858 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 1, 1889, 
cold draughts will strike upon them. While in these positions they 
should be kept moderately dry at their roots.— Orchid Grower. 
NOTES ON EARLY ENGLISH HORTICULTURE. 
(^Continued from jpage 192 ) 
In my last article I referred to the increased cultivation of 
Asparagus near London during the reign of William III., and in 
the eighteenth century many acres more about Battersea, Mortlake, 
and Deptford were occupied by this vegetable ; 70 acres near Mort¬ 
lake alone ’tis said. Gravesend and Reading were other localities 
where much was produced, the red-tipped variety, brought from 
Holland, superseding the smaller green-tipped, on account of its 
superior flavour. Scarcely any is grown at Gravesend now (I can¬ 
not speak for Reading), and of course but little in the suburbs 
of London. A friend is astonished that, considering the difference 
between our London and the metropolis of Georgian days, there 
should have been a demand for the vegetable calling for such 
extensive cultivation ; but I expect that some of it was sent from 
London to distant places. We know for a fact that at one time the 
market gardens of Middlesex supplied a variety of vegetables to the 
midlands, and even the north of England, and Asparagus was 
probably amongst them. 
Seakale, so familiar now as the pioneer of Asparagus, was 
scarcely grown at all in the reign of Anne. It had been for 
centuries gathered by the residents on some of our coasts, where it 
is found wild, and by L’Obel and Turner plants from Kent or 
Essex were sent to the continent, where it was soon brought under 
cultivation and became popular. Miller seems to have been the 
first English gardener who formed an idea of hs capabilities as a 
vegetable, but the Rev. John Freeman, vicar of Sidbury between 
1707 and 1713, was the first to send samples of Seakale to any 
metropolitan market, but the price of 23. 61. a root was prohibitive. 
A prejudice existed against this vegetable in the minds of some 
persons, and one somewhat similar was not in favour of Celery, 
which had been known as a weed, and then called Smallage. It was 
with the hope of improving this reputed weed, I suppose, that the 
early gardeners put the plants in frames to begin with, afterwards 
removing them when of some size to the open ground. 
It is surpising that London and Wise in their “ Complete 
Gardener” take no heed of the Potato, and Bradley in 1719 
remarks slightingly that he must name it, but it was of less note 
than most vegetables. These southerners, however, did not probably 
know that it was then coming largely into cultivation in Lancashire, 
and alout 1728 a stimulus to its growth in Scotland was given by 
Thomas Prentice of Kilsyth, Stirlingshire, who having successfully 
cropped a small plot of giound with Potatoes, and being aware 
of the value of the vegetable, did not cook them, but distributed 
the first year’s yield amongst the farmers and cottagers of his 
neighbourhood. He lived till 1792 to see the Potato a common 
vegetable, though some Scotch folk repudiated it because it was 
not mentioned in the Bible. It made way but slowly in the West 
of England for many years. 
Bradley’s many books, ranging in size from folio to octavo, and 
dealing chiefly with botany, gardening, and agriculture, had no 
doubt a considerable influence in diffusing practical information, 
but he was rather entitled to the credit of being a clever compiler 
than a man who made valuable original observations. He made 
some researches into the nature of circulation amongst plants, and 
the growth of mould in fruit, also he experimented in the produc¬ 
tion (f double flowers and hybrids. He was acquainted with a 
large circle of gardeners whose practical knowledge he turned to 
good account, correcting misstatements of previous authors by 
their aid, and also throwing out suggestions for new methods of 
culture, particularly in grafting, forcing, and in transplanting 
saplings or trees so as to form new plantations speedily. His first 
publication was a book on bulbs or succulent plants, as he called 
them, the Tulip receiving special notice. A peculiaiity of his 
books was that most of them had abundant illustrations drawn on 
copper or wood, many of the early books on horticulture being 
sadly deficient in this respect. His work on “ Improvements in 
Planting and Gardening,” published in 1720, contained numerous 
and curious designs for novelties in parterres and plots, a variety of 
notes on greenhouse plants ; appended to this was a calendar of 
his own devising. To the Vine he devoted considerable space in 
another “ Treatise on Gardening,” which appeared three year- 
later, in avhich he incidentally mentions that the two finest vines 
yards near London were Fairchild’s at Hoxton, and Warner’s at 
Rotherhithe, so that the vineyard nursery of Hammersmith had 
not then come into fame. In 1728 he published a small volume 
entirely devoted to the Vine. It was only a few years before this 
that the practice of forcing Vines was commenced by the Duke of 
Rutland at Belvoir Castle, where heat being applied from spring 
to autumn a large and early yield of Grapes was obtained. At 
first they began by giving artificial warmth to Vines on sloped 
walls, but Switzer advised that this should be done under glass, 
and much sooner, commencing to force in December at latest. 
