256 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
March  24,  1004. 
Old-time  Gardening. 
{Gontiniierl  from  109.) 
The  rise  of  botany  may  be  said  to  have  occurred  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  Dr.  Turner  at  Sion,  and  Gerard  at 
Holborn,  each  did  a  little  in  making  a  start,  and  it  is  to 
L'Obel  the  honour  belongs  of  the  first  attempt  at  a  scientific 
classification  of  plants.  But  progress  was  barred  by  a  lack 
of  knowledge  of  the  functions  of  plant  life.  The  parts 
played  by  leaf  and  sap  were  unknown,  and  the  relationship 
of  the  reproductive  organs,  or,  indeed,  their  very  existence, 
Avas  unrecognised. 
As  often  as  not  a  male  plant  was  called  female,  as  in  the 
case  of  Hemp,  the  “  carle-hemp  ”  being  preserved  for  seed 
purposes,  and  the  “  female  ”  as  being  barren  for  spinrriirg. 
Utilitarianism  was,  indeed,  largely  the  be-all  of  the  early 
botanist,  and  if  a  plant  possessed  rro  physical  or  beneficial 
properties  it  rvas  considered  as  somewhat  of  a  lapse  of 
Nature,  and  fit  only  to  adorn  a  gentlewoman’s  bed  of  nose¬ 
gay  flowers.  Classification,  therefore,  resolved  itself  into 
such  plants  as  rvere  usefrd  for  food,  poisonous,  or  for  physic. 
About  the  irriddle  of  the  centrrry  Dr.  Nehemiah  GreAV  pub¬ 
lished  a  book  dealing  Avith  plant  physiology,  and  by  the  end 
very  remarkable  progress  had  been  made. 
PaSE  OF  Botany  and  Botanic  Gardens. 
As  botanists,  Bobart,  of  Oxford,  in  conjunction  with 
Morrison,  professor  of  botany  there,  may  be  here  men¬ 
tioned  ;  but  it  is  perhaps  to  Bay  that  the  men  of  that  period 
Avere  most  indebted.  Bay  Avas  very  painstaking,  and  in  his 
researches  into  the  Flora  of  England,  the  first  Avork  upon 
Avhich  he  published,  he  travelled  over  all  the  country,  extend¬ 
ing  his  journeys  into  Scotland.  He,  moreover,  had  corre¬ 
spondents  AA’ho  aided  him  AAuth  specimens  of  plants  and 
notes.  Bay’s  classification  Avas  exceedingly  complicated, 
though  sometimes  being  very  near  the  natural,  Avhile  at 
others  as  Avidely  apart ;  as,  for  instance,  Avhere  Hops,  Glass- 
Avort,  Hemp,  Mercury,  Nettles,  Burs^  Docks,  BuckAvheat, 
Potamogeton,  Sueda,  Beet,  Pellitory,  Golden  Saxifrage, 
La^:lies’  Mantle,  and  Bupture  Wort  are  all  included  in  one 
because  the  floAvers  are  “imperfect,”  or  sometimes  “  Avithout 
petals.”  Tournefort’s  classification,  though  complicated 
too,  Avas  in  many  respects  less  so  than  that  of  Bay,  and 
became  the  recognised  system  for  a  A-ery  long  period,  eA^en 
tong  after  that  of  Linnaeus  had  bebn  generally  accepted. 
The  first  botanic  gardens  Avere  founded  in  England  during 
this  century,  though  there  Avere  not  a  feAv  priA'ate  gardens  in 
Avhich  collections  of  plants  Avere  gathered  together  and  culti- 
A'ated,  but  it  Avas  to  private  persons  that  the  nucleus  of 
public  collections  Avas  due.  Eor  a  very  long  time  the  name 
botanic  Avas  not  applied,  but  they  AA^ere  called  physic  gardens, 
the  very  reason  of  their  existence  apparently  being  founded 
on  the  all-absorbing  belief  that  the  vegetable  Avorld  compre¬ 
hended  to  a  A^ery  large  extent  the  chief  source  of  medicines. 
