June  11,  1903. 
JOUElsAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AUD  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
rM 
Old  Time  Gardening. 
{Neni  Series,  rontinued  from  pn<ie  -H?,  last  rol.) 
No  figure  in  English  history  is  more  real  to  us  than  that 
of  a  certain  timid  little  hoy  pleading  with  the  representa¬ 
tive  of  the  Well-to-do’s  for  “  More,”  and  our  syni{)athies  are 
all  with  the  one  who  asked  but  did  not  receive  rather  than 
with  the  horrified  personification  of  a  limited  Providence 
that  could  give  only  by  rule,  and  with  whom  the  law  of 
necessity  found  never  any  place.  Like  Oliver  Twist,  our 
editor  requests  “  More,”  but,  unlike  him,  never  has  to 
meditate  over  a  refusal  ;  so,  on  my  part,  I  am  buckling  to, 
and  hope  to  be  able  to  satisfy,  in  some  degree,  the  crav¬ 
ing  to  know  more  about  the  progress  of  gardening  in  our 
island,  and  this  time  we  shall  most  naturally  make  a  begin¬ 
ning  about  the  time  England  and  Scotland  came  under  one 
sceptre,  and  the  Scot  began  that  long-continued  south-going 
procession  for  his  own  and  his  country’s  good,  that  is  not 
yet  on  the  wane. 
It  may  be  remembered  the  first  series  of  these  papers 
came  to  a  conclusion  with  an  estimate  of  Gerarde’s  work 
and  position  in  the  race  of  early  gardeners,  who  were  also 
])hysicians.  There  is  another  great  figure  of  the  same  age,  who 
wrote  on  gardening  in  the  same  year  with  Gerarde,  but  whose 
pen  treated  of  a  style  of  gardening  much  beyond  the 
capacity  of  his  fellow-countrymen  to  comprehend.  It  is, 
however,  in  many  respects  so  true  to  nature  that  we  cannot 
but  believe  that  Bacon’s  essay  on  gardening  effected  some 
degree  of  good,  though  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  faults  of 
his  system,  wLich  were  those  of  his  day,  attracted  more 
consideration  than  the  truer  propositions  he  was  bold 
enough  to  enunciate.  When  neople  can  find  only  praise  for 
Bacon  they  put  aside  altogether  the  glaring  absurdities  and 
the  less  fatal  defects  that  mar  his  general  scheme.  Of 
these  may  be  mentioned  the  desire  for  formality  exhibited 
in  every  part  of  it.  Even  in  the  “  heath  ”  which  he  wished 
to  be  framed  to  a  natural  wildness,  the  little  heaps  in  the 
nature  of  molehills  were  to  be  planted  wdth  low  flowers 
only,  and  the  little  standards  were  to  be  kept  with  cutting. 
Jtverywhere  else  was  of  the  most  formal  nature.  Then  it 
seems  out  of  all  precedent  that  trees  were  nowhere  per¬ 
mitted  in  the  whole  thirty  acres  of  ground.  Bacon,  while 
alive  to  the  enchanting  beauty  of  flowers  and  the  delight¬ 
someness  of  their  vained  perfumes,  recognised  trees  as 
being  desirable  only  for  the  shade  they  imparted  during 
Rosa  polyantha,  Blush  Rambler. 
( li.  ll.  Cant  and  Cons  novelty.  Floivevs  pml.-,  Kith  trhile  centre  ; 
descriled  at  itaye  4TU.) 
summer,  and  this  he  preferably  secured  by  means  of 
“  covert  alleys,”  which  he  considered  in  every  way  sui)erior. 
Yet  of  all  his  propositions  these  alone  are  ridiculous.  The 
stately  arched  hedge  encompassing  his  main  garden  of 
twelve  acres,  and  the  4ft  hedge  framed  atop  that,  with  its 
turrets  at  eveiy  sixth  foot,  its  cages  of  birds  and  its  liroad 
plates  of  round  coloured  glass  gilt  for  the  sun  to  play  upon, 
are  fully  as  objectionable  as  the  Knots  lying  under  the 
window  and  the  images  cut  out  in  Juniper  in  the  main 
garden  which  he  condemns. 
Passing  from  these  points  it  is  much  more  pleasant  to 
touch,  though  ever  so  lightly,  on  this  novel  garden  that  this 
great  philosopher  considered  good  enough  for  a  pi'ince. 
