152 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARBER Eti, 
February  22,  1900. 
elevating  some  of  the  larger  beds  to  break  the  uniformity  that  arises  from 
an  extensive  space  being  covered  -with  flowers.  For  along  time  it  was 
usual  to  place  in  each  bed  flowers  of  one  colour,  but  the  modern  method 
of  variety  was  afterwards  adopted  ;-also  an  improvement  was  made  in 
departing  from  the  regular  or  geometrical  plan  of  arranging  the  beds. 
Pansies  and  Liliaceous  species  were  much  in  evidence,  which  showed 
a  succession  of  blooms  beside  usual  herbaceous  plants.  Visiting  the 
great  conservatory,  300  feet  long,  in  1877,  a  friend  was  astonished  at 
the  grand  display  of  Camellias  during  May,  while  autumn  was  remark¬ 
able  for  the  varieties  of  climbing  Fuchsias,  and,  at  all  seasons  a 
selection  of  fine-foliaged  species  made  a  show. 
Concerning  the  trees  and  shrubs  it  may  be  noted  that  the  Lebanon 
Cedar  is  very  observable.  Near  Chiswick  House  are  several  ancient 
trees,  beyond  these  an  avenue  of  younger  specimens,  but  the  locality 
is_not  favourable  for  Conifers.  Portugal  Laurels  are  numerous,  some 
particularly  large  ones  have  increased  by  layering,  also  a  good  space  is 
occupied  by  Rhododendrons,  most  of  them  of  fine  growth.  Probably 
nowhere  near  London  are  grown  together  as  many  examples  of  the 
Evergreen  Oak,  and  the  varieties  of  Holly  are  numerous,  both  scattered 
trees  and  others  edging  paths  or  avenues. 
What  is  called  the  Napoleon  Walk  has  a  Yew  hedge  that  is  one  of 
the  glories  of  the  place,  it  must  be  nearly  20  feet  high.  At  one  end 
of  it  is  a  fine  Deodar,  planted  by  the  Emperor  Nicholas  in  1844. 
Another  1  ew  hedge  occupies  one  side  of  a  walk,  on  the  other  of  which 
is  a  ha-ha.  This  hedge  has  its  sombreness  relieved  by  recesses  here 
and  there,  these  affording  space  for  Golden  Yews.  The  Bay  ground, 
which  gives  a  pdeasant  view  ever  the  water,  has  been  admired  on  account 
of  its  trees,  which  give  the  name.  Amongst  the  remarkable  single 
trees  we  notice  an  immense  Oriental  Plane,  a  large  Hornbeam,  which 
is  rare,  and  an  old  May  Duke  Cherry. 
It  !s  manifestly  impracticable  to  condense  here  any  account  of  the 
history  or  progress  of  the  Society’s  gardens  during  the  fifty  years.  As 
a  rule  organisations  move  slowly,  and  ate  inclined  to  Conservatism,  so 
that  has  made  the  changes  fewer.  Generally,  we  might  say,  what 
alterations  have  been  made  are  improvements.  Some  things  the 
Society  did  in  the  past  it  cannot  repeat  now  ;  for  instance,  adding 
great  accessions  to  our  list  of  exotics.  Previous  to  1850  the  lamented 
Douglas  had  sent  to  the  Society  upwards  of  200  hardy  species,  mostly 
showy,  amongst  them  Ribes  sanguineum  and  Nemophila  insignis. 
Important  acquisitions  from  America  were  due  to  Hartweg,  and  from 
China  to  Fortune.  At  that  date  the  experimental  fruit  garden  had 
been  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  under  the  management  of  Mr.  Thompson, 
a  man  of  keen  insight,  with  great  knowledge  of  the  habits  of  trees, 
and  the  qualities  of  fruit  varieties.  The  experimental  departments  for 
flowers  and  vegetables  were  always  an  object  of  special  interest,  but  in 
these  days  many  nurser3men  have  their  own  experimental  gardens. 
