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Difference between revisions of "Andrew Gentle"

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==History==
 
==History==
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1810: (“Botanist and Seedsman” of New York),
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The trustees’ memorial of 1818 states, that when they took possession of the garden “the whole establishment was in a state of dilapidation and decay.” They made some repairs, and in March, 1817, let the grounds to a Mr. Gentle for one year, apparently without rent, but upon condition that he keep the green houses and grounds in order. Renewals were continued for several years, a long lease being refused on account of “the prospects of an advantageous exchange, if the property were keep [sic] unencumbered.”
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In the summer of 1819, Dr. Hosack, in behalf of the Agricultural Society applied for a lease for a term of years, free from rent, for “market gardening”; but the trustees declined….
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16) In May, 1819, the Committee on the Botanic Garden reported that:
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“Agreeably to the wish of the Trustees, the [[Greenhouse|’’green-house’’]] plants belonging to the college were offered to and accepted by the Governors of the Hospital; and the Committee have given an order for the delivery of them and such ‘’ornamental trees’’ and shrubs as might be removed without injury to the place.”
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In 1823 the grounds were rented to J. B. Driver for five years at $125 per year and taxes, the tenant agreeing “to keep the grounds and buildings in order, and not to lop, cut or remove any trees or [[shrubbery]], or pasture other than his own cattle”; and the college reserved the right to cancel the [17] lease in case of sale; and also the right to remove trees and [[shrubbery]], and ‘’glass’’ and ‘’frames’’ from the front building; and the tenant was to preserve them till removed.”
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David Hosack,’’Hortus Elginensis, or, A Catalogue of Plants, Indigenous and Exotic, Cultivated in the Elgin Botanic Garden, in the Vicinity of the City of New-York : Established in 1801’’ (New-York : Printed by T. & J. Swords, 1811), 2nd edition enlarged, viii: “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.....  and Mr. Andrew Gentle, seedsman, of this city; are also among the contributors to this institution."
  
  
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==Texts==
 
==Texts==
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* Gentle, Andrew, January 22, 1810, Valuation of plants in the [[Elgin Botanic Garden]] (Hosack 1811: 53-54)<ref>David Hosack, ''A Statement of Facts Relative to the Establishment and Progress of the Elgin Botanic Garden: And the Subsequent Disposal of the Same to the State of New-York'' (New York: C.S. Van Winkle, 1811), [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/H4VR8FK5 view on Zotero].</ref>
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: "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.”
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* [[David Hosack|Hosack, David]], April 8, 1817, Report read at a meeting of the Historical Society, New York (May 1817: 47)<ref>David Hosack, ‘Report on Botany and Vegetable Physiology’, ''The American Monthly Magazine and Critical Review'', 1 (May 1817), https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/MWBS8AMP view on Zotero].</ref>  
 
* [[David Hosack|Hosack, David]], April 8, 1817, Report read at a meeting of the Historical Society, New York (May 1817: 47)<ref>David Hosack, ‘Report on Botany and Vegetable Physiology’, ''The American Monthly Magazine and Critical Review'', 1 (May 1817), https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/MWBS8AMP view on Zotero].</ref>  

Revision as of 03:05, September 30, 2015

Andrew Gentle (fl. 1800-1841), a British-born seedsman and gardener, managed the Elgin Botanic Garden in New York City and operated a commercial business trading in seeds and plants.

History

1810: (“Botanist and Seedsman” of New York), The trustees’ memorial of 1818 states, that when they took possession of the garden “the whole establishment was in a state of dilapidation and decay.” They made some repairs, and in March, 1817, let the grounds to a Mr. Gentle for one year, apparently without rent, but upon condition that he keep the green houses and grounds in order. Renewals were continued for several years, a long lease being refused on account of “the prospects of an advantageous exchange, if the property were keep [sic] unencumbered.” In the summer of 1819, Dr. Hosack, in behalf of the Agricultural Society applied for a lease for a term of years, free from rent, for “market gardening”; but the trustees declined…. 16) In May, 1819, the Committee on the Botanic Garden reported that: “Agreeably to the wish of the Trustees, the ’’green-house’’ plants belonging to the college were offered to and accepted by the Governors of the Hospital; and the Committee have given an order for the delivery of them and such ‘’ornamental trees’’ and shrubs as might be removed without injury to the place.” In 1823 the grounds were rented to J. B. Driver for five years at $125 per year and taxes, the tenant agreeing “to keep the grounds and buildings in order, and not to lop, cut or remove any trees or shrubbery, or pasture other than his own cattle”; and the college reserved the right to cancel the [17] lease in case of sale; and also the right to remove trees and shrubbery, and ‘’glass’’ and ‘’frames’’ from the front building; and the tenant was to preserve them till removed.”

David Hosack,’’Hortus Elginensis, or, A Catalogue of Plants, Indigenous and Exotic, Cultivated in the Elgin Botanic Garden, in the Vicinity of the City of New-York : Established in 1801’’ (New-York : Printed by T. & J. Swords, 1811), 2nd edition enlarged, viii: “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..... and Mr. Andrew Gentle, seedsman, of this city; are also among the contributors to this institution."


--Author

Texts

"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.”


  • Hosack, David, April 8, 1817, Report read at a meeting of the Historical Society, New York (May 1817: 47)[2]
"The Committee acknowledge with great pleasure, the reception of a large collection of seeds from Monsieur Thouin, the Professor of Agriculture and Botany at the Jardin des Plantes, or Paris, and another from our learned countryman, Mr. Jefferson, as lately received by him from his European correspondents. Those seeds have all been conveyed to the [Elgin Botanic Garden|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 and October 11, 1817: 4)
"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, 1820, Advertisement in the New York Evening Post
"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 17, 1820, Advertisement in the New York Evening Post (October 17, 1820: 3)
"ANDREW GENTLE... at his Store, No. 155 Water-st. New-York, a general assortment of ... seeds, the growth of the present year. Fruit trees, Ornamental shrubs, plants, etc. 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 great 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 )[3]
"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.…

“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 sips 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 [greenhouse|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…. (91)
“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 appearnace 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 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


References

Notes

  1. David Hosack, A Statement of Facts Relative to the Establishment and Progress of the Elgin Botanic Garden: And the Subsequent Disposal of the Same to the State of New-York (New York: C.S. Van Winkle, 1811), view on Zotero.
  2. David Hosack, ‘Report on Botany and Vegetable Physiology’, The American Monthly Magazine and Critical Review, 1 (May 1817), https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/MWBS8AMP view on Zotero].
  3. Andrew Gentle, Every Man His Own Gardener; Or, a Plain Treatise on the Cultivation of Every Requisite Vegetable in the Kitchen Garden, Alphabetically Arranged. With Directions for the Green & Hothouse, Vineyard, Nursery, &c. Being the Result of Thirty-Five Years’ Practical Experience in This Climate. Intended Principally for the Inexperienced Horticulturist (New York: The author, 1841), https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/X7253QTQ view on Zotero]

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