an account of the bishop of lnodon's garden at fulham; by mr. william watson, f. r. s

An Account of the Bishop of Lnodon's Garden at Fulham; By Mr. William Watson, F. R. S.Author(s): William WatsonSource: Philosophical Transactions (1683-1775), Vol. 47 (1751 - 1752), pp. 241-247Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/105048 .

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[ 241 ] Upon the whole, what Ihall we fay ? Shall we

believe, that Mr. Winkler, relying too much upon the honeRy and veracity of Mr. Pivati, and his pre-. tended extrsordinary dificoveries, fuffered his heated itnagination to diEtate his firS letter to Dr. Mortimer,, and that what he then fent, he rather hoped would prove true upon experiment, than what really was fo ? and that his fecond letter, in which there is fo remarkable a diminution of what was promifed in the firIt, was tbe retreat of one, who was unwilling to be thought to have communicated to the Royal Society any thing which would not upon trial come outas he hadreprefented it ? But be that as it may; as fuccefs both here and abroad has been wanting to the endeavours of thtSey who have def1red to repeat theNe experimen-tsX I Ihall determine nothing mySelf; but, from an undiSguifed reprefentation of the fad:ts) as they have appeare(l to me, I Shall leave every orle to deduce his own corlclufoon concerning the reality of them

r E 1 _ . .

XXXV Sn 2Mccoant of the Bi#sot of Luor donSs Garden at Fulham ; by Mi . William WatSon, F. R S

To the Royal Society Gentlemen,

Etead June 27.t SOME time fince communic-ated to you I751. 1 an account of what remained of the fa-

mous garden of John TradeScant at South Lambeth, H h whtch

[ 241 ] Upon the whole, what Ihall we fay ? Shall we

believe, that Mr. Winkler, relying too much upon the honeRy and veracity of Mr. Pivati, and his pre-. tended extrsordinary dificoveries, fuffered his heated itnagination to diEtate his firS letter to Dr. Mortimer,, and that what he then fent, he rather hoped would prove true upon experiment, than what really was fo ? and that his fecond letter, in which there is fo remarkable a diminution of what was promifed in the firIt, was tbe retreat of one, who was unwilling to be thought to have communicated to the Royal Society any thing which would not upon trial come outas he hadreprefented it ? But be that as it may; as fuccefs both here and abroad has been wanting to the endeavours of thtSey who have def1red to repeat theNe experimen-tsX I Ihall determine nothing mySelf; but, from an undiSguifed reprefentation of the fad:ts) as they have appeare(l to me, I Shall leave every orle to deduce his own corlclufoon concerning the reality of them

r E 1 _ . .

XXXV Sn 2Mccoant of the Bi#sot of Luor donSs Garden at Fulham ; by Mi . William WatSon, F. R S

To the Royal Society Gentlemen,

Etead June 27.t SOME time fince communic-ated to you I751. 1 an account of what remained of the fa-

mous garden of John TradeScant at South Lambeth, H h whtch



[ :+: ] which you did me the honour to receive fivourably Upon the ilrength of which I now lay before you the remains of that Itill more famous botanic gal den at Ful ham, wherein Dr. tIenryCompton, heretofbre b{hop of Lonclon, planted a greater varicty of curious exotic plants alzd trees,, than had at that time been colleEted n any ;arden ia Engl5nd

Thls excellent prelate prefided over the fee of Lon- don firom the year x67y tO T7I3; during which timea by means of a large correfpondence with the -principal botaniRs of Europe an-d Americaf he in treduced lnto England a great loumber of plantsw but more erpecially trees, wllich had never been feen here before, and defcribed by no author: ar£} in the cultivation of thefe as we are informed by the late moIt ilzgenious Mr. Ray $, he agrecably fpent fuch pare of hIs tlmeX as could moIt conve- niently be fpared from his other more aduous occu pations.

From this prelate's goodneI*s in permitting with freedom pexfons cuRious in botany to viflt his garden, and fee therein what was to be found no-where elEe; and from his zeal in propagatitlg botanical know- legeX by readily communicating to others, as well foreigners as our own countrymen) fuch pla;nts and fieeds, as he was in poXeElon of his name is men- tioned with the greateI} encomiums by the botanical writers of his t;me 2 to witZ by HermanX Ray? Pluk- net, and otirs

ME.

