May  I,  1896.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
773  - ’ 
Governour.  This  place  hath  very  good  land,  afford- 
ing rich  corne-fields,  and  fruitefull  gardens  : having 
likewise  sweet  and  pleasant  springs.”  The  references 
to  these  old  gardens  are  provokingly  slight  and  un- 
satisfying. ■ We  would  rather  have  had  one  clear 
presentment  of  an  old-woi’ld  garden  revived  for  us 
th  in  all  Mr.  Slade's  careful  and  precise  catalogue 
raisoiinc  of  the  early  residents  in  and  aronnd  Boston, 
who  were  celebrated  for  their  “places,” — 
“ And  as  imagination  bodies  forth 
The  form  of  things  unknown,  the  poet’s  pen 
Turns  them  to  shapes,  and  gives  to  airy  nothing 
A local  habitation  and  a name,” — 
but  Mr.  Slade  is  not  only  the  reverse  of  poetical  or 
imaginative,  his  literary  method  is  confused  and 
rambling,  and  his  style  awkward  and  common-place, 
as  the  following  passage  will  show : — 
The  gardens  of  Boston,  in  the  fullest  acceptation 
of  the  term,  combining  the  useful  and  ornamental, 
the  orchard,  the  vegetable  and  flowering  plants  (.sn'e), 
were  found  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, mostly  attached  to  the  residences  of  the  more 
wealthy  citizens.  References  are  occasionally  and 
briefly  made  by  writers  to  a few  which  existed  many 
years  previously.  Thus  the  house  of  Governor  Win- 
throp,  which  stood  nearly  opposite  the  foot  of  School 
Street,  was  with  the  garden  attached  called  ‘ The 
Green.’  We  obtain  a mere  glimpse  of  the  disposition 
and  size  of  the  garden  from  any  accounts  extant.” 
Even  of  the  “ most  extensive  and  highly  embel- 
lished” garden  belonging  to  Gardiner  Greene,  where 
was  seen  one  cf  the  first  greenhouses  in  Boston, 
Mr.  . Slade  only  says,  “ The  entire  grounds  were 
adorned  by  both  nature  and  art.” 
It  Was  after  the  Revolution  that  the  New 
Englanders  had  onCe  more  leisure  to  cultivate 
their  gar-dens,  and  in  1801  a Botanic  Garden  was 
established  in  Cambridge,  and  a professor  of  bo- 
tany appointed  at  Harvard  College.  Improvements 
in  gardening  and  the  cultivation  of  plants  were 
also  greatly  fostered  by  the  formation  of  horti- 
cultural societies,  as  they  had  been  in  England  by 
the  efforts  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  and 
its  frequent  exhibitions.  We  cannot  follow  Mr. 
Slade  into  his  disquisition  on  the  three  forms  of 
modern  landscape  gardening,  which  he  defines  as  the 
Gardenesque,  the  Picturefque,  and  the  Formal  or 
Geometrical.  We  would  rather  say  with  Addison  : — 
“ I think  there  are  as  many  kinds  of  Gardening 
as  of  Poetry : your  makers  of  Partei-res  and 
Flower-Gardens  are  Epigrammatists  and  Sonne- 
teers 'in  this  Art  ; contrivers  of  Bowers  and 
Grottos,  Treillages  and  Cascades,  are  Romance 
writers.  Wise  and  London  are  our  heroick 
Poets As  to  myself,  you  will  find 
by  the  account  which  I have  already  given 
you,  that  my  Compositions  in  Gardening  are  altogether 
after  the  Pindarich  manner,  and  run  into  the  beauti- 
ful wildness  of  Nature,  without  affecting  the  nicer 
Elegancies  of  Art.”  He  had  already  said  that  he 
was  looked  on  as  “ an  Humourist  in  Gardening,”  and 
we  can  imagine  the  delightful  surprises  and  unex- 
pected vistas  that  might  be  expected  from  such  a 
character.  We  fear  that  Dickens  would  have  immor- 
talised in  Martin  Chuzzlcwit,  had  he  seen  it,  the  ex- 
tracts from  an  address  read  before  the  Massachu- 
setts Horticultural  Society  on  suggestions  for  the 
ornamentation  of  burial-grounds,  given  by  Mr.  Slade, 
with  all  due  seriousness,  on  p.  1-14,  where  we  read 
that — 
“ The  skill  and  taste  of  the  architect  should  be 
exerted  in  the  construction  of  the  requisite  depart- 
ments and  avenues  ; and  appropriate  trees  and  plants 
should  decorate  its  borders ; the  weeping-willow, 
waving  its  graceful  drapery  over  the  monumental 
marble,  and  the  sombre  foliage  of  the  cypress  should 
shade  it ; and  the  undying  daisy  should  mingle  its 
bright  and  glowing  tints  with  the  native  laurel  of 
our  forests.” 
