Various other gardens might be mentioned as having contributed to spread a taste for foreign trees and shrubs towards the latter end of this century; and the names of a number of writers on botany and gardening would also deserve commemoration here, were they not already recorded in the historical part of our Encyclopædia of Gardening. The reader who thinks we might have extended this part of our work will bear this in mind; and also that it has been our object, throughout this Introduction, to repeat nothing which we have already laid before the public.

The only extensive nursery at the beginning of this century was, as we have before seen (p. 46.), that of Brompton Park, occupied by London and Wise. Those of Gray of Fulham, of Furber of Kensington, of Fairchild of Hoxton, Gordon of Mile End, and Hunt of Putney, became eminent before the middle of the century; and those of Lee and Kennedy, William Malcolm, Russell, Loddiges, and others, were large establishments before the end of it.

Gray commenced his nursery at Fulham early in the 18th century. He received many American trees and shrubs from collectors and resident amateurs in America, and enriched his stock at the sale of Dr. Compton's trees. In 1740, he published a catalogue of his plants, which is said to have been written by Philip Miller. In the preface to Catesby's Hortus Europaeus Americanus, which is dated 1767, it is said, that "Mr. Gray at Fulham has, for many years, made it his business to raise and cultivate the plants of America, from whence he has annually fresh supplies, in order to furnish the curious with what they want;" and that, "through his industry and skill, a greater variety of American forest trees and shrubs may be seen in his gardens, than in any other place in England." This nursery is now in the possession of Messrs. Whitley and Osborne, and still retains its reputation for American trees and shrubs. It also contains some fine old specimens of the trees planted by Gray. Among these are Quércus Suber, Céltis occidentalis, Ailántus glandulòsa, Laúrus Sássafras, Koelreutèria paniculata, Diospyros virginiana, and various others. The first Magnolia grandiflòra which was brought to England (as generally supposed) was planted in this nursery, and all the old trees of the kind in the country are said to have been propagated from it. The tree died about 1810; but its trunk, which measures 4 ft. 10 in. in circumference, was, till very lately, preserved. The branches extended over a surface 20 ft. in diameter, it was as many feet high, and in the blossoming season, which lasted generally two or three months, it perfumed the whole neighbourhood. It was surrounded by stages from the ground to its summit, on which were placed pots containing layers for

propagation. It was the number of these, and the exhaustion they occasioned, which killed the tree.

Furber, mentioned by Collinson, was a nurseryman at Kensington, and one of those gardeners who formed a society for publishing a work on gardening, of whose Catalogue some account is given in p. 60. Miller was secretary of this society, which, as it is said, dissolving through difference of opinion, the papers became Miller's, and led to the publication of his Dictionary. Furber's grounds are now partly built on, and the remainder forms part of Messrs. William Malcolm and Co.'s

nursery.

Thomas Fairchild had a nursery and an excellent vineyard. For the time in which he lived, he was a scientific gardener, and distinguished himself by a paper, in the Royal Society's Transactions (vol. xxxiii. p. 127.), "On the different, and sometimes contrary, Motion of the Sap in Plants." He introduced various new trees and shrubs from the Continent of Europe and North America, as will be seen by the list at the end of this section. He was author of the City Gardener. He died in 1729, and left funds for a botanical sermon, to be delivered annually on Whitsun Tuesday, at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch. The legacy left by Fairchild produced a guinea a year, but this sum being thought insufficient, a subscription was entered into, the produce of which has raised the annual sum to three guineas. These sermons were preached for many years by Dr. Colin Milne, author of the Botanical Dictionary, by whom they were published in 1779. The sermon is now preached annually by the Rev. William Ellis, of Merchant Tailors' School. Some curious details respecting this legacy will be found in Henry Elles's Account of the Parish of St. Leonard's, Shoreditch.

