many hundred people, the most Messrs. W. Bull & Sons, 

 distinguished and best-dressed in Europe, founded by the late William Bull, a 

 verdure and fine trees, to grace the Rotunda. Its glories, how- ma n of exceptional knowledge and busi- 

 ness ability, and for years was the 

 Mecca of those interested in new and rare 

 plants. The nursery was formerly of a 



attracted a number of wealthy people, ever, waned till, finally, in 1804, it was 



closed, and the ground, deserted and neg- 

 lected, became the prey of nettles and 



yho built themselves splendid residences 



^ the district. Among others, one may iWV , - - , „ 



Mention Sir Thomas More, the author of weeds, until it was re-bought by the Hos- more extensive character, and occupied a 



the famous "Utopia." Sir Thomas lived pital and laid out much as we see it to- large site on the south side of the King's 



a t Chelsea for many years, and his house day. ~ 



gained high reputation as a centre of re- 

 ligious and intellectual life. 



Cremorne Gardens. 



Road, but owing to the various exigencies 



times, that part is now built 



Erasmus— Mor 



e's 



These gardens are planted on the site over, only the present part on the north 



. 6 _ friend-has of old Chelsea Farm, at the west end of side of the road, being retained There 



^ft a description of the house and its the river-bank. The name is that of Lady the firm has re^ 



surrounding gardens. Cremorne (a great-granddaughter of of raismg hybrid Orchids. Wimsett a Fern 



great 



