INTRODUCTION. 



9 



Dalhousie, and various others, were partly 

 remodelled. The Whites, father and son, 

 succeeded the last artist in extensive ope- 

 rations ; and they also were imitators of 

 Brown. To this may in a great degree be 

 attributed the monotonous appearance of 

 most places in Scotland laid out during 

 the beginning of the present and part of 

 the last century. 



The erection of the first glass-houses in 

 Scotland took place about the beginning 

 of the eighteenth century, — said to have 

 been those of James Justice of Crichton, 

 author of one of the earliest Scottish 

 works on gardens. Subsequent to them 

 were raised those of Moredun, near Edin- 

 burgh, still existing, and noted for the 

 abundance of fruit produced in them, and 

 those of Lord Sommervill at the Drum. 

 Towards the latter end of last century 

 extensive ranges of hothouses were con- 

 structed, amongst which we may name 

 those at Dairy, Dunkeld, Wemyss Castle, 

 Dupplin, Dalkeith, Abercairney, Eglinton 

 Castle, and many of less extent. 



The earliest hothouses for the cultiva- 

 tion of fruits, of which we have any posi- 

 tive account, were those of the Duke of 

 Rutland at Belvoir, erected in 1705. 

 These originated from the failure of the 

 inclined walls recommended by N. Facio 

 de Douillier ; who, prior to this date, had 

 published a curious work, entitled " Fruit 

 Walls improved by Inclining them to the 

 Horizon." 



The pine was cultivated about the same 

 period by Mathew Decker, at Richmond, 

 in low houses or pits ; and peaches and 

 grapes also became known early in the 

 season at the tables of the great. 



Forcing melons and cucumbers, in 

 hotbeds in the Dutch manner, was prac- 

 tised long before ; and in all probability 

 the use of these beds was introduced from 

 Holland, in the time of William and 

 Mary. The first pines produced in this 

 country were fruited in such pits ; and it 

 is highly probable that the strawberries 

 and cherries which Daines Barrington 

 alludes to, as appearing on the royal table 

 of Charles II. on the 23d of April 1667, 

 were also so produced. Since the com- 

 mencement of the present century, gar- 

 dening, as an art of design and taste, has 

 made rapid strides towards perfection, 

 more especially in the departments of 

 hothouse building, heating, and ventilat- 



VOL. I. 



ing ; and we rejoice to see the geometri- 

 cal style reviving in our best modern 

 flower gardens — a style of all others best 

 adapted to a rich and luxurious age. 



Amongst the best gardens constructed 

 or greatly improved in England, during 

 the last few years, may be especially no- 

 ticed, as entitled to the first place, the 

 kitchen and forcing garden of her Majes- 

 ty at Frogmore, which, for design and 

 execution, may be considered as the model 

 of perfection. Those at Chatsworth, 

 Eaton Hall, and Trentham, although in 

 parts of ancient date, have all been greatly 

 remodelled and improved : the colossal 

 conservatory at the former place being, 

 until the appearance, more recently, of the 

 tropical conservatory in the royal gardens 

 at Kew, without a rival in the world. 

 The amiable and talented architect of the 

 conservatory at Chatsworth, Sir Joseph 

 Paxton, while yet a very young man, 

 astonished the horticultural world by 

 his performances ; and has more recently 

 gained a degree of reputation, by his 

 splendid conception of the Crystal Palace, 

 which will hand down his name to the 

 latest posterity, and associate it with 

 those of Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher 

 Wren. The improvements recently ef- 

 fected at Eaton Hall and Trentham are 

 carried out with great taste and judg- 

 ment, the Italian flower garden of the 

 latter being one of the most complete in 

 England. The remodelled state of the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew renders 

 these worthy of the country, and of our 

 enlightened and gracious Sovereign, to 

 whom they belong ; and they will, we 

 predict, remain long unequalled in Eu- 

 rope. The Royal Botanical Society of 

 London has exhibited a splendid speci- 

 men of garden architecture in their gar- 

 den in the Regent's Park ; and although 

 as yet unfinished, it affords sufficient evi- 

 dence of the talent of Mr Robert Marnoch, 

 who, we believe, was the principal de- 

 signer of that structure. 



It might be considered invidious, were 

 we to particularise many excellent pri- 

 vate gardens which claim our utmost 

 approbation. Indeed, such are so nume- 

 rous that we find our space insufficient 

 to do adequate justice to them. The 

 establishment of the Horticultural So- 

 ciety of London has done much to 

 spread a taste for refinement in garden- 



B 