For  a  long  time  it  is  evident  a  large  proportion  both  of  nurserymen 
and  private  gardeners  were  ignorant  of,  or  indifferent  to,  the  benefits 
conferred  on  horticulture  by  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society.  A  little 
before  the  date  of  which  I  have  been  writing,  there  was  an  instance 
of  the  Society’s  activity  in  behalf  of  agriculture  and  horticulture,  in 
securing  the  aid  of  Prof.  Solly,  wdio  undertook  a  research  into  the 
value  of  the  different  manures,  delivering  also  a  course  of  lectures 
upon  the  subject.  The  great  conservatory  was  open  to  a  good  deal  of 
criticism.  Down  the  centre,  where  the  plants  were  placed  in  a  bed  of 
soil,  they  grew  so  thickly  at  first  that  it  looked  like  a  bit  of  jungle, 
and  the  entrance  was  badly  contrived,  giving  one  the  idea  of  a 
greater  descent  than  there  actually  was.  A  peculiarity  in  the  con¬ 
struction  of  this  conservatory  was  the  arrangement  for  ventilation,  the 
air  being  led  at  the  sides  over  gutters  containmg  rain  water,  then 
across  hot-water  pipes,  so  that  it  might  be  both  moist  and  warm.  In 
1850  or  1851  the  Society  exhibited  one  of  the  first  houses  built  by 
Hartley  &  Co.,  showing  the  application  of  their  patent  rough  glass. 
About  the  same  time  some  new  pits  were  made  in  the  gardens,  on  a 
plan  enabling  the  gardener  to  enter  them  without  exposing  the  plants 
to  rain  or  cold. 
Some  of  the  gardens  and  orchards  at  Chiswick  used  to  be  divided 
from  each  other  by  fine  Hawthorn  hedges,  over  which  the  wild 
Convolvulus  and  Nightshade  threw  their  sprays  :  none  of  the  flimsy 
affairs  called  hedges  that  we  see  being  planted  now.  The 
grounds  were  very  neatly  kept  by  Cook,  Jessejj,  Mills,  Dancer  and 
others;  the  orchards  of  the  last  often  presented  a  beautiful  sight  in 
spring;  duiing  a  favourable  season  the  Apples  and  Plums  would  be 
so  loaded  as  to  need  the  support  of  props.  It  is,  however,  one  of  the 
disadvantages  of  Chiswick  that  cold  air,  at  times,  descends  into  it 
from  the  uplands,  causing  mischief  during  winter  or  spring.  The 
oldest  nursery  was  that  of  Gleodinning  on  Turnhara  Green.  It  was 
probably  started  early  in  this  century,  when  Heaths,  and  allied 
species  now  common,  were  novelties.  It  ceased  to  exist  some  years 
ago,  the  last  occupier  being  Mr.  Even.  Twenty  years  ago  a  nursery¬ 
man  in  a  small  way  occupied  Hogarth  House  and  its  gardens.  The 
place  is  supposed  to  have  been  favoured  with  visits  from  that 
illustrious  painter,  but  time  has  dislodged  this  tenant  too. 
Before  the  vast  increase  of  buildings  about  West  London  from  the 
valley  at  Chiswick  we  could  see  clearly  the  heights  of  Notting  Hill, 
Bayswater,  and  other  localities  towards  Hyde  Park.  Bayswater, 
though  not  on  the  river  like  Chiswick,  yet  bears  a  watery  name.  It 
once  nad  several  springs  and  rivulets,  and  it  is  under  the  disadvantage,.. 
from  the  gardener’s  point  of  view,  of  being  somewhat  exposed  to  cold 
winds.  The  nurserymen  formerly  here  have  departed,  but  horticul¬ 
ture  is  represeiited  in  its  squares  and  parlour  conservatories  or  gardens 
of  the  residents  in  Westburnia,  so  called.  Westhourne  Place  had, 
we  read,  beautiful  grounds  in  the  reign  of  George  III.,  the  owner. 
Jukes  Coulson,  employing  some  very  skilled  gardeners.  He  had  rs  a 
neighbiur  the  singular  half  crazy  quack,  Sir  John  Hill,  who  had  a 
nursery  where  he  cultivated  p’auts  for  his  decoctions  and  distilled 
compounds.  Some  ]  eojile  bePeved  in  his  ost-ence  of  Waterdock  and 
balsam  of  honey.  Subsequently  his  ground  was  turned  into  a  public 
tea  garden. 
