Andrew Gentle

Andrew Gentle (fl. 1799-1841), a British-born seedsman and gardener, laid out and managed the Elgin Botanic Garden in New York City, where he also operated a commercial trade in seeds and plants.

History

Fig. 1, Anonymous, Elgin Garden, ca. 1810.

By his own account, Andrew Gentle was "brought up to horticultural work, in all its departments." He was possibly a member of the Gentle family of Peebles, Scotland, proprietors of a multi-generational commercial practice as nursery- and seedsmen. After managing "two very extensive establishments" in Britain for six years, Gentle immigrated to the United States, where, as he recorded in his book Every Man His Own Gardener (1841), he "commenced operations for Dr. Hosack, in New-York, by laying out his grounds" in 1805. By "grounds," Gentle presumably meant the twenty-acre botanic garden that Hosack, in his capacity as professor of botany and materia medica at Columbia College, was developing as a teaching aid. [Fig. 1] Hosack had purchased the property in 1801. By 1805 he had erected a conservatory and two hothouses for the collection of indigenous and exotic plants that he was assembling. [Fig. 2] As indicated by Gentle, the grounds had yet to be laid out, though Hosack promised readers of his Catalogue of Plants Contained in the Botanic Garden at Elgin (1806), "The grounds will be arranged in a manner the best adapted to the different kinds of plants, and the whole enclosed by a belt of forest trees and shrubs, native and exotic."

It is unclear whether Andrew Gentle contributed to the design of the Elgin Botanic Garden, or if "laying out [the] grounds" referred only to implementing an existing plan. His knowledge of British landscape and garden design would have been an asset, but he faced practical difficulties in dealing with New York's unfamiliar climate. "On making inquiries of those who followed the business, relative to the usual time of putting some crops in the ground," he later recalled, "I was...firmly satisfied, that the ‘appointed times,’ observed by my fellow-labourers, were based on uncertainty, and of course induced repeated failure and great disappointment." Dissatisfied with this ad hoc practice and the ill-suited advice of gardening books, Gentle "became thoroughly convinced that a most material deviation from their instructions must be adopted by the practical cultivator in this country, in order to crown his labours with success" (). The Elgin Botanic Garden became the field of practical experimentation that honed Gentle's expertise in American horticulture.

Fig. 2, Hugh Reinagle, "Elgin Garden on Fifth Avenue," ca. 1811.

The price of Gentle's work at the Elgin Botanic Garden figured among a number of costs that exceeded David Hosack's expectations. In 1805 and again in 1806, Hosack appealed to the New York legislature for financial support, as “The expenses necessary to effect these improvements, especially in the cultivation and arrangement of the grounds, and in erecting the buildings, [were] greater than what I had anticipated." Perhaps in order to help offset these expenses, Gentle for a time operated a commercial market at the garden in addition to maintaining botanical specimens for scientific study. In 1807 he published an advertisement clarifying that the Elgin Garden was not only intended for the edification of medical students, but could also provide citizens with "the best vegetables for the table," along with "medicinal Herbs and Plants, and a large assortment of green and Hot House Plants" (view text).

Gentle may have left the garden in 1809, when Frederick Pursh began a brief stint as gardener at Elgin, succeeded by Michael Dennison less than two years later. Hosack turned to both Gentle and Pursh for their assistance in assessing the monetary value of the garden in January 1810, when financial necessity compelled him to offer it for sale to the New York legislature. Gentle's estimate of $14,380.59 for the "indigenous and exotic plants, tools &c." (view text) was over $1,700 higher than the estimate Pursh drew up with two nurserymen (view text), and perhaps reflects Gentle's more intimate familiarity with the garden and its history. In March 1811 Hosack published Hortus Elgeninsis (1811), a revised and enlarged catalogue of the Elgin Botanic Garden. Although Gentle's name had not appeared in the first version of the catalogue, published in 1806, Hosack now listed "Mr. Andrew Gentle, seedsman, of this city" among "several gentlemen in this country, distinguished for their taste and talents in this department of science" who were "among the contributors to this institution." The impressive list of American horticulturists and botanists included Samuel Latham Mitchill, Bernard M'Mahon, William Darlington, and William Prince (view text). In 1815 Gentle and Michael Dennison were two of only four seedsmen listed in the New York Directory (along with 53 gardeners and one nurseryman), Gentle describing himself as "Florist and Seedsman." The advertisements Gentle placed in the Evening Post in 1815 offered "a general assortment of kitchen, garden, [and] flower seeds," adding that "Catalogues can be had at the store gratis" (view text).