James Gordon, nurseryman at Mile End, London, who had previously been gardener to Robert Lord Petre, is thus spoken of in a letter from Ellis to Linnæus, dated April 25. 1758:-

"If you want a correspondent here that is a curious gardener, I shall recommend you to Mr. James Gordon, gardener at Mile End, London. This man was bred under Lord Petre and Dr. Sherard, and knows systematically all the plants he cultivates. He has more knowledge in vegetation than all the gardeners and writers on gardening in England put together; but he is too modest to publish anything. If you send him any thing rare, he will make you a proper return. We have got a rare double jessamine (Gardènia flórida) from the Cape, that is not described: this man has raised it from cuttings, when all the other gardeners have failed in the attempt. I have lately got him a curious collection of seeds from the East Indies, many of which are growing, but are quite new to us. He has got the ginkgo (Salisburia), which thrives well, and, when he has in

creased it, he will dispose of it." (Smith's Cor., vol. i. p. 93.) Gordon commenced his nursery at Mile End in 175-; he disposed of it in 1776, to his sons James and William, and died in 1780. In 1781 we find this nursery in the possession of James Gordon, Thomas Dermer, and Archibald Thompson. James Gordon died in 1794, and Thomas Dermer in 1799, when Archibald Thompson came into possession of the whole. Mr. Thompson died in 1832, and the business is now carried on by his son James. Only a small part of the original ground is now (1835) occupied as a nursery; but in the part that remains there are some fine old specimens. What is believed to be the oldest salisburia in England, the ginkgo tree above alluded to, is 5 ft. 5 in. in circumference at 1 ft. from the ground, and 55 ft. high. There are venerable specimens of magnolias, Laúrus Sassafras, the cork tree and other oaks, the liquidambar both species, ailantus, gymnocladus, and many others, with some of the largest plants of green tea growing in the open air in England. A list of the more remarkable of these trees and shrubs, with their dimensions taken in 1831, will be found in the Gard. Mag. for the following year, vol. viii. p. 250.; and subsequent measurements of several of them taken in January, 1835, will be found in the same magazine, vol. xi.

Of the Hunts of Putney we know little, except that their names appear among the authors of the Catalogue of the trees and shrubs grown in the London nurseries in the year 1730. The nursery at Putney was little known in our time, and the stock was sold off, and the ground advertised to be let for building on, in December, 1834.

James Lee was born at Selkirk in 1715, and, about twenty years afterwards, walked to London. When he was at Lichfield he was seized with the smallpox, and detained there some time. When he recovered, and came to London, he was employed at Syon, and afterwards at Whitton by the Duke of Argyle. About the year 1760 he entered into partnership with Lewis Kennedy, gardener to Lord Bolton, at Chiswick, and commenced a nursery in what was called the Vineyard, at Hammersmith. At the beginning of the last century, this vineyard produced annually a considerable quantity of Burgundy wine. A thatched house was built in the grounds, the upper part occupied as a dwellinghouse and for selling the wine, and underneath were the winecellars. Lee was patronised by the Earl of Islay (afterwards Duke of Argyle), the planter of Whitton, who died in 1761; and other noblemen: he corresponded with Linnæus, and composed an Introduction to Botany, according to his system, published in 1760, which for many years was in the highest repute. He died in the year 1795, at the age of 80 years; his partner, Kennedy, having died previously. The nursery was carried on

by the sons of the two founders, till 1818, when they dissolved partnership. It then became the sole property of James Lee, the second of that name, who died in 1827, leaving it to his family, and it is now (1835) carried on by his son John. For many years this nursery was deservedly considered the first in the world. Besides an extensive correspondence, and a vigilant attention to procure every new plant as soon as it was introduced by others, Messrs. Lee and Kennedy introduced many plants into the country, through collectors whom they had sent abroad, and through foreign botanists. They maintained a collector in America, who sent home several new oaks; and, in partnership with the Empress Josephine, one at the Cape of Good Hope, who sent home many new ericas, ixias, and other Cape plants. They had also a collector in South America, who sent home the Fuchsia coccinea, by which they made a considerable sum of money, selling it for some time at a guinea a plant. They also had the first China rose in 1787, of which they made a large sum. The extent of this nursery has been somewhat curtailed by the approach of London; but it still contains an excellent collection, some fine specimens of magnolias, asiminas, cratæguses, Pyrus Sórbus, and other foreign trees and shrubs, and is conducted with the greatest liberality.

