ART. V. Covent Garden Market.

PRICES FOR THE FIRST AND SECOND WEEKS OF MAY.

Observations.—The prevalence of cold and wet, throughout the month of April, retarded the growth of all vegetable productions very materially, notwithstanding which our supplies of common articles have been tolerably abundant. Forced asparagus was much in demand, and brought very high prices; but in consequence of the recent change of the weather, which has caused a supply from the open ground, the forced article is no longer wanted but for soups. A few forced peas in punnets appeared in April, for which it was reported a very extravagant price had been obtained; but this was most properly contradicted in one of the newspapers, by Mr. Cooke, the fruiterer, &c., in Covent Garden Market. From appearance, I concluded that the variety was Bishop's New Early. Since that time some early single-blossomed Frames have been produced of much better sample and quality, which will give that variety a decided advantage over the other, except in cases where a very few early peas are desirable. Rhubarb stalks have been in great abundance, and almost in equal demand. The use of this article in the kitchen within the last few years has increased to a very great extent, and has induced many gardeners in the neighbourhood of

London to turn their attention to its improvement, whence have resulted several_new_varieties, among which may be particularly noticed Wilmot's Early Red, Radford's Giant, Dutly's Goliath, and Myatt's Seedling. The first is an early variety for forcing; the others are large and well flavoured, and equally desirable and advantageous, giving a large supply of fine stalks at this season for the table. Rhubarb stalks were first used as a substitute for, or mixed with, gooseberries or apples in tarts; but they are now esteemed for their peculiar flavour, without reference either to gooseberries or apples, and generally considered wholesome and nutritive. The - G. C. May, first peas from the open garden appeared on May 16.

1829.

ART. VI. Horticultural Society and Garden.

APRIL 7. 1829.- Read. Notice respecting the Cariaco or Amapo of South America, or Maiz de dos Meses; by John Hancock, M.D

Exhibited. A plant in flower of Enkianthus reticulatus, from Thomas Carey Palmer, Esq. F.H.S. Yellow Chinese Azalea, from William Wells, Esq. F.H.S. Nine sorts of Camellias, from Messrs. Chandler and Son. An Apple, unnamed, from Mr. James Young, F.H.S. Four sorts of Apples from Robert Holden, Esq.

Also, from the Garden of the Society. Bellissime d'Hiver pear, and sixteen sorts of apples.

April 21.-Read. Upon the cultivation of the Bouvárdia triphýlla; by Mr. John Mearns, F.H.S. Journal of Meteorological Observations, made in the Garden of the Horticultural Society at Chiswick, during the year 1828; by Mr. William Beattie Booth, A.L.S. An account of Ribes sanguineum; by Mr. David Douglas, F.L.S., &c.

Exhibited. Oranges from St. Michael's, from William Harding Read, Esq. C.M.H.S. Mushrooms, from Mr. William Dolby, gardener to John Josiah Guest, Esq. F.H.S. Flowers of Magnòlia conspicua, from Sir Abraham Hume, Bart. F.H.S. Azalea índica hýbrida, from Mr. James Young, F.H.S. A collection of Polyanthuses and Auriculas, from Mr. William Hogg, of Paddington. Four sorts of Camellias, from Messrs. Chandler and Son.

Also, from the Garden of the Society. Flower of Double Furze, Poppy Anemones, varieties of Fritillària, Tulipa sylvéstris, Euphorbia rígida, varieties of Narcissus and Ribes sanguíneum. Fruits of the Roseberry and Keen's Seedling Strawberry, forced in a curvilinear house.

May 5.-Read. Upon the Management of Bees; By Alexander Seton, Esq. F.H.S. Upon the supposed Changes of the Climate of England; by Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq. F.R.S. and President. Upon the Ventilation of Hotbeds; by Mr. R. L. Howes, gardener to Mrs. Everard, of Middleton, Norfolk. Upon an Improvement in the Construction of Hot-houses; by Mr. John Legge, C.M.H.S. History and Description of the Species of Camellia and Thea, cultivated in the Garden of the Horticultural Society; by Mr. William Beattie Booth, A.L.S.

Exhibited. Cucumbers, from Mr. R. L. Howes, gardener to Mrs. Everard of Middleton, Norfolk. Cucumbers, from Mr. John Legge, C.M.H.S. Specimens of nine sorts of Broccoli, from Mr. Hugh Ronalds, F.H S. Camellias, cut from a plant which has been growing in the open ground for five years, at Killerton, from Sir Thomas Dyke Ackland, Bart. F.H.S. Flower of a new seedling Camellia, from John Allnut, Esq. F.H.S. Dutch Pippins, from Mr. William Beattie, F.H.S.; Sweeney Nonpareils, from Thomas Netherton Parker, Esq. F.H.S.; and three sorts of Apples, from Mr. John Mitchell, C.M.H.S.

