8jo 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



December 17, l8g8 



half past one p.m. As in former years, the exhibitions and meetings will k u 

 at the Royal Aquarium, Westminster. The Leeds Paxton Society will hold i 

 exhibition of chrysanthemums November 14 and 15. Messrs E ft 

 Gordon, V.M.H., E. Molyneux, V.M.H., and I. Wright V M H I \ °' 



• « • j . .1 tt 11 /-u .1 » , b llL » Vtivi.ii., riave been 



appointed judges at the Hull Chrysanthemum Show, November 15 an i 16 Th 

 York Society of Ancient Florists will hold its chrysanthemum show Novemb 



bloom of the Victorian era, so the art and science of horticulture has 

 advanced by leaps and bounds to keep pace with the spread of know- 

 ledge and the extension of every facility afforded thereby. In the old 

 days the brilliant flora of the exotic world was known to the travelled 

 only, and the roaming botanist was handicapped in a thousand ways. 

 Enormous areas of the land were sealed books, impenetrable save at 

 their borders, and, so far as the plant lover was concerned, the most 

 he could do was to collect seed and trust to Providence for 

 the rest, since slow-going sailing vessels and ignorance of the Wardian 

 case precluded almost entirely the transport of tender living plants. 

 Should such, by extraordinarily good fortune, reach the grower 

 here, once again he was handicapped by hot, stuffy flues and the general 

 insanitary conditions of the ancient hothouses. Steam revolutionised 



floriculture in every way, it shortened the perilous voyage, bit by bit it other early chroniclers, and the Moor-gate led from the City into^this' common 



15, 1 3, and 17. 



Proposed Opening of Finsbury 



There is, Mrs. I. M. Hoi 



informs us, a movement now on foot for throwing open the' garden oVVio^b 165 

 Orcus to the public, and the scheme is deserving of widespread support Vhil 

 garden has an ancient and interesting history, for it is a portion of the origind 

 Moorfields, a remnant of that division, known as the Lower Moorfield, which was 

 nearest to the City boundary. The Moorfields or Finsbury-fields are described as 

 the chief recreation -ground for the citizens of London by Fitzstephen, Stow and 



or 



opened up the hitherto impenetrable areas rich with new species of 

 plants, and finally, when these were safely to hand, steam in its incipient 



playground. Although parts of the " great fen or moor " were from time to time 

 enclosed, the palings were always pulled down by the citizens, who thus established 

 stage of hot water afforded the strangers literally a warm and cordial and maintained their rights in the land. Aggas's plan of 1560 shows the plot now 

 reception on their arrival, and made them feel as much at home in this occupied by Finsbury Circus as an open field, where the inhabitants of London 

 wayward climate as in their native habitats. Then selective evolution are s P readin g out their clothes to dry. practising with bows and airo*s, and carry- 



leapt onward with gigantic strides ; all the world contributed its material 

 as fashioned by the bee and other tribes on the one side, and the 

 adaptive tissues of the flower on the other, plus that omnipresent and in- 

 visible factor which actuates them all, and which no amount of argument 

 can eliminate. This material, beautiful or curious, iits sexual and specific 

 relations studied and grasped, was then seen to be as plastic as clay in 

 the potter's hands, and underlying all was that potent factor aforesaid 

 aiding the cultivator in a thousand ways by variations, large and small, 

 some of which could be accumulated into floral wonders of size, while 

 others started off in new directions altogether to swell the crowd of 



distinct types. By selective culture, which means evolution, fostered and front of Bethlehem Hospital 



ing water from the wells, while the cattle peacefully eat the grass. The only 

 building is the u dogge house "—the kennels of the City hounds. But two 

 centuries later, when l ouses had been built to the north, east, and west of the 

 Moorfields, the open space still remained intact. In 1638 Charles I. granted the 



M " " " ' " " 



oor fields to the Mayor and citizens of London, the charter expressly stating 

 that no person should have permission from the Crown to erect any new building 

 upon the Inner Moor or the Outer Moor or West Smitbfield, "but that the said 

 •separate fields and places be reserved, disposed, and continued to suchlike common 

 tnd public uses as the same heretofore and now are used, disposed, and converted 



And these common fields existed as such until 1786. In 1773 Noorthouck 

 wrote: 11 What are called the lower quarters of Moorfields, which lie along the 



are defined by bread gravel walks, planted 



to. 



