October 8, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
323 
right angles to the four points of the compass, the corner spaces 
thus made are occupied by grass plots. These paths are edged 
with Ivy, according to a fashion much favoured by the layers-out 
of town gardens, and all round the garden is a fringe of shrubs, 
.amongst which Lilacs and Hollies predominate. 
Eaton Square, without going into exact measurements, may 
■claim, I believe, to be one of the largest of the metropolitan 
squares, and its open ground is divided into six parts, the two 
central gardens being the larger, and through it runs the King’s 
Hoad, extending on to Fulham, and along which in former times 
were the many nurseries of Chelsea, all of which have succumbed 
to the builder save Little’s Nursery; this, though closed, is not 
yet turned into rows of houses. An examination of the trees of 
this square shows pretty conclusively that none of them are older 
than 1827 or ’28, when the ground was laid out, so that possibly 
this part of the Five Fields did deserve the title of “ barren 
waste,” bestowed upon it by a poetaster of last century. Towards 
Knightsbridge there were old trees scattered here and there. The 
three large Sycamores of Chesham Place must have been planted 
before the houses were built; so, too, several scattered about 
Belgrave Square, and there are memories of ancient Elms of 
Stuart times which have perished through insect enemies. For 
many years Eaton Square has been noticeable for its Almond 
blossoms of the early year, and its Laburnums and pink “Mays” 
of a more advanced season; but lately the Almonds have been 
scant of flowers, and the Hawthorns, pink and white, beiDg 
mostly near the railings, have suffered from those meddlesome 
youngsters who do needless damage to obtain flowers. The 
gardens on the north side of this square have more trees than 
those on the south ; as one consequence the grass there appears 
to be more patchy. Probably of all British trees the Ash 
exercises a most obvious influence upon the plants that may 
happen to come under its shade, and though Tennyson in one of 
his poems, referring to the signs of spring, says that “ thick by 
Ashen roots the Violets grow,” this is a mere fancy; one seldom 
finds any wild flowers near Ash trees. Yet the species is suitable 
for town gardens, because it keeps in leaf when the Elm and 
Horse Chestnut are bare, when the Lime shows only a few fresh 
leaves put forth at the end of summer, and even the Sycamore 
has lost the greater part of its foliage. There are many Ash 
trees in Eaton Square, and some were placed in the midst of 
grass plots with seats round them, and as a consequence the 
grass languishes. It would have been better to have had a circle 
of gravel about the trees, some of which are remarkably fine. 
There are also well grown Sycamores and Limes; the Horse 
Chestnuts and Elms are fewer; the numerous Lilacs appear to 
be greatly the sufferers from insect pests. Privet hedges sur¬ 
round these squares, and the gardeners have been so fond of this 
shrub that they have set bushes besides in the nooks and corners 
amongst other evergreens, which, however, are not abundant or 
much varied. The beautiful and large caterpillar of the Privet 
hawk moth used to be seen frequently running itself on the 
hedges in August and September, and in Belgrave Square 
adjacent, but 1 have not recently observed its occurrence here, 
Amongst the Privet in some parts of Eaton Square the Tea 
Tree (Lycium barbarum) has been planted, and it flowers, though 
but sparingly, in London air. 
When a boy, I remember I strolled through the north central 
garden of Eaton Square (let us say about forty years ago), this 
ground being then cultivated by Tuck the florist, who subse¬ 
quently took the Sloane Street Nursery. At that time it was 
replete with choice flowers of the period, now neither this nor 
the companion gardens make any special display; in fact, their 
arrangement altogether is chiefly interesting from an historic 
point of view, as illustrative of a style of gardening that belongs 
to the first half of this century. One or two of the squares have 
central beds, which are planted out in the modern manner, but 
•on most of the beds are only straggling representatives of the 
flowers of September, such species as the t'unflower, “ Aaron’s 
Rod,” Michaelmas Daisy, Marigolds, Saxifrages, with some 
Dahlias and China Asters looking in poor condition. Belgrave 
Square may be said to have the advantage of its neighbour—its 
one garden from its dimensions allows of a better arrangement, 
and it would seem the residents bestow more attention upon this 
than the Eaton Square folks do upon their green domain ; also 
there are fewer trees generally and fewer Ashes in particular. 
The Elms, placed in pairs at the four entrance gates in 1828, are 
apparently thriving. Round the greater part of the square 
within the Privet hedge is another of Lilacs. There are many 
evergreens, including some fine Aucubas, and in the centre of 
the ground are shrubberies with flower beds interspersed. One 
misses the Azalea in this and the other squares, the more because 
it was formerly much cultivated in the Chelsea nursery gardens. 
In the smaller Chester Square garden I observed a fine Black 
Poplar amongst other trees of the kinds already mentioned, also 
a Mountain Ash (Pyrus Aucuparia) near the railings, a tree not 
frequent about London, and the austere berries on which I was 
solicited to pick by a party of juveniles.—J. R. S. C. 
