JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  5,  1901. 
508 
Duke  of  York,  His  Majesty  “  was  pleased  ”  says  Evelyn, 
“  to  discourse  to  me  about  my  book,  inveighing  against  the 
nuisance  of  the  smoak  of  London  and  proposing  expedients 
how  it  might  be  reformed  ;  commanding  me  to  prepare  a  Bill 
against  the  next  session  of  Parliament,  being,  as  he  said, 
resolv’d  to  have  something  done  in  it.”  In  this  gracious 
encoui’agement  Evelyn  saw  in  no  mere  metaphorical  sense 
the  dawning  of  a  brighter  day  for  London.  “  With  a  Prince 
who  is  resolv’d  to  be  the  father  of  his  people,  and  a  Parlia¬ 
ment  whose  decrees  and  resentiments  take  their  impression 
from  His  Majestie’s  great  genius  which  studies  only  the 
vmblick  good,”  the  enthusiastic  Royalist  saw  no  reason  why 
London  should  not  be  made  “  one  of  the  sweetest  and  most 
delicious  habitations  in  the  world,  and  this  with  little  or  no 
expence.”  A  hundred  years  later  Fortune’s  wheel  had  turned 
for  the  House  of  Stuart,  and  a  new  edition  of  the  “  Fumifu- 
gium  ”  ascribes  the  failure  of  Evelyn’s  schemes  to  his  having 
had  the  misfortune  to  recommend  a  work  of  such  conse¬ 
quence  to  “  so  negligent  and  dissipated  a  patron.” 
Resisting  the  temptation  to  descant  “  upon  the  nature  of 
smoaks,”  Evelyn  goes  straight  to  the  heart  of  his  subject. 
“It  is  certain,”  says  he,  “that  it  is  the  immoderate  use  of 
and  indulgence  to  sea  coale  alone  in  the  City  of  London 
which  exposes  it  to  one  of  the  fowlest  inconveniences  and 
reproches  that  can  possibly  befal  so  noble  a  city  ”  ;  and  he 
reminds  his  readers  that  during  the  siege  of  Newcastle, 
when  there  was  a  dearth  of  coal,  “  divers  gardens  and 
orchards  planted  even  in  the  very  heart  of  London,  as 
.  .  .  my  Lord  Bridgewater’s  and  some  others  about  the 
Barbican,  were  observed  to  bear  such  quantities  of  fruits  as 
they  never  produced  the  like  either  before  or  since.  .  .  . 
This  is  that  pernicious  smoake  which  sullyes  all  the  city’s 
glory,  superinducing  a  sooty  crust  of  furr  upon  all  that  it 
lights  on,  spoyling  the  moveables,  tarnishing  the  plate,  gild¬ 
ings  and  furniture,  corroding  the  very  iron  bars  and  hardest 
stones  .  .  .  insinuating  itself  into  our  most  precious  re¬ 
positories.  .  . 
The  use  of  the  Newcastle  coal  was  no  less  destructive  to 
the  human  frame,  in  Evelyn’s  opinion,  than  to  inanimate 
things,  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  say  so,  although  in  doing 
so  he  considered  that  he  was  exposing  himself  to  the  hostility 
of  the  Faculty  of  Medicine.  The  College  of  Physicians,  it 
seems,  was  disposed  to  esteem  the  smoke  of  London  rather 
as  a  preservative  against  infection  than  as  an  agent  of 
disease.  Evelyn  will  not  allow  it  this  advantage,  averring 
that  there  was  more  infectious  disease  than  in  Paris,  the 
places  being  then  reckoned  the  same  size,  although  the  air 
of  Paris  was  remarkable  for  its  purity.  He  attributes  half 
the  mortality  of  London  to  “  phthisical  and  pulmonic  dis¬ 
tempers,”  directly  due  to  the  polluted  atmosphere;  “and 
where  under  Heaven  is  there  such  coughing  and  snuffing  to 
be  heard  as  in  the  London  churches  V’ 
_  He  admits  that  “  a  tabid  body  might  possibly  trail  out  a 
miserable  life  of  seven  or  eight  years  by  a  sea-coale  fire  as 
’tis  reported  the  wife  of  a  certain  famous  physician  did  by 
the  prescription  of  her  husband.”  But  against  this  we  must 
set  the  case  of  a  merchant  who  “  though  he  had  frequent 
business  in  the  City,  was  yet  constrained  to  make  his  dwell¬ 
ing  some  miles  without  it,  and  when  he  came  to  the  Ex¬ 
change,  within  an  hour  or  two  grew  so  extremely  indisposed 
that  he  was  forced  to  take  horse  (which  us’d  therefore  con¬ 
stantly  to  attend  him  at  the  entrance)  and  ride  for  his  life 
until  he  came  into  the  fields.” 
