August 20. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
409 
1 
D » 
M W 
AUG. 29—SEPT. 4, 1854. 
29 : Tu 
---- 
Latridius ruficollis. 
30 i W 
Latridius ruficollis. 
31 T H 
Latridius impress us. 
1 F 
Leistus Raulinsii. 
2 S 
Laistus cieruUus. 
3 SON 
12 Sunday after Trinity. 
4 M 
Paelobius Hermanni. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
Weather near London in 1853. 
Barometer. Thermo. Wind. 
29.849—29.803 
29.972-29.89<i 
29.881—29.84(5 
29.727-29.625 
29 . 863 — 29.710 
30.201—30.093 
30.318—30.272 
07—43 S.W. 
68—47 S.W. 
67—51 S.W. 
63—51 
60—42 
62-49 
S. 
N. 
N. 
65—53 N.E. 
Rain in 
Inches, 
02 
80 
44 
Sun 
Rises. 
9 
11 
12 
v 
15 
• 7 
19 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon Moon’s 
R. & S. Age. 
63 
61 
48 
VI 
44 
42 
40 
9 2 
9 26 
9 58 
10 a 45 
11 49 
morn. 
1 9 
6 
7 
& 
9 
10 
11 
12 
Clock Day of 
af. Sun. Year. 
0 50 241 
0 32 242 
0 14 243 
0 5 244 
0 24 245 
0 43 240 
1 2 247 
Meteorology OF THE We ek .—A t Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty.seven years the average hiirVi 
E lu 7' 1 these days are 70.8° and 48.8° respectively. The greatest heat. 85°. occurred on the 1st in 1843 : and the low, 
•2 !)th in 185ft. During the perio d 113 days were fine, and on ;6 rain fell. 
_ liest and lonesttem- 
m 1843 ; and the low est cold, 32°, on the 
We have selected Sin Joseph Paxton for the first illus¬ 
tration of our Portrait Gallery, not merely because lie is 
tho most successful among the men of genius now 
devoting themselves to the practice of gardening, but 
because he is the host example we can uphold for imita¬ 
tion to the rising generation of young gardeners. We 
are often asked by them “ What acquirements should we 
strive for besides a knowledge of tho culture of plants?” 
and we know of no better reply that wo could give than— 
Attain the same acquirements as thoso possessed by Sir 
Joseph Paxton. IIo is a good botauist, a good drafts¬ 
man, and an excellent engineer, but ho has two spirits 
mighty in promoting progress, presiding over these— 
the spirit of kindliness, and tho spirit of perseverance. 
Every one who has associated with him at onco feels 
that genial courtesy and frankness which aro to he ex- 
| pected from such an open brow; and the Duke of 
| Devonshire, who has so long aided and benefited by 
his efforts, may be accepted as the most competent of 
| witnesses to his perseverance, and has borne this 
testimony,—“ I never knew Mr. Paxton resolve to 
undertake what he did not fully accomplish.” 
Sir Joseph Paxton's entire career sustains that 
characteristic opinion, and we regret that wo have been 
disappointed in not receiving some promised illustrative 
anecdotes of his upward progress. Our notice must 
thoreforo bo brief. 
He is descended from Scotch parents, but born, we 
believe, in Bedfordshire, at the time when his father was 
a head gardener in that county. Adopting tho samo 
profession, after some advance in his noviciate, lie ob¬ 
tained employment, to complote his gardening education, 
in the gardens of the London Horticultural Society at 
Chiswick.* 
It is said that he there first obtained the notice of the 
Society’s President, the Duke of Devonshire, whilst 
holding a glowing cinder for his Grace’s cigar. Tho 
Duke finding him intelligent, and hearing of him 
nothing but good, recommended him to tho Duke of 
Somerset, who employed him temporarily at Wim¬ 
bledon. When Mr. Paxtou thus attracted the notice of 
the Duke of Devonshire, he was under gardener in the 
Arboretum department at Chiswick. This was in 1835 
and the year following he became the Duke’s Head 
Gardener and Forester at Chatsworth. Here was an 
arena just suited to his powers, and genius—not only 
* He is named in the Report of the Horticultural Society, as one with 
many others, who set “an excellent example.” Transactions New 
Series, ii. 455. ’ 
was the space, as he said, “ unlimited," but so were the 
funds at his command for its adornment. Writing to 
Mr. Loudon in 1835, lie says :— 
“ Previously to the commencement of the arboretum, 
the whole space which it occupies was covered with 
timber trees : these we have cleared away, so as to suit 
each genus with light, shelter, or shade, as it might 
require. The situation, though so much elevated, is yet, 
by the existing trees, so well sheltered, that, with this 
aid, our deep trenching, and the supply, when necessary, 
of peat or sandy soil, tho plants, in a few years, will 
have made immense progross. There are about 1070 
species and varieties already planted; and these will he 
increased, in a year or two, to about 2000. The whole 
length of the walk oocupiod witli the arboretum is nearly 
a mile. The various bonds in the walk may he ac¬ 
counted for by tho unevenness of the ground, and its 
steepness in many places. The plants of thoso orders, 
tho ligneous species of which do not grow large, such as 
Crucifer®, Cistine®, &c., aro planted near to the walk, 
and occupy both sidos of it; and tho larger ones, although 
planted similarly along both sidos of tho walk, aro made 
to extend beyond tho others to a considerable distance 
from it, as tho bare inspection of the plan will show. 
The whole are planted at such distances from each other 
as their habits of growth require. Should 2000 more 
hardy trees and shrubs than can at presont he purchased 
in tho nurseries ho introduced, there is plonty of space 
on each side of tho walk to plant them. It is rather 
difficult to say exactly how much ground the plants at 
prosent occupy, as we have not measured it; hut 1 think 
tho 75 groups cover about 40 acres, 
“ It is a great feature in this business, that the ground, 
the plants, tho formation of the walk, the labour, &c., 
have not cost His Grace sixpence; the plants having 
been purchased, the ground prepared, and tho trees 
planted, and all other expenses paid, with the produce 
.of the trees cut down to make room for the walk and 
tho groups. This you should, in some degroe, point out 
to gentlemen who wish to introduce such an important 
feature as an arboretum in their country seats. At 
nine places out of ton, throughout tho country, .an 
arboretum might ho acoomplishod on this plan ; and I 
scarcely know a country seat where half the trees round 
tho house do not require cutting down. 
“ In recommending arboretums to those who have got 
hut a limited extent of ground, you should advise them 
not to plant varieties. We intend doing so, because our 
space is unlimited : but, if this practice were to become 
general, the nurserymen would furnish us with cata¬ 
logues of 20,000 species and varieties ; which would put 
a damp to arboretums at ouco, from the impossibility 
both of purchasing the plants, and of finding room for 
them: and besides, in a few years, the species and 
varieties would he so confounded, that they would, in 
many cases, not he distinguishable from each other. I 
shall keep a young man constantly examining the trees 
and shrubs incur arboretum, till I have removed every 
No. CCCIX., Von. XII 
