96
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
"most part of the American plants thrive best. It has a few hours
"of the morning and evening sun, and is quite sheltered from mid-day
"heats. They are well supplied with water during summer; and the
"little shrubs, and herbaceous plants, have a good warm covering of
"dry fern, thrown over them when the frosts set in. This is gradually
"removed, when the spring advances, so that, by never being frozen
"in the ground while the plants are. young and tender, I never lose any
"that come to me with any degree of life in them; and it is acknow-
"ledged by the ablest botanists we have, that there is not a richer
"bit of ground, in curious American plants, in Great Britain: and for
"many of the most curious, I am obliged to thy diligence and care.
"My garden is well sheltered; the soil is good, and I endeavour to
"mend it as occasion requires. I have an Umbrella Tree, above
"twenty feet high, that flowers with me abundantly, every spring.
"The small Magnolia, likewise, flowers with me finely. I have a
"little wilderness, which, when I bought the premises, was full of old
"Yew trees, Laurels, and weeds. I had it cleared, well dug, and took
"up many trees, but left others standing for shelter. Among these
"I have planted Kalmias, Azaleas, all the Magnolias, and most other
"hardy American shrubs. It is not quite eight years since I made a
"beginning; so that my plants must be considered but as young ones.
"They are, however, extremely flourishing. The great Magnolia
"has not yet flowered with me, but grows exceedingly fast. I shelter
"his top in the winter ; he gains from half a yard to two feet in height,
"every summer, and will ere long, I doubt not, repay my care with his
"beauty and fragrance."
Fothergill retains his interest in Ferns to the end of the
correspondence. "Don't forget the Fern tribe. This is a very
"pleasing part of the creation." (Feb., 1773.) "Look care-
"fully after your Ferns. You have a great variety. I have
"more American Ferns than most of my acquaintance; but I
"know you must have more, and various Polypodies, likewise.
"I am reckoned to have the best collection of North American
"Plants of any private person in the neighbourhood. I am
"obliged to thee for many of them."20 (June, 1774.) In these
two last letters he mentions the tea-plant. "We have got the
"true Tea Plant, at length, in England." An attempt was
being made to propagate it, not as a commodity but as a
curiosity. He suggested that it would thrive in Virginia and
Maryland. In the intervening year or so it had become the
"finest Tea-tree in Europe."21
20 "My garden is ... . warm and sheltered, rather moist than dry; and I have the satis-
"faction of seeing all North American plants prosper amazingly. There are few gardens in the
"neighbourhood of London, Kew excepted, that can show either so large or so healthy a collec-
"tion." (Aug. 1775.)
21 In this letter he suggests that the shells of some of the seeds of Nymphaea should be cracked
before being put in the mud they are sent in, as the shells are so hard that they will not give
way to the embryo plants without this aid. It was by an application of this method that Robert
Brown was able to germinate seeds of Nelumbium which were at least one hundred and fifty years
old.