Evelyn  was  too  practical  a  man  to  waste  time  in  lament¬ 
ing  an  evil  for  which  there  was  no  remedy.  He  proceeds  to 
offer  a  twofold  plan  for  “  meliorating  and  refining  the  aer  of 
London.”  To  talk  of  serving  London  with  wood  for  fuel,  as 
Paris  is  served,  was  absurd  ;  the  supply  was  quite  inade¬ 
quate.  He  proposed  instead,  firstly,  the  removal  of  “  such 
trades  as  are  manifest  nuisances  to  the  City,  such  as  brewers, 
dyers,  sope,  and  salt  boylers,  and  lime-burners,  to  further 
distances  ;  enjoining  by  Act  of  Parliament  that  all  such  works 
be  removed  five  or  six  miles  down  the  river.”  By  this  means 
work  would  be  found  for  thousands  of  watermen  and  the 
spaces  left  clear  would  serve  as  sites  “  for  tenements  and 
noble  houses  for  use  or  pleasure.”  His  second  suggestion 
was  characteristic  of  the  author  of  “  The  Discourse  on  Forest 
Trees.”  He  proposed  that  all  low  ground  circumjacent  to 
the  city,  especially  east  and  south-west,  should  be  divided 
into  square  plots  of  from  twenty  to  forty  acres  separated 
from  each  other  by  plantations  of  fragrant  shrubs,  such  as 
Sweetbriar,  Jessamine,  Syringa,  Roses,  and  above  all  Rose- 
mary,  “  the  flowers  of  which  are  credibly  reported  tr  sve 
their  scent  above  thirty  leagues  off  at  sea  upon  the  coasts  of 
Spain.” 
The  space  between  these  delicious  hedgerows  was  to  be 
filled  with  Pinks,  Gillyflowers,  Cowslips,  Lilies,  Musk,  Thyme,, 
and  Marjoram,  and  all  those  blossoms  “  which  upon  the  least 
cutting  and  pressure  breathe  out  and  betray  their  ravishing 
odours.”  By  this  means  “the  aer  perpetually  fanned  from 
so  many  encompassing  hedges  of  fragrant  shrubs  .  .  . 
the  whole  City  would  be  sensible  of  the  sweet  varieties  of 
the  perfumes  as  well  as  of  the  most  delightful  and  pleasant 
places  of  recreation  for  the  inhabitants.  A  diversion  might 
thus  be  yielded  inferior  to  none  that  can  be  imagined  for 
health,  profit,  and  beauty,”  and  those  “.that  walk  and  con¬ 
verse  in  London  ”  instead  of  being  “  pursued  and  haunted' 
by  that  infernal  smoak,”  might  dream  themselves  transferred 
“  as  if  by  a  certain  charm  or  innocent  Magick  ”  to  that  part 
of  Arabia  which  “  is  therefore  styled  the  Happy  because  it  is 
among  the  gums  and  precious  spices.” 
Ia  reading  history  one  never  knows  whether  the  changes- 
that  have  taken  place,  or  the  changes  that  have  not  taken 
place,  are  the  most  remarkable.  The  London  Evelyn  wrote- 
of  is  not  the  London  we  know.  My  Lord  Bridgewater’s  fruit, 
no  longer  ripens  in  the  Barbican,  and  we  are  no  longer- 
tempted  to  walk  in  Spring  Gardens  by  “  the  solemness  of 
the  grove  and  the  warbling  of  the  birds.”  But  the  city  which- 
already  in  Evelyn’s  day  “  commanded  the  proud  ocean  to  the 
Indies,”  still  “  wraps  her  stately  head  in  clowds  of  smoak 
and  sulohur,  sullying  the  glory  of  this  imperiall  seat.” — 
H.  C.  M.  (in  “  St.  James’  Gazette  ”). 
— — 
South  Africa. 
