20 
Jiily  8,  1867 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTlGULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Mrs.  Gape,  expecting  shortly  to  remove  their  plants  to  Chelsea. 
Several  things  might  have  induced  them  to  select  this  locality  for 
their  garden,  one  near  the  Old  Swan  Tavern,  a  honse  well  known 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  very  conveniently  situate  on  the 
river’s  bank.  Chelsea,  too,  then  a  “  village  of  palaces,”  had  already 
a  repute  of  being  a  favourable  spot  for  plant  growing,  for  several 
of  its  mansions  bad  extensive  gardens  in  which  foreign  species  had 
been  introduced.  To  the  east  of  the  Apothecaries’  garden,  at  no 
great  distance,  were  the  grounds  of  the  Earl  of  Hanelagh,  a  noble¬ 
man  who  was  reputed  to  have  done  much  for  the  advancement  of 
horticulture  in  the  reign  of  the  third  William.  Bowack  says  that 
‘  ‘  the  plots,  borders,  and  walks  were  curiously  kept  and  elegantly 
designed  the  greenhouses  also  had  few  rivals  at  that  time. 
Swift,  however,  with  his  wonted  bitterness,  calls  Banelagh  “the 
vainest  old  fool  he  ever  saw,”  perhaps  rightly. 
We  can  trace  the  history  of  this  three  acres  of  land,  or  about 
that,  to  the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  when  they  were  conveyed  to 
Edward  Cheyne  by  Sir  A.  Gorges,  being  ^then  an  open  field.  In 
1673  Charles  Cheyne  let  the  ground  on  lease  to  the  Society  of 
Apothecaries  for  £5  yearly  ;  the  next  year  it  was  walled  round 
and  partly  planted  with  herbs.  It  was  not  the  oldest  botanic 
garden  in  England,  as  some  have  stated  ;  several  preceded  it,  such 
as  Gerard’s  and  Tradescant’s,  also  near  the  metropolis.  John 
Watts,  a  botanist,  who  had  helped  on  the  enterprise  from  the  first, 
became  curator  and  manager  in  1680.  Only  five  years  after 
Evelyn  records  a  visit  he  paid  the  garden,  when  he  saw  hosts  of 
novelties,  especially  many  rare  annuals.  By  this  curator  one  of 
the  earliest  stoves  was  constructed,  heated  by  pipes — for  the  first 
greenhouses  had  open  fireplaces.  Petiver  was  chosen  in  1709  as 
demonstrator  of  plants,  his  extensive  collection  of  natural  history 
objects  afterwards  passing  to  Sir  Hans  Sloane  by  purchase,  and 
now  forming  part  of  the  British  Museum. 
But  the  grand  turning  point  in  the  history  of  these  gardens 
was  the  generous  action  of  the  above  baronet,  who  had  acquired 
Chelsea  Manor  from  the  Cheyne  family.  Had  it  not  been  for  this 
they  would  not  probably  have  had  their  long-continued  existence 
and  usefulness.  For  the  merely  nominal  rent  of  £5  he  gave  the 
Company  right  to  hold  the  ground  in  perpetuity  as  a  medical  or 
botanic  garden.  There  was  one  important  condition — that  the 
Company  should  transmit  yearly  to  the  Royal  Society  fifty 
specimens  of  new  plants  grown  by  them  until  the  number  of  2000 
had  been  reached.  This  delivery  commenced  in  August,  1722, 
and  ended  in  July,  1774,  the  total  of  2250  being  made.  It  was  all 
the  more  noble  of  Sir  Hans  to  do  this  because  he  had  been  at  issue 
with  the  apothecaries,  who  had  angrily  opposed  an  excellent 
scheme  of  his  for  the  formation  of  free  dispensaries  to  benefit 
the  poor.  Could  they  do  otherwise  than  raise  a  atafue  to  their 
honoured  friend,  which  Rysbrach  completed  in  1737,  and  which 
yet  stands,  much  dilapidated  by  the  wear  of  many  summers 
and  winters  ?  Doubtless  the  baronet  was,  through  his  numerous 
correspondents,  often  the  means  of  bringing  scarce  or  exotic  species 
to  the  gardens. 
