220 
JOUR^^AL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
"  September  3,  1896, 
Gardeners’  Company  and  the  Government,  entitled  “  Adam 
Armed.” 
Under  this  curious  title,  the  suggestion  was  made  that  an  old 
Charter  James  I.  had  granted  should  be  revived  and  extended. 
The  intention  of  this  Charter  was  that  persons  should  be  licensed 
to  teach  the  art  of  gardening,  also  that  the  number  of  young  men 
to  be  instructed  should  have  a  limit.  It  was  the  complaint  of  these 
Georgian  gardeners  that  unqualified  labourers  and  others  entered 
the  profession  to  the  injury  of  market  gardeners  and  those  employed 
by  the  gentry  ;  in  fact,  they  wanted  to  set  up  a  sort  of  trades 
union,  and  it  was  said  the  scheme  was  specially  aimed  at  the  Scotch¬ 
men  who  came  South.  Published  early  in  the  reign  of  George  III., 
the  pamphlet  seems  to  have  had  little  or  no  result.  It  is  probable 
that  Phillip  Miller,  the  botanist,  who  was  long  gardener  to  the 
Society  of  Apothecaries,  was  concerned  in  this  scheme,  and  some 
of  his  special  friends  amongst  the  nurserymen,  such  as  Furber  of 
Kensington  and  Gray  of  Fulham. 
These  two  were  founders  of  nurseries  on  the  west  of  London 
during  the  reign  of  Anne  ;  both  became  famous,  but  the  Fulham 
one  surpassed  that  at  Kensington,  and  had  a  longer  existence, 
remaining  till  the  present  day,  though  in  diminished  extent.  Both 
establishments  had  a  share  of  the  plants  distributed  from  Fulham 
Palace  after  the  death  of  Bishop  Compton.  The  Kensington 
nursery,  started  by  Robert  Furber,  was  near  Kensington  Gore,  this 
“  Gore  ”  being  a  triangular  piece  of  land  abutting  on  the  high  road. 
The  original  extent  of  the  ground  is  unknown,  but  it  was  about 
20  acres  in  Loudon’s  time.  Furber  gave  much  attention  to  fruit, 
and  published  a  series  of  folio  plates  of  the  principal  kinds  grown 
in  Britain  ;  he  also  brought  out  an  “  Introduction  to  Gardening,” 
intended  for  amateurs,  dated  1733.  From  this  owner  it  passed  to 
the  Grimwoods,  afterwards  to  Malcolm  &  Co.,  once  of  Stockwell, 
who  relinquished  Kensington  Nursery  when  there  arose  the  great 
demand  for  building  land  in  that  suburb.  This,  indeed,  led  to  the 
erection  of  two  lines  of  mansions.  Palace  Gardens,  upon  what  had 
previously  been  the  extensive  kitchen  garden  belonging  to  the 
Palace.  I  do  not  think  the  gardeners  around  Kensington  learnt 
much  from  the  royal  domain,  though  the  private  garden  was  at  one 
time  visited  because  it  showed  Forsyth’s  method  of  managing 
fruit  trees  ;  but  the  orangery,  built  by  Wren,  was  an  attraction, 
and  the  forcing  houses,  in  which  Pines  were  conspicuous.  It  had 
become  the  practice,  however,  by  the  reign  of  George  I.  to  plant 
in  the  public  garden  of  Kensington  specimens  of  hardy  and  half- 
hardy  exotics,  duly  labelled,  some  of  which  were  not  generally 
known.  But  Miller,  in  his  “  Dictionary  ”  of  1724,  could  only 
enumerate  twelve  evergreens  besides  our  few  natives,  showing  how 
slowly  the  foreign  species  arrived. 
Faulkner,  in  his  description  of  Kensington,  discourses  upon  the 
excellence  of  its  soil  for  gardening  purposes,  and  he  mentions 
besides  the  above  two  smaller  nurseries  —Newell’s,  of  10  acres,  at 
Phillimore  Place,  and  Ramsay’s,  of  9  acres,  near  the  famous  gravel 
pits,  which  did  a  fair  business  then,  that  is  about  seventy  years 
ago.  On  the  Hammersmith  Road  to  the  west  of  Earl’s  Terrace, 
not  far  from  the  old  creek,  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  laid 
out  a  small  experimental  garden,  which  was  commenced  in  the 
spring  of  1818,  and  opened  daily  for  a  few  hours.  But  a  more 
suitable  and  larger  plot  of  land  wai  obtained  at  Chiswick  in  1822. 
The  site  of  the  original  garden  is  now  crossed  by  a  line  of  railway. 