Another  matter  connected  AA’ith  these  eai’ly  public 
gardens  Avas  their  restricted  dimensions.  Three  to  five  acres 
of  ground  was  thought  space  suiicient  to  include  the  Avliole 
Avorld  of  vegetables  then  Avorth  gathering  together.  Oxford 
claims  the  honour  of  possessing  the  first  of  these  establish¬ 
ments,  it  haAung  been  founded  in  1632  by  the  munificence  of 
Henry  Danvers,  Earl  of  Danby,  Avho  also  endoAved  it  Avith 
an  annual  revenue.  In  extent  it  Avas  five  acres,  and  Avas 
enclosed  by  Avails  14ft  high  of  heAAm  stone.  The  gate  to  this 
garden  Avas  said  to  haA^e  cost  £50(1  or  £600.  Bobart,  a  Dutch¬ 
man,  Avas  the  first  curator,  and  he  Avas  responsible  for  the 
introduction  of  many  neAv  plants  from  his  native  country. 
On  holidays,  Bobart  (aaLo  spelled  his  name  Bobcrt, 
though  the  former  is  the  recognised  mode)  used  to  dress  his 
large  floAving  beard  Avith  silver  tags.  He  AA’as  succeeded  by 
his  son,  Jacob  Bobart,  of  AAdiom  Ave  catch  many  glimpses  as 
a  botanist  and  florist.  On  the  death  of  Morrison  in  1683  he 
continued,  and  brought  to  a  conclusion,  that  botanist’s 
history  of  plants.  In  1673  the  celebrated  Physic  Garden  at 
Chelsea  Avas  founded  by  the  Apothecaries’  Company.  It  Avas 
not  enclosed  by  a  AAnll  till  later,  and  seems  to  have  been 
established  and  furnished  by  the  liberality  of  members  of 
the  Apothecaries’  CompanJ^  It  extended  to  not  much  more 
than  three  acres. 
In  1676  a  collection  of  medicinal  plants  Avas  purchased 
from  a  Mrs.  Gape,  of  Westminster.  The  first  curator  Avas 
named  Piggott,  and  he  Avas  folloAA^ed  by  Watts  in  1680,  an 
apothecary  ;  he  received  a  salary  of  £50  a  year,  but  he 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  successful  as  a  gardener,  as  the 
plants  seem  to  have  been  neglected  under  his  rule.  In  1722 
Philip  Miller  became  curator,  and  during  his  lengthy  reign 
the  gardens  attained  a  Avorld-Avide  fame.  Sir  Hans  Sloane 
gave  the  Apothecaries  a  lease  in  perpetuity  of  the  gardens  on 
payment  of  £5  per  annum. 
In  Scotland  the  present  Boyal  Botanic  Gardens  had  their 
inception  through  the  enlightened  physician.  Sir  AndreAV 
Balfour,  one  of  the  greatest  benefactors  of  the  gude  toun  of 
Edinburgh.  He  settled  in  Edinburgh  in  the  year  1670, 
Avhere,  adjoining  his  house,  he  established  a  small  botanic 
garden,  and  furnished  it  Avith  plants,  the  produce  of  seeds 
received  from  his  many  correspondents  on  the  Continent, 
Avhere  he  had  spent  several  years  studying  botany,  medicine, 
and  men.  Balfour  Avas  an  original  investigator,  and  to  him 
the  scientists  of  his  day  Avere  indebted  for,  among  other 
results,  the  exposure  of  the  Barnacle  goose  Avonder.  He  dis¬ 
covered  many  hitherto  unrecorded  Avild  plants,  and  possessed 
moreover  the  poAver  of  instilling  some  of  his  oAvn  enthusiasm 
into  the  minds  of  his  students.  One  of  these.  Lord  Living¬ 
ston,  was  devotedly  attached  to  the  pursuits  of  natural 
history,  and  formed  at  Livingston  a  botanic  garden  Avhich 
contained  a  thousand  species  of  plants. 
