480 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June :s, 1*50. 
ancestors, it is true, -with a liking for some ornamental flowers, and 
they suggested improvements in the cultivation of fruit trees. But 
we have more reason still to be grateful to Italyand France. Both 
these countries furnished our gardenei's with a variety of methods, 
and for a much longer period than the Dutch they transmitted to 
Britain a large number of new flowers, fruits, and vegetables, which 
came via the Continent from Asia and Africa. Probably if we had 
not accepted a king from the Netherlands the Dutch style of orna¬ 
mental garden would never have been popular, and, like the Chinese, 
though it had some points of merit, it was not, on the whole, at all 
suitable to our island. London and AVise, of whom I have already 
spoken, highly praised as they were in their day, seem to have shown 
very little inventive genius, and the three men who, under the early 
Georges, did most for the improvement of pleasure gardens, alter¬ 
ing old methods and contriving new ones, were certainly Bridgeman, 
Kent, and Brown. It is a curious fact that long after an entire 
change in the style of laying out and planting had become general 
throughout England, north of the Tweed the methods of London 
and Switzer were still followed, gardeners instructed by them 
having travelled to Scotland in the reign of Anne. 
A Latin epitaph, in which Lord Cobham of Stowe is credited 
with being the introducer of the modern style of gardening, illus¬ 
trates the fact that many men are praised for doing what they have 
paid others to do. His lordship’s inventive faculty was not remark¬ 
able, and if the crowding of a variety of buildings into his gardens 
was to suit his fancy, it does not say much for him, as these were 
admitted to be a defect of Stowe. In other respects Stowe was 
no doubt an example of the transformation made by Bridgeman 
and Kent, both of whom were engaged there, when they ceased to 
follow the formal mode of planting trees and planning walks. They 
tried to copy Nature, by placing trees and shrubs irregularly, not in 
lines or avenues ; while they arranged the walks and flower beds of 
a garden so as to please or refresh the eye, not to weary the stroller. 
The abolition of the too numerous walls and fences which had been 
popular, partly on the plea of affording shelter to plants, was a 
grand improvement. The first ha ha fence constructed in England 
is said to have been planned by Bridgeman at Stowe. Kent is 
supposed to have commenced his experiments upon the grounds of 
Woburn Farm, near Weybridge, where he laid out thirty-five acres 
in a very ornamental style, of which no trace remains. 
Kent had been an artist, beginning as a coach painter at the 
period when coaches were profusely decorated ; he advanced to 
ceilings and historical subjects in entrance halls, then took to land¬ 
scape gardening, and borrowed hints from Pope and Burlington. 
He was ahead of Bridgeman in his adherence to Nature, and 
appears to have generally discarded the circuit walk between two 
lines of hedge, which it had become fashionable to carry round 
small gardens. But he always advocated the formation of an 
outer walk, moderately wide, along each side of a garden, placing 
upon the inner edge of this walk occasional evergreens, and in the 
spaces between showy herbaceous plants. One of Kent’s important 
works was the laying out Carlton House gardens, between Pall 
Mall and St. James’s Park, for Lord Burlington, gardens much 
admired by^ visitors from all countries, and of which a detailed 
drawing exists by AVoollett, exhibiting numerous bowers and 
grottoes. Kent, or as some think Bridgeman, laid out the 280 acres 
which were early in the eighteenth century taken off Hyde Park 
to be added to Kensington Gardens. One of Kent’s funny ideas 
in planting groves or shrubberies was, it seems, that of sticking in 
here and there a dead trunk, so that there might be a closer resem¬ 
blance to a woodland scene. Gardens at Esher and Claremont laid 
out by Kent added to his popularity, Claremont especially (the 
name of this is supposed to have been originally “ Clearmount ” 
from the prospect afforded by a particular hill), and even yet these 
gardens are a memorial of Kent’s style of arrangement. An odd 
invention of that time was what was called a “ root house,” not, as 
some persons have imagined, a place for storing roots, but a garden 
retreat constructed of old roots, underground stems, and twisted 
branches of trees, generally affording to those who sat in it an 
abundance of wood dee and beetles. Early in the eighteenth 
century we should have found the best arranged, though not the 
most extensive, orchards of England at the west of London. Many 
acres of ground about Fulham, Chelsea, and Kensington were 
occupied by fruit trees, and space was economised, for the method 
prevailed of haying an upper and under crop. This was not, how¬ 
ever, done entirely with the object of raising as much fruit as 
possible in a given space, and there was no need to crowd while 
land was cheap, but the gardeners of that day also thought that 
Gooseberries, Currants, and Raspberries grew better under the 
shelter of trees. It was almost a century before they were con¬ 
vinced that the shrubs did better when they had more light and air. 
