THE GARDENING WORLD 
December BO, 1899. 
278 
price? or could they be made use of in any other 
way than in making wines? The climate in the 
early part of the year is even a safer one—speaking 
from an expert’s guidance — than that of France for 
instance, because while our cold springs would keep 
back the starting of the Vines and so save them from 
frost in the bud stage, in France the vineyards suffer 
a good deal by the late frosts which descend there. 
Of course the early frosts of autumn would again 
harm the bunches of certain Grapes ; but it also is 
an aid to the ripening of many varieties. 
Enthusiasm is wanted and a better knowledge of 
the principles of pruning and other items of culture. 
Essex used to be famous for outdoor Vines, and all 
round about the Thames and up its great valley 
were vineyards, said to be productive enough in past 
days. The close-spur system of pruning is the one 
best suited to the culture of Grapes in the open. 
Dry warm borders are to be recommended and 
mulching is beneficial. The great point is to get the 
wood firmed and well ripened in the autumn. 
. . 
BOUVARDIAS. 
One sometimes wonders why these beautiful winter¬ 
flowering plants are not given a little more attention 
in private gardens than is generally the case. Judg¬ 
ing by the specimens one usually sees, they would 
seem to be difficult subjects to grow ; but that they 
are far from beiog so is shown by the clean, healthy 
stuff turned out by the thousand annually from the 
market nurseries. Where much flower is needed for 
buttonhole and other purposes during the autumn 
and early winter months, Bouvardias are most valu¬ 
able, as, if given a nice genial temperature, every 
point is almost sure to flower. 
Perhaps the method I have followed with success 
may be useful to some of my fellow gardeners. 
Toward the end of the year a portion of stock go¬ 
ing out of flower is laid aside and given a short rest 
until the end of January or beginning of February, 
when a start is made for the earliest batch of plants. 
The old soil is shaken from the roots, and the 
stronger of these are then cut up in lengths from 
i in. to 2 in long, and laid in shallow pans of light 
soil or cocoanut fibre, very lightly covering them. 
This latter particular is important, as if covered 
deeply the dormant roots rot ere they get a chance 
to grow. If the pans are placed in a close propa¬ 
gating frame and lightly dewed over two or three 
times a day, the roots will bristle with shoots in a 
few days, and in three weeks should be ready for 
potting into 72’s singly, or two or three together if 
very large plants are wanted, using a light sandy 
compost at this stage. 
Cuttings proper, I find too long about, and do 
not make sufficiently large plants the first season to 
please me. Another advantage, too, with root cut¬ 
tings is, that if net taken off too near the collar, any 
bug or scale which may have infested the plants is 
cleared out altogether. After potting, the little plants 
are returned again to the case for a few days until the 
young rootlets have obtained hold of the new soil, 
overhead spraying being done two or three times a 
day. The plants willappear weak and drawn at this 
stage, but will soon gather strength and start throw¬ 
ing up suckers when given more air, although plenty 
of warmth must still be given them. Stopping must 
be attended to regularly, pinching at every second 
or third pair of leaves. As soon as the pots are filled 
with roots they may be again shifted into 54’s or 48's, 
for the strongest using soil well on the light side 
with sufficient sand to keep the whole open. As soon 
as established the plants may be removed to a cool 
pit. 
By the middle or end of May the plants will be 
ready for their final potting, 16’s being used for the 
strongest and 24's and 32’s for the rest. The com¬ 
post may consist of two harrows of good loam to one 
each of peat and leaf-soil, half a barrow of sand and 
a little wood ashes ; and to each barrow-load of the 
mixture add a 32-size potful each of soot and bone- 
meal and pot firmly with good drainage. As soon as 
established the plants must be given abundance of 
air, only clcsing for an hour or so in the afternoon 
after syringing, until by the end of June the lights 
may be left off all night, only keeping them on on 
bright days during the hottest part of the day, to 
prevfnt tco early maturation of wood and conse¬ 
quent early flowering. The syringe must be used 
freely until the flowers open. When the pots are 
filled wi.h roots, weak manure may be given fre¬ 
quently. Only the strongest shoots will n^ed stop¬ 
ping after the end of August. The plants will 
require opening out and a little support with a few 
stakes and ties to prevent them getting dense and 
drawn in the centres. 
