September  15,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
213 
FORBES’0^"  BEGONIA 
“CALEDONIA” 
(A  Pure  White  Variety  of  (<Gioire  de  Lorraine"). 
Price  3/6,  5/-,  and  7/6  each. 
to:be  had  from  all  nurserymen  and  seedsmen. 
For  all  particulars  regarding:  this  surpassingly  GRAND 
STERLING  NOVELTY,  apply  to— 
JOHN  FORBES,  Nurseryman,  HAWICK,  SCOTLAND. 
CUTBUSH’S  ~ 
CARNATIONS 
CATALOGUE  now  ready  and  may  be  had 
Post  Free  upon  application.-  It  includes  some 
STERLING  NOVELTIES  for  this  season. 
WM.  CUTBUSH  &  SON, 
Highgate  Nurseries,  LONDON,  N. 
_  t  * 
Strawberry  Plants. 
ALL  THE  LEADING  VARIETIES 
FROM 
the  Open  Ground,  and  in  Pots. 
PRICED  DESCRIPTIVE  CIRCULAR  POST  FREE. 
DICKSONS  Nurseries,  CHESTER 
Price  lOd.,  Post  Free. 
WINDOW  GARDENING 
FOR  THE  MANY 
Or  Instructions  for  Managing  Plants  in  rooms  throughout 
the  year,  with  Special  Directions  for  their  Propagation  and 
Culture. 
Journal  of  Horticulture  Office,  12,  Mitre  Court 
Chambers,  Fleet  Street,  E.C. 
HOLLAND  _■  IRELAND. 
ROBERTSON’S 
Irish-Grown  DAFFODILS, 
ROBERTSON’S 
Irish-Grown  TULIPS, 
ROBERTSON’S 
Irish-Grown  IRIS,  1XIAS, 
GLADIOLI,  &c. 
Bulb  Farm  20  Acres,  at  Rush,  co.  Dublin. 
CATALOGUES  FREE. 
HOGG  A  ROBERTSON, 
Seedsmen  to  R  M.  The  King, 
ESTABLISHED  1832. 
No  connection  with  any  other  Firm  of  a  similar  Name. 
itt 
CELEBRATED 
HYACINTHS, 
TULIPS, 
AND  ALL  OTHER  '■ 
DUTCH,  CAPE,  AND  EXOTIC 
BULBS  AND  PLANTS 
Our  Descriptive  CATALOGUE  of  the  above,  containing 
Full  Cultural  Directions  and  particulars  as  to 
Free  Delivery,  will  be  sent  post  free  on  application 
to  our  Offices  at  Overveen,  Haarlem,  Holland, 
or  to  our  General  Agents— 
Messrs.  MERTENS  &  CO., 
3,  CROSS  LANE,  LONDON,  E.C. 
LAX  TON’S  | 
mm  STRAWBERRIES  ' 
Orders  now  booYed  for  Early  POT  jjJWilft! 
Plants  and  Runners.  Catalogues  p1 
Gratis.  All  Leading  Sorts. 
LAXTON  BROTHERS 
Strawberry  Specialists,  uujl| 
it  BEDFORD. 
CARNATIONS. 
The  under  noted  are  Two  Exceptionally  Fine  New 
Varieties,  suitable  either  for  pots  or  outside. 
DUCHESS  OF  ROXBURGHE. 
Primrose  ground,  striped  with  a  lovely  shade  of  terra 
cotta  and  heliotrope.  (See  illustration  in  Journal 
of  Horticulture,  July  26tli,  1901.)  Per  dozen,  21/*. 
SIR  R.  WALD  IE- GRIFFITH. 
A  grand  novelty  of  a  perfectly  unique  shade  of  colour, 
being  a  rich  orano  e-scarlet  with  a  sheen  of  amber  ; 
Clove-scented.  Per  dozen,  40/-. 
MALMAISONS  AND  MANY  OTHER  VARIETIES. 
Descriptive  Cultural  Catalogue  on  application. 
LAING  8l  MATHER, 
KELSO  -  ON  -  TWEED. 
Jouiiiml  hf  |)ortii/ultm[e. 
THURSDAY,  SEPTEMBER  5,  1901. 
Early  English  Gardening. 
The  Saxon  Era. 
JVI hTy HEN  the  conquering  arms  of  Rome 
reached  this  almost  Ultima  Thule 
of  their  geography,  they  found 
the  barbarous  inhabitants  existing 
chiefly  upon  the  produce  of  their 
herds  and  of  the  chase,  although 
not  totally  inattentive  to  the  cultiva¬ 
tion  of  the  soil.  The  inland  inhabitants, 
descended  from  the  Cimbri,  lived  in  straw- 
thatched  cottages,  and  knew  nothing  of  husbandry  ; 
they  tilled  no  ground  and  sowed  no  corn,  but 
subsisted  for  the  most  part  on  milk  and  flesh 
(“ Cass.  Comm.”  lib.  v.,  c.  14).  But  those  who 
dwelt  near  the  coast,  and  particularly  on  that  part 
of  it  now  known  as  Kent,  Essex,  Suffolk,  and 
Norfolk,  were  acquainted  with  the  treasures  of  the 
soil.  From  their  intercourse  with  the  Belgae,  and 
!  the  frequent  visits  of  that  people,  either  for  trade 
or  plunder,  the  natives  of  the  coasts  seem  to  have 
early  acquired  a  knowledge  of  husbandry.  It  is 
to  this  part  of  the  island  that  Tacitus  refers  when 
he  says,  “  The  soil  is  such  that,  except  the  Olive 
and  the  Vine,  and  other  vegetables  usually  raised 
in  hotter  climes,  it  readily  bears  all  fruit  and  grain, 
and  is  very  fertile.  Vegetation  there  is  rapid,  but 
ripening  is  slow ;  and  for  both  these  effects  there 
is  the  same  cause — the  excessive  humidity  of  the 
soil  and  air  ”  (“  Vita  Agric.,”  c.  xiv.).  That  it  was 
only  the  inhabitants  on  the  coast,  and  those  who 
were  either  Belgae  or  descended  from  that  nation, 
who  cultivated  the  soil,  is  clear  from  the  statement 
of  Strabo  (lib.  iv.,  c.  5),  where  he  says,  speaking 
of  the  aborigines  of  Britain,  “They  resemble  the 
Gauls  as  to  manners,  if  it  is  not  that  they  are 
more  barbarous  and  less  intelligent  than  the  latter. 
There  are  some  of  them  so  ignorant,  that,  having 
milk,  they  do  not  know  how  to  make  cheese  ;  and 
they  are  equally  ignorant  of  the  art  of  gardening, 
as  well  as  of  the  other  operations  of  agriculture. 
The  crops  which  would  be  grown  by  these 
early  cultivators  of  the  soil  were  doubtless  the 
READERS  are  requested  to  send  Notices  of  Gardening 
Appointments  or  Notes  of  Horticultural  Interest, 
Intimations  of  Meetings,  Queries,  and  all  Articles  for 
Publication,  officially  to  “  THE  EDITOR,  ’  at 
12,  Mitre  Court  Chambers,  Fleet  Street, 
London,  E.C.,  and  to  no  other  person  and  to  no  other 
address. 
No.  1108.— Vol.  XLIII.,  Third  Series. 
