May 15.] THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 93 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
;m w 
Weather near London in 1850. 
Sun 
Sun Moon 
Moon’s 
Clock 
Day of 
D D 
MAY 15—21, 1851. 
Barometer. |Thermo. 
Wind. 
Rain in In - 
J Rises. 
Sets. R.&S. 
Age. 
bef. Sun. 
Year. 
15 Th 
Beech flowers. 
29.916 — 29.902 52—25 
N.E. 
11 a. 4 
42 a. 7 rises. 
© 
3 54 
135 
16 F 
Maple flowers. 
29-947 — 29-930I 55—37 
N. 
0.01 
9 
43 9 a 6 
15 
3 54 
136 
17S 
Wood Argus Butterfly seen. [seen. 
29.927 —29.877 66—43 
N.W. 
0.02 
8 
45 10 12 
16 
3 53 
137 
18 Son 
4 Sunday after Easter. Burnet Moth 
29-782 — 29.767: 68—40 
N.W. 
0.01 
6 
46 119 
17 
3 51 
138 
19 M 
Saintfoin flowers. 
29-797 —29.766 72—44 
E. 
— 
5 
47 11 56 
18 
3 49 
139 
20 Tu 
Peony flowers. 
29.745 — 29.692; 69—46 
0.02 
4 
49 morn. 
19 
3 47 
140 
21 W 
Sun’s decl., 20° 10' N. 
29749 — 29.684 68—49 
N.E. 
0.11 
2 
50 0 34 
20 
3 44 
141 
When Stephen Switzer first became “ a practitioner in gardening,” 
about the year 1702, even kitchen-gardening was in a state little improved 
i above that in which it existed among the Romans ; and when a book 
upon gardening was published, the author contented himself with trans¬ 
lating all that was applicable to his subject from Cato, Columella, Varro, 
and Pliny, neither did the translator trouble himself to separate that 
which was absurd from the little that was correct, though correct only in 
! the climate of Italy. Thus, Gervase Markham, as late as 1614 , published 
a translation of Heresbachius, who gravely says, “ If you break to powder 
j the horn of a ram, and sow it, watering it well, it is thought it will come 
| to good sperage (asparagus).” To encourage larceny among gardeners, 
I he adds, “ Rue being stolen prospereth better.” Now, if we except the 
j writings of the Rev. Mr. Lawrence, there were none much better than that 
we have quoted until Switzer added to our gardening literature. We say 
this without forgetting what Evelyn, London, and Platt had published, 
for their works on horticulture were almost entirely translations. 
Gardening, until Switzer’s time, was, indeed, at a low ebb. Cucumbers, 
he tells us, were seldom seen before the end of May, but that “ the in¬ 
dustrious were striving to outvie one another, and would probably 
produce them in February, or earlier.” Melons had rarely been cut by the 
middle of June ; but, he adds, “ now the latter end of April is the season 
for the first crop.” He traces the former absence of improvement in 
gardening to the ignorance of its practitioners, and that ignorance to the 
want of encouragement under which they were labouring. Instead of 
being treated as a superior member of the establishment, he says, “ too 
many masters have no more regard for a good gardener than they have 
for a dog-boy; at best, he must be subject to the ill-treatment of any 
reigning parasite, or those that get their living by tale-bearing, and often 
by something worse.” A situation which rendered its holder liable to 
such degradation, would only be held by those worthy of no better treat¬ 
ment. “ We see some of them in good places, too,” says Switzer, “ who 
never open a book, nor can they either read, spell, or pronounce rightly 
(the names of) the very plants and herbs they every moment have in 
view. The Spirrea frute.r is by some (called) the Fiery frostive / and the 
Chcerophylhun, Curtfoyle!! ” Amid this state of gardening affairs 
Switzer came forward as a reformer, and he met, as we shall see presently, 
with the usual fate of reformers, contumely, misrepresentation, and per¬ 
secution. Truth, as usual, has triumphed in gardening; and we need 
not now occupy any space—though Evelyn and Switzer found it needful— 
to prove the fallacy of their contemporary proverb, “ A fool is as good a 
gatherer of a sallad as a wiser man.” 
Stephen Switzer, whose works have led to these remarks, was a general 
gardener and seedsman of the reigns of Anne and George the I. He was 
a native of Hampshire, and his family descendants still linger in the 
county. We know of some in humble life, and the memorials of others 
may be seen in the church-yard of Hyde parish, in Winchester. He 
acquired his knowledge of the art under the great masters of the day, 
London and Wise, having been, as he states in the title page of his 
Icnographia Rustica, for several years their servant. He completed his 
apprenticeship at the close of the l/th century. In l"u6, he was em¬ 
ployed under London in laying out the grounds of Blenheim. When Mr. 
Lowder was superintendant of the Royal Gardens at St. James’s, Switzer 
was employed in them in the capacity of kitchen gardener. In 1724 , he 
was gardener to the Earl of Orrery, as appears from the dedication of his 
Practical Fruit Gardener. The same dedication is retained in the edition 
of 1731 . He appears at one time to have been in the same capacity 
servant to Lord Brooke, to Lord Bathurst, and also to Lord W. Russell, 
who suffered in 1(383. Of this true nobleman, he thus speaks:—“ I must 
not pass over the character of one of the best of masters as well as gar- 
! deners, I mean the Right Honourable the Lord William Russell, son to 
the then Earl of Bedford. I shall not pretend to touch upon the matter 
of his unhappy fall, that being set in a true light by other hands ; it shall 
; suffice me to say, as I had it from a near and dear relation, that by the 
loss of that zealous assertor of the liberties of his country, besides those, 
and the more natural properties of a tender husband and father, the 
world was deprived of one of the best of piasters and encouragers of arts 
and sciences (particularly gardening), which that age produced. As for 
his works in gardening, they were none of the smallest; for being 
possessed of a plentiful fortune, by the marriage of his virtuous lady, who 
is still living, he made Stratton, about seven miles from Winchester, his 
seat; and his gardens there some of the best that were made at that 
time, such, indeed, as have mocked some that have been since done. But 
the untimely fall of that true lover of his country, prevented his farther 
J pursuit of that matter, in which, I am well informed, he designed more. 