The  illustrious  Linnaeus  visited  the  Chelsea  Garden  in  1736, 
and  he  notes  that  he  was  permitted  to  take  away  numerous 
specimens  ;  afterwards  he  wrote  high  praise  of  Miller,  and  others 
engaged  there,  with  whom  he  corresponded.  Apparently  the 
grounds  were  a  frequent  resort  of  visitors  from  all  parts  of 
England,  and  from  abroad  ;  seeds  or  plants  were  also  obtainable 
sometimes  by  outsiders.  Charles  Hatton,  in  a  letter,  mentions  that 
he  brought  away  two  pots  of  Passion  Flower,  and  Horace  Walpole 
went  there  to  get  seed  of  the  Tea  Plant.  But  the  Society  never 
made  any  large  profit  from  the  gardens,  and,  indeed,  has  spent  a 
good  deal  year  by  year  upon  them  to  the  advancement  of  botany 
and  horticulture.  Ever  since  1837,  when  Dr.  Bindley  first  called 
attention  to  the  fact,  the  increase  of  houses  and  factories  has 
been  unfavourable  to  the  plants  generally,  the  air  being  thereby 
somewhat  polluted.  The  embanking  of  that  part  of  the  river 
added  a  little  land  to  the  Physic  Garden,  but  it,  caused  the  death  of 
an  unusually  fine  specimen  of  the  Oriental  Plane 
Amongst  those  who  have  had  the  Chelsea  Garden  in  charge 
probably  Miller  is  entitled  to  the  place  of  pre-eminence.  Some 
foreigners,  we  are  told,  called  him  the  “  Prince  of  English 
Gardeners.”  He  rose  through  his  own  diligence  and  skill,  making 
his  start  under  his  father  in  a  small  market  garden  at  Deptford. 
During  a  period  of  almost  half  a  century,  starting  from  1722,  he 
worked  assiduously  at  Chelsea,  introducing  many  new  species  and 
varieties,  also  preserving  forms  which  would  otherwise  have  been 
lost.  No  doubt,  towards  the  end  of  his  connection  with  the 
Apothecaries,  he  assumed  too  much  power,  which  led  to  his  retire¬ 
ment.  Miller  acted  as  adviser  to  a  large  number  of  noblemen  and 
gentlemen  when  they  were  planning  or  laying  out  gardens.  His 
“Gardeners’  and  Florists’  Dictionary”  went  through  many  editions ; 
it  was  the  result  of  twenty  years’  study,  and  prepared  the  way  for 
more  comprehensive  modern  works.  It  was  in  Miller’s  time  that 
Elizabeth  Blackwell  frequently  visited  the  Chelsea  Garden  while 
engaged  upon  her  Herbal.  William  Aiton,  who  afterwards  played 
a  very  important  part  in  the  history  of  Kew,  was  instructed  by 
Miller,  one  of  whose  sons  subsequently  took  the  post  of  first 
curator  at  the  Cambridge  Botanical  Gardens.  Dying  in  1771, 
Miller  left  a  record  which  led,  after  some  delay,  to  the  erection  of 
a  memorial  obelisk  at  Chelsea  by  the  Linnsean  and  Horticultural 
Societies. 
To  those  who  passed  the  Apothecaries’  Garden  in  the  early 
decades  of  Queen  Victoria  its  pair  of  Cedars  were  familiar  land¬ 
marks,  survivors  of  four  planted  in  the  reign  of  James  II.  Of 
these  two  died  between  1760  and  1770  ;  the  two  left  attained  their 
full  size  about  1830.  One  of  these  had  to  be  removed  in  1878  ;  the 
other  is  also  dead  now,  I  believe.  Of  the  trees  which  date  from 
the  reign  of  George  III.  or  earlier  few  remain.  Amongst  those 
presumably  introduced  by  Miller  and  extant  till  recently,  I  may 
mention  specimens  of  Qaercus  Sober,  an  aged  Pomegranate,  a  fine 
Pistacia  terebinthus,  a  Paper  Mulberry,  a  Maidenhair  Tree,  and  a 
remarkable  plant  of  Styrax  officinale  on  the  wall  next  Swan 
Walk.  There  was  a  Oeltis  australis,  supposed  to  be  about  the  age 
of  that  Evelyn  saw  just  set  at  Lee  Court  in  1683,  and  a  large 
Magnolia  graudiflora,  probably  a  descendant  of  the  first  British 
arrival,  which  was  planted  at  Exeter,  and  furnished  offshoots 
to  many  gardens.  Here,  also,  were  some  Phillyreas,  a  shrub 
formerly  much  more  popular  about  London  suburbs  than  it 
is  now. 