Farms  in  South  Africa. 
Schemes  are  now  afloat  to  attract  settlers  into  the  Cape 
Colony.  Mr.  C.  Forrest  Rigg  sends  us  a  pamphlet  entitled  “  New 
South  Africa,”  which  gives  interesting  details  on  all  conceivable- 
points  of  an  irrigation  farm  in  a  fertile  district  of  the  Colony, 
situated  162  miles  by  rail  from  Cape  Town  and  53  miles  from 
Worcester.  It  is  in  touch  with  various  markets.  The  prospect# 
are  enticing,  and  as  the  prospectus  is  free  we  would  advise  any 
who  are  interested  in  the  matter  of  South  African  colonisation 
to  write  and  obtain  a  copy  from  Mr.  C.  Forrest  Rigg,  at  hi« 
address,  Box  255,  Cape  Town;  or  Burmester’s  Buildings,  78, 
Adderley  Street,  Cape  Town. 
Agricultural  Schemes  in  the  Transvaal  Colony. 
Already  the  Government  have  established  farms  in  the  Trans¬ 
vaal.  They  have  cultivated  2,000  acres  near  Pretoria,  and  from 
this  piece  of  ground  they  are  able  to  supply  the  local  troops  with 
magnificent  Cabbage,  Peas,  Beans,  Turnips,  and  other  vegetables, 
and  have  a  good  surplus  over.  Besides  the  vegetable  farms, 
there  are  large  areas  under  Barley  and  Oats,  the  Barley  being 
cut  green  and  sent  daily  to  freshen  up  horses  in  the  remount 
camps.  Luoern  as  a  crop  also  promises  to  do  exceptionally  well, 
and  be  of  very  great  value  in  the  country. 
Fruit  Growing  in  Cape  Colony. 
The  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Trade  reproduces  some  remarks 
on  fruit  growing  in  the  Cape  Colony  from  the  official  organ  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  of  the  Cape.  Great  progress  has 
been  made  in  fruit  culture  there  during  the  last  fifteen  years 
as  regards  its  economic  importance,  and  it  is  evident  that,  in 
part  at  least,  the  foundation  has  been  laid  of  an  industry  which, 
if  carefully  developed,  may  in  time  have  a  great  and  beneficial 
influence  on  the  agricultural  development  of  the  country, 
especially  of  the  western  part  of  it.  Though  the  agricultural 
resources  of  the  colony  have  been  the  subject  of  attention  for 
over  two  centuries,  fruit  growing  was  of  no  practical  importance 
until  recently.  But  of  late  years  the  railways  now  give  ready 
transport,  larger  markets  are  open,  and  the  vineyards  have  been 
attacked  by  phylloxera,  so  that  fruit  culture  got  a  good  start. 
About  ten  years  ago  general  interest  began  to  be  taken  in  the 
industry,  which  was  regarded  as  capable  of  replacing  Vine  cultiva¬ 
tion.  Vineyards  were  uprooted  to  make  room  for  fruit  trees,  and 
the  existing  large  orchards  were  planted,  mainly  in  the  Stellen¬ 
bosch,  Paarl,  and  Worcester  districts.  In  1898  the  number  of 
fruit  trees  in  the  colony  was  about  3f  millions,  of  which  mil¬ 
lion  were  Peach,  over  f  million  Fig,  356,000  Apple,  326,000  Pear, 
and  the  remainder  mostly  Apricot,  Orange,  and  Plum  trees. 
Last  year  the  value  of  the  fruit  exported  was  about  £5,000.  It 
has  now  been  found  by  experience,  besides  the  difficulty  of  yield¬ 
ing  quick  returns,  that  the  fruit  crop  is  liable,  even  in  the  western 
districts,  to  periodical  failure,  and  that  the  cultivation  of  large 
orchards  is  more  expensive  than  that  of  large  vineyards,  while 
the  handling  of  large  quantities  of  fruit,  even  close  to  the  rail¬ 
way,  is  surrounded  by  difficulties.  Hence  a  very  rapid  growth  of 
the  cultivation  is  not  to  be  anticipated. 
