498 
Juae  10,  1M 1. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
7 
cold  frames,  and  will  be  all  the  better  if  the  pots  can  be  plunged 
in  some  suitable  material  which  conserves  the  moisture.  Thu3  the 
risk  of  dryness  at  the  roots  is  diminished,  and  there  is  less  fear  of 
the  lower  leaves  dropping  or  turning  yellow.  As  rooting  increases 
the  plants  should  be  removed  into  6  or  7-inch  pots,  these  sizes 
being  large  enough  for  the  main  portion,  though  later-rooted  plants 
may  be  confined  to  4  and  5 -inch.  An  ordinary  mixture  of  loam, 
leaf  mould,  and  silver  sand  will  be  found  suitable,  and  in  the  case 
of  the  largest  pots  it  is  a  good  plan  to  leave  sufficient  room  at  the 
top  for  a  dressing  of  rich  compost  when  the  plants  are  forming 
their  bracts,  as  this  increases  the  size  and  improves  the  colour 
considerably.  On  bright  sunny  afternoons  the  plants  should  be 
syringed  and  the  frames  closed,  thus  changing  the  atmosphere  of 
the  structure  into  that  of  a  miniature  stove,  by  which  means  the 
sun  heat  is  conserved,  and  a  genial  condition  suitable  to  the  welfare 
of  the  plants  is  obtained. 
Watering  is  an  important  matter,  as  the  foliage  will  turn  yellow 
from  either  drought  or  excessive  moisture.  Both  extremes  must 
therefore  be  avoided,  as  the  losing  of  leaves  robe  the  plants  of  half 
their  beauty.  When  the  pots  are  well  filled  with  roots  liquid 
manure  may  be  used  with  advantage  ;  and  if  soot  is  used  in  the 
formation  of  this  it  assists  greatly  in  giving  a  dark  green  hue  to  the 
foliage. 
On  the  approach  of  cold  nights  the  plants  must  be  removed 
from  the  frames,  and  given  the  accommodation  of  a  warm  house, 
growing  them  close  to  the  light,  and  avoiding  a  sudden  change  into 
a  dry  arid  atmosphere,  otherwise  the  foliage  will  inevitably  suffer. 
To  be  successful  in  the  cultivation  of  this  useful  winter  plant  a 
few  simple  rules  should  be  laid  down,  and  strictly  adhered  to.  The 
plant  wants  no  coddling,  but  will  not  brook  neglect.  Close  attention 
is  the  chief  factum,  and  this  given  the  cultivator  may  be  rewarded 
at  Christmas  time  with  an  abundance  of  rich  scarlet  bracts,  suitable 
for  the  beautifying  of  conservatory  or  drawing-room.—  G.  H.  H. 
HORTICULTURAL  HISTORY  NOTES. 
Along  Western  Middlesex. 
Several  circumstances  lead  us  to  think  that  in  what  some 
folks  call  the  good  old  times,  when  daily  newspapers  were  small 
and  expensive,  when  gardening  could  not  boast  of  a  single  journal, 
gardeners  of  all  sorts  must  have  been  very  sociable  with  each 
other,  or  otherwise  they  could  not  have  gleaned  the  information 
they  did  on  various  points.  No  doubt  they  had  to  make  efforts  to 
overcome  the  stiffness  which  characterised  English  life  till  quite 
recently.  Bad  it  not  been  thus  there  would  have  been  a  serious 
bar  to  the  distribution  of  new  plants  and  varieties,  which  must 
otlj^rwise  have  only  been  known  within  a  narrow  circle.  Again, 
a  country  visitor,  wishing  to  get  an  insight  into  London  horticul¬ 
ture,  would  have  been  badly  off  bad  he  been  obliged  to  limit 
himself  to  the  few  public  gardens  accessible.  Through  friends  he 
could  enter  various  private  grounds  to,  which  gardeners  were 
almitted  by  favour,  or  even,  occasionally,  promiscuous  visitors. 
Of  these  at  one  time  there  were  many  about  the  metropolis.  Some 
of  them  have  disappeared  ;  probably  of  those  now  remaining  the 
owners  have  to  exercise  more  caution  than  formerly  in  admitting 
strangers,  lest  a  privilege  should  be  abused. 
Looking  back  fifty  years  ago,  no  farther  than  that,  to  the 
period  when  Victoria  was  still  a  youthful  Queen,  and  busy  not  only 
with  State  affairs,  but  the  cares  of  a  young  family,  the  visitor  to 
London  found  most  of  its  attractive  gardens  upon  the  western  side. 