Fig. 3, George Hayward after John Evers, Fly Market, from the cor. Front St. and Maiden Lane, N.Y. 1816, ca. 1857.

In March 1817 Gentle returned to the Elgin Botanic Garden, leasing the property on an annual basis free of charge in exchange for maintaining the greenhouses and grounds. The garden had declined over the past several years while it passed from the custody of the state legislature to the College of Physicians and Surgeons, to Columbia College. Increasingly concerned by its neglect, David Hosack was momentarily reassured by Gentle's arrival on the scene. In a report read before the New York-Historical Society on April 8, 1817, Hosack noted the garden's receipt of "a large collection" of European seeds from Thomas Jefferson and Monsieur [André] Thouin of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, adding: "Those seeds have all been conveyed to the Botanic Garden, where, in the hands of the present curator, Mr. Andrew Gentle, they will doubtless be cultivated with great care and fidelity." Gentle's lease of the botanic garden was renewed for several years during which he converted a portion of the grounds for agricultural use. In his 1841 gardening treatise, he recalled, "In 1818 I had a piece of ground that had been under nursery for eight years, very rough and full of grass, had it turned over the middle of May, one half planted with the English white [potatoes], the other with the large flat blue sort." In advertisements that appeared in the New York Evening Post from April 1817 to October 1820, he offered seeds and plants for sale both at the Elgin Botanic Garden and at his shop in Water Street near the Fly Market at the foot of Maiden Lane (view text). [Fig. 3] The scientific and educational function of Elgin as a botanic garden was undeniably in decline. In May 1819 the greenhouse plants along with "ornamental trees" and shrubs were transferred to the New York Hospital. Gentle's lease had ended by 1823 when the grounds were rented to J. B. Driver for five years.

Gentle maintained his shop at the southern tip of New York City (the present-day financial district) after the Fly Market closed in 1823, thereafter giving his address as Maiden Lane. The range of his activities went well beyond that of seedsman. For example, in the spring of 1829, Adriance Van Brunt hired him to graft cherry trees. By that time, Gentle was a noted authority on the management of American kitchen gardens. For a decade or more, he had been "strenuously advised to publish a work on useful Gardening," but he refrained, having no knowledge of gardening practices in the American South (view text). It was only after visiting the southern states and analyzing the conditions there that he published the memoranda he had kept for the past twenty years under the title Every Man His Own Gardener, borrowed from the well-known treatise of 1767 by the Scottish horticulturist John Abercrombie. At pains to prove his horticultural qualifications, Gentle noted on the title page that he was a member of the New York Horticultural Society and a corresponding member of the London Horticultural Society, although there is no evidence of his active participation in either group. Ahead of these distinctions, he listed the affiliation of which he remained most proud, describing himself foremost as "Late Curator of the Elgin Botanic Garden, New-York."

--Robyn Asleson

Texts

• Gentle, Andrew, June 4, 1807, Notice concerning the Elgin Botanic Garden, published in the New York Commercial Advertiser (Stokes 1926: 5: 1460-61) back up to history

“As it was the original design in forming this establishment to render it not only useful as a source of instruction to the students of medicine but beneficial to the public by the cultivation of those plants useful in diseases, by the introduction of foreign grasses, and by the cultivation of the best vegetables for the table; our citizens are now informed that they can be supplied with medicinal Herbs and Plants, and a large assortment of green and Hot House Plants etc.”

