I ] , , ■
I i r
now general in all tho low and tolerably fertile and sheltered parts of the co u n try ;
contributing with the plantations to aincliorato the climate, and greatly to improve the
scenery. (Fm-nu Mag.)
SuBSECr. 3. Gardening in Ireland, in respect to the planting o f Timber Trees and
Hedges.
697. Trees appear to have covered Ireland in fonner times. “ Though in every ])art
of Ireland, in whieh 1 have been,” observes A. Young in 1777 (Tovr, vol. ii. 2d edit.),
“ ono hundred contiguous acres arc not to ho found witliout evident signs that they
were oncc wood, at least very well wooded ; yet now the greatest ])art of the kingdom
exhibits a naked, bleak, dreary view, for want of wood, which has been destroyed for a
ccntuiy past with tlic most careless ¡irodigality, and still continues to be cut and wasted.
The woods yet remaining are what iu England would be called copses. The gentlemen
in that countiy are much too apt to think they have got timber, when in fact they havo
got nothing but fine largo copse-wood.” Shaw Mason, in a Statistical Survey o f
Ireland, published iu 1817, says there were natural woods iu some places iu James I I .’s
tim e ; but ho produces very few instances of artificial plantations of full growth, aud
none of older date than the middle of the seventeenth centuiy, when it appears, that
through tho instigation of Rlith and other officers in Cromwell’s army, some gcntlcmcu
began to plant and improve. The late Lord Chief Baron Foster was the greatest
idantcr when A. Young visited Ireland, and his lordship informed the tourist that tho
great spirit for this sort of improvement began about 1749 and 1750. “ Tradition,”
says Hayes, “ gives the oak of Shillcla, in tho county of Wicklow, the honour of rooliiig
AYcstmiristcr Hall, and other buildings of that a g o ; the timbers which support the leads
of the magnificent chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, which was built in 1444, as
also the roof of Ilcm y VIIT.’s Chapel at Westminster Abbey, are said to bo oak from
these woods. I t is generally understood tliat some of the finest timber of Bbillcla,
wliich remained in Charles II.’s time, was sold to the Dutch, and sent into Holland, for
tho use of the Stadtliousc and other buildings. In 1G69, William Ea rl of Strallbrd
furnished Laurence Wood, of London, with such pipc-staves, to a great amount, at 10/,
for 1000, as arc now sold for 50/., aud arc only to be had from America.” (I'reatise on
Planting. &c.)
698. Hedges, as fences, were probably, as in Scotland, introduced by the officers of
Cromwell’s army.
Sect. V. British Gardening, as empirically practised.
699. The use o f gardens is perhaps more general in England and Scotland than in
any other country, if wo except Holland. Tlic laborious journeyman mechanic, wliosc
res'idonce, in largo cities, is often in the air, rather than on the earth, decorates his gaiTCt-
window with a garden of pots. The debtor deprived of personal liberty, and the pauper
in the workhouse, divested of all property in external things, and without any fixed
object on which to place thcir affections, sometimes resort to this symbol of tcn-itorial
apin-opriation and ciiioyment. So natural it is for all to fancy they have an inherent
right in the so il; and so necessary to happiness to exercise tho affections, by having
some object on wliich to place them.
700. Almost every cottage in England has its appendant garden, larger or smaller, and
slovenly or neatly managed, according to circumstances. Iu the best districts of
England, the principal culinary vegetables, some salads, herbs, flowers, and fruits, arc
cultivated; and iu the remote pai*ts of Scotland, at least potatoes and borecoles arc
planted. Tradesmen and operative manufacturers, who have a permanent interest in
their cottages, have generally the best cottagc-gardcns; and many of them, especially at
Norivich, Manchester, and Paisley, excel in the culture of florists’ flowers.
701. The gardens o f fanners arc larger, but seldom better managed, than those of tho
common cottages, and not often so well as thoso of tho operative manufactiu'crs iu
England. They arc best managed in Kent and in East Lothian.
702. The gardens and grounds o f citizens, who have countiy-houses, may be, in size,
from an eighth of an acre to a hundred acres or upwards. Such a latitude, it may
easily be conceived, admits of great variety of kitchen-gardens, liotliouscs, flower-gardens,
and pleasure-grounds. They arc, in general, the best managed gardens in Britain,
and constituto the principal scenery, and tlio greatest ornament of the neighbourhood
of every large town. Those round the metropolis, Liverpool, and Edinburgh, ai-o preeminent.