directed by man's particular tastes, a grower can modify a breed of with trees on each side, and being railed round and covered with grass they form 



plants in his lifetime as much as Nature would do in millions of years ; agreeable ranges for the neighbouring inhabitants to walk in. That particularly 



but there is ever this difference in the result: Nature knows how to which crosses the middle, parallel with the hospital, is distinguished by the name 



maintain her own creatures without man's aid, but man's floral handi- of the City Mall." The centre of this City Mall or public promenade, which in 



work is entirely dependent upon his continued protection, and left in the 

 hands of Nature would speedily be restored to their pristine shape, and 

 shorn of any exuberance due to human fancy only. 



Our Illustrations. — The illustrations accompanying Mr. George Nicholson' «• 

 article on " A Land of Flowers and Sunshine M are reproduced from photographs 

 taken by Henry Little, Esq., of Baronshalt, St. Margaret's, who has been not less 

 successful with the camera than with orchids, and the other classes of plants to 

 which he has devoted his attention. Mr. Little has during the past few years taken 

 some thousands of photographs in various parts of Europe, and he has given prac- 



Rocque's plan (published in 1746) is shown as an avenue,* exactly corresponded 

 with the centre of Finsbury Circus. The ancient and extensive Moorfields and 

 Finsbury-fields are row represented by four limited enclosures, the Honourable 

 Artillery Company's ground, Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, Finsbury Square, and 

 Finsbury Circus ; and if the last-named of these spaces is restored to the public we 

 shall only be giving back to the people of London a small portion of the open lard 

 which London ought never to have yielded up. The Metropolitan Public Gardens 

 Association will support the scheme as far as is in its power. 



The Preservation of the Wagtails.— The Board of Agriculture, in its 



efforts to protect useful birds, has issued a pamphlet giving illustrations of the 



Llr - A _ • 1 1 < AIM! . T*TI • - 



tical effect to his recreation by converting a thousand or so of his negatives into P rett y water -wagtails and reasons why they should be preserved. Gilbert White 



lantern slides, and exhibiting them on behalf of the local charities. Already Mr. states * hat " wagtails run round cattle, availing themselves of the flies that settle 



Little has been ab'e to hand over to the hospitals and other charitable institutions on . their J fS s f and probably finding worms and larvae roused by the trampling of 



in Richmond and Twickenham between £500 and £600. The illustrations of the th ^^/ eet ;" This bird isalso seen near P onds > streams, and rivers, and in marshes 

 top'iryart at Levens Hall are from photographs by Mr. J. Hogg, of Kendal ; and 

 of the examples in the gardens of Elvaston Castle Gardens from photographs by 



Mr. W. Winter, of Derby. The wintry scenes in the gardens of Chiswick House 

 are from photographs by Mr. C. Henwood, of Chiswick ; and the illustrations of 

 the Ke* Museums are from photographs by Mr. J. Gregory, Croydon. 



Mr. W. Botting Hems ley, F.R.S f F.L.S., is known throughout the 



scientific world as an able botanist, and the Principal Assistant at the Herbarium, 

 Royal Gardens, Kew. Mr. Hemsley, besides being a clever gentleman, is an 

 extremely amiable one, as all who have had the pleasure of his company can 

 testify. We refer to Mr. Hemsley now to congratulate him upon the dedication 

 to himself of the hundred and twenty-fourth volume of the Botanical Magazine 

 by its editor, Sir Joseph Hooker, C.B , F.R.S , &c. Sir Joseph Hooker's dedi- 

 cation is worth quoting : 11 My Dear Hemsley,— I have three reasons, each suffi- 

 cient, for offering to you the dedication of a volume of the Botanical Magazine : 

 firstly, as a record of the interest you have shown in this work, and an acknow- 



their feet. ^ M *w » <w»\j kcuumi ^uhuoj on^aui ^ 9 auu 

 and flooded meadows, taking the insects found there. If pied wagtails are watched 

 it will be seen that they are never still, but are continually hunting for insects of 

 all descriptions— beetles, flies, moths, and aphides, as well as millipedes, snails, 

 and slugs. The pied wagtails migrate from the more northern to the southern 

 parts of the kingdom in the autumn, and some leave this country for the winter. 