• Gentle, Andrew, January 22, 1810, "Valuation by Andrew Gentle, Botanist and Seedsman" of plants in the Elgin Botanic Garden (Hosack, Statement, 1811: 53-54) back up to history

“The sum of fourteen thousand three hundred and eighty dollars and fifty-nine cents, is, I believe, to the best of my judgment, the value of your indigenous and exotic plants, tools, & c. at Elgin."

• Hastings, John, Frederick Pursh, and John Brown, January 24, 1810, Valuation of plants in the Elgin Botanic Garden (Hosack, Statement, 1811: 53) back up to history

“We, the subscribers, in committee assembled, for the valuation of the plants, trees, and shrubs, including garden tools and utensils, necessary for the cultivation of the same, as appertaining to the green house, hot houses, and grounds of the botanic garden, at Elgin, after a very particular inventory and examination of the improvements, are unanimously agreed, that, to the best of our knowledge and ability, we consider them to be worth the sum of twelve thousand six hundred and thirty-five dollars and seventy-four and half cents.

John Hastings, Nursery-man, Brooklyn, L.I.

Frederick Pursh, Botanist.

John Brown, Nursery-man.

• Hosack, David, March 1811, revised and enlarged catalogue of the Elgin Botanic Garden (Hortus 1811: viii) back up to history

"Nor must I be unmindful of the obligations I am under to several gentlemen in this country, distinguished for their taste and talents in this department of science. The Hon. Robert R. Livingston, our former Minister in France; Professor Mitchill, of this city; John Stevens, Esq. of Hoboken; Mr. Bernard M'Mahon, of Philadelphia; Mr. Stephen Elliot, of Beaufort, South-Carolina; Dr. Darlington, and Mr. John Vaughan, of Pennsylvania; John Le Conte, Esq. of Georgia; Mr. William Prince, of Long-Island; and Mr. Andrew Gentle, seedsman, of this city; are also among the contributors to this institution."

• Gentle, Andrew, April 18 and 19, 1815, Advertisement in the New York Evening Post (April 18, 1815: 3 and April 19, 1815: 3)

"ANDREW GENTLE, Seedsman. 103 Maiden-Lane. Catalogue of the seeds at the store gratis.... Enquire of Mr. Hall or at the Bar."

• Gentle, Andrew, September 14, 1815, Advertisement in the New York Evening Post (September 14, 1815: 3) back up to history

"...early York Cabbage...sugar loaf...Russian...Battersea...Scotch Drumhead...early and late Cauliflower. With a general assortment of kitchen, garden, flower seeds. Catalogues can be had at the store gratis, No. 124 Fly-Market. ANDREW GENTLE."

• Hosack, David, April 8, 1817, Report read at a meeting of the Historical Society, New York (May 1817: 47)

"The Committee acknowledge with great pleasure, the reception of a large collection of seeds from Monsieur [André] Thouin, the Professor of Agriculture and Botany at the Jardin des Plantes, of Paris, and another from our learned countryman, Mr. [Thomas] Jefferson, as lately received by him from his European correspondents. Those seeds have all been conveyed to the Botanic Garden, where, in the hands of the present curator, Mr. Andrew Gentle, they will doubtless be cultivated with great care and fidelity."

• Gentle, Andrew, October 1817, Advertisement in the New York Evening Post (October 2, 1817: 3; October 3, 1817: 3; and October 11, 1817: 4) back up to history

"BOTANIC GARDEN SEEDS AND PLANTS. For sale, by the subscriber, SEEDS, the growth of this year. Those wanting seeds to send to Europe will do well to apply, as they can be supplied with scarce and new species, on the most suitable terms. Also, a handsome collection of ornamental trees, plants in pots, and flowers, can be had daily during the ensuing winter. Apply to ANDREW GENTLE, at the Botanic Garden."

