THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
355 
; August 8. 
understand fruit-trees, to subscribe to all my opinions; 
I therefore throw them out, respectfully, for their con¬ 
sideration, and do hope to hear of an increased interest 
therein. R. Errington. 
| 
i AUTUMN PROPAGATION AND SPECIMEN 
PLANTS—FULHAM PALACE. 
From about the middle of July to the end of August 
is the best time in the year to propagate all the kinds of 
Geraniums which are suitable for the flower-beds and 
‘ borders. Out in the open air, and without pots, cuttings 
of them will then do better than in the best propagating 
house in the kingdom. However, this seems to be a 
season of exceptions from first to last, for there were few 
gardens, indeed, in which cuttings could be spared in 
the middle of last July. Those who have trusted all 
along in the more manageable system of yearly cuttings, 
and who, year by year, discarded their old plants, have 
had their lingers burnt most sadly with the late frosts of 
last April. The spring was so hot and suuuy, that the 
“ young stock” could not stand it at all; grow on faster 
and faster they would, even in the coldest frames, and 
they had to be turned out much sooner than usual; the 
memorable 24th of April overtook them unawares, and 
tens of thousands were either destroyed altogether, or 
were crippled so much that the beds could not be filled 
properly at the proper time; and instead of July cuttings, 
the beds, in most of the places which I have seen and 
heard about, were hardly up to the proper mark by the 
end of the month, and even now it goes against the 
grain to begin the autumn propagation in many places. 
Now, look at the other side, and take an instance out 
of many where people have the patience and good sense 
to take every possible care of every morsel of an old 
plant in the autumn, and of as many of the old plants 
as can be kept, by hook or by crook, through the winter, 
a practice which I had adopted from the first day that I 
undertook llower-gardcning iu earnest, which I have re¬ 
commended constantly ever since, and for which I have 
been called daft, or something near it, by those who 
ought to have known better. 
The “old stock” do not come on so fast as young 
plants in such a spring as the last; old plants, under a 
hard winter treatment, are not half so excitable as young 
plants are in the spring; and if a late frost overtakes 
them, they suffer no more from it than Potatoes do,—the 
scorched leaves are soon replaced by a fresh sprouting, 
with very little damage to the old stems and roots. I 
do not recollect having ever burnt my fingers iu the 
spring with short-comings from auy cause, but I seldom 
escaped the consequences of my own folly in the autumn 
in leaving the plants out too long; and even last autumn, 
when I had it all to myself, I was no better off. I left 
my Geraniums out too long, the frost took them, and I 
took them from the frost, but they would not keep. I 
lost some valuable kinds for crossing, and my beds, 
such as they are, are now in mixtures, and all manner 
of things, so that the very children, playing outside my 
boundary fence, declare “ Them there flowers ain’t so 
good as they used to be.” I must put up with all this, 
however, for the present, but my name is not Donald if 
ever I am caught napping again by the frost; and the 
purport of this article to The Cottage Gardener is 
simply the advice to make as many new cutting ac¬ 
quaintances as are likely to add to your respectability, 
but never to discard au old plant-friend for its looks. 
If it be out at the elbows, that may be a misfortune 
more than a fault, and if you are sure of it in the hour 
of need, present looks may be looked over altogether. 
The force of circumstauces, however, as the first Napo¬ 
leon used to say, will, most likely, compel many of the 
“ young-stock ” fanciers to consider both sides of the 
question this season without much advice. Late propa¬ 
gation is dangerous at all times, and may appear more 
so to many after the losses of last April, therefore a little 
inquiry at the proper time may induce them to calculate 
on, say two-thirds of the old plants of this season coming 
in, with only one-third the usual quantity of autumn- 
struck cuttings; but to make sure work of it, lot us say 
one-half of the customary number of cuttings will be 
amply sufficient for the next planting, if we take special 
care of the old plants this uext coming winter; and that 
is just my own resolve at present. 