Also, from the Garden of the Society. Knight's protecting Broccoli, flowers of Coloured Oxlips, Coloured Cowslips, Poppy Anemones, Early Tulips, varieties of Fritillaria, Ribes sanguíneum and aureum præ cox, Double Furze, Amygdalus pérsica flòre plèno, Prùnus sinensis, varieties of Narcíssi.

May 19.- Read. On the Management of the Genus Caméllia; by Mr. Thomas Blake, F.H.S. gardener to Lord Rolle, F.H.S. Remarks on the Culture of the Vine; by H. Barry, Esq.

Exhibited. Candle from the wax of the Rhús succedànea, from F. D. Davis, Esq. Broccoli, from Mr. James Dann, Gardener to the Rev. Henry Symonds De Brett, F. H. S. Ten sorts of Flowers, from Robert Barclay, Esq. F.H.S. Azalea índica álba, Rhododendron fràgrans, and a seedling var. of Rhododendron catawbiénsis, from Messrs. Chandler and Son. Remarkably fine Asparagus, from Mr. Grayson of Mortlake, Surrey. Also, from the Garden of the Society. Nine sorts of apples and thirteen sorts of Rhubarb, flowers of Wistària Consequàna, Yellow Ròsa Bánksiæ, Chelone Scoulèri, Common and Irish Poppy Anemones, Narcissus, Pæonies, Double Tulips, Single Tulips, Parrot Tulips, Double-flowering Furze, C'ýtisus ruthénicus, Cytisus elongatus, Spártium scórpius, Ribes aúreum, seedling Heart's-ease and Double Prùnus Cérasus.

The Anniversary Fête of the Society will take place at the garden at Chiswick, on Saturday, June 27.; for which tickets will be issued from the office in Regent Street under the following regulations:

1. All Fellows of the Society will be furnished with tickets of admission for their own personal use at 21s. each.

2. All Fellows of the Society will be furnished with tickets for each and every member of their family at 21s. each, up to the 13th of June inclusive; after that day and up to the 20th of June inclusive, at 17. 11s. 6d. each, and subsequently, at 21. 28. each.

3. Such tickets as may be required by Fellows beyond those for indi viduals of their own family, must be applied for, either personally or in writing, when vouchers will be issued by the Committee in favour of the applicants. These tickets will be 25s. each, up to the 13th of June inclusive; after that day and up to the 20th of June inclusive, they will be 1. 11s. 6d. and subsequently 27. 28.

4 Tickets will not be transferable.

5. If tickets are exchanged, the difference must be paid between the value of the original ticket and the price which may be borne by tickets at the time of the exchange being effected.

on.

The Chiswick Garden, May 20. - We have visited this garden two or three times since our return from the Continent, but found little to remark On the whole, it is kept in good order, and extra-attention seems to be paid to the hot-house plants, and especially to the orchideous epiphytes. Wistaria Consequàna is now splendidly in bloom on the open wall; the number of blossoms exceeds 1500, each raceme from 12 to 18 in. long, each blossom like that of a scarlet runner, but much larger, and of a light purple. Such a plant, trained to a parasol or to a tree, in the open garden on a lawn, would produce an effect much more natural and imposing, because one beauty of all flowers and fruits that come in bunches is to hang freely down. No person having a house or garden, either in town or country, however small, ought to be without this extraordinary fine climber; when once established it grows with great rapidity. The plant in the Chiswick garden last year made shoots 30 ft. long; four plants, we should think, if done justice to at the roots, would cover the walls of St. Paul's Cathedral in ten years and one plant, in a good churchyard, would cover any country church in less than that time. The price from being 40s. has fallen to 5s. and 7s. 6d. each.

It deserves to be noticed, that the artesian well here, which four years

ago gave six gallons a minute, does not now give one gallon, and water is accordingly supplied to the garden from one of the public water companies. The flow of most of the other artesian wells, that we have heard of, has diminished in a not less extraordinary proportion; the natural consequence of the great increase of the number of these wells, within a limited district, in diminishing the source of supply. The water-borers at Paris will, we trust, profit by this fact.

On a former occasion, we stated the advantages that would result to the visitors of this garden, from having all the hardy plants, species as well as varieties, conspicuously named. Our correspondent, Mr. Murray, has shown (Vol. III. p. 29.), that this may be done in the Glasgow garden, in a most superior style, at the rate of 23s. per hundred; say in the Chiswick garden at 30s. per hundred; or, for the 3000 articles that may require naming, 45.; a trifle scarcely more than a fifth part of the amount of the receipts for produce sold last year. With respect to Mr. Murray's tally (fig. 16. Vol. III. p. 29.), we can state it from experience to be far preferable to painting the name on plates, either of iron or lead, however carefully these plates may have been prepared. We received a tally from Mr. Murray a little more than two years ago, and stuck it in the ground along with some others, with the names painted on cast-iron, the iron being previously boiled in oil, and afterwards three times painted. We also stuck in some on which the names were painted on plates of lead, the plates being prepared by three coats of paint. The letters, both on the iron and the lead, are beginning to fade, while Mr. Murray's letters on wood and under glass are as clear as when they were put in; the air being completely excluded from the letters. Possibly a card might be substituted for the slip of wood, and the name, class, native country, year of introduction, &c. handsomely printed at a printing-office. We throw out the idea for gardeners who have the naming of private collections, and hope soon to supply some other hints on the subject. — Cond.