In  pursuit  of  bis  favourite  study.  Lord  Livingston 
travelled  all  over  Erance  gathering  plants  ;  thence  he  Avent 
to  Italy,  but  on  the  Avay  he  Avas  attacked  by  a  fever  that 
terminated  fatally.  Balfour  subsequently  secured  the  col¬ 
lection  of  plants,  and,  transporting  them  to  Edinburgh,  added 
his  oAvn  small  collection  to  it.  The  expenses  incurred  Avere 
defrayed  by  himself  and  Sir  Bobert  Sibbald,  an  eminent 
naturalist  belonging  to  Fife,  aided  by  the  Faculty  of  Advo¬ 
cates.  The  garden  Avas  established  on  a  small  plot  of 
ground  near  Holyrood  ;  but  shortly  afterAvards  the  municipal 
authorities  allotted  a  piece  of  ground  almost  exactly  on  the 
spot  Avhere  the  east  coast  trains  noAV  start  for  London.  The 
salary  of  the  curator,  who  called  himself  the  iutendaut,  Avas 
also  defrayed  by  the  city. 
James  Sutherland  Avas  the  first  curator,  and  he  published 
an  interesting  catalogue  of  the  plants  cultivated  in  the 
gardens  in  1683-4.  Balfour,  however,  Avas  the  means  of  add¬ 
ing  considerably  to  the  number  of  plants.  His  friend, 
Morrison,  of  Oxford,  under  whom  he  had  studied  on  the  Con¬ 
tinent  ;  Watts,  of  Chelsea  Botanic  Gardens,  and  foreign 
correspondents,  including  one  in  Tangiers  Avho  sent  African 
plants,  all  contributed  plants  and  seeds. 
Dr.  Alston,  professor  of  botany,  published  in  1740  a  cata" 
logue  of  medicinal  plants  cultivated  at  that  date*,  Avhich  is 
not  a  A^ery  lengthy  one  ;  but  the  Edinburgh  Botanic  Garden 
exerted  a  poAverful  influence  on  the  gardening  of  Scotland 
for  some  150  years  after  its  institution,  collections  of  hardy 
plants  being  a  feature  in  most  of  the  gardens  in  that  country, 
and,  indeed,  a  knowledge,  intimate  and  extensive,  of  these 
Avas  essential  to  a  gardener.  In  1767  Hope,  the  then  pro¬ 
fessor  of  botany,  secured  five  acres  of  ground  in  a  better  posi¬ 
tion  near  Leith  Walk,  and  here  until  1821  the  Botanic  Garden 
Avas  situated,  Avhen  a  removal  Avas  made  to  its  present  site 
in  Inverleith  Boav. — B. 
Small  Parks  and  Fires 
Tlie  recent  most  disastrous  fire  which  devastated  the  City  of 
Baltimore,  Md.,  serves  to  illustrate  one  of  the  large  public 
services  that  may  be  performed  by  small  parks.  In  urging  the 
establishment  of  these  open  areas  in  the  more  croAvded  part  of 
a  city  the  larger  claim  naturally  lies  witn  the  broader  questions 
of  public  health  as  it  is  related  to  freedom  of  air  and  snnligh. 
for  the  residents  of  the  district.  Stress  is  usually  laid  upon  the 
better  physical  and  moral  conditions  of  the  near-by  population, 
for  it  is  no  longer  a  question  of  theory  that  better  living  con¬ 
ditions  make  for  better  civic  health  as  well  as  for  better  nianhood. 
The  Baltimore  fire  could  never  have  been  so  destructive  if  only 
there  had  been  open  spaces  where  the  danger  of  the  spread  of 
the  fire  Avas  lessened,  and  Avhere  the  fire  fighters  could  make  a  firm 
and  concentrated  stand.  An  abundance  of  small  parks  scattered 
through  the  city  Avould  serve  the  end  at  the  same  time  as  they 
added  to  the  general  good  of  the  daily  living  conditions.  Thei'' 
is,  indeed,  Amry  good  reason  to  urge  the  making  of  small  parks 
solely  as  a  means  of  counteracting  the  dangers  of  a  huge  con¬ 
flagration.  In  some  of  the  cities  of  the  old  Avorld  this  aspect  of 
the  small  park  question  is.  kept  Avell  to  the  front  ;  and  to  cite 
one  city  as  an  instance — London,  Avith  its  more  than  seAmnteen 
thousand  acres  of  park  land,  is  still  planning  to  increase  thi  - 
area  by  the  acquisition  of  lands  that  may  be  made  into  “small 
parks.”  If  the  Monument  City  had  had  an  abundance  of  open 
areas  in  its  business  section  the  sad  story  of  last  Sunday  Avould 
]  never  have  been  told. — (“  American  Gardening.”) 