-4s to the question of the transfer of caterpillars from the trees to 
the bushes, and vice versa, it is true that the common Gooseberry 
caterpillar is almost omnivorous, and will eat Apple or Plum readily. 
Probablv our predecessors might argue that it is the lack of an 
undergrowth which makes our fruit trees so infested with cater¬ 
pillars of late years, but in point of fact such species as the 
ermine, the winter moth, the lackey, and others, will not touch 
any species of Ribes, nor the Strawberry, and they must be 
bard driven to feed upon the Raspberry, The secret of the 
increase of caterpillars is probably the destruction of so many 
small birds. 
Amongst the expedients adopted by Georgian gardeners, with a 
view to increase the fruitfulness of young trees, was that of trans¬ 
planting them or laying bare a part of the roots. As early as 1G50' 
the French had practised driving oaken plugs into trees as a 
stimulus to growth. Du Hamel, a French author, persuaded his^ 
English friends to try his plan of ringing the trunks and branches. 
By 1725 the Pine had come into general cultivation, and every 
considerable garden had its stove. It was then usual to keep the 
plants in dry stoves during winter, and in summer they were- 
removed to hotbeds of tan with bark under frames. The Straw¬ 
berry had not become an important fruit as yet, and its cultivation 
was limited. Rench, the elder, of Southfields, near Fulham, is 
credited with having been the first to make known the Pine and 
Chilian varieties. 
Southfields, occupied for nearly two centuries as a nursery, and 
through the greater part of that time by the Rench family, was 
associated with horticultural progress, for Nathaniel Rench was 
one of the first gardeners who attempted an annual exhibition of' 
plants, and he also offered prizes for curious varieties of evergreens.. 
He reared the largest specimens of Arbutus that were grown in 
the eighteenth century, and he was great in Auriculas, but it is 
doubtful whether this was the nursery from which the Moss Rose- 
was first sent out. Roses did not attract much notice when 
George 1. was King, those gaudy flowers the Carnation and Tulip 
being prime favourites.—J. R. S. C. 
CvPEiPEDicJi Aylixgi X . (See next page.) 
Maxy beautiful hybrid Cypripediums have been raised, flowereiJ 
and certificated, but the one which was shown on Tuesday last,. 
June 10th, under the above name by Mr. Ayling, gardener to 
A. J. Hollington, Esq., Forty Hill, Enfield, at the meeting of the 
Royal Horticultural Society in the Drill Hall, James Street,, 
A’V’estminster, will take its place amongst the best yet produced. 
A cross was effected about six years ago between C. niveum and 
C. ciliolare, and from the seed then secured several plants were 
raised, that shown being the first to expand its flowers, and it- 
formed the centre of attraction at the meeting, not only to 
orchidists but to the visitors who were present, and who, without 
possessing a special knowledge, would appreciate a beautiful 
flower. 
It is very distinct, and though the characters of C. niveum cam 
be clearly detected, a difference of opinion existed with regard to- 
the pollen parent—C. ciliolare. Some thought that it was im¬ 
possible to trace its effects, and that C. l^vigatum must have been.- 
employed, but Mr. Ayling was positive that the parentage given 
was absolutely correct. 'The flower has an erect bold appearance,, 
with a peculiarly delicate colouring, and may be thus briefly de¬ 
scribed : The dorsal sepal is ovate in form, inch deep, and the- 
same in diameter at the widest part; white, with a number of 
closely placed small purplish crimson dots arranged in veins. The 
lower sepal is broad, rounded, and white. The petals are 2:^ inches- 
long, 1 inch wide in the centre, and tapering to the tip, also with 
numerous purple dots more densely placed in veins. The lip is 
quite of the C. niveum character in shape, pure ivory white, and- 
with a polished surface. The staminode is rounded with a few- 
green veins, and a fringe of dark purplish hairs on the margin.. 
The leaves are very thick and short, smooth, bright green, and 
glossy, with a few slightly darker green veins showing through the 
transparent surface. The plant had three growths and one flower^ 
The engraving is from a sketch of this taken at the meeting.— 
Lewis Castle. 
Calaxthes. 
Early started plants will be growing rapidly and rooting- 
freely. If started in small pots they should be transferred into 