(A  short  notice  of  Holland  House  garden  will  appear  hereafter). 
Christopher  Gray,  founder  of  Fulham  Nursery,  seems  to  have 
been  a  man  of  ability  and  energy,  possibly  a  Scotchman  ;  he  may 
have  chosen  his  locality  because  of  its  nearness  to  the  Bishop’s 
grounds,  which  were  frequently  visited  by  gardeners  of  an  inquiring 
mind,  and  land  was  easily  obtainable  in  that  district.  He  was 
greatly  assisted  by  Catesby,  Collinson,  Miller,  and  many  other 
botanists  or  travellers.  His  son  relinquished  the  establishment  to 
Barchall ;  subsequently  it  was  owned  by  Whitley,  Brames  and 
Milne,  who  had  previously  a  nursery  for  American  plants  at  Old 
Brompton,  where  about  I  cannot  -say.  We  come  then  to  Messrs. 
Osborn,  who  in  our  period  successfully  maintained  the  repute 
of  this  historic  nursery.  Visitors  found  a  varied  and  well-arranged 
collection  of  evergreen  and  deciduous  trees,  also  of  stove,  green¬ 
house,  and  herbaceous  plants.  Vines  and  fruit  trees  were  not 
neglected,  while  a  good  trade  was  done  in  bulbs  and  seeds.  A 
branch  nursery  of  some  extent  was  carried  on  by  the  firm  at 
Sunbury,  Middlesex.  Shrinkage,  however,  the  common  fate  of 
suburban  nurseries,  was  the  lot  of  that  at  Fulham,  and  the  ground, 
reduced  to  under  5  acres,  became  the  property  of  Messrs.  Veitch 
and  Sons  in  October,  1882. 
This  nursery  is  associated  with  the  introduction  of  Magnolia 
grandiflora.  The  original  tree,  which  died  about  1870,  is  said  to 
have  been  20  feet  high  and  5  in  circumference,  the  parent  of  most 
of  the  older  specimens  now  remaining.  A  rival  claim,  however, 
has  been  made  on  behalf  of  a  venerable  Magnolia  planted  at 
Wimbledon  Park,  probably  defunct  now.  The  Cork  Oak  (Quercus 
suber)  was  an  arrival  at  Fulham  early  in  last  century,  and  here 
grew  what  was  probably  the  largest  and  oldest  Ailanthus  of  our 
island.  In  this  nursery  they  got  the  Nettle  Tree  (Celtis  occiden- 
talis)  to  ripen  its  seed,  and  obtained  fruit  from  what  was  at  first 
called  the  Date  Plum  (Diospyrus  virginiana),  afterwards  better 
known  as  the  Persimmon,  a  name  familiar  to  many,  since  it  is  borne 
by  the  winner  of  this  year’s  Derby.  Probably  Laurus  sassafras 
and  Sophora  pendula,  specimens  of  which  were  noteworthy,  came 
here  from  Bishop  Compton’s  collection.  Catesby  sent  in  the 
American  Allspice  (Calycanthus  floridus),  and  a  very  venerable 
and  rugged  Wistaria  was  one  of  its  treasures.  Amongst  the  old 
trees,  the  curious  variety  of  Oak  called  Quercus  fulhamensis,  like, 
yet  not  identical  with,  another  known  as  the  Lucombe  Oak,  dates 
from  about  1770.  How  it  was  produced  is  uncertain.  The  original 
Fulham  Oak  still  exists,  I  believe  ;  the  acorns  from  it,  however, 
mostly  produce  plants  near  to  the  type  of  the  common  Oak,  and 
the  variety  has  had  to  be  propagated  by  grafting.  Palms  and 
Ferns  during  the  later  years  of  the  nursery  occupied  a  long  range 
of  houses,  quantities  of  choice  and  popular  kinds  being  on 
show.  Many  persons  made  a  first  acquaintance  at  Fulham 
with  the  dwarf  but  attractive  species  Asplenium  fragrans ; 
unfortunately  it  is  a  slow  grower,  and  has  never  become  generally 
distributed,  though  it  reached  us  from  the  West  Indies  nearly 
100  years  ago. 