Having  examined  the  nearer  of  these,  going,  of  course,  to  Clapham 
in  Surrey,  which,  even  till  1845,  was  famous  for  its  gardens  and 
park-like  demesnes,  also  viewing  those  of  Kensington  and  Hammer¬ 
smith  in  Middlesex,  he  would  naturally  follow  the  valley  of  the 
Thames,  seeking  out  gardens  along  its  green  banks  or  upon  the 
higher  ground  ac  no  great  distance  westward. 
Leaving  Holland  Park  on  the  south,  with  its  goodly  gardens 
and  historic  trees,  crossing  the  crown  of  Notting  Hill,  the  stroller 
may  pass  Shepherd’s  Bush,  suggestive  of  the  time  when  numerous 
flocks  of  sheep  grazed  on  the  fields  hereabouts,  and  traverse  the 
road  to  Acton  and  Ealing.  That  the  name  of  Acton  meant  “  Oak 
town  ”  there  is  no  doubt.  The  place  was  once  within,  or  on  the 
edge  of,  an  Oak  forest.  In  this  century  it  served  as  a  refuge  for 
some  market  gardeners,  when  the  nearer  suburbs  became  a  prey  to 
the  builder.  Beyond  it  is  Ealing,  now  fast  losing  its  rural  character. 
At  first  the  name  was  “  Yelling,”  of  uncertain  meaning,  a  locality 
which,  both  in  soil  and  atmosphere,  is  very  favourable  for  horticul¬ 
tural  pursuits.  Visitors  to  the  neighbourhood  half  a  century  ago 
used  to  discuss  whether  Ealing  Park  or  Gunnersbury  was  the  more 
to  be  admired  ;  the  latter  being  chiefly  laid  out  by  Kent,  having 
70  acres  in  its  grounds  originally,  while  Easing  Park,  somewhat 
less,  showed  the  handiwork  of  Brown,  improved  by  Repton. 
When  Orchids  were  comparatively  novelties  in  English  gardens, 
Gunnersbury  was  famous  for  the  display  it  made  of  these  species. 
The  large  Orange  trees  grouped  in  the  orangery  were  also  an 
attraction  ;  there  were  two  very  tall  Tree  Ferns,  and  an  old,  large 
Liriodendron.  A  cluster  of  venerable  Cedars  attracted  notice, 
round  the  trunks  of  which  were  circular  beds  of  Ivy,  which  also 
encircled  other  trees,  and  this  practice  was  copied  elsewhere  by 
some  who  visited  Gunnersbury.  The  lakes  were  contrived  by 
Kent  so  as  to  afford  good  prospects  of  land  and  water,  while  they 
had  a  fine  fringe  of  trees.  Though  not  horticultural,  a  collection 
of  sandstone  figures  in  a  temple  near  the  circular  lake  were  always 
sought  out.  They  exhibited  a  series  of  scenes  in  the  “  Beggar’s 
Opera.”  The  principal  flower  garden  was  circular,  surrounded  by 
trelliswork,  an  outer  circle  having  assorted  climbers,  the  imer 
one  Roses.  Numerous  stoves  and  forcing  houses  had  a  large  display 
of  exotics. 
Ealing  Park  had  at  one  time  the  honour  of  taking  off  prizes  at 
nearly  every  flower  show  held  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London,  no 
trouble  or  expense  being  spared.  The  conservatories  were  large,  and 
most  of  the  newer  species  or  varieties  could  be  seen  to  advantage. 
The  ornamental  water  was  placed  in  a  dell,  around  it  evergreens 
occupied  the  rising  ground,  also  rockeries  and  banks  of  Fern  ;  an 
opening  was  made  on  the  side  of  the  park,  to  afford  a  view.  What 
were  called  the  Italian  walks  gave  a  reminiscence  of  the  doings  of 
“  Capability  Brown,”  who  planned  a  lawn  in  front  of  the  house, 
which  was  planted  chiefly  with  Conifers,  and  from  which  avenues 
branched  off ;  one  of  these  had  fine  specimens  of  Cupressus 
macrocarpa.  Near  the  mansion  Garrya  elliptica  was  conspicuous 
with  its  flowers,  and  Arbutus  procera  with  its  late  fruit.  Most  of 
the  flower  beds  at  Ealing  Park  used  to  be  placed  in  grass. 