 Flocks of them have been noticed in Kent and Sussex near the coast in September, 

 evidently bound for foreign climes. These return again very early in the spring, 

 but there are always pied wagtails to be seen throughout the winter in this country, 

 except in the more northern regions The grey wagtail is not so common as the 

 pied species. It is found in more solitary places, in the mountainous districts of 

 England and Scotland. It likewise is the good servant of the tiller of the soil. 

 The yellow wagtail is not a winter bird, but appears in this country in the month 

 of March, and leaves in the autumn. There is no doubt that this wagtail, like its 

 congener*, devours the snail hosts of the Jiver fluke. AU the wagtail family 

 (disnwasheis) are fojni near watercourses and marshy places. 



* * — — ...^.vok. j\j\x nave aiiuwil Jll Lino tiwir, anvi c*s,*v u vr - 



ledgment of the valuable aid I have received from you in conducting it ; secondly, Success of the Scottish Horticultural Association.— We have to 



the amount and importance of your labours in Systematic and Geographical congratulate this enterprising association upon the great success of its splendid 

 Botany, as especially evidenced in your great works on the Flora of Central chrysanthemum show held at the Waverley Market last month. On the first day 

 America and on the Botany of the Challenger Expedition ; and lastly, my wish ^393 were taken; second day, ^346; third day, ^348; total, £ 1.087. The 

 that you should accept this dedication as the tribute of a friend to a collaborator total income from all sources lmounted to .£1,301. The total expenditure, £ i.OQ-'. 

 for upwards ol thirty years in the Herbarium of the Royal Gardens.— Believe me, included ^233 for music, £430 for prizes, £34 for printing, £57 'or advertising, 

 with esteem and regards, faithfully yours, J. D. Hooker." Sir Joseph could have ^"°o for fitting up the market, &c, leaving a balance of ^209. We are glad to 



nff.,^ 1- L , — . see that the association, which gave ^250 to charities in 1897, fa continuing i» 



good work by distributing ^100 this season as follows : Gardeners' Orphan r una, 

 -£15; Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institution, £l$ ; the Infirmary, £5 

 Hospital for Children, £15 - Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, l*>< 



— , and ea <* to two sick members of the association who formerly rende c 



!1 V .:!! * bS * nCC ', ^ d , SinCe then has continued to rise until he now occupies a valuable aid to the a socution. Well done, " Auld Reekie." 



" * " The Botanical Magazine for the present month contains illustrations and 



In addition to the fixtures of interest descriptions of M usa Bakeri a new species from Co-bin China ; C*" 1 * 



least 



-~« viLUlL.l'aUll, VIA., lUftl *▼*.»• J - m.m*rm 



from the ranks to his present high position, by his own efforts, was deserving of 

 such recognition. Mr. Hemsley entered Kew as a" young gardener " in i860, 



acd^giined a Civil Service appointment at the Herbarium in 1865 ; in 1867 he 



owing 



otanical 



Chrysanthem 



to those engaged in the cultivation of chrysanthemums that have been already 

 announced m these pages the following arrangements have been made. The 

 National Chrysanthemum Society will ho!d its exhibitions on October 10, 11, and 

 It, November 7, 8, and 9, and December 5, 6, and 7. The meetings of the Floral 

 Committee have been arranged for September 27, October 10 and 25, November 1, 

 15, and 22, and December 5, and the hour of the meetings has been fixed for 



pratense 



fare 



, a nnejavauc- ^t^fan 

 TT" ; u lDIS count '/ ; Caladenia carnea var. alba, a terrestrial an * 

 orchid of slender growth; and Fritillaria pluriflora, a very handsome Dv» 

 fntillary from Northern California ; its flowers open widely, and are 01 

 reddish-rose hue. 