On  Craven  Hill,  which  had  belonged  to  Lord  Craven,  was  the 
nursery  of  Messrs.  Hopgood,  which  flourished  some  years  there. 
About  1845  the  firm  removed  to  Shepherd’s  Bush  ;  the  place  was 
closed  a  few  years  ago.  The  later  years  of  the  lile  of  the  illustrious 
J.  P.  Loudon  were  passed  in  a  Bayswater  mansion  called  The  Hermi¬ 
tage,  where,  after  he  was  unable  to  employ  himself  in  landscape  gar¬ 
dening,  he  made  experiments  in  the  construction  of  houses.  Not  far 
from  him  resided  Count  de  Vandt,  a  great  admirer  of  Roses  and  a 
collector  of  showy  exotics.  Mr.  Burley’s  nursery  of  Hereford  Road, 
now  vanished,  attracted  visitors  in  1877  to  see  his  specimens  of  Aspi¬ 
distra  punctata,  a  remarkable  plant  very  little  known  then.  Its 
flowers,  which  are  purplish  in  colour,  are  matured  under  the  soil,, 
seldom  coming  into  the  daylight. — J.  R.  S.  C. 
SEAKALE  FROM  SEED. 
That  good  roots  of  Seakale,  suitable  for  forcing,  may  be  had  the 
first  year  from  seed,  was  fully  demonstrated  by  Mr.  Atkins  at  the  last 
meeting  of  the  Kingston  Gardeners’  Mutual  Improvement  Society. 
The  lecturer  dealt  with  the  system  of  growing  and  forcing  in  beds, 
but  his  principal  point  was  the  management  of  seedlings  to  produce  a 
crop  of  Seakale  for  the  kitchen  the  first  year.  To  do  this,  choose  an 
open  site  for  the  seed  bed,  and  it  is  very  material  that  the  ground  be 
trenched,  or  bastard  trenched,  and  well  manured.  Not  later  than  the 
end  of  March  sow  seeds  at  6-inch  intervals  in  drills  18  inches  apart, 
keeping  the  bed  clear  of  weeds  and  the  surface  loose  with  the  hoe.  A 
dressing  of  salt,  4  lbs.  (o  the  rod,  or  sprinklings  of  nitrate  of  soda  just 
before  rain,  will  be  of  great  benefit  to  the  seeds  and  young  plants. 
In  December  lift  all  the  ciowns,  taking  extreme  care  to  secure  all 
the  roots.  In  the  absence  of  a  Mushroom  house  put  the  roots  in- 
12-inch  pots  in  fairly  good  soil,  and  cover  each  pot  with  another,, 
inveited,  and  place  them  in  a  temperature  of  50°  to  60°,  the  former 
for  preference.  It  is  not  wise  to  attempt  to  force  these  yearlings  too 
early  or  too  fast,  for  that  would  be  courting  failure,  but  for  producing 
heads  from  the  end  of  January  onwards  such  roots  are  excellent. 
Mr.  Atkins  exhibited,  as  illustrative  of  the  practice,  a  dozen  roots 
with  heads  ready  for  cutting,  which  were  very  goid  indeed,  and  as 
Mark  Twain  pertinei-tly  says,  “Never  argy  agin  a  success.” 
The  variety  recommende.i  for  this  system  was  the  old  Purple,  as 
this  seems  less  liable  to  diser  se  than  the  newer  Lily  White,  at  least 
on  some  soils.  No  remedy  for  the  disease  was  given  by  the  essayist, 
neither  could  the  audience  give  one.  Seakale  was  recommended  as  a 
crop  wh  ch  cottagers  would  do  well  to  grow.  A  rad  of  ground  will 
produce  about  160  crowns,  which  means  many  dishes  of  this  delicious 
vegetable.  It  was  stated  that  several  cottagers  round  Cambridge  culti¬ 
vate  Seakale  either  from  seeds  or  by  the  ordinary  method  of  cuttings,, 
and  often  pay  the  year’s  rent  with  the  proceeds,  besides  securing  an 
occasional  dish  for  theu  selves. 
1  Mr,  Atkins,  it  is  interesting  to  note,  practises  on  Kingston  HilR 