TnE ENGLISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The above Society has been formed about twelve months, and is in a 
very flourishing condition, numbering over 120 members. They have 
had three excursions, the first to the Forestry Exhibition in Edinburgh 
last year ; the second to Lowther Castle in July last, when they were joined 
by the Scottish Arboricultural Society at Carlisle, and were entertained in a 
sumptuous manner by Mr. Watt, of Messrs. Little & Ballantyne, Know- 
field Nurseries. The third excursion was to Cragside,, through the 
kindness of Sir Wm. Armstrong, on Friday last. The members were 
much pleased with the reception given to them by Sir William Armstrong 
and his Steward Mr. Wm. Bertram. 
Cragside has been planted in about twenty years. It was then, as it 
is named, a bare cragside, but by judicious planting is now, perhaps, not 
surpassed for sylvan scenery, embracing as it does about 1400 acres 
planted, 100 of them with Coniferas, ornamental and American plants. 
The planting of forest and ornamental trees has been at the rate of about 
250 acres annually the last three years. One firm alone, Messrs. Wm. 
Fell & Co., Wentworth Nurseries, Hexham, supplied last year 300,000 
Scotch Firs. The members of the Association dined at Rothbury under 
the presidency of Mr. T. P. Dods, supported by the energetic Secretary, 
Mr. J. Davidson. Mr. Watt of Messrs. Little & Ballantyne, Carlisle, 
stated that one gentleman present had given to his ducal employer in 
twenty-five years £100,000 for timber, averaging 30s. per acre per annum 
for ground not worth 2s. 6d. per acre, hence the importance of such an 
association. The Chairman also gave some interesting statistics of 
timber in America, the decline of it, and that planting has not been done 
to keep pace with the demand.—B. COWAN. 
TRINITY COLLEGE BOTANIC GARDENS, DUBLIN. 
I have returned from a holiday run through Munster, Leinster, and 
Ulster, and amongst the most agreeable memories are those of the few 
hours I had with Mr. Burbidge, the respected Curator of these Gardens. 
This gentleman has the happy faculty of making perfect strangers quite 
“at home,” not merely personally, but with the thousands of occupants 
of beds, borders, and the various houses. He has some anecdote or 
reminiscence to tell of that venerable shrub or this newly introduced 
hardy flower, some peculiar property of plants in the medicinal department; 
or, if you go into the stoves, he at once introduces you to a number of old 
acquaintances of his from Java and Borneo. I have on previous occasions 
through your columns detailed at some length a few of the occupants 
of the large Palm house, including Arecas, Calamus, Cocos (including 
the beautiful C. Weddelliana), Chamredoreas, Thrinax, Kentias, and Acan- 
thophceaix, &c., with some handsome tropical climbers, Bamboos, Lemon 
trees, Bread Fruit, and Sago. I also recollect in 1883, about this time, 
noticing some curious and rare plants in the stoves and Orchid houses, 
also in the cool and warm fernery, while still more interesting would be 
the various pits and cool frames. There is a Sarracenia and Nepenthes 
pit containing complete collections, and specialists will know what this 
means. Even more interesting is the peculiar summer method of treat¬ 
ing Todeas and Killarney Ferns adopted by Mr. Burbidge. To all out¬ 
ward appearance the structures resemble a common frame, but the inside 
is excavated below the level of the surrounding soil and rocks ; chasms 
and miniature waterfalls are made to resemble the native habitat of those 
shade and moisture-loving Ferns. 
In other adjoining cool frames and pits are many varieties, especially 
among alpine plants ; for instance, in the Primula group, not now aPud- 
ing to some curious Alpine Auriculas, or the various forms of Primula 
Sieboldi, there was the Bird’s-eye Primrose (P. farinosa), P. Clusiana, 
P. denticulata, P. obconica, and P. scotica, to which may be added 
P. rosea, P. spectabilis, the Sikkim and Abyssinian Primroses. Poly¬ 
anthus and other choice Primroses, that take care of themselves outdoors, 
had quiet half-shaded nooks and corners here and there beside hedges or 
walls, as Mr. Burbidge finds nothing injures the better and choicer sorts 
of this family so much as hot summer sun, which generates red spider 
and the inevitable canker and swelling of the root stem, more than once 
alluded to by Mr. Wolly Dod, as having deprived him of some of his 
favourites in Cheshire. There was there some curious hardy succulents 
and Cacti, which brought us to the long range, divided into several com¬ 
partments, some for cool Orchids, foliage plants, select Azaleas and 
Camellias, the rarer and better class of greenh-.use plants not often met 
with elsewhere. An old favourite of fifty years ago, Fuchsia corymbosa, 
with glorious pendent bunches of bloom, forcibly reminded us of this 
latter fact when leaving this range. Chrysanthemums, a complete col¬ 
lection of every introduced variety up to last spring, are well grown, and 
had a special glass range preparing for their reception to bloom in later 
on. 
Where shall I commence to give your readers an idea, even a faint one, 
of the wealth of showy, rare, and curious hardy border flowers ? Seven 
special numbers would be insufficient if I were to include the cultural 
details. Without moving further than the front of this long glass range, 
we are just in time to see the new Tigridia conchiflora and T. c. alba, and 
having foricompany the little beauty, Papaver nudicaule, and P. n. album, 