ART. VII. Arboretum in the Garden of the Horticultural Society.

We have delayed so long to lay the plan of this notable work before our readers, that we fear a number of them will have forgotten our promise to do so. The reason of the delay has been an utter aversion, on our part, from the duty of finding fault with a production which, were it any where else but in the garden of a public body, would be beneath criticism.

The first duty of the critic of any production is to endeavour to ascertain the object which the producer has had in view; and the only data that we have for this is in the name "Arboretum," the references to the plan, and the following passage from the Report of the Garden Committee for 1826:"The entire garden must be viewed as created for the illustration of all objects connected with gardening, and as intended to fulfil the purposes of the original institution of the Society, pointed out in its charter, the improvement of horticulture in all its branches, ornamental as well as useful."

The words in italics in the above extract are in italics in the report; from which, and from the plan of the water and the turf in the arboretum, we conclude that that department of the Chiswick garden is meant to exhibit a specimen of landscape-gardening as well as a collection of trees and shrubs. Every one who looks at the plan (fig. 79), and has seen the garden, will we think, allow that we are justified in forming this conclusion; and therefore we may fairly proceed to examine it, first as a landscape composition of wood, water, and turf; and secondly, as an assemblage of trees for botanical and pictorial study.

As a landscape composition, it must either be an imitation of natural scenery, or a composition with a view to create a character of art; any thing between the two would be too indefinite to have much beauty. No one, for a moment, can ever mistake either the water or the clumps for natural forms; and, therefore, we must conclude that an artificial character was intended. An artificial character may be highly beautiful without being natural. The French parterre is an artificial character, and is very perfect and very beautiful in its way. So may an artificial arboretum, for it might be arranged as a parterre on a large scale; and, therefore, we are bound to conclude that the artist who devised the plan of this arboretum had an artificial character in view. There can be no question that he was satisfied with the beauty of his composition, and it is equally certain that the garden committee consider it beautiful; for in the same Report which we have quoted, they state " that if the plan of the garden were again to be arranged, the present would probably be adopted by all who are acquainted with its details." We confess we can see neither beauty nor fitness in any part of the plan of this garden, as we have before stated (Encyc. of Gard., § 7507.; Gard. Mag., vol. ii. p. 359.), and least of all, in the plan of the arboretum. But, having shown that it has no natural beauty, we shall employ a few words to prove that it is equally deficient in artificial beauty.

As the first effect of natural beauty is the impression of a resemblance to nature, so the first effect of artificial beauty is the impression that the scene could only have been produced by art. Both characters are produced by art; but in the former case art is studiously concealed; in the latter, it is distinctly avowed. The grand defect of this arboretum is, that the forms, neither separately nor combined, are sufficiently geometrical; and the second defect is, that from no point, nor in any manner in which it can be viewed, does it form a whole. With the single exception of the two ovals (a b and e d), there is not a single clump that might not be moved either backwards or forwards, or taken away altogether, without in the slightest degree injuring the effect of the rest, or of the water or grass. The water might have been more or less bent in its direction, and broader or narrower at any one particular part, without the slightest derangement to the grass or the clumps. The only thing like what an artist would call a feature in this plan is the open glade (e f), in the direction of the committee room (g). This is the single redeeming point in the whole composition, which is otherwise so tame and lumpish as to leave no striking or agreeable impression. Whoever has Brewster's Encyclopædia, and will turn to the article Landscape-gardening and the plate of the grounds at Duddingston House near Edinburgh, will be struck with the similarity in the manner of laying out that place by a pupil of Brown between 1770 and 1780, and of laying out the arboretum of the Chiswick garden in 1825; and they may ascertain the opinion now entertained of the beauty of the grounds at Duddingston House, as well in the article alluded to as in Sir Walter Scott's review of the Planter's Guide in the Quarterly Review for October, 1827.

The next thing is to examine how far the disposition of the clumps is favourable to the purpose of examining different species or genera of trees individually, in connection with other species of the same genus, or genera of the same order, in the Jussieuean or Linnean system. Ready and comfortable access to each individual species at all seasons when plants are in flower or leaf, and such an obvious arrangement as that a botanist, knowing the position of any two genera, might tell where to find a third, it will we think, be allowed, are leading desiderata for this purpose.

Accordingly, almost all the arboretums in Europe have the trees planted along gravel walks that the botanist may examine them without damping his feet by moist earth or dewy grass; and the genera following cach