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: I
S u b s ec t . 4 . liussian Gardening, in respect to ihe Cullure o f Timber Trees and Hedges.
475. Forest or hedge plnnting is scarcely known in Russia. There are yet abundance
of natural forests, chiefly of birch, lime, and Scotch pine, for timber and fuel, and iu tho
northern ])arts, where no system of pasturage can take ¡ddco, enclosures arc not now, and
jn-obably never will be, of any use. Hedges arc in use in the gardens of the ca¡)ital, aiid
of the city of residence. The time is not yet come for planting the sides of the highroads,
though that -would be a grand feature of improvement. In some governments,
towards the south, this has been partially done in a few places, by stakes of the silvery-
leaved willow ; but the trembling poplar, birch, and lime, are the proper trees for the
northern parts ; and the cherry, alder, sycamore, oak, elm, walnut, &c., m aybe introduced
in advancing southward.
The prevalciit timber trees on Ihe borders of ihc G u lf o f Finland ivcc th e following, the most common
being first in o rd e r:—P in u s sylvéstris, 2^1nus yj'bics, 7/étula ¡ilba, P é ta la /i'ln u s, Pópulus tré mula;
different 5álices, ./unípcrus commùnis, P yrus Aucupária, Cérasus i^àdus, P bámnus Frángula,
íjuércus 2¿óbur, Tilia curopæ'a, P ÿ ru s á/íilus, zl'ccr campestre, Práxinus excelsior, í/'lmus campéstris,
P ln u s Pícea, Pin u s 7>árix, P in u s Cémbra, P ln u s rù b ra Millón'. These last four grow on the coast of
th e White and tho Frozen Seas. (Com. to Board o f Agr., vol. i.)
The native shrubs in th e same places are th e following :—diflercnt Sálicos, Pibtírnum C'pulus, Córylus
/ivellàna, p ò sa canina, 72étula nana, TTáphne Mezèrcum, liìhcs nìgrum, liìhcs rùbrura, Pùbu.s idoe'us,
7/ùbus fruticòsus, /irlc a vulgàris, Lonicera Xylósteum, Myrìca Gàie, /.òdurn paìùstre, yFrbutus U'va
lìrsi, Andromeda calycuhìta, Paccinium uliginòsum. On th e borders of the Frozen Sea are, Sàlix
reticulata, Sillix incubiicoa, /I'rb u tu s alpinus, Andromeda tctragòna, Diapènsia lappónica, Azàlea pro-
cùmbcns, Andromeda cærùlca, //ypnoldcs, &c. &c. (Ibid.)
The hedge plants aìid trees ofthe district o f St. Petersburgh are few. The willow is indigenous, and its
bark is used by th e tanners ; so is tlnat of the birch. Tlic white and Italian poplar will not stand the
opon air ; but the Scotch pine and th e aspen are indigenous, und quite hardy. Of shrubs, the common •
lioneysuckle requires to be kept under glass ; but th e common lilac is so hardy th a t hedges arc made
of it. llobinfa Caragàna is equally hardy, and th e leaves of both these plants are very seldom infested
by insects. (Ibid.)
S u b s ec t . 5. Russian Gardening, as empirically practised.
476. The very limited use o f gardens in this country has been already noticed. Few
are to be seen attached to the isbas, or log-houscs, of the boors, and not many to the rich
in-i-vileged slaves, or tho native frcedmen of the towns. There is no such thing as a
Russian farm er; every proprietor farms the whole of his own estate by means of his
slaves and an agent. The greater part of these proprietors have no gardens, or if they
have, they are wTctchcd spots, containing a few borecoles, and but rarely potatoes or
legumes. The use of gardens is, therefore, almost entirely confined to the imperial
family, the highest class of nobles, and a few foreigners, who have settled in the principal
cities.
477. There are nurseries established in different districts by govemmciit, especially in
Courland and the Ukraine. In the Nitika nursery, in the Crimea, apple, pcar, peach,
almond, vine, fig, olive, and pomegranate plants arc ¡iropagatcd, under Stevens, a
German, and sold at low prices.
