66 



[Dary and Sugdcn, 1871. 



THE THAMES EMBANKMENT. 



If the present generation of the inhabitants of London had done nothing for posterity save the Thames Embank, 

 mcnt, it might well be said of them, in good works they had far excelled the generations of the past. But this 

 mighty undertaking is only one of many, and it is the one which the next generation will enjoy even more than 

 the present ; but to the present it is a " thing of beauty and a joy for ever." 



I'housands of our readers may not be privileged to see this wonderful undertaking, and as it will no doubt 

 be interesting to many of them who are familiar only witli views of the Embankment as seen from the 

 Thames, we present them with an illustrntion of what may not inaptly be called the "inner circle" of the Thames 

 Embankment. On each side of the roadway — perhaps the grandest carriage-drive in Europe — are planted rows 

 of occidental planes, which in a few years will form a perfectly shady walk, extending from Westminster Bridge 

 to Blackfriars. Our illustration gives the ornamental ground extending from Charing Cross Railway Station to 

 Waterloo Bridge, designed by Alexander M'Kenzie, Esq., Landscape Gardener, Alexandra Park, Muswell Hill ; 

 executed by Mr. Joseph F. Meston, the well-known horticultural contractor, and clothed with a beautiful green 

 sward, tl)e produce of our tnixtiire of grasses specially made for ornamental parks in large towns. The seed was 

 sown on the 25th August, and within three weeks the ground was covered with a beautiful verdure ; and when 

 officially inspected, within three months from the day of sowing, the combination of grasses had formed so close 

 and even a sward, that it was supposed that Mr. Meston had turfed the ground, thus demonstrating that the suc- 

 cessful laying down of lawns is dependent upon the suitability of the varieties of grasses used for the purpose, and 

 it is of the first importance to managers of public parks, and to gentlemen interested in such undertaking:, to look 

 well to this. 



Even on the Thames Embankment an illustration may be seen of the necessity for this. While the groundwork 

 was progressing, to ascertain the condition of the soil, a small portion of the land was sown down witli the ordinary 

 mixture usually sold as " fine lawn grass seed." Immediately the damp days of November set in, a large number 

 of the grasses in this trial portion died off, while up to the date we are now writing (31st December), not one blade 

 of the produce of the special mixture wc supplied has succumbed. 



It may be interesting to our readers if we describe the illustration of this part of the ground. The Charing 

 Cross Station of the Metropolitan Underground Railway appears on the lower left-hand side of the engraving, 

 and the word "Open" represents the air-shafts of the line. The white portions are the walks, whieh are 

 asphalted and margined with Irish ivies pegged down in imitation of the beautiful edgings so much admired 

 in the public squares and open spaces of Paris. The circle in the centre represents the fountain, surrounding 

 which are beds cut out of the grass, while a fringe of shrubs surmounts more or less the whole of the ornamental 

 grounds on elevated banks, amongst which are planted deciduous trees to shut out the buildings behind. There 

 is, perhaps, no part of London which will be fraught with so much interest as the part we have illustrated. The 

 shaded portion represents where our grass-seed was sown. 



Would that Sir Christopher Wren and John Martin could be recalled to life, to witness the realization of their 

 glorious schemes for embanking and beautifying the banks of the Thames, the purified waters sweeping along 

 within their granite boundaries, fringed by noble trees and the banks covered by a verdure as beautiful as the 

 groKnds of the Bishop's Palace at Eulham, and that solely by the judicious admixture of the grasses used. 

 What formerly was a dreary expanse of mud is now an emerald set in granite, whither the inhabitants of this 

 great jSIetropolis, " in populous city pent," will eagerly hurry to the banks of the Thames, 



" tlieir very hearts athirst 

 To gaze at Nature in her green array." 

 Thames Embanlanent Special Mixture, recommended for Ornamental Parks, for People's Parks in connection 

 w ith large towns, for enclosures such as Squares in and about London and other populous cities, 16^. 

 per bushel. Three to four bushels being sufficient for an acre. Special quotations for large quantities. 

 Mixture for improviiig and renovatiDg grounds similar to the above, lorf. per lb. 



MAIZE. 



The following is substance of the paper read by Dr. .Masters at the Royal Horticultural Society's General 

 Meeting on the 7th of December, 1870, in illustration of the remarkable collection of Maize exhibited by the Rev. 



T. C. Brihaut, of Guernsey, Her Majesty's Commissioner at the Paris Exhibition of 1867, to report on the 

 present state of Fruit Culture on the Continent. The repoii of the paper on Maize is given in detail in the 



"Gardeners' Chronicle," December 10th, 1870. 



