48 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ July 18, 1889. 
shake, and by degrees the leaves become ragged and cnt round th e edge. 
This system is a mistake, as it injures the Grapes and leaves, and does 
not keep the insects so much in subjection as a gentle but thorough 
saturation of all parts of the Vine.—A Kitchen Gardener. 
NOTES ON EARLY ENGLISH HORTICULTURE. 
(Continued from page 433, last vol .) 
The street cry of “ Cowcumbers,” very familiar to all dwellers 
in towns, carries us back nearly three centuries, when the name 
was not only pronounced thus, but written to correspond, which 
seems to throw a doubt upon its derivation from the Latin curvus, 
because its fruits are apt to be crooked, as some old authors say. 
In order to get straight Cucumbers they used in the seventeenth 
century to put the fruit while small, into a long tube (presumably 
of paper or wood), by which means they lengthened it and kept it 
from curving. Gerarde, in 1596, had announced that a Cucumber 
plant having been taught by art to produce straight fruit, might be 
expected to prove the parent of plants which would not need their 
fruit treated in this way. Another old gardener found fault with 
the Cucumber because it was of too moist a nature, and he advised 
that the pits in which it was grown should be partly filled with 
absorbents, such as chaff or chips, to make the plant grow drier. 
These early pits were only covered with mats stretched over hoops. 
Forcing under glass does not seem to have been successfully carried 
out till the reign of George I., when Fowler of Stoke Newington 
astonished the world by producing fine Cucumbers on New Year’s 
Day, 1721. Stimulating the growth of plants by the application of 
dung or other manure is a practice so old in England that its 
commencement cannot be dated ; but no attempt at forcing plants 
by greenhouses or stoves seems to have been made till about the 
middle of the seventeenth century, but there were a number in use 
a few years after the Restoration. 
The list of Cromwell’s actions is not complete if we omit that 
he took an interest in gardening and agriculture, as also did several 
of the leading men amongst the Puritans. It was one of the singular 
incidents of the notable year 1649 that a sect arose whose doctrine 
it was that the majority of mankind ought to betake themselves to 
the primitive pursuit of cultivating the ground, and a number of 
them set to work near Cobham, Surrey, planting roots and sowing 
Beans on waste land ; but seeing their views tended to a dangerous 
socialism the Council of State had to disperse them, and the new 
scheme collapsed. Samuel Hartlib, author of several tracts on 
husbandry and editor of one written by an aged clergyman whose 
name is unknown, in which the extensive planting of fruit trees 
was earnestly advised, was one of the Protector’s friends. During 
the Commonwealth he received a pension of £100 yearly, and this 
tract in particular led to the formation of orchards in many English 
counties. Some consider that the important Apple orchards of the 
Midlands had their origin at this period. Hartlib had amongst his 
friends the clever but unfortunate man Plattes, of whom little is 
known, except that he died in a London street by want of food. 
His quarto book, the “ Art of Planting, Graffing, and Gardening, 
with a Perfect Platform of a Hop Garden,” printed about 1640, con¬ 
tained much valuable matter ; probably it was not much read 
owing to the near approach of the Civil War. In 1654 he 
published his “ Expert Gardener,” a curious book with illustrations, 
but compiled from continental works. It had a good effect on 
both gardening and agriculture, especially by its explanation of 
Flemish methods. He had been preceded, however, in this work 
by Sir R. Weston, who had brought out some ten years before a 
pamphlet on the pursuit of husbandry in Brabant and Flanders, as 
it had fallen under his own observation. Our English gardeners of 
that century were, it appears, lacking in method and in perseverance. 
One valuable practice he originated was the cutting of green crops 
for fodder, which had not before been thought of in this island. 
The two Tradescants, father and son, are closely connected with 
the progress of horticulture in the seventeenth century, as intro¬ 
ducers of many exotic species ; also they were the possessors of a 
memorable garden at South Lambeth, part of the site of which is 
now occupied by a brewery of large repute. An old house called, 
I believe, Turret House, only removed a few years since, was said 
to have been once the abode of the Tradescants, or “ Tradeskins ” 
as their neighbours perverted the name. A succession of authors 
have persistently asserted that the elder Tradescant was a Dutch 
emigrant, but recent inquiry establishes the fact that this is an 
error, as he was of English parentage. John Tradescant is stated 
to have been, when a young man, gardener to Lord Treasurer Earl 
Salisbury ; subsequently he became a traveller, searching for rare 
plants. His first explorations were in some of the cold regions of 
Russia ; afterwards he visited the Mediterranean Isles and some 
places in North Africa. In 1629 he was appointed gardener to 
Charles 1. The post, however, seems to have been honorary, as 
was probably Parkinson’s also, who was styled the king’s herbalist. 