Taking  the  road  to  Fulham,  going  through  Brompton ,  we  pass 
afterwards  a  district  called  Purser’s  Cross.  Local  historians  have 
not  agreed  whether  it  was  named  after  a  ship’s  purser,  who  met 
hereabout  with  some  fatal  disaster,  or  if  it  bore  originally  the  name 
of  “Parson’s  Cross,”  as  a  cross  was  put  up  guiding  people  to 
the  parson’s  house  in  the  olden  time.  Purser’s  Cross  Nursery 
disappeared  a  few  years  since ;  it  seems  to  have  been  sometimes 
called  Fulham  Nursery,  incorrectly.  Probably  it  dated  only  from 
this  century,  as  it  is  not  mentioned  by  the  Georgian  writers  upon 
suburban  gardens.  One  Nathaniel  Daunsar  (for  so  they  spelt  the 
surname  then)  is  mentioned  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.  among  the 
benefactors  of  Fulham,  and  it  is  likely  the  Dancers  were  hereditary 
farmers  of  the  locality.  Their  nursery  at  Purser’s  Cross  was 
remarkable  for  its  large  stock  of  fruit  and  ornamental  trees, 
especially  evergreens.  Shortly  before  the  retirement  of  Mr. 
A.  Dancer  it  suifered  a  serious  loss,  the  seed  warehouses  and 
packing  sheds  being  totally  destroyed  by  fire  in  October,  1876. 
Also  at  this  suburb  there  was  a  celebrated  garden  belonging  to 
Mr.  Ord,  commenced  in  1756,  which  Loudon  visited  sixty  years 
since.  He  remarks  that  he  saw  there  a  flourishing  Japanese 
Gingko  Tree  (Salisburia  adiantifolia),  probably  the  tallest  in 
Britain,  60  feet  high,  and  about  seventy  years  old.  There  was  a 
Constantinople  Hazel,  40  feet  high,  and  a  Black  Walnut  of  60  feet, 
also  a  Lombardy  Poplar,  10  feet  in  girth,  that  had  made  100  feet. 
A  curious  sample  of  the  Moss  Rose  had  been  layered  till  it 
extended  ever  the  ground  for  many  yards.  Subsequently  the 
ground  was  purchased  by  Lord  Ravenswortb,  and  the  residence, 
with  its  garden,  took  his  name. 
Between  Brompton  and  Purser’s  Cross  is  Walham  Green,  so 
called,  properly  Wendon  Green,  quite  rural  when  Bartholomew 
Rocque  had  a  nursery  there  early  in  the  reign  of  George  III.  His 
father  is  said  to  have  devoted  much  time  to  the  culture  of  Vines, 
having  a  plantation  of  them  for  wine  making.  The  son  studied 
agriculture  as  well  as  flowers,  and  tried  many  experiments  with 
grasses,  selling  not  only  the  seeds,  but  turf  per  foot  for  pro¬ 
pagation.  He  also  translated  from  the  Dutch  a  treatise  on  the 
Hyacinth,  which  he  published  in  1753,  desiring  to  encourage  the 
culture  of  a  flower  very  little  known.  At  Parson’s  Green,  nearer 
the  Thames,  Collinson  notes  that  he  saw,  October  18th,  1765,  Mr. 
Roger’s  vineyard  of  Burgundy  Grapes,  the  fruit  just  then  ripe,  the 
Vines  being  large  and  strong.  This  place  is  memorable  becaase  of 
its  association  with  the  Rench  family  for  many  years.  For  nearly 
two  centuries  they  owned  a  nursery  and  market  garden  at  Soath- 
fleld.  Parson’s  Green.  One  of  the  Rench  family  reached  the  age  of 
ninety- nine,  and  his  son  100  years,  which  says  something  for  the 
healthiness  of  garden  pursuits.  Nathaniel  supplied  from  his 
nursery  the  avenues  of  Elms  in  St.  James’  Park,  and  produced 
some  of  the  early  varieties  of  the  Holly.  Some  think  he  introduced 
the  Moss  Rose  from  Holland,  and  it  seems  to  be  correct  that  he 
had  the  first  Pine  Strawberries.  The  garden  attached  to  a  house 
built  by  Sir  Francis  Child  had  some  remarkable  trees,  and  so  had 
that  of  Peterborough  House  ;  its  grounds  and  houses  were  famous 
in  Georgian  times  for  curious  and  choice  plants. 
Faulkner  seventy  years  ago  spoke  of  Fulham  as  London’s  chief 
fruit  and  kitchen  garden  on  the  west,  and  even  yet  it  supplies  the 
markets  to  a  diminished  extent.  '  Amongst  its  specialities  were 
aromatic  herbs.  Marrows,  Celery,  Cucumbers,  Peas,  Lettuces,  and 
small  salad.  Of  the  market  gardeners  who  once  “  flourished  ” 
there,  the  names  of  Bagley,  Steel,  and  Maiyear  stand  out 
prominently. — J.  R.  S.  C. 