Even  a “ Humourist  in  Gardening”  could  hardly 
imagine  the  “ wee,  modest,  crimson-tipped  flower” 
mingling  its  “ bright  and  glowing  tints  ” with  those 
97 
of  the  native  laurel  of  any  forest;  but  we  hfartily 
concur  in  the  sentiment  conveyed  by  the  author  of 
this  flight  of  imagination,  that  churchyards  and 
cemerie.s  may  become  pages  in  the  book  of  daily 
life  decor,ated  with  flowers  and  tender  memories, 
instead  of  bare  records  of  our  dead,  into  whose  arid 
and  deserted  ways  we  could  not  look  without  a feeling 
of  desolation.  'The  planting  of  trees  as  memorials  of  a 
family  or  in  commemoration  of  some  event  are  the 
most  abiding  links  between  one  generation  and  another. 
Surely  nothing  could  better  recall  our  common  ances- 
try to  the  New  Englander  of  this  century  than  the 
contemplation  of  trees  planted  by  the  early  settlers, 
such  as  the  apple-tree  “ planted  by  Peregrine  White, 
the  first  child  of  the  Pilgrims,  at  Marshfield,  in  1G48  ; the 
pear-tree  imported  by  Governor  Prince  in  1040,  from 
England,  and  planted  on  his  estate  at  Eastham ; 
another  pear-tree  in  Yarmouth  set  out  by  Anthony 
Thacher  in  1040,  and  which  was  bearing  fruit  in 
1872.”  The  most  indifferent  and  the  most  quarrel- 
some of  men  will  bury  their  differences  over  the 
gi'owing  of  roses  and  lilies,  and  the  verdict  on  the  white 
rose  on  the  red  rose  side  need  not  necessarily  lead  to 
civil  war.  Flowers  are civilisers  and  hereditary  peace- 
makers, and  a great  nation  like  the  United  States 
does  well  to  assist  at  the  spreading  of  knowledge  on 
such  a subject.  The  New  Englanders  may  honestly 
be  proud  of  their- improvements  in  horticulture  during 
the  last  century  as  recounted  by  Mr.  Slade  ; at  the 
same  time  we  could  have  wished  the  .noble  art  a 
more  interesting,  though  possibly  not  a more  pains- 
taking, exponent  than  the  author  of  the  volume  in 
question. — Spectator,  March  21. 
o 
INDIAN  PATENTS. 
Applications  in  respect  of  the  undermentioned  in- 
ventions have  been  filed  during  the  week  ending  28th . 
March  1890,  under  the  provisions  of  Act  V of  1888. 
For  Improvements  in  or  connected  with  Machinery 
or  Apparatus  for  Drying  Tea  Leaf  or  the  like. — Ntf 
108  of  1890. — William  Jackson,  engineer,  of  Thorn- 
grove,  Mannofield,  Aberdeen,  North  Britain,  for  im- 
provements in  or  connected  with  machinery  or  ap- 
paratus for  drying  tea  leaf  or  the  like. 
For  Improvements  in  Bicycles. — No.  112  of  1896. 
— Albert  Sheldon  Weaver,  piano  mannfacturer,  of 
the  city  of  Hamilton,  in  the  county  of  Wentworth, 
and  the  province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  and  William 
Jefferson  Goold.  Clerk,  of  the  city  of  Toronto,  in 
the  county  of  York,  and  said  province  of  Ontario, 
for  improvements  in  bicycles. 
For  Drying  and  Warming  all  Sorts  of  Oil-seeds  by 
Sieam  Power. — No.  118  of  1890. — Temulji  Dhunji- 
bhoi,  mill  manager,  now  residing  at  No.  125,  Hur- 
rogunge  Road  Salkia,  Howrah,  for  drying  and  warm- 
ing all  sorts  of  oil-seeds,  by  steam  power. 
For  Clearing  and  Separating  Cells  of  Seeds,  by 
Steam  Power  or  Manual  Labour. — No.  119  of  1896. — 
Temulji  Dhunjibhoi,  mill  manager,  now  residing  at 
No.  125-  Ilurrogunge  Roaff,  Salkia,  Howrah,  tor  clean- 
ing and  separating  cells  of  seeds,  by  steam  power  or 
manual  labour. 
Specifications  of  the  undermentioned  inventions 
have  been  filed  under  the  provisions  of  Act  V of  1888. 
For  Improvements  in  Apparatus  for  Rolling  Tea 
Leaf  and  the  like. — No.  38  of  1890. — William  Jackson, 
engineer,  of  Thorngrove,  Mannofield,  Aberdeen,  North 
Britain,  for  improvements  in  apparatus  for  rolling  tea 
leaf  and  the  like.  (Filed  23rd  March  1893.) — The  In- 
ian  and  Eastern  Engineer,  April  11. 
The  Kew  Bulletin  for  February  Contains  : — 
Cold  Storage  of  Fruit  ; Decades  Kewenses : XXVI. — 
XXVII;  Dominica;  New  Orchids  : 16;  Two  African 
Holarrhenas  ; Natural  Sugar  in  Tobacco.  Miscella- 
neous Notes. — Botanical  Magazine. — Hooker’s  leones 
Plantaram. — Hand-list  of  Orchids. — Water  Supply. 
—The  British  Honduras  Pine. — Beetle  Larvae  attack- 
ing Orchids,— Solanum  torvum  in  Assam. 