478. The head operative gardeners o f Russia are almost all foreigners, or sons of
foreigners. Sometimes a nobleman sends a slave as an apprentice to a gardener, for his
own futm*e use ; but generally the assistant labourers arc mere Russian boors, slaves of
the lo rd ; or other slaves who have obtained permission to travel and work on their own
account for a few years. These boors make very tractable labourers; for the Russian
is imitative and docile, to a high degree. They require, however, to bo excited by
interest or fear. The freed slaves on the government estates in the Ukraine, Mary
Holderness informs us (Notes on the Crimea, &c., 1821), dig sitting and smoking.
479. The garden-ariists o f Russia arc the English or German hcad-gardencrs attached
to the establishment of the emperor, or of some eminent noble. Gould, Potemkin’s
gardener, was the Brown of Russia in Catherine’s time. This man liad a cliai-actcr in
some degrees analogous to that of his master ; he lived in splendour, kept horses and
cai-riagcs, and gave occasionally entertainments to the nobility. Ho afterwards returned
to England, aud died, at an advanced age, in 1816, at Ormskirk in Lancashire, his
native toivn.
SuBSEOT. 6. Russian Gardening, as to the Authors it has produced.
480. Wc know o f no original Russian author on gardening. There is a poem, On
Gardens, by Samboursky, translated into the French language by Masson dc Blamo n t:
there is also a poem on glass, by the Russian poet Lomonosow, which, as containing an
culogium on hothouses, may be considered as belonging to this subject. Some translations
have been published in German ; and various papers on botanical, physiological,
and agricultural subjects appear from time to time in tlic Transactions of the Imperial
(Economical Society.
S e c t . IX. O f the Rise, Progress, and present State o f Gardening in Poland.
48 1. Gardening, as an art o f design, was introduced into Poland hy the electoral kings,
about tho end of the seventeenth ccntiuy, and especially by Stanislaus Augustus, the
third elector.
482. In respect o f gardens in the geometric style o f design, the most ancient royal
example is the Jardin Electoral de Saxe. It was never completed, and is now a public
garden. 'The Jardin Kraszinski is another public g a rd en ; but liy far the most remarkable
is that of Lazicnld, or tlio Bath, formed by the last king, on the site of an ancient park,
at Ujasdow, ivithiii the suburbs of the city. At the beginning of the reign of Stanislaus,
in 1764, it was a mai'shy wood, planted with alders, with some canals and other stagnant
pieces of water, near which was a gi-otesquc edifice, called the Bath, from whieh
this i>ark takes its name.
483. The palace o f Lazienki (fg s . 152. and 153.), a beautiful piece of Roman archi-
152
tccture, from the designs of Camsitzer, a German artist, is placed on an island in a considerable
piece of water. I t consists of a centre and two wings. The centre is placed
in the middle of a narrow part of the lake, and the wings arc on opposite shores, and
joined to tlic centre by ai'chcs 5yitli orangeries over. The entrance is by a carriagc-por-
tico, in ono of the -wings, at which you arrive without seeing the lake ; aud on entering
the orangery, its first effect is suiqirising and delightful. On the north shore of this
lake is an oiicii amphitheatre of stone with its orchestra on the brink of the w a te r; and
near the margin is an island of trees, which served as the proscenium. This theatre was
at all times open to the public ; and in addition to the ordinary exhibitions, ships and
naval engagements were occasionally exhibited. The gaiety which reigned here during
the first years of the reign of Stanislaus, tlic singular effect o fth e illuminations, the ships,
and the resounding of the music in tho woods, arc .still recollected by some of the oldest
inhabitants of Warsaw, and spoken of with feelings of regTct. The grounds were not
extensive, nor, except near the palace, much ornamented : they consisted of a number of
broad green alleys, crossing each other at right angles ; of smaller covered patlus, leading
to open circles of turf for dancing and music, and for tents and booths on extraordinary
occasions. In several places coffcc-roonis and icc-cellars Avere established, and still
remain ; there were two pavilions for the king’s mistresses; and another, whicli served
as a seraglio, for strangers, or visiters of the king : the tlu*ec being connected with the
palace by arbour-likc paths, or arcades of trellis-work, covered by creepers.