• Gentle, Andrew, September 25, 1820, Advertisement in the New York Evening Post (September 25, 1820: 4)

"SEEDS. THE GROWTH OF 1820. ANDREW GENTLE, from the Botanic Garden, informs his former customers and the public, that he has recommenced the seed business at the store, 155 Water-st., near the Fly Market, where Gardeners and Agriculturalists may depend on getting seeds genuine....

"A fine assortment of Bulbous Roots, Tulips, Hyacinths, &c. Double Camellias and other ornamental Plants. All kinds of implements for the garden, on the shortest notice, on the most reasonable terms."

• Gentle, Andrew, October 28, 1820, Advertisement in the New York Evening Post (October 17, 1820: 4)

"Mr ANDREW GENTLE (at the Botanic Garden) has for sale there, and at his Store, No. 155 Water-st. New-York, a general assortment of Garden and Agricultural seeds, the growth of the present year. Fruit trees (true of their kinds.) Ornamental shrubs, plants, &c. Fine hyacinths, fit for glasses; Tulips, and other bulbous roots, for the open ground; the present time is the best for planting them. Seeds put up for foreign orders with the greatest care.... Green-house plants received for the winter, at very moderate charge, and will have the same attention as his own. Flower-pots and garden tools."

• Gentle, Andrew, 1841, Every Man His Own Gardener(1841: iii-vii, 34, 68, 73, 76, 80, 82-83, 89-91, 93) back up to history

"I deem it necessary…to acquaint the reader of the following Plain Treatise on Horticulture, with my qualifications for making considerable alterations in the mode of Gardening….

“I was brought up to horticultural work, in all its departments, and was entrusted with the management of two very extensive establishments in the Old Country for six years, before I embarked for this ‘land of the free.’ In the year 1805, I commenced operations for Dr. Hosack, in New-York, by laying out his grounds. On making inquiries of those who followed the business, relative to the usual time of putting some crops in the ground, the information I obtained, was, for a time, my guide. I was, however, firmly satisfied, that the ‘appointed times,’ observed by my fellow-labourers, were based on uncertainty, and of course induced repeated failure and great disappointment…. I perused several eminent authors on Gardening, and became thoroughly convinced that a most material deviation from their instructions must be adopted by the practical cultivator in this country, in order to crown his labours with success.

“Upwards of twenty years ago, I was strenuously advised to publish a work on useful Gardening. My answer was that I should be laughed at— not having had an opportunity of fully testing the effect of climate on vegetable life. I have since visited the Southern States, which, together with a long residence in the State of New-York, enable me, I presume, to form pretty correct data for the profitable pursuit of Kitchen Gardening, having kept general memorandums for the whole of the above-mentioned period.… [back up to history]

“It is more owing to the unskillfulness of the gardener, than to the "husbanding" of the seed seller, that so many crops fail.

“If the directions which I have given, with respect to sowing of seeds, and the time they will grow, are followed with tolerable exactness, they will be found applicable to the various States of the Union…. Seeds preserved here may be safely kept much longer than those imported from Europe….

“That the study of Horticulture, too much neglected hitherto, may confer all the advantages which it is capable of bestowing; that it may make the waste places fruitful, and the wilderness to blossom as a rose, is the height of the Author’s ambition, as well as his most devout prayer.

"CHIVES. Allium schoenoprasum….

"Plant the roots for edging to a walk or border, two inches deep, and the same distance apart, in the form you wish them to be.

"SORREL FRENCH. Rumex acetosa....

"You may have it in a bed any size, the rows being a foot apart, or for edging along the side of a walk....

"HYSSOP. Hyssopus officinalis…

"When it comes up, set it out in any form you wish; the usual way is to make an edging for the inner side of a border. Set the plants a few inches part; if for a bed, a foot in the rows.

"THYME. Thumus vulgaris….

"Plant slips in rows four inches apart, for edging. It does well for a walk side, or you may make a bed the same distance, the rows a foot apart.

"STRAWBERRY. Fragaria….

"In a small or family garden they make (81) good edging along the sides of squares; in a kitchen garden plant in rows, two plants nearly together, about eighteen inches apart….