The  immediate  successor  to  Miller  was  Forsyth,  the  man  of 
the  “  tree  plaister,”  for  which  he  succeeded  in  extracting  a  hand¬ 
some  payment  from  the  Government  of  his  day,  though  the  recipe 
has  really  no  important  value.  It  was  to  heal  wounds,  and  also 
restore  vigour  to  decayed  trees,  being  composed  of  fresh  cow  mariure, 
lime  rubbish  (preferably  from  ceilings),  wood  ashes,  and  a  little 
sand.  Any  benefit  arising  appears  to  have  been  simply  by  its 
action  in  excluding  moisture.  After  1784  he  entered  upon  the 
position  of  gardener  at  Kensington  Palace,  leaving  Chelsea,  and 
died  in  1804.  He  had,  no  doubt,  much  knowledge  of  fruit  and 
forest  trees.  A  friend  of  his,  Mr.  Wedgwood,  is  said  to  have 
thrown  out  hints  in  1801  which  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society. 
Amongst  many  honoured  names  connected  with  the  Chelsea 
garden  are  those  of  William  Curtis,  demonstrator  for  some  years, 
and  Dr.  Bindley,  who  held  the  like  position  ;  Isaac  Rand,  W.  Ander¬ 
son,  and  others  whose  memory  is  yet  green.  A  curious  collection 
of  seeds,  containing  thousands  of  species,  was  formed  by  Rand, 
but  I  expect  this  has  perished.  Mr.  Thomas  Moore,  F.L.S.,  was 
the  last  curator.  He  died  in  1886,  his  predecessor  being  Mr.  Robert 
Fortune.  Those  who  are  interested  in  such  structures  may  still 
find  at  Chelsea  the  relics  of  old  style  greenhouses,  which  remind 
ns  of  the  disadvantages  a  gardener  of  last  century  had  to  contend 
with.— J.  R.  S.  C. 
EXPERIMENTAL  WORK  IN  HORTICULTURE. 
[Concluded  from  page  520,  last  vol.) 
A  NOTED  French  scientist  has  said  that  “  an  experiment  must 
have  an  objeco,  and  be  based  upon  an  hypothesis.”  As  to  the 
first  part  of  the  dictum  there  can  be  no  question,  for  it  cannot  be 
too  clearly  understood  and  laid  down  what  the  object  really  is,  for 
chance  exploring  is  very  unsatisfactory  work  ;  discoveries  are 
occasionally  made,  but  there  is  much  wasted  and  misdirected 
labour.  Whether  it  should  be  based  upon  an  hypothesis  is  not  so 
clear,  though  there  is  an  element  of  truth  in  it,  as  few  can  adopt 
any  particular  treatment  or  any  special  substance  without  forming 
an  idea  regarding  what  the  effect  will  be,  even  though  the  result 
may  completely  negative  the  assumption. 
It  appears  to  me,  as  doubtless  it  has  to  others  engaged  in 
experimental  work,  that  it  is  important  to  keep  the  mind  as  clear 
as  possible  from  preconceived  ideas,  lest  one’s  judgment  be 
infiuenced  in  any  degree  in  observing  the  results.  It  is  also 
necessary  to  simplify  the  object  of  research,  and  if  there  is  a 
difficulty  about  separating  complicated  conditions  it  is  best  to 
have  several  experiments  directed  to  dealing  with  the  various 
points  individually.  The  same  object  must  also  be  kept  constantly 
in  view  in  dealing  with  the  same  plants,  and  however  tempting  it 
may  appear  at  times  to  follow  up  some  fresh  idea,  it  is  wiser  to 
pass  it  by  until  opportunity  occurs  for  prosecuting  it  on  an 
independent  basis.  In  determining  the  objects  to  be  studied  a 
thoroughly  intimate  knowledge  of  the  subject  in  all  its  details  is 
requisite.  Considerable  time  may  be  devoted  to  investigating  what 
is  already  well  known,  or  to  seeking  what  is  of  no  practical  value 
whatever.  The  best  results  can  only  be  expected  where  there  is 