Toward the end of September the plants must be 
removed to their winter quarters, where, with a night 
temperature of 50° to 6o°, the flowers will soon 
open. 
Among the best varieties of Bouvardias are Alfred 
Neuner, President Garfield, President Cleveland, 
Vreelandii, Priory Beauty, Mrs. Green, and the 
sweet-scented Humboldtii corymbiflora. The last 
does not propagate so readily from root cuttings as 
the others.— Practical. 
-«*«.-— 
THE HISTORY OF GARDENS. 
In the lecture ball at the Swanley Horticultural 
College, Hextable, Kent, Mr. A. F. Sieveking, 
F.S A., gave a lengthy but highly interesting and 
very valuable lecture on the above subject, illustra¬ 
ted by slides, on Wednesday, 13th December. Sir 
John Leonard, London, occupied the chair, the hall 
being packed to overflowing. The plan of the 
lecture was in the form more or less of extracts from 
the highest authorities in ancient classical and 
modern literature, he also having by ardent pursuit 
collected photo slides, showing the plans of gardens 
from the earliest times down to those of our own 
day. Slides of ancient Egyptian gardens (after 
Roselline), of Generalife in Granada, of the Villa 
Muti, Frascati, and a host of others will set the 
reader before the style of the illustrations used. 
The lecture opened early into a description of 
various famous gardens of the Egyptians, Hebrews, 
Persians, Syrians, and Romans, coming down to the 
gardens of the time of the early Christian and late 
Pagan writers, Mediaeval, Renaissance, and Tudor 
Gardens preceded the review of those of the 
Elizabethan and Stuart period. 
The formal styles practised by various of our 
continental neighbours together with the reaction, 
which arose in the time of Wise, against this style in 
Great Britian was set before the audience in the 
words of the best informed writers of the times 
during which the changes took place. 
Gardening, and gardens, no doubt first started in 
the form of small herb, or vegetable plots around 
the dwellings of prehistoric humanity. But ever 
since the art of gardening has been anything more 
than the mere planting of a few essential herbs, and 
protective or useful shrubs, gardening may be said 
to have adopted one or two brcadly marked and 
lastingly distinct styles of arrangement. Such 
names as formal, architectural, classical, regular, 
rectangular, symmetrical and geometrical gardens, 
are simply a multiplication of titles which are one and 
all meant to denote a formally designed yard orgarden 
as we now call it. This style, as we all know, 
characterises Italian, French and Dutch gardens. 
To show the contempt which one Frenchman 
at least has for the English mode of garden plan, 
Mr. Sieveking related the utterance of the Latin 
descendant “ To plan an English garden, you’ve 
only to intoxicate your gardener and follow his 
footsteps! ” 
The English or Chinese School of laying-out, goes 
under such synonyms as natural, irregular, romantic, 
free and landscape-gardening. 
The formal style follows architectural guidance or 
rule, while the latter adheres to nature for concep¬ 
tion in design. Mr. Sieveking passed over any very 
extended reference to the Garden of Eden, from the 
fact that savants were not agreed upon its site. No 
one knew what it really was like, and descriptions of 
an imaginary Eden, to wit, that of Milton, has been 
so well "hedged" and "trimmed” by him, that 
the partisans of either school have in turn claimed 
the great poet as representing its views. 
Quotations from Horace Walpole and Walter 
Bagshot showed the views these two learned men 
had of Eden, the former only seeing nature in it, 
while the latter asserts that it could be mapped with 
a confined limit. But the earliest gardens of which 
we have any record are those of the Egyptians, from 
descriptions by Sir J. Gardner WilkinsOD. 
