March 6,1!90. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
193 
However that may be, Dr. Blackwell was in the Duke’s employ; 
lie was acquainted evidently with botany and ornamental garden¬ 
ing, closing his life very singularly in Sweden, where he was 
executed for a supposed plot against the Government. His widow 
^id some service to horticulture, as we shall see hereafter. The 
gardens of Canons speedily became the talk of the country all the 
more because .they were satirised by Pope. 
‘•'His gardens next your admiration call, 
On every side you look, behold the wall! 
No pleasing intricacies intervene. 
No artful wildness to perplex the scene ; 
Grove nods at grove, each alley has a brother. 
And half the platform just reflects the other ; 
The suffering eye inverted Nature sees. 
Trees cut to statues, statues thick as trees.” 
It may appear odd to attribute any influence upon British 
diorticulture to such men as the poet Pope, and Addison, dis- 
"tinguished in prose, but both did service by showing what were the 
principles which good taste invites us to follow. Addison threw 
out hints in several of his essays, and Pope’s paper on “ Yerdant 
Sculpture ” in the Guardian led men to see how foolish it was to 
study how trees and plants might be treated unnaturally, whether 
singly or in groups. Nor were they simply theorisers, each tried 
practical experiments upon a small scale ; Pope at Twickenham, 
“where he managed to do a great deal within the limited space of two 
acres. Addison had a retreat at Bilston, near Rugby, Warwickshire, 
and his walks and gardens remained many years intact after Pope’s 
were swept away. Two things they specially opposed—the intro¬ 
duction of many needless walls, because shrubs could be so arranged 
as to shield each other from cold winds, and also that wholesale 
lopping which weakened many species, besides disfiguring them. 
Stephen Switzer, w'ho had worked for a time under London and 
Wise, and followed their methods, seems to have been one of the 
first to adopt those improvements which led on to the modern 
style of gardening. Our forefathers had the odd idea that we 
were indebted to the Chinese for the change, but in fact the so 
called Chinese style was in some respects quite as stiff as the 
Dutch. Switzer had a garden at Millbank, near Westminster, and 
apparently a shop opposite the Court of Common Pleas, with a 
sign of “ The Flower Pot,” and was one of the early seedsmen. 
Amongst other things he found time to publish a work in three 
volumes entitled “ Ichnographia,” illustrated by copperplates, con¬ 
taining particulars of the various ways in which the grounds of a 
residence might be laid out, with a few remarks on agriculture. 
This came out during 1718, and in 1724 he wrote “ The Practical 
Fruit Gardener,” which was followed in 1729 by another work upon 
the rapid raising of kitchen vegetables. 
About the beginning of that century the increasing demand for 
vegetables in and near London had led gardeners to study methods 
for hastening crops and obtaining a quick succession. For cen¬ 
turies the bulk of vegetables required in the metropolis was 
produced on the north and east sides, especially on the former, 
where, along the City Road for instance, many of the citizens had 
gardens in which they raised, some of them, more than they needed 
for their families, and allowed their gardeners to sell the remainder. 
By-and-by the advantages of the west of London were seen, and 
particularly its suitable soil and milder temperature. Thus in the 
district of the neat houses during the reign of William III. (what 
is now South Belgravia) about 150 acres of land, lying rather low, 
was kept well fertilised by stable dung chiefly put on, it is said, at 
the average of sixty cartloads to the acre. It was the first place 
where Liquorice was grown in any quantity, and much Asparagus 
was raised here, the King’s pronounced lilting for this esculent 
having brought it into public favour. Evelyn, however, thought 
the large Dutch kind was not nearly so agreeable as the English 
kind previously cultivated. He notes the fact as curious that 
heads were grown weighing from 4 to 7 ounces each. A special 
variety of Broad Bean became very celebrated, this having been 
first sown at Windsor by a gardener who received the seeds from 
Holland. There was an influx of French gardeners also about 
this time, and one of these introduced the Fulham Pea, long 
cultivated in the gardens of that suburb ; to the French also in 
that district is attributed the extensive cultivation of herbs used 
for flavouring. 
The historic nursery of Fulham, started by Gray in or about 
1700, marked another era in the progress of horticulture. A large 
number of plants were received here from travellers in both 
hemispheres, and the firm purchased from the Bishop of London 
a collection of rare species obtained by Bishop Compton. Though 
a doubt has been thrown upon the point the evidence tends to 
show that the first Magnolia grandiflora was planted at Fulham, it 
lived till thirty years ago. The firm had early specimens of the 
A.ilantus, the American Kettle Tree, of Sophora pendula, Wistaria 
sinensis, and other species now growing throughout the country. 
An evergreen variety of the Oak was raised at Fulham, presumably 
from seed.—J. R. S. C. 
LINUM ARBOREUM. 
For cool houses, such as that in the Eoyal Gardens, Kew, or in fact 
any structure where frost can he excluded, this Linum is well adapted, 
and its bright yellow flowers are produced over such a long period of 
time that the utility of the plant is materially increased. Several 
Linums and their near relatives are already favourites in greenhouses, 
but L. arboreum is not so well known as L. trigynum, and its flowers 
being smaller it would not attract so much attention at first until its 
merits were recognised. It becomes quite shrubby in habit, attaining 
a height of several feet, and flowers freely from the apex of the branches. 
It is an old inhabitant of botanic gardens, and was introduced from the 
Levant in 1788 by Dr. John Sibthorp. 
Ordinary light loam with a moderate proportion of sand suits this 
Linum ; but good drainage is required, and if the soil be somewhat 
heavy a proportion of leaf soil will be found beneficial. It can be 
increased by cuttings, but these require care, as they do not produce 
roots very readily. Seeds are not freely perfected, and for a number of 
years no seed was obtained from plants in this country. It is not 
included in the Kew list of seeds available for distribution. 
Young Trees in Frosty Weather. — It not unfrequently 
happens that fruit trees arrive at their destination just when a severe 
frost prevails. It is very certain no practical man would think of 
permanently planting these newly received trees either while the frost 
is in the ground or when it has only just left it, the state of the ground 
in both instances being altogether unfavourable for this important 
work. Should the frost be only just commencing, or only moderately 
severe, the trees may safely be unpacked, and all be thinly and care¬ 
fully laid in by the roots in some convenient spot for the time being. 
For several reasons it is most unwise to lay them in much as received 
