April ll, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
317 
Superintendents of Parks and Gardens. 
Mr. John Burn- 
(Superintendent of Public Parks and Recreation Grounds, 
Borough of Leicester.) 
The subject of our sketch was bom near Whitehaven, on the 
west coast of Cumberland, in a small nursery fifty-eight years 
ago, but since then he has had a wide experience during a long 
and active career, but to> mention all that he has done during 
the past forty years would occupy much more space than is at 
our command. 
W hen about twelve years of age lie had to commence hard 
work, and was occupied principally in planting forest trees on 
the sides of the Cumberland hills and fells. Two or three 
years later he commenced gardening proper under Mr. Kemp, 
of Birkenhead, who was at that time engaged in laying out some 
lovely gardens and pleasure-grounds in the vicinity of Keswick. 
One of these places in particular proved exceedingly interest¬ 
ing to this young gardener—namely, Underscar, situated at 
the foot of the Skiddaw Hills. Many a young gardener gets 
enamoured of some of the places at which he has been during 
the early period of his career, particularly if he has been 
engaged in the execution of interesting and promising work. 
Such was Underscar to Mr. Bum, and we understand he gave 
himself the pleasure of visiting this place last September. In 
those early times Conifers received much more attention than 
during the past quarter of a century, and they constituted a 
large proportion of the plantations made at Underscar. 
Evidently the district, soil and exposure are suitable to this 
class of plants, for the residence is now a delightful and beauti¬ 
ful place, sheltered and embowered by numerous coniferous 
trees. 
After the completion of that work in his early youth he had 
a year or two in some fine old private gardens in Northumber¬ 
land. He did not gain very much experience', however, in gen¬ 
tlemen’s places, as he seemed more enamoured of nurseries, 
which he principally frequented after this period, during his 
rambling early year’s, in quest of knowledge and fresh ideas. 
His first experience in this particular line was under Mr. 
John Harrison, nurseryman, near Darlington, at the time when 
he was in the heyday of his exhibition work. The specialities 
of this nurseryman were Roses, Dahlias, and Hollyhocks, which 
grew remarkably well even in that northern district, enabling 
him to cany off many valuable prizes. Other nurseries he 
entered in succession for a short period were those of Mr. 
i Henry May, Learning Lane, Bedale, when it was at its best; Mr. 
Skerving, of Liverpool; Messrs. Little & Ballantyne, Car¬ 
lisle; Messrs. Lucombe, Pince & Co., Exeter ; Mr. B. S. 
Williams, of Upper Holloway, London; and others. 
I His next move was a fresh one, being appointed super¬ 
intendent of the public garden at Saltbum-by-the-Sea, York¬ 
shire, where he did an immense lot of deep draining and the 
formation of walks. Here also he executed a piece of most 
interesting work in the laying out of Italian gardens and 
other ornamental work of that character. Rough .as the 
work was in that place, it gave him a considerable amount 
of experience in the improvement of grounds but ill adapted 
ifor the cultivation of plants, and he did not fail to take 
advantage of it, as we shall presently learn. Here he stayed 
tor a period of eight years, and greatly improved the appear¬ 
ance and character of the place. 
On January 2nd twenty-one years ago he left Saltbum 
o take charge, of his present, situation as superintendent 
if Abbey Park, under the Corporation of Leicester. TTiei 
Dark was just being laid out when he entered upon his 
luties, and was opened about six months later by their 
loyal Highnesses the then Prince and Princess of Wales, 
iow King and Queen. The original designers of the park 
vere Messrs. W. Barron A Sons, of Borrowash. 
At that time the site of the park was no better than a 
wampy wilderness, so that an immense amount of work 
iad to be done, many obstacles and difficulties to contend 
with, gasworks adjoining the park, scores of tall chimneys a 
few yards off, and water surrounding the entire park, almost 
in a stagnant condition. By much hard digging, perseverance 
and very kind help from the various park committees, he suc¬ 
ceeded in making Abbey Park passable, which is a very mild 
wav of putting it. 
The park is practically an extensive garden of an ornamental 
character, having the appearance of being of some age. This 
was accomplished through much hard and mp tiring labour, and 
by the replanting of trees and shrubs under the improved con- 
Mb, Joins bi'UiN, 
ditions of the soil, which was brought about by the superin¬ 
tendent and his subordinates., encouraged by the help of the 
council, who- Avere so pleased with Mr. Burn in the entirety of 
his work that on three separate occasions they increased his 
salary. 
^ isitors from all parts of the country have inspected Abbey 
Park, and are unanimous in declaring it one of the finest parks 
they have seen. The Royal Oak, planted by the Princess of 
Wales on May 29th, 1882, at the opening of the park, has noAv 
a spread of branches of 10 ft. A pavilion was erected on a 
terrace having a commanding position overlooking the flower 
garden, and visitors to the park delight to lounge here when¬ 
ever the weather is fine. Lombardy. Poplars and other trees 
have already shot up to. a considerable height, and serve to 
shut out the evidence of the busy town of Leicester, except 
in the matter of the tall chimneys.. A fine collection of Agaves 
and Yuccas has been got together, and both types of vegetation 
have flowered splendidly, t-w® flower-stems, 23 ft. high of the 
Century plants attracting a great amount of attention when 
they bloomed a few years ago. A feature of the park is a 
mound, with winding paths, and the steep banks planted with 
various shrubs and-trees. From the summit of the mound a 
fine view is obtained of the park and the old ruins of Leicester 
Abbey. 
Since the opening of Abbey Park the corporation have laid 
out four others, and so confident were they in the ability of 
their superintendent that they did not require any outside 
aid, but left the landscape work entirely to. Mr. Burn. The 
Parks Committee have now under their control between 300 
and 100 acres of land, including pleasure and recreation 
grounds, and the Avhole of this area, lias been placed under 
the care of the superintendent, aa'Iio is immediately responsible 
to the Parks Committee. 
After this, his services were frequently called into requisi¬ 
tion and his advice sought in connection with the improve- 