It was during the reign of this king that Lambeth, which had till 
then retained its natural wildness, and the marshes of which yielded 
a variety of plants to the herbalists, began to pass into the hands 
of the gardeners. Asparagus had no doubt been cultivated for 
many years before Gerarde’s time, for he speaks of it as no novelty, 
and observes that the native plant could be so improved as to 
almost equal those imported from abroad ; but the ’Sparagus 
Garden at Lambeth is the first locality with which this vegetable is 
distinctly associated. Somewhere near, between that place and 
Yauxhall, Melons also were freely grown on the moist soil, and the 
elder Tradescant, who had no doubt frequently rowed across from 
Westminster to Lambeth, chose out a spot on the higher ground for 
what became a renowned experimental garden. Here the Scarlet 
Runner was first grown in England, the seeds having been brought 
from South America in 1633. Its flowers were used for nosegays, 
and the plant itself only regarded as an ornamental trailer, till 
Miller, in the next century, showed that the pods might be advan¬ 
tageously cooked and eaten. Yet the gardeners who preceded 
Miller knew this was a species of Bean, and it has been supposed 
there was a superstitious prejudice against the pods as food because 
the blossom is blood-coloured. But the good folk of two or three 
centuries ago had some curious theories ; thus, for instance, one of 
the earliest named varieties of the Pear which was grown about 
London, the Warden, was reputed to be “good to quench choler.” 
Hence, as a modern author remarks, a present of a basket of these 
to a friend might be really valuable if the Pears acted on the mind 
through the body and convey besides a delicate hint. 
There seems to be a doubt whether the Apricots brought from 
Algeria by Tradescant, sen., were a new variety merely, or the first 
samples of the fruit known in England ; probably it had been 
introduced before. Both father and son obtained seeds and slips 
by their own researches and the help of friends, which made the 
South Lambeth garden so rich m new plants that a catalogue of 
these was printed by Tradescant, jun., for the benefit of gardeners 
and botanists. A genus of plants in the Spiderwort group is named 
after the Tradescants, and an Aster which was introduced by one 
of them. It has been asserted that Tradescant, jun., was the man 
who obtained the first exotic Ferns when he visited Virginia in 
1628. The species he brought are said to have been Adiantum 
pedatum and Cystopteris bulbifera. During the time of the 
Tradescants there were plantations of Vines and Hops at Lambeth, 
of which a memory yet lingers in local names. After the death of 
Tradescant, jun., a poetic epitaph was put up to the honour of both, 
in which allusion is made to them as cultivators of the Lily and 
the Rose. Nearly a hundred years later a deputation from the Royal 
Society went to investigate Tradescant’s old garden, and discovered 
some descendants from the plants which he had been the means of 
introducing to English cultivators.—J. R. S. C. 
ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY. 
Floral FIte, July 15th. 
To celebrate the Jnbilee of the Royal Botanic Society’s existence 
the Council some time ago decided to provide its Fellows and the public 
with an attraction of a novel character, and quite a departure from the 
conventional exhibitions with which all are now so familiar. Borrowing 
an idea or two from continental celebrations, such as the battle of flowers 
at Nice and similar events, it was resolved to hold a “ Floral Parade and 
Feast of Roses ” in the Botanic Gardens at Regent’s Park, at which 
medals and prizes would be offered for carriages and other conveyances, 
horses, and ponies most tastefully decorated with flowers ; also for 
wreaths, garlands, arches, with groups and baskets of Roses. The latter 
portion of the exhibits were placed in the large marquee ; but the 
carriages, &c., were in the gardens, and despite occasional showers the 
weather proved fine enough to enable the “ parade ” to be seen to good 
advantage. 
An extremely large and fashionable company assembled in the after¬ 
noon, and by 6 P.M., when the Royal party arrived, consisting of the 
Prince and Princess of Wales, with their daughters, the Duke and 
Duchess of Teck, Princess Victoria of Teck, Prince Christian, and the 
Earl of Fife, there was a dense crowd of visitors on both sides of the 
broad walk from the conservatory to the entrance. A parade had taken 
place earlier in the day, but the principal event was that at five o’clock, 
though many whb had not secured places had to be contented with a. 
very imperfect view of the procession. Considerable difference was 
manifested in the style of decoration adopted and the taste displayed, 
but several charming carriages and chaises w r ere shown, Mrs. E. Ledger 
taking the chief honours (the Princess of Wales’ prize, value twenty 
guineas, and the Royal Botanic Society’s gold medal) for a bright and' 
effective decoration, in which yellow and orange flowers predominated. 
Coreopsis and African Marigolds furnishing the prevailing tints. 
N. Sherwood, Esq., had (first prize) a small phaeton or chaise liberally 
adorned with Roses and other flowers ; and C. Sharman, Esq., coc- 
1 tributed a similar vehicle, driven by one of his daughters, which 
I attracted much notice, and received second prize. Mr. J. Chard had a 