F 3;i Plant, Tom. II. p. I798*



[ 43 3 Mr. Ray *, in the Second voltzme of llis hiftory of

filants which Vilt$ publiffied-in the year 1688, gives us a catalogue of the rare and exotic trees and lhrubsX which he had juIt hefore obServed in the biffiop's garden, which i at that time called hortgs c2alt- tnus, novi/"qae et elegantioribtes tnagno J?udio nec gi- nore impenMa ?wndigue conqsiytis /dirpibus refertiOxmvs.

As this prelate's length of life arsd continuan¢@ in

the Wee of London were remarkable, fo we find the botanilis, who vrrote after MrO Ray, moll frequertly mentioning in their works the new accefl lons of trea * fure to this garden; md of tllis you meet with a great rariety of examples in the treauSes of Dr. Plukt net, Herman, tnd Commelint

Botanical, much more elren than other worldly t£airs, are fubgeEt to great fluAuations,, and this arifes not only from the natural decay of vegetables, -and their being injured by the variety of feaSons, but alfo from the genius and: difpofition of the poXelSors of themO So here, upon the death of bi(hop Comp ton, all the green-houSe plants and more tender exotic trees were, as I am informed by Sir Hans Sloane, given to the anceIlor of the plefent Earl Tylney at Wanltead. And as the fucceSors of this biXhop in the See of London were more diIlinguifhed for their piety and learnillg, than for their seal in tlie pro_ motion of natural knowledge, -the curioflties of this aarden were not attended to, but left to the manage- ment of ignorant X perfons ; fo that many of the hardy exotic trees, however valuable, wele removed, to make way for the more ordinary produdrions of the kitchen-garden.

H h 2 l thought . .

ze _ : . ._" ,,

: * Cap xi.



[ 2447 I thought therefore that the Rate of this garden,

after the rcvolutions of much mf3re than half a cen tury fince what Mr. Ray wrote theretf, would be an acceE>table prefent, not only to the Royal Society, but to fuch perfons likewife, as are curious in theSe matters.

A Catalogue of the exofic Irees revraining in the Sif-op of Londonss Gardett at Fulhaml June z 5> I75I .

jAbies foliis folitariis, apice acuminatis. Hort. Clift - tort? +49

Abies taxi folio, fruEtu furfum fpeEante. Tourn. 53 S 1 P1 1* 1 ne lllver nr.

Acer platanoides. Mllnting. Hillor. The Norway maple.

Acer Virginianum, folio majore fubtus argenteos fu- pra viridi fplendente-. Plukn. Phyt. Tab. 2. Fig. 4. The Virginian flowering maple.

Acer -maximtlm, foliis trifidis vel quinquefidis, Vir- ginianum. Plukn. Phyt. Tab. I23. Fig.4. The a-maple, vulgo.

Arbutus folio ferrato C. B. P. 460. The Ilraw- berry-tree.

Bensoin. Boer. Ind. alt. II. 2 59. The Benjamin-tree. Cedrus Libani. Barrel. rarF Tab. 499. Cedar of

Libanus. Celtis foliis ovato-lanceolatis ferratis. SIort. Cliff. 3 9.

I=otus arbor. Cafalpin. CupreXlls- ramos estra fe fpargens, qua mas Plinii.

Tourn. y87. The male cyprefs Cupr¢iss



[ 245 1 Cuprefl^Eis meta in f.lRigium convoluta, qut faBmi:la

Plinii. Tourn 587. - The fenale cypRrtfs. Fraxinus florifera botryoides. Morrif. Pral. Bot.

265 Fraxinus folio rotundiores C B P. 4*16 The manna

,anl. Gleditfia. Gron. flor. Virrin. I93*

Acacia Atnericana triacanthos, &c. Pluk. Man- tifl; The honey-lxuR.

GuaiGcana, Pilhamin Vlrginianum. Park. HiIl. 9 1 8. r n . s.. .. :ae vlrglnlan c ate p um .