A figure from an ancient illustration was thrown 
upon the screen to show the general plan of the 
gardens at that period, that is, during the 19th 
Dynasty, 1303 B.C. This shewed what was supposed 
to be the design of the gardener, Nekht for the 
Great Temple at Karnak. Its extreme limits formed 
a square, and within the outer embattled walls, the 
sub-divisions were either oblong or square, every 
line being straight and not a curve introduced. 
Without the wall on one side there was a canal, 
between which space enough was left to have a 
shady avenue of various kinds of trees. The side 
supports to the entrance door of this Egyptian 
garden were elaborated with hieroglyphics which 
contained among other notices, the name of the 
owner. Vines occupied the central part of the 
garden, and these were leased to trellis work. A 
wall separated the vineyard from the rest of the 
garden. 
What would be termed villas, in our present 
times, were pointed out by the lecturer as occupying 
various parts of the garden, while around these 
villas green trees waved their arms, casting both 
shade and breeze upon those who were fortunate 
enough to enjoy the luxury. Palms were to be 
found variously planted around the outer parts of 
the garden, while Lotus pools and geese tanks were 
shown in other quarters of this interesting illustra¬ 
tion. 
Mr. Sieveking mentioned the fact that upon the 
tombs at Thebes and other parts of Egypt, gardens 
are frequently illustrated. These, together with 
some slight mention by Herodotus constitute our 
only authentic records of the gardens of the 
Egyptians at this period, to wit, fully a thousand 
years before the Birth of Christ. 
Remarking upon the " Hanging Gardens at Baby¬ 
lon," one of the seven wonders of the world at that 
time, the speaker referred to Dr. Falconer’s learned 
account of historical gardens of antiquity. The 
description given by Diodorus Siculus, however, 
was briefly related. The story paralleled with that of 
our own school-history sketch which taught that the 
then Prince, Cyrus by name, having wedded a beau¬ 
tiful maid from Persia, was aggrieved to know that 
his young bride was disquieted over the barrenness 
of Babylon and its environs. To recompense and 
console her for the loss of her hitherto accustomed 
natural beauties, he accomplished the herculean task 
of building aitificial mountains having broad 
meadows, vales, streams and gardens. As Mr. 
Sieveking told the story, the hanging gardens would 
seem to have been built for a certain Persian to 
imitate the hilly land of their courtezan’s birth. 
These famous gardens are known to have been built 
upon arches, the walls of which were 22 ft. thick. A 
series of plateaus were arranged, so that one arch 
overlapped and rose from the back of one lower. 
Engines were erected toward the higher levels, and 
these drew up water from the River Euphrates to 
supply the gardens with plenteous moisture. Soil 
was even spread all over, and all manner of trees, 
shrubs and hanging plants were planted. 
(To be continued.) 
MARK PROGRESS. 
This, I think, ought to be our motto at this 
season of the year. 'It is a common saying that this 
is an age of progress, and it is undoubtedly true. It 
is an injunction that we " go on to perfection." It is. 
or ought to be, true.in all our daily life and work. 
We should always be aiming at better things. 
When we look back and contrast the various forms 
of gardeQiug, say for the past 30 years, we cannot 
but come to the conclusion that great improvement 
has taken place, but still there is room for advance. 
I can remember while in my apprenticeship 
geometrical flower gardening was the great rage, and 
I am sure the time spent in raising many thousands 
of bedding plants, for the purpose of making a 
blaze of scarlet and yellow in so many curiously cut 
out designs in grass or boxwood, did not in any 
degree pay for the time and labour spent on them. I 
am glad to think that, in a measure, we have de¬ 
parted from this to the more useful and profitable, 
and, at the same time, more interesting mixed border. 
Here, then, we have marked progress. From the 
one or two isolated exhibits to be seen at big horti¬ 
cultural shows of herbaceous flowering plants but a 
few years ago, we have now quite a host of exhibitors ( 
which speaks well for the growing taste in these 
things, and who shall say that, with such an endless 
variety of good things at our command, our borders 
are not better than our flower gardens ever could 
be" Then, again, I know of no plant that has 
undergone such a revolution in its culture than has 