The nursery of Messrs. Malcolm and Co. was established about the middle of the century, first at Kennington, and afterwards at Stockwell, and was at one time one of the most extensive in the neighbourhood of London. The ground has long since been built on ; but one of the descendants of the family, as before observed, occupies, with other grounds, part of the nursery which was Furber's, at Kensington.

The nurseries of Russells, at Lewisham; of Bassington, at Kingsland; of Cormack, at New Cross; of Ronalds, at Brentford; and a number of others, some of which are now extinct, and others more eminent than before; were all more or less celebrated during the latter part of this century.

The nursery at Hackney was established about the middle of the century by John Busch (in the Hortus Kewensis erroneously spelt Bush), a German gardener, who, entering into the service of the Empress Catherine in 1771, was succeeded in his nursery, in that year, by Conrad Loddiges, also a native of Germany. This nursery soon became celebrated for the introduction and propagation of American trees and shrubs, particularly magnolias, rhododendrons, and azaleas. It will be noticed more at length in the succeeding section.

The botanical and horticultural authors and garden artists of England during this century, who contributed to the spread of a taste for foreign trees and shrubs by their writings and practice, are numerous. We have already mentioned Brown, to whom

G

we may add, among artists and authors, Switzer, a seedsman, at "the Flower Pot over-against the Court of Common Pleas in Westminster Hall, or at his garden in Milbank, Westminster," author of Iconographia Rustica, and several other works, and the designer of various gardens both in Britain and Ireland; Bradley, a voluminous author; Batty Langley, an architect at Twickenham, who wrote New Principles of Gardening, &c., and The true Method of improving an Estate by Plantations of Timber Trees, &c.; Dr. John Hill, a voluminous gardening author; Sir William Chambers, who wrote Dissertations on Oriental Gardening; Wheeler, a nurseryman at Gloucester, and author of The Botanist's and Gardener's New Dictionary; Abercrombie, a well known voluminous author; Weston; Speechley; Dr. A. Hunter, the editor of Evelyn's Sylva; Meader, gardener to the Duke of Northumberland; Græfer, gardener to the Earl of Coventry at Croome, and afterwards to the King of Naples at Caserta; and a great number of others. We should have been tempted to submit some notices of these authors and their works, did we not expect a Chronological and Biographical History of them from the accurate and learned pen of William Forsyth, Esq. To this gentleman, who has been for many years collecting information respecting trees and shrubs, we are deeply indebted for many corrections and additions to this chapter, and to our work generally.

In order to give a general summary of the trees and shrubs introduced into Britain during the eighteenth century, we shall divide it into periods of ten years; and give in each the names of some of the principal plants introduced, and those of their introducers, according to the Hortus Kewensis, and to some farther information on the subject, kindly furnished to us by Mr. Forsyth, and Messrs. Loddiges of Hackney.

From 1701 to 1710 inclusive (Queen Anne), four trees and five shrubs were introduced. Among the trees were, Fraxinus lentiscifòlia from Aleppo, and Ptèlea trifoliata from North America, by the Rev. John Banister. Crataegus parvifòlia was introduced by Bishop Compton, and Ribes oxyacanthoides by Mr. Reynardson of Hillington. Bignònia capreolàta, a beautiful climber, and Colùtea cruénta, a handsome flowering shrub, were introduced during this period.

From 1711 to 1720 (Anne and Geo. I.), three trees and nine shrubs were introduced: among these were, Pàvia rùbra, by Thos. Fairchild; Pinus Ta`da, and Ceanothus americànus, by Bishop Compton; Cerasus Mahaleb, from Austria; and Comptònia aspleniifolia, Lýcium àfrum, and Iva frutéscens, by the Duchess of Beaufort.

From 1721 to 1730 (Geo. I. and II.), twenty-two trees and twenty shrubs were introduced. Mark Catesby introduced