Ilex oblongo ferrato folio. C. B. P. 424. The ever- greeIl oak.

Juniperus Virginiana. SIerman Hort. Lugd. 347^ 1 v r * * * 1 ne v lrglnlan ccuar.

Laburnum maJus) vel Cytifus Alpinus latifolius flore racemofo penduloW Tourn. 648.

Larix folio deciduo conifera. J. ED. HiIl. I. 265. The larch-tree.

Lilac laciniato fiolio. Tourn. bc)2 Cutrleaved jaf- oniine, vulgo.

-Mefpilus prunifolia Virginiana non fpinoSa, fruAu nigricante. Plukn. Phyt. Tab. 46. Fig. 2s

Morifolia Virginienfis arbor, loti sarboris ini:iar ramofa, foliis amplifl: lmis. Pluk. Phyt Tab. +6. Fig. a.

Corylus masima, folio latifllmo Virginiana. Raii HiR 1799

Nux juglans virgirliana nit,ra Herman. Hort. Lugd. Tab. 4g3. The black walnut-tree.

Pavia. Boer. Ind. alt. II. 260. 9:he red horfe-cheEnut - vulgo

Psnus fativa. C. B. P. 4gxs The manered or llone pine.

Pinus



r24<6 ] Pinus Americana, foliis pralorlgis fuSit}de ternisX co

nis plurimis conferom naScentibus. - q he cluSter- plne. Rand. Hort. Chelf. x56.

Quercus alba Virginiana. Park. Theat. 1387. The white or Virginian ircn oak.

Rhus foliis pinnatis ferratis. Hort. Cliff. I IO. Vir- ginian ftxmach.

iRbobinia aculeis gemlnatis. : Hort. Cliff. 354*. Pfeudot acacia filiquis glabris*- Boer. Ind. II. 39.

RuScus anguBcifolills frud:u fummis ramulis innaScentv Tourn. 79. Laurus Alexandrina frudru e fummitate caulium

prodeunte. Herm. Hort. Lugxi. 68I.

SiliquafErum Tollrn 647. Cercssfoliiscordato orbi- culatis glabris, Hortt Cliff. 156. Arbor Juda

- tulgo. Suber latifolium.perpetllo virens, N C. B. P 4X4. Thc

cork-tree. Terebinthus Indica Theophralli.

PiRachia foliis unparwipinnatis, foliolis ovato-lanceo latis. Hort. CliS. 4s6. The pifiachia-tree.

Thefe jull now recited are the remains of that; once famous garden; among which are fome, that notiithftanding the preSent oreat ialprovements in gardeni:ng, are fcarce to be found elfewhere. From the length of time they have fl;ood fcveral of the trees are by much the tlargeR of their kind I ever have ften, and are probably the largell in Burope. This account of them therefore i$ not merely a mat- ter of curiofty; but we learn from st, that many

- of thele trees, though producesl naturally in c};mates and

2



[ 247 ] and latitudes very different from our own, have grown to a vcry great magnitude with us, and haYe endured our rude wiruterS, fome of them) for almol} a century: and that they in proper foils and fitug- tions may be propagated for advalltage, as well asfor beauty. For the exemplification ofthis I would re- commend to the curious obServer the black Virginian walnut-tree) the cluIter-pine, the honey-locuXt, the pSeudo-acacia, the alh-maple) bc. now remaining at Fulham

I cannot conclude this paperj without teIlifying i21 this- publlc manner my obligations to § the preSent biffiop of London, who has with fo eminent a degree of reputation filled thofe higll Ilations, to which he has been called, not only for his repeated civilities to myfelf) but likewife for his aIIarances to me, that no care Ihall be wanting for the prefervation of the very cuRious particulars mention'd in this catalogue

I haue the honour to be vfith the moR: profound refpedc,

Gentlemen,

London, June 27, Your moIt obedient SerlrantX 175I

W. WatfiohW

§ Dr. Thomas Sherlock

XSSVI.



an account of the bishop of lnodon's garden at fulham; by mr. william watson, f. r. s

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