IIISTOUY OF GARDENING.
leaves of which, witli tlieir rich ami delicious fruit, have au appearance more splendid
than can be imagined by any one who has never been out of Europe.
926. Hedges arc to be found in Brazil, in those districts which arc cultivated, and in
wliich the original forests have been almost entirely superseded by bananas, mangoes,
and other fnait-bearing trooAS, The hedges are formed of a species of mimosa, and tlicy
are regularly clipped, Dr. Walsh informs us, like the hawthorn hedges of England.
(Notices o f Brazil, vol. ii. p. 299.)
S e c t . V II. Gardening in the West India Islands.
927. The gardening o f these islands is almost entirely limited to the dcpaitment of
culture ; some design and taste, indeed, is displayed near the houses of the native proprietors,
but that consists chieily in planting trees for shade. There is no green turi' in
the West Indies, except on the momitains ; and there is no necessity for cither tu rf or
gravel in a country where none of the inhabitants ever walk out if they can help it.
Piiic-apple plants, and also ripe pine-applcs, are frequently sent from the West Indies to
Europe, and commonly aiTive, ailcr a voyage of from six weeks to two months, in a lit
state for planting, or the dessert. The native products of these islands are various aud
excellent, and they have been greatly increased by fruits and spices, introduced from the
East Indies, and other places. Among these it m.iy be sufficient to mention the pineapple,
bread-fruit, mangosteen, durion, and cinnamon. There is a large botanic garden
at St. Vincent’s, and others at Trinidad and Martinique, supported by thcir respective
governments.
928. Jamaica. The botanic garden of Jamaica was originally begun by Hinton
East, Esq., and afterwards bought by government, and enlarged so as to contain seventy
acres. One of the objects of its establishment was to preserve, without artificial means,
the productions of various climates. Such a project could only be executed in a tropical
latitude, where the vaiious elevations of the ground would regulate the required temperature.
The site chosen for this purpose is aliout seven miles from Kingston, on the side
of the Ligiianca Mountain, the summit of which is 3600 feet above the level of the sea.
Here, ascending from the 'base, are found the productions of the various coimtrics of the
earth : every change of situation represents a change of latitude, and the whole surface of
the mountain may be clothed with the appropriate vegetation of every climate, from the
pole to the equator. By means of this noble and useful establishment, the vegetable
productions of varroiis climes have been naturalised to the soil, and the plantations of
Jamaica have been enriched with many valuable trees, shru1)s, and plants, whicli wore
heretofore unknown in the island : of these may be mentioned cinnamon, mangosteen,
mangoes, sago, bread-fruit, star-appio, camphor, gum-arabic, sassafras, &c. (Edwards's
Jamaica, p. 188.) In the year 1812, the whole was sold by the House of Assembly, for
the small sum of 4000/., to an apothecary in Kingston. The present botanic garden of
Jamaica is situated at Bath ; and it has undergone various fluctuations, being, at one
time, a flourishing place under the direction of Dr. McFadycn ; then abandoned, or
nearly so, for want of funds; and, in 1848, again revived under the chiirge of Mr. Wilson.
Among tlie plants cultivated in this garden may he mentioned tho mangosteen, the
cinnamon, the black pepper, the vegetable ivory, tho Tonqiiin bean, tho gamboge tree,
the wax palm, three new fruits of the grenadilla kind (Passiflòra edùlis, P. incarn.àta,
and P. Buonaparte«), the nutmeg, the Maltese and mandarin oranges, and many other
noble and beautiful plants. That variety of the cotton plant, from tho undycd wool of
which the cloth called nankeen is manufactured, has been introduced into Jamaica, and
thrives admirably. Mr. Wilson, in his report of the state of tlie garden published in
the Botanical Magazine for 1848, adds, “ the wild cinnamon (Canella alba) and the
St. Lucia bark (Exostémmacaribæ'um), articles in demand at home, and exported from
other parts of the West Indies, arc unheeded and but little known here, though Ircqucntly
found growing about our doors, and commanding a remunerating price.” Mr. Wilson
also observes that the fences in Jamaica are subject to much mismanagement in various
ways. I t appears that the hedges are principally fonncd of logwood and orange and
lime trees, and that these plants when treated in tlie way that hedges arc managed in
Jamaica, that is, cut the first year to the height they are intended to remain, and sheared
every year afterwards, become full of weak wood at the top, with bare naked stems
below ; and lie suggests that either other plants should ho tried for hedges, or that these
plants should be treated in quite a different way.
929. St. Vincenfs. The botanic garden of St. Vincent’s is thus noticed by Bayley : —
“ I t is about half a mile from Kingston. A t its entrance formerly stood the residence
of Dr. Anderson, and during the time this gentleman had clnu-gc of the gai-den it was
in a most rich and flourishing condition. Since his death, however, it has fallen off
gradually, and is at present (1830) going to min. The only improvement th a t has
taken place is the dcstmction of the manager’s house, and the erection, by the colony, of
a very pretty cottage in its stead. The garden is no longer in a state of cultivation,
though It still contains many scarce and valuable treasures ; among which Aare the clove
the nutmeg, and the cinnamon, with many other trees and shrubs. I t is said that liorses
arc allowed to wander over the garden, grazing on and trampling down the shmhs and
flowers. The colony has entirely given ii)) the place ; and, as the manager’s salary lias
been withdrawn, there is no longer any attention paid to it.” (B a y k y ’s Four Years’
liesKknce. in the West Indies, p. 221.) A fidici- account of this garden will be found in
the Gardener’s Magazine, vol. iv. p. 501.