"APPLE. Pyrus malus….

"For a small garden they should be set out one foot by three in the rows…. They will, in three or four years, be large enough to set out for orchard purposes….In setting out for an orchard, from thirty to thirty-six feet is a good distance.

"On the Construction of a Green-House and its Size.

"It can be heated with one fire-place, if it is forty feet long, sixteen wide, and the same in height; windows upright, and to commence two feet from the bottom, and go within three feet of the top; all hanging with weights to give air when wanted; there should be two or three in each end of the house also.

"The principal thing is the fire place; that is to be in the rear, and to come into the house from the north-west corner is rather the best; the size in the inside to be two feet in the clear in the length, eighteen inches wide, the grate to be one foot wide, and fifteen inches long; the bars to be one inch and a half thick by one inch broad, and to lay not more than one-quarter of an inch apart, the ends to fit close together, and half in, to lay on a bar of iron, with a fall of nine inches for the ashes; the door frame for two doors, the lower one to have two holes, with valves to shut or not as may be; the bottom of the entrance into the flue to be eighteen inches above the fire-place; an arch turned over rather higher behind than before; the flues all round to be four bricks on edge, a foot wide outside, and tiles a foot wide to cover over the top, an inch and a quarter thick; all soft brick, and laid in clay mortar; it will look better and throw more heat at less expence of fire, to have the bricks laid pigeon-hole fashion. The green-house to face the mid-day sun, or a little earlier. A conservatory may range south and north with glass roof, sides and ends, within two feet of the ground, and heated in the same way. The glass for the slope of the roof had better be about six inches wide, as it is bought cheaper, and not so liable to break. The slope may be what you please, only keep as near the directions as possible for the fire-place. Either of the above directed houses should be near the house, for convenience, or amusement for the winter. The stage in the green-house may be put up any form wished, provided it has a regular slope, as the plants always look best. The flues round the house with a shelf on it, will hold a great many plants, and they will be partly out of sight. Steam pipes will hold nothing, being round, and they cost more money, and when they get out of order, you have to get an engineer to put all right again, and if that should happen in the middle of winter, the consequences may be feared….

“Grape vines can be trained up the inside of a conservatory to advantage, by making the ground good where they are planted, and having an aperture through the lower part where they grow. You may indulge your taste to a considerable extent in laying out the ground adjacent to the house, if you wish; it will have a pretty effect for various flowers, shrubs, &c.

“It is customary to cause steam in the house in the evening, when the fire is kept up in cold weather, by occasionally pouring water along on the flue; it will make the plants have a fine appearance in the morning.

"On the Choice of a Situation for a Garden.

"I would prefer a kitchen garden near the house, but not fully in sight, partly surrounded with trees, ornamental as well as fruit, or grape vines, sloping a little to the south, and facing the sun at 11 o’clock, with a variety of soils, all of good depth, and free from stones or gravel, or rain water standing on it. It may be either square or oblong, but is most convenient to work when the sides are straight, with a fence of moderate height. In laying out, I would prefer a border all round the width of the fence, the walk half the width of the border, the main cross walks four feet wide, to plant currants, gooseberry, and raspberry bushes, four feet apart, or strawberry plants near the farmyard, and convenient for water.

"For a market garden the same sort of ground, with a good fence all round…."

Images

Attributed

• 

  John Trumbull, Dr. Hosack's Green houses, June 1806.

• 

  Anonymous, Elgin Garden, ca. 1810.

• 

  William Satchwell Leney after Louis Simond, View of the botanic garden at Elgin in the vicinity of the City of New York, ca. 1810.

• 

  Hugh Reinagle, "Elgin Garden on Fifth Avenue," ca. 1811.

• 

  William Satchwell Leney after Hugh Reinagle, View of the Botanic Garden of the State of New York, ca. 1811.

• 

  George Hayward after John Evers, Fly Market, from the cor. Front St. and Maiden Lane, N.Y. 1816, ca. 1857.