Jcne 29. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
237 
be propagated from, we should then have such hardy 
fellows as would not care for, or bo injured by, 
ordinary winters. Climbing Roses have been intro¬ 
duced largely into the floral department at Hazlewood. 
They are planted and trained to a half-circular arrange¬ 
ment of iron trellises extending on each side of the 
arbour alluded to above. Standing in front of this 
elegant arbour the whole floral garden scene is seen. 
The flower beds near the standard Bays, &e., inter¬ 
mixed, the green bank opposite rising up to a platform, 
on which the beautiful mansion, with its conservatory 
and greenhouse, is placed, forming altogether a coup 
il'ceil which must be seen to be understood and enjoyed. 
Passing through the gate at the end of the Laurel 
hedge, you come suddenly upon a range of Vineries; the 
Vines had been taken up and replaced, in consequence 
of some alterations, but had been done so carefully, that 
they bad not stopped their growth at all. I saw my 
friend, Mr. Urquhart, the gardener, had begun bis okl 
game of growing Viues in pots. Few men understand 
this particular Vine-culture better than he does, as was 
i proved repeatedly when he was manager of the gardens 
I belonging to Lord Cottenham, at Windsor. Whoever 
visits these gardens two or three years hence will find, 
if I am not much mistaken, as tine Grapes as any in 
the country. 
As the ground is sloping in front of these Vineries, it 
has enabled him to make an excellent border some 
fifteen feet wide, and on the outside of it is a low 
wall, built with flint stone, separating the border from 
the wall. This wall is about two feet high, and by 
thus elevating the border the roots of the Vines are kept 
dry and healthy, and will no doubt be able to throw 
health and vigour into the shoots inside. 
At the end of this range of Vineries there is a tolerably- 
sized Peach-house. The trees iusido bad been taken 
up off the walls in another part of the garden, and 
planted only the November previously, yet they had 
on them a very fair sprinkling of fruit and healthy 
foliage. The late frosts had not done much mischief 
here. I observed a fair crop of Plums and Apricots 
on such old trees as have been left on the walls. 
These gardens have been, and are, undergoing a 
thorough renovation, and when all the alterations are 
completed, they will be, according to their size, as good 
as any in the kingdom. There are some fine nooks for 
rockeries, root-houses, fernery, &c.,which will.no doubt, 
some time, be devoted to these interesting objects. 
T. Apple nr. 
VEGETABLES GENERALLY, AND THEIR 
THINNING. 
It has been often and justly observed, that there is no 
garden in the United Kingdom like “Covent Garden,” 
for the quantity and quality of its produce ; hence, cul¬ 
tivators from distant parts of the country are usually 
astonished at the abundance and good quality of things 
there exhibited; for it matters not if the press have been 
detailing losses in the Potato crop by disease, amounting 
almost to total annihilation, and while others are la¬ 
menting that in whole districts the mildew has destroyed 
! all the Grapes, or the hot weather the Pea and other 
! produce, the cursory observer sees no lack of these things 
j in Covent Garden, and but very little, if auy, tokens of 
I the disease they are complained of having been suffering 
under. Moreover, the general appearance of things 
! offered for sale in the most reputable shops and stalls 
i exceeds, in their respective kinds, what any one indi¬ 
vidual place in the kingdom cau command, in so far as 
relates to quality. 
Now, it is not difficult to comprehend this. A com¬ 
munity of some two millions and more requires an 
abundance of every article both of necessity and luxury ; 
and to meet that demand, Various localities send in their 
respective contributions, which are such as have been 
found by experience to be produced in greater perfection 
in their respective district than is to bo found elsewhere; 
in other words, a district that furnishes Asparagus of 
the best quality, or what the London people think the 
best, is not necessarily the best place for Onions, while, 
where the latter grows, Lettuce is but sparingly produced ; 
and many other instances might be adduced, but it is 
not necessary here to enter into these thiugs, further than 
to point out the absurdity of expecting any one 
garden (however good the soil may be) being able to 
produce things all equalling in point of merit the best of 
their respective kinds in that all-important place, Covent 
Garden. 
As much good may he obtained by examining and 
enquiring into the histories of the various products | 
there exhibited, it is needless here saying more than j 
just calling the attention of country cultivators, whose 
visits to the great metropolis may be “ few and far 
between,” to give a look into, and compare notes with, 
the great fruit and vegetable mart and what they have 
at homo; for I feel sure, that an hour spent there will 
convey to the mind quite as much information as can 
be gleaned by a visit to a horticultural exhibition, 
unless the thirst for knowledge be confined to the fine, 
yet huge and unwieldy, plants in bloom, which this 
great mart does not contain in the perfection that first- 
class horticultural exhibitions do ; and as it is said the 
first impression of admiration is generally such as to 
make observers dissatisfied with themselves, a secondary 
consideration must bo made, and, Dually, a praiseworthy 
determination ought to be entered into, to go home 
again, and with renewed perseverance try what further 
improvement it is possible to make; at the same time,.it 
might be worth while enquiring how far the desire of 
pleasing the eye has been the object of the cultivator, 
instead of gratifying the palate, for the large fine- 
looking Asparagus, which is there exhibited, does not cat 
; so well as that which is “ home-grown” having a less 
| imposing appearance, still there are many things really 
- fine, and though everything, or at least the most that is 
S there, must have necessarily been gathered sometime, so 
! as to be partially withered or kept from being so by | 
watering and other means which cannot improve their j 
quality. 
It would be instructive to follow, or, rather, to trace 
vegetables to the various districts which produced them, 
in order to be able to judge of the character of the 
soil suited to each ; and in doing so, it would be found 
that no given district of the kingdom contributes so 
much as the Yale of the Thames; but besides its 
proximity to the great mart of the world, and, con¬ 
sequently, the advantages attending thereto, there are 
certain things, as Celery, Rhubarb, Asparagus, &c., 
which seem to grow better there than elsewhere, not 
to mention the thousand-and-one minor crops which j 
have their home there as well; but the increased modes 
of conveying goods by railway, which the last dozeu I 
j years and more have brought into operation, have shifted 
the producing ground for much of the heavy articles to 
a much greater distance from London than before, so 
that all crops requiring much space are now reared on 
land less valuable than most of the garden-grounds are j 
that are within ten miles of London. Cabbage, Brocoli, 
Peas, Beans, and many other things are produced at 
considerable distances off; but by the quick and easy 
transit which the rail has now established, soon find 
their way into the recesses of that busy hive, whose 
devouring capacity it would seem a no easy matter to I 
satiate ; and certainly such could not be done if the 
field for doing so was not continally extending; but 
London, alone, is not the only city which draws its 