The  finely-shorn  grass  lying  in  front  of  the  windows  of  the 
building  he  had  just  descrilied  is  worthy  of  all  praise  as  a 
break  from  theKnots  and  figures  from  which  his  soul  re¬ 
volted.  Yet  it  was  long  before  the  seed  tbeu  sown  attained 
fruition.  Then,  the  garden  in  the  centre  of  the  thirty  acres, 
apart  from  its  ugly  hedges,  its  cages  and  its  horrid  globes  of 
many-coloured  glass,  is  a  noble  conception.  All  its  alleys 
were  to  be  spacious  and  fair,  and  those  who  know  how 
narrow  walks  bemean  gardens  of  much  less  dimensions  will 
recognise  how  fitting  is  the  innovation.  These  walks  were 
to  be  edged  with  low  hedges  with  round-cut  tops,  and  here 
and  there  pretty  pyramids  and  fair  columns.  There  were 
also  to  be  fair  alleys  ranged  on  both  sides  with  fruit  trees, 
and  though  one  would  like  to  say  these  were  espaliers,  the 
author  does  not  say  so,  and  therefore  we  may  not.  Here, 
too,  as  a  central  object  was  the  mount,  3Uft  high,  and  also  a 
banqueting  house,  such  as  that  described  in  a  former  paper 
as  belonging  to  the  Earl  of  Northumberland.  kountains 
were  there,  too,  the  one  to  spout  water,  the  other  to  pro- 
viue  with  a  constant  supply  of  fresh  water  a  basin  of  .‘30ft  or 
4Uft  square,  “  which  we  may  call  a  bathing  pool.” 
Of  the  walks  in  this  garden  Bacon  does  not  mention 
how  he  would  have  them  made,  but  not  impossibly  it  would 
be  some  of  these,  “  whole  alleys  of  them,”  that  he  would 
set  with  Burnet,  wild  Thyme,  and  Watermints,  to  secure 
their  crushed-out  perfume  “when  you  walk  or  tread.” 
Beyond  this  garden,  which,  surrounded  as  it  was  on  every 
side  by  other  enclosures,  must  have  been  very  cosy  and 
eminently  private,  lay  the  heath,  six  acres  in  extent.  The 
most  delightful  arrangement  here  is  undoubtedly  the 
“  thickets  made  only  of  Sweet  Briar  and  Honeysuckle,  and 
some  wild  Vines  amongst  the  ground  set  with  Violets, 
Strawberries,  and  Primroses.”  At  thi.s  time  several  plants 
were  known  as  wild  Vines,  but  Clematis  Vitalba  may  safely 
be  accepted  as  the  one  meant.  One  has  only  to  conjure 
up  an  April  afternoon  of  sunshine  and  shower,  the  atmo¬ 
sphere  a  subtle  compound  of  Primrose  and  Violet,  with 
]ierhaps  a  blackbird  and  tbrossal,  as  Izaak  dubs  tlie  mcic- 
dious  thrush,  singing  against  each  other  in  a  neighbouring 
copse.  Or  a  walk  in  a  June  evening  when  sniffs  of  the  too 
odorous  Honeysuckle  and  less  oppressive  Sweet  Eglantine 
make  one  linger  on  the  way.  Ami  ihiLk,  too,  of  the  charm 
of  the  wild  Vine,  with  its  wliite  feathery  tufts  in  autumn  in¬ 
termingled  with  red-fruited  Honeysuckle,  and  the  sparsely 
hipped  Sweet  Briar  ?  It  is,  indeed,  a  combination  suited 
for  all  times.  The  little  heaps  furnished,  some  with  Thyme, 
others  with  Pinks,  Germander  (Teucrium  Chamaepitys), 
Periwinkles,  Violets,  Strawberries,  Cowslips,  Daisies,  red 
Roses,  Lilium  convallium  (Lily  of  the  Valley),  red  Sweet 
Williams,  Bearsfoot  (Helleborus  foetidus),  are  proof  that 
Bacon  had  grasped  the  idea  of  massing  plants  in  a  wild 
garden,  but  that  was  all. 
The  third  portion  of  the  thirty  acres  were  side  grounds, 
each  containing  four  acres.  They  were  to  be  filled  with  a 
variety  of  alleys,  some  to  give  a  full  shade,  others  for 
shelter  “  that  wdien  the  wind  blows  shari)  you  may  walk  as 
in  a  gallery.”  They  were  to  be  gravelled  on  account  of  wet. 
Inferentiaily  it  is  noticed  that  some  of  these  alleys  were  of 
grass.  Here,  too,  were  to  be  set  fruit  trees  of  all  sorts, 
some  on  walls,  some  in  ranges  (lines),  d’he  latter  were  to 
have  full  s})ace  to  grow,  and  he  commends  borders  set  with 
flowers,  but  thin  and  sparingly,  “  lest  they  deceive  the 
trees.”  Trees  first,  flowers  afterwards.  At  the  further  end 
of  these  side  grounds  he  advises  placing  a  mount  “to  look 
abroad  into  the  fields.” 
The  kind  of  flowers  Bacon  liked  best  can  be  gathered 
from  the  list  of  sweet-smelling  sorts  he  names,  and  also 
from  those  he  recommends  to  grow  in  order  to  produce  a 
ver  perpetuum — a  never-ending  spring-time.  In  some  re¬ 
spects  the  lists  are  really  interesting.  They  show,  for 
instance,  that  certain  plants,  then  lately  introduced,  e.g., 
