6 



BOOK OF THE GARDEN. 



details. Thus, for example, it had an 

 opaque roof, the light being admitted by 

 the side- windows only; and the heating 

 by stoves, flues in the walls or pillars, 

 and leaden pipes kept full of boiling water 

 by manual labour, was another imperfec- 

 tion. With us, glass roofs may be con- 

 structed to cover any extent of space, and 

 the supports may be so arranged as that 

 they shall be ornamental rather than 

 otherwise. Hot water can be made to 

 circulate in pipes concealed from view, 

 and carried to any extent. This house 

 was, however, perfect in other respects : 

 it was attached to the palace, and thus 

 could be enjoyed at all seasons, as all 

 conservatories or private winter gardens 

 ought to be. 



Gorinki, one of the seats of the Razu- 

 mowsky family, has also most magnificent 

 conservatories of great extent, forming 

 wings to the palace — indeed, of such ex- 

 tent as to be, with the exception of those 

 at Kew, Chatsworth, and the Regent's 

 Park, unequalled in Britain. 



With these examples before us, we 

 need not despair of seeing in Britain 

 whole gardens covered with glass, for the 

 cultivation of plants, fruits, and vege- 

 tables. When these shall appear, struc- 

 tures may be expected of far more elegant 

 construction, and arranged upon the most 

 perfect principles. The man of taste and 

 wealth, in any part of Britain, may have 

 his garden adapted to the climate, and 

 affording the products, of any part of the 

 world he pleases. Instead of the constant 

 failure of crops of our ordinary fruits, 

 and the limited period of most of our 

 finest vegetables, we shall have certainty 

 in the one case, and a perpetual supply 

 in the other. The flower garden will be 

 as gay at Christmas as it is at present at 

 Michaelmas ; and, in addition to all 

 this, both the mind and the body will 

 enjoy pleasing exercise in contemplating 

 the perpetual display of Flora's richest 

 gems, and in the enjoyment of walking 

 exercise at seasons when the climate of 

 our country denies us that recreation in 

 the open air. Such is a brief outline of 

 the progress of gardening, considered as 

 an art of design and taste, on the conti- 

 nent of Europe. 



Within the last few years a taste for 

 ornamental gardening and the erection of 

 hothouses has been rapidly extending in 



North America. Nor are our Transat- 

 lantic brethern neglectful of horticultural 

 literature — a convincing proof that the 

 seeds of improvement have been sown in 

 a fertile soil. A. J. Downing has pub- 

 lished a work on " The Theory and Prac- 

 tice of Landscape Gardening as adapted 

 to North America, with remarks on Rural 

 Architecture," &c. This book possesses 

 very considerable merit, and has passed 

 unscathed the severe ordeal of English 

 criticism. Several works on pomology 

 have issued from the American press— a 

 department in horticulture in which the 

 American collectors eminently excel. 

 " The Horticultural Magazine," conducted 

 by Mr Hovey of Boston, is a work of me- 

 rit, a perusal of which will give a good idea 

 of the advanced state of the art of which 

 it is the vehicle, in the United States. 

 The cultivation of exotic plants, and 

 the laying out of grounds, occupy much 

 of their attention at the present time. 

 The English style of landscape garden- 

 ing appears to be with them the most 

 popular ; and, strange as it may appear 

 to many, Rhododendrons, Kalmias, and 

 many other plants originally introduced 

 into this country from America, are now 

 amongst the chief articles sent out for 

 the decoration of their grounds. 



Gardening, as an art of design and 

 taste in Britain, can scarcely be traced 

 historically beyond the time of Henry 

 VIII., who laid out Nonesuch in Surrey 

 as a royal residence. The gardens there, 

 we are informed by Hentzner, were or- 

 namented with fountains, trellis-work, 

 cabinets of verdure, columns and pyra- 

 mids of marble. The first kitchen gar- 

 den enclosed with walls we can recollect 

 having read of was that of Nonesuch, 

 which boasted walls fourteen feet high. 

 Here, also, we meet with an account of 

 the first bowling-green, which is described 

 as being in front of the palace, sur- 

 rounded with a balustrade of freestone. 

 Parterres and labyrinths, however, are of 

 much older date, being described as not 

 uncommon in the time of Henry III. ; 

 although others date their origin from 

 that of Elizabeth. 



There can be no doubt, although his- 

 tory is almost silent on the subject, that 

 considerable progress had been made in 

 laying out architectural and geometrical 

 gardens long before the time of the eighth 



