File:Florists' review (microform) (16053008224).jpg

Title: Florists' review (microform)
Identifier: 5205536_4 (find matches)
Year: [1] (s)
Authors:
Subjects: Floriculture
Publisher: Chicago : Florists' Pub. Co
Contributing Library: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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Text Appearing Before Image:
--M..y.- ns The Weekly Florists^ Review* JULY 6, 1899.
Text Appearing After Image:
Hemlock Grove and O-scade, New York Botanical Gardens, Bronx Park, New York. greenhouses in the country are in course of construction, and will be finished in the autumn. These cover a frontage of 500 feet, the side wings 210 feet, and number 13 houses, cov- ering 45,000 square feet. The central structure is circular, 100 feet in diame- ter. a«d about 90 fQet in height. The whole is of iron, glass and stgije, apd is being built on the most approved plans with every modern appliance. The power house is Ingeniously hidden near the railroad tracks, over 600 feet - away. The greenhouses will be very ; capacious and will be divided into sections, -each being devoted to special ■ features of plant life. All of these buildl;ij58 are ph high ground and are very imposing, beautiful in conception and practical in every detail. Just a little beyond is a charming vale covering 10 acres; it Us skirted with natural rock and woodland scen- ery. In this vale the principal herba- ceous gardens are planted. The plant beds are of different sizes and each family is by itself. In the center an irregular sized winding dyke is plant- ed with aquatics and along its banks are the marsh loving plants. The gen- eral arrangement of this herbaceous section is most effective. There is lio formality outlined by walks, the grass is kept cut and visitors are allowed to roam where they please. The wild flora is grouped and planted in posi- tions peculiar to each; there is some- thing new and of interest to the stu- dent to be found here ever-y day. Over 4,000 species and varieties of plants are here already, and every day adds its quota from some part of the world. The grounds occupied by the Botan- ical Gardens are not only most pic- turesque, but are admirably adapted for all manner and form of plant life. There are woodlands and glens, marshes and rivers, and the section of the forest known as the Hemlock Grove is beyond doubt one of the prettiest spots in America! Here all is quiet, except for the musical splash of the waters ^as they flash and foam over rocks, or the gossipy chatter of birds up in the trees. Walking here one can readily imagine himself a thousand miles away from the city's great ceaseless hum of commercial ac- tivity. This grove of hemlocks con- tains the largest specimens we have in New York; they are grand, and it is a pleasure to know they will form a part of what is destined to be the principal Botanical Gardens of this continent. 'Tis true one seldoms hears of what is being accomplished here; every- thing is unostentatiously done, and the men who are doing it represent, one may say, the past and the future. Dr. N. L. Britton is the Direttor-in- Chief, and is one of the greatest bo- tanists known. When we consider this man with all his knowledge and responsibilities, his genial manner, and ever readiness to discuss plants with the most liumble; a man who does not shut himself in a glass case, but can be found communing with his pets out in the grounds, and will walk miles to show you some little gem, we feel ashamed to even contrast him with some of the frozen tin gods we have been unfortunate enough to have met. Often we hear things said about the ignorance, botanically, of the av- erage gardener or florist. There is lit- tle or no inducement offered them to study botany; the austere self-superi- ority of those in charge of governmen- tal schools is suflScient to wither any Inclination to study. This is not the case with Dr. Britton; every gardener or florist is more than welcome, and he is made to fes^l at home and looked. upon with the rest as a student of nature. %■

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