The instance of real good management which I was 
going to tell, I saw on Thursday, the 27th July, last 
past. At the great gathering of the Horticultural Society, 
in honour of the Queen’s visit, appeared, among other 
new names to me, that of Mr. Hayes, gardener to the 
Bishop of London, at Fulham Palace, as a successful 
competitor with Pine Apples. The garden of this 
episcopal palace has been celebrated in the annals of our 
craft since the days of Bishop Compton, who was one of 
the greatest patrons of gardening and botany of his 
time.* I had heard a good deal of this garden, besides, 
from Sir W. and Lady Middleton, and also about the 
flower decorations at London House, still I had no 
* Mr. Beaton asks in a note to us, “What is known of Bishop Comp¬ 
ton’s Gardening ?” and in reply, we reprint the following from an early 
number:— 
“ It is not alone by being guides upon the road which leads to eternal 
life that the clergy of our land are aiders to our happiness. If this were a 
fitting place, we could tell from an experience of twenty years of village 
life in how many minor, yet important, circumstances, the ministers of 
the gospel, with their families, dotted about the British islands, are so 
many centres from which are diffused, from day to day and from year to 
year, the growing information and amenities of society. Nor is this an 
advantage, or blessing, emanating from them only in modern times: 
whenever and wherever there has been a fixed source of religious instruc¬ 
tion, it has invariably been also the source of general improvement in the 
arts of life. It has been usual to look upon the monasteries of the Middle 
Ages as institutions of unmixed evil ; but even they were not so; and 
however debased was their Christianity, yet they were the nurseries of the 
arts and sciences, and storehouses of the knowledge and improvements of 
the past, held sacred when all else was subjected to dispersion and 
destruction. Among the arts thus cherished and improved, gardening 
has ever been one ; and we could tell of many monks who were as skilled 
in vine culture as they are fond of drinking deep of the juice of its 
berries. Records of their vineyards, orchards, and flower-gardens still 
remain : but we will tell of another ecclesiastic who emulated their skill 
without any fellowship in their vices. 
“ Henry Compton, Bishop of London, is’onc of those characters on 
which no one can dwell without gratification ; for in no period of life not 
only did he never fail in the performance of his duty, but never did he 
cease from striving to effect every possible good within his power. He 
was born in 1632, the youngest son of the second Earl of Northampton, 
and inherited the courageous spirit of his father, who died in the field 
whilst fighting for Charles I. He was but ten years old when the battle 
of Edge Hill was fought, and was, for the sake of security, in the royal 
camp during that blood-stained day. After the Restoration, he accepted 
a cornctcy in a regiment of horse, but soon gave up the profession of arms, 
and was ordained a minister of the church. Here he rapidly obtained 
preferment, and, finally, in 1676 , became Bishop of London. He was 
emphatically known as “ The Protestant Bishop,” during that era of the 
struggle for ascendancy between the members of the Reformed and of the 
Romish chuvch. We have no space sufficient for tracing even an outline 
of the efforts and labours which earned justly the popular title bestowed 
upon him, for we must particularize his acts for the advancement of the 
art which especially entitle him to notice in our pages. So ungrudging 
of expense was he for the encouragement of horticulture, that he enriched 
the gardens and greenhouses of his palace at Fulham to an extent which 
rendered them remarkable not only for excellence of cultivation, but for 
containing a greater variety of nlants than any other gardening establish¬ 
ment in England. Of exotic plants he possessed more than 1000 species. 
To his taste for horticulture was united a know ledge of botany not usual 
among the elevated in rank of those days. He was a great encourager of 
Mr. London, who had been in his service, and who, under his patronage, 
established the Brompton Nursery—the best of its period. The Bishop 
w as one of the first to promote the importation of ornamental exotics ; 
and not only delighted in encouraging their cultivation, but also that of 
kitchen-garden plants. He was particularly fond of the Kidney bean, 
and introduced many of its varieties. Every department was under his 
own general superintendence ; and having especially directed his attention 
to ascertaining the climates of the countries from which his favourites 
were imported, he soon was enabled to cultivate in his open borders many 
plants which had been considered too tender to be exposed to our seasons 
without protection. Death was sent not to him until he had passed his 
eightieth year; and when he was thus released from his labours on the /th 
of July, 1713 , he left behind him the reputation of being one of the few 
who, whatever part they have to fill, always act correctly. It is quite 
true that many virulent assaults upon his character and conduct are to be 
found in his contemporary literature, but they are attacks all to be traced 
to evil sources, and in every instance probably would have received the 
same worthy comment which he made upon one libeller : ‘ I am glad of 
his aitack upon me, for he has given me an opportunity of setting you a 
good example in forgiving him.’ ” 