930. A t the Havanna, Mr. Edward Otto, who visited that city in 1839, found a botanic
garden, of which he says, “ if I had not been told it was a botanic garden, 1 slioiild rather
iiavc taken it for a nursery of diflcrent kinds of trees, as it was divided by broad paths,
many of which were so wet and marshy that I could scarcely find a firm iilacc to set
my toot on. From what the gardeners told me, the garden is at present on the decline
but they hope soon to bring it into a more creditable state. Its greatest ornament is
oiic winch IS wanting m all European gardens, viz. a splendid avenue of orcodoxas, and
ol tiicsc tiicre are about eighty in each row, 70 or 80 feet in height, and covered with blossoms
and fruit ; and not less beautiful arc the rows of Casuarina eqiiisctifòlia vera called
tlici-c the cedar. There are iilso splendid specimens of the cocoa-nnt and otlier palms ;
bamboos, forming extremely high hedges; splendid specimens of the bread-fruit, &c.
All the trees are entwined with convolvuluses and ipomocas. The Poinsctt/a pulchén-iina
with Its innumerable blossoms and beautiful red bractcas, tlio Canna índica and sevcrai
other species, are hero seen gi-owing in the deepest marshes ; also the most fomiidablc
hedges of opuntias, yuccas, and agaves. Greenhouses and liotbeds arc no where to he
seen m tlie garden ; and there arc but a very few plants in pots, such as Orchideai and
euphorbias, which did not look well ; and, besides the opuntias, only the Cèreus specio-
sissimus and triangularis arc in the garden.” (Otto, in Gard. Mag. for 1841 p 650 )
Mr. Otto found here the sepulchral monument of Columbus, his body having been
brought here by sea. The monument is situated in a beantiful square, and is ornamented
by a splendid specimen of Orcodóxa règia and Cocos nucífera. “ The square is
rcguhu-ly divided into compartments by broad paths laid with flat stones, and planted
with Citrus and iVèrium Olcándcr, some oreodoxas, cocos, Artocni-pus incìsa about 30
feet high with an immense head, and a species of Boinbax from 60 to 70 feet high, and
6 feet in diameter at a foot from tlic ground, cassias and mimosas, and scvcrid otlicr
trces.” (Ihid.) Mr. Otto also describes the Pasco dc Tacon. This is a public promenade,
named after the late governor Tacon, who had it made at the public expense
I t consists of a can-iage-way 2560 feet long, 40 feet broad in the centre for carriao-es*
and 26 feet broad at each side for foot passengers. There is a circular piece of ground
at the entrance, in the centre of whicli stands a marble statue of Charles III. of Spain,
and the entrance gate is guarded by two marble lions. From the circle extends a noble
avenue ; and at a distance of 600 feet there is a second circle surrounded by two rows of
lofty and beautiful trees of Casuarina cquisctifolia, and in the centre is a "pillar 20 feet
high, on a pedestal 10 feet high. After another space of 600 feet there is a third circle
ornamented with a basin and fountain ; and farther on, at intervals, are two other circles
oruiimcnted with vases and pedestals and four marble figures. A t the other extremity
o fth e garden is a circle similar to the one at the eiiti-Aancc, with a pillar 40 feet hi<-h in
tlie centre ; and beyond is ca gcatc with two urns, 24 feet in height, standing on pedestals.
Ih e trees m the avenue care Aleurites triloba, sevcrai species of Flcns, Pliylláiitluis and
Ccdi-èla. There are stone seats, and others of turf, among the trees ; and a beautiful
licdgc of splendid monthly roses forms the limit of the promenade.
931. Coffee plantations in the West Indies. The coflee plantations, Mr. Otto informs
us, consist only of slu-ubs, which arc never allowed to grow up into trees, probcahly
because they arc more productive in tliis stcate, and the coffee is more easily gathered.
“ Musa sapicntiim, M. paradisìaca, cand Orcodóxa règia grow between the coffee shrubs j
the latter, however, frequently loses its fronds, which are t.akcn off, partly because when
the wind is high they arc blown down and injure the coffee shmbs, and partly because
they arc in request as a covering for the roofs of the houses. In another plantation,”
continues Mr. Otto, “ I saw can avenue of tlio same sort wliich led to the dwelling-house,
and the trees entirely consisted of stems without fronds, which gave more the appearance
of rows of pillars than of an avenue of palms.” In many places, Mr. Otto obsen-cs, the
bananas which are planted between the rows of the coffcc plantations “ luavc not a very
agreeable appearance. The leaves hang down from tho trees in a half-withered state,
and those that arc fresh arc tattered and torn by the wind, as if it had been done with
some particukar intention. I f the fmit has been taken from the stem, ripe or unripe it
IS cut do-wn, and left to lie there till destroyed by the weather. When the palms arc
suffered to grow in thcir ncatural state, they certainly look extremely ivcll, because they
arc as seldom attacked by insects as the coffcc ; hut the yellow spots on the leaves, which
cso much disfigure our palms at home, arc also seen here.” (Otto, as quoted in Gard
Mag. fo r 1842, p. 235.)
H :