At the beginning of last century walls were a frequent subject 
of experiment amongst fruit growers, and as people are apt to gO' 
from one extreme to the other, instead of the low walls common 
fifty or sixty years before, many had avails built of excessive height,, 
say to 18 or 20 feet, disadvantageous for several reasons. Another 
alteration was that of erecting a wall on arches or piers, so that the' 
roots of the trees might extend beneath ; and also they sometimes 
discarded the coping, which had been general, and this enabled a. 
tree to be trained over a wall. Moreover, it was found that the 
coping offered at its angle a convenient shelter for insects. In 
1700 Facio de Doulier had published his work, recommending that 
the fruit walls should be inclined to the horizon, and his proposal 
was taken up by noblemen and other amateurs of the time, though- 
gardeners mostly did not agree with his opinion. Switzer declareiJ 
that sloped walls harboured damp and made the trees liable to be- 
injured by frosts. Some German gardeners thought they gave the- 
fruit more benefit from the sun, and they particularised the Peach 
and Nectarine as species that were advantaged by being placed on- 
an incline. Another innovation of this date was the wavy or ser¬ 
pentine wall, one built at a less expenditure of bricks, and said to 
shelter the trees from the winds. It was originated in Holland,, 
but had brief popularity. There is a sample of this style of wall 
at a garden near Betsom in Kent, which looks about 150 years old^ 
and another at Ketton Hall, near Stamford. Boarded or wooden 
walls were also tried, the supports of stone or iron. It was usual 
to tar the wood very thoroughly. These, too, were put on an 
incline towards the north, b it the practical objections to theirb 
vtere numerous. 
Some of the private gardens formed during the reign of Anne- 
were occasionally accessible to visitors, and helped to encourage 
the pursuit of horticulture. That owned by Dr. Sherard, situate 
at Eltham, was believed in its day to have the largest collection of 
exotics anywhere. Knowlton was head gardener, a man of some- 
scientific knowledge. After Dr. Sherard’s death in 1737 the estab¬ 
lishment gradually declined. North of London the garden of 
Collinson, near Mill Hill, attracted many, and he in turn was a 
visitor to most of the nurseries then existing. Nearer to the centre 
of the metropolis lived Mark Catesby, on the border of Hoxton > 
He started for America in 1712, learnt how to etch, and drew 
figures of the most interesting and valuable trees he saw on that 
continent. Towards the end of his life he moved to Fulham,, 
having long had an attachment to its nursery, and died there in 
1749. The Duke of Argyle, contemptuously called a “tree- 
monger ” by Walpole, had a seat near Hounslow called Whitton> 
Place, where he planted extensive shrubberies and raised from seed 
a variety of exotic plants. About the middle of this century many- 
of his plants and shrubs were removed to Kew.—J. R. S. C. 
FERNS AND FERNERIES. 
[Prize essay by Mr. E. Booker, Cliiswiok Gardeners’ Mutual ImproTement Association.X 
Cultivation and Management. 
In selecting the cultivation of Ferns as my subject for this essay, it 
is not because I have anything of importance to add to what has already 
been written by exceptionally able and experienced authorities on this- 
class of plants, but they are favourites with all lovers o-f plants, from 
the richest to the poorest. They may be grown in a variety of ways—in 
the stove and greenhouse for decoration, or as specimens for exhibition,, 
in Wardian cases, in the cottage window, and last, but not least, in the 
open garden, both in sun and shade, the shady place whore many good 
things will not grow being especially well adapted for hardy Ferns„ 
These plants, provided they are given their proper situations, and their 
several requirements are attended to, are not the most difficult plants- 
we as gardeners hao-e to cu tivate. It will be impossib e for me in one- 
paper to treat the subject as I should wish, but I wid endeavour to give- 
a few practical remarks in what I consider to be important points in 
their cultivation. 
Where Ferns are wanted in large quantities the best plan is to sow 
the spores in pans or boxes nearly three parts filled avith crocks. The- 
compost should consist of good fibrous peat, with crocks and charcoal 
broken up finely and some coarse silver sand all mixed thoroughly 
together. Fill the pans or boxes with the compost, pressing it firmly, 
then water and allow it to thoroughly drain. On this sow the spores, 
and water carefully with a fine rose. If a large quantity are sown at 
the same time they will be better placed under a handlight or frame, 
then they can be more easily attended to in the matter of shading and 
watering, or else they must be covered with sheets of glass. Place them 
in a temperature of 50° at night with an increase of temperature by 
day. March I consider the best month to sow, as then they will have- 
a longer season of growth before them, although they will grow well if 
sown later. 
In about two months or so they will begin to vegetate in the shaje 