At  a  more  recent  date,  Ealing  Dean  has  had  some  fame  through 
a  possessor  of  the  familiar  name  of  Smith,  a  large  grower  of 
Cyclamens  and  Poinsettias  ;  his  Begonias  and  Solanums  have  also 
been  widely  distributed.  Spring-flowering  plants,  such  as  Primulas 
and  Pansies,  have  attracted  many  Londoners  to  the  Ealing  district. 
Near  Acton,  Mr.  Reeves  has  made  a  speciality  of  Tulips,  importing 
and  growing  many  thousands  yearly.  Other  nurserymen  still  hold 
their  ground  between  Ealing,  Brentford,  and  Turnham  Green  in 
spite  of  modern  “improvements." 
Going  higher  in  the  course  of  the  Thames,  after  Kew  had  been 
duly  visited,  a  natural  curiosity  would  lead  a  gardener  fifty  or 
sixty  years  ago  to  seek  admission  to  Sion  or  Syon  House,  of 
which  he  would  have  heard  as  a  notable  establishment,  linked 
historically  to  the  ducal  families  of  Northumberland  and  Somerset. 
It  was  one  of  the  places  where  the  skill  of  Phillip  Miller,  so  long 
connected  with  the  Apothecaries’  Chelsea  Garden,  was  seen  in 
operation.  L'mg  before  his  time  there  existed  a  botanic  garden  at 
Syon,  when  England  had  very  few  of  these,  and  the  Duke  of 
Somerset  took  seme  trouble  to  procure  exotic  Rpecies.  One  of 
the  heads  of  the.  establishment  was  a  James  Meader,  afterwards 
gardener  at  St.  Petersburg  to  the  Empress  Catherine,  the  author  of 
a  book  he  called  the  “Modern  Gardener,"  or  “Universal  Calendar.” 
He  was  also  given  to  verse  writing  of  a  satirical  character,  and  in 
his  effusions  frequently  attacked  both  friends  and  foes. 
The  flower  gardens  at  Syon  House  had  some  good  Roses  and 
many  interesting  herbaceous  plants,  while  on  the  lawns  were 
choice  specimens  of  several  of  the  rarer  shrubs ;  but  the  houses 
presented  th9  principal  attraction.  Built  during  a  period  when 
metal  roofs  were  little  known  and  much  suspected,  the  numerous 
forcing  houses,  constructed  of  iron  with  copper  sashes,  stood  the 
test  of  time  well.  These  were  placed  in  the  kitchen  garden 
department,  some  of  them  being  set  apart  for  tropical  fruits.  A 
special  house  was  devoted  to  the  Victoria  Regia  and  species  of 
Nelumbium.  It  used  to  be  the  custom  at  Syon  to  maintain  a  rather 
high  temperature  with  an  abundance  of  moisture,  so  that  plants 
fruited  there  which  did  not  elsewhere  ;  and  to  some  extent  these 
houses  initiated  a  change  in  this  respect.  The  grand  series  of  con¬ 
servatories  were  erected  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  the  centre  rising 
t )  a  high  dome,  and  the  end  houses  also  being  loftier  than  the  sides, 
the  structure  consisting  of  stone  combined  with  iron  and  copper. 
Twickenham  is  hardly  to  be  styled  a  London  suburb,  yet  its 
memories  connect  it  with  the  history  of  the  metropolis,  especially, 
too,  with  Bacon,  the  father  of  modern  natural  science,  who  once 
owned  the  park ;  “  a  pleasant  place  to  study  in,”  said  he,  and 
doubtless  it  was.  A  variety  of  accounts  have  been  given  concern¬ 
ing  the  fir.-t  cultivation  of  the  Weeping  Willow  in  England,  but 
the  most  probable  statement  is  that  the  original  tree  was  received 
from  the  Euphrates  by  Mr.  Vernon,  occupier  of  the  park  in  the 
reign  of  George  II.  Near  Twickenham  a  private  botanic  garden 
was  started  about  1789  by  Mr.  Swainson  ;  he  had  some  flowers, 
but  aimed  principally  at  cultivating  every  tree  and  shrub  which 
would  flourish  in  our  climate.  Fifty  years  since  or  so  the  garden 
of  Cambridge  House,  just  above  Richmond  Bridge,  was  visited  for 
its  collection  of  stove  plants  and  Pelargoniums.  It  had  an  orangery, 
and  the  grounds  contained  many  fine  old  trees.— J.  R.  S.  C. 