The gardens at Southampton House, in Bloomsbury Square, were also 
of his making, and are as well as any of that model. I have been more 
particular in this, on occasion of the loss I may have sustained in so great 
a friend (being brought up in that place where he used to spend his happy 
days), whose memory I beg leave to admire, and whose death I, with all 
true lovers of their country’s liberty, do heartily bewail.” Gardeners in 
his time were accustomed to ply about Westminster Hall, and the Royal 
Exchange, offering trees, seeds, &c., for sale. In the first named place, 
having commenced business as a nurseryman and seedsman, he kept a 
stand for the sale of his productions, bearing the sign of the Flower Pot, 
close by the entrance to the Court of Common Pleas, and we have in our 
possession probably the only specimens of his hand-writing remaining, 
and these are in bills for seeds sold to Lord Fairfax. See a copy of one at 
page 183, of volume iii. His garden wa« at Milbank. Where he resided 
we have been unable to determine, but he dates his Disertation on the 
true Cytisus of the Ancients in 1731, from New Palace Yard, West¬ 
minster. Mr. Loudon says he died in 1745, at which time he must have 
been eighty years of age. 
For the foregoing very imperfect sketch of his life, we are indebted 
solely to accidental notices contained in his own works. It is an instance 
of the partiality of fame, that of this horticulturist no contemporary 
authors make mention, whilst of Bradley and others, infinitely his 
inferiors in every point, we have full particulars. This neglect, and even 
persecution attended him through life. It appears, from his own account 
in 1731, that some “ great man some years deceased, charged him with 
not finishing his work, and embezzling several hundred pounds, the 
falsity of which is visible and speaks for itself.” His brother seedsmen 
also opposed him with considerable acrimony because he was not bred to 
that trade, but as a gardener. Neglect has pursued him beyond the 
grave, for his works are seldom mentioned or quoted as authorities of the 
age he lived in. To us he appears to be the best author of his time, and if 
called upon to point out the Classic Authors of Gardening, Switzer should 
be one of the first on whom we would lay our finger. His works are evi¬ 
dence that he was a sound practical horticulturist, a man well versed in 
the Botanical Science of the day, in its most enlarged sense; of consider¬ 
able classical and literary attainments, above all that he was a religious 
character; and they completely warrant us in receiving as correct the 
modest notice he takes ot himself in the preface to the first volume of 
his Icnographia Rustica. “ I hope I shall not be altogether unfit for 
this work, by the happiness I have had in an education none of the 
meanest for one of my profession, and of having a considerable share in 
all parts of the greatest works of this kingdom, and under the greatest 
masters; and even that which some may probably reckon otherwise, I 
mean some small revolutions and meanness of fortune, as it has some¬ 
times thrown me upon the greatest slavery, so it has at other times 
amongst the best men and books ; by which means, and I hope an allow¬ 
able industry and ambition and an eager desire of being acquainted with 
all parts of this nation, as well as the useful parts of gardening, I have 
tasted both rough and smooth, as we plainly call it, from the best 
business and books, to the meanest labours of the scythe, spade, and 
wheelbarrow.” That by misfortunes he had been reduced to a humble 
station in gardening, he often glances at. From the above preface, we 
also learn, that he had travelled on the con inent, especially in France, 
paying particular attention to the style jf design in ornamental gar¬ 
dening. This preface is throughout well worthy of perusal; independent 
of an eloquent, though in places far tor florid style, it breathes an ap¬ 
propriate feeling of love for his art, a sp : rit of candour in warning gentle¬ 
men of those errors both of expence and penury which were alike sure to 
defeat their object, in the ornamental disposition of their parks, or “ex¬ 
tensive gardening ” as he appropriately terms it, “ a kind, he observes, 
not yet much used with us.” It is curious, among other warnings, to find 
him telling the landed proprietor to beware of the Scotch gardeners, who 
even in his day appear to have been objects of jealousy, and caused him 
to forget his accustomed suavity. “These Northern Lads, which whether 
they have served any time in this art or not, very few of us know any¬ 
thing of, yet by the help of a little learning, and a great deal of impu¬ 
dence, they invade these southern provinces, and the natural benignity of 
this warmer climate has such a wonderful influence on them, that one of 
them knows, or at least pretends to know, more in one twelvemonth than 
a laborious, honest south countryman does in seven years.” 
Meteorology of the Week. —At Chiswick, from observations 
during the last 24 years, the average highest and lowest temperature of 
these days is 65.3° and 43.9°, respectively. The greatest heat, 85°, was 
on the 17 th, in 1833 ; and the lowest cold, 26°, was on the 15th, in 1838. 
During the period 104 of the days were fine, and on 64 rain fell. 
Pursuing our indications of the gardens in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of London worthy of being visited, we will 
now proceed to note a few of the private grounds which 
merit such attention. 
The Royal Gardens , Frogmore , near Windsor.—Gardeners, j 
and amateurs, who love to see a line range of hothouses | 
devoted chiefly to the culture of all kinds of fruit, in the most 
scientific mode, will not fail to pay a visit to these regal gar¬ 
dens. There are pineries, vineries, peacli-houses, cherry- 
houses, a plum-house, with abundance of conveniences for 
forcing vegetables—such as asparagus beds, heated by hot 
water ; well-managed mushroom-houses, fruit-rooms, &c. In 
No. C XXXVII., Vol. VI. 