703. The gardens o f independent gentlemen of middling fortune vary considerably in
dimensions. Few of tlie kitchen-gardens arc under an aero, the flower-gardens may
contain a fourth or a third of an acre, and the pleasure-ground from three to ten or
twelve acres. Tho lawn or park varies from thirty or forty to three or four hundred
ENGLISH GARDENS.
aurcs. The whole is in general respectably kept up, though there are many exceptions,
arising irom want of taste, of income, or engagement iu other pursuits on the part oi
the proprietor ; or restricted means, slovenliness, and want of taste and skill in the
liead-gardcncr. These gardens abound in every part of every district of Britain in
proportion to tlic agricultural population. ’
704. The first-rate gardens o f Britain belong chiefly to the extensive landholders*
but in part also to wealthy commcrciia men. Tlio kitchen-gardens of this class may
includo irom tlu-ee to twelve acres, tho llowcr-gai-dcn ii-om two to ten acres, the plcasure-
gn-ouiid from twenty to ono liundred acres, and the park from five hundred to five
tliousand acres. Except in the cases of minority, absence of the iainily, or pecuniary
embarrassments, these gardens arc kept up in good style. They arc managed by intelligent
hcad-gardencrs, with assistants for the different dcpai-tmcnts, and apprentices and
journeymen as operatives. A few of such residences arc to be found in almost every
county of England, in most of those in Scotland, and occasionally in Ireland.
705. The Royal gardens o f England remained for many years in a state of comparative
n eg lect; but since the accession of Her present Majesty, the royal kitchen-gardens at
Kensington and Kew have been given up, and those at Windsor and Frogmore havo
been greatly improved and augmented. In the gardens at lY-ogmorc a magnificent
range oi forcing-houscs has been erected. The slopes from the terrace at Windsor Castle
have been hud out as plcasurc-gi-ounds, and tho terrace garden has been very greatly
_ 706. Gardens, parks, or promenades, fo r puhlic recreation, were not till lately common
111 Bntiun ; but oi late an extensive equestrian ride, or drive, has been formed in London
111 tJic Regent s Parle, and one at Edinburgh on the Calton Hill, and another, called tho
Queen’s Drive, round Ai-thur’s Scat, which commands a singular variety of prospect
Ih c rc arc also squares and other walks, and equestrian promenades, in the metropolis
and other large towns ; but, in respect to this class of gardens, they are much less in
use m Britain than on the Continent; for Britons are compai-ativcly domestic and
solitary animals.
^ 707. O f gardens fo r puhlic instruction, there arc botanic gardens attached to the principal
universities, and experimental gardens belonging to tho London, Edinburgh, and
other horticultural societies.
708. Commercial gardens arc vci-y numerous in Britain, arising from the number
magnitude, and wealth of her cities being much greater, in proportion to tho tcn-itorial
extent of the country, than in any other kingdom. In general, they havo been originated
by hcad-gardencrs who have given up private servitude.
709. Market-gardens and orchards arc numerous, especially round the metropolis, and
tlicir productions arc unequalled, or at least not surpassed, by any gardens in tlie
world, public or private. Forcing is carried on extensively in tiiese gardens, and tho
pme cultivated in aburidanco, and to great perfection. Their produce is daily exposed
111 diflercnt markets and shops ; so that every citizen of London may, throughout the
year, purcliase the same luxuries as the queen or as tlic most wealthy pro])rictors have
lurnishcd from their own gardens, and obtain for a few shillings what tJio wcaltli of
Ciyisiis could not prociu-e in any other countryl a striking proof -what coinmcrco will
effect for tho industrious. Some gardens ai-c devoted to tho raising of gardcn-sccds for
the seed merchants, and others to the growing of hurbs and llowers for the chemist or
distiller.
710. ThovQ iM'Q florists’ gardens, v/hoxQ plants are forced so as to furnish roses and
other flowers of summer in mid-winter. The tradesman’s wile may thus at pleasure
procure a drawing-room garden cipial to that of her sovereign, and superior to that of
all the kings and nobles on the rest of the globe.
711. O f nursery-gardens for stocking and forming new gardens and plantations, and
repairing or increasing the stock of old ones, there arc a numher in which a very considerable
capital is cmbariced. These have greatly increased with tlic increasing siiirit
lor planting, and other branches of gai-dening. Tlic princiiial are near the metropolis ;
but they arc to be found iu most districts, originated in most cases by liead-gai-dcncrs
whose capital consists of the savings made during thcir servitude. ’
712. Vieei, being irc<iucntly kept in gai-dcns, are managed b y th e gardener. They are
commonly kept in straw hives, and treated with little a r t ; but some aiiiatcm-s use Jiives
of peculiar forms, and adopt corresponding systems of management.
713. Icc. Every country residence has its ice-house, and that also, being commonly
in the pm-lc or pleasure-ground, is under the carc o fth e gardener.
714. The operative part o f gardening is carried on by labourers, npprenticcs, journeymen,
and masters. The labourers arc, women for weeding, gathering some descriptions
of crops, and other light works; and men for assisting iu the heavier operations in extraordinary
seasons. The permanent sub-operatives are tlic apprentices and journcymoii;
the iormcr arc indentured generally for three years, at tho expiration of which they bem
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