The Gardeners' Chronicle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Gardeners' Chronicle was perhaps the most famous of all Horticultural periodicals. It lasted as a title in its own right for nearly 150 years and is still extant as part of the magazine Horticulture Week.
Founded in 1841 by the emiminent gardeners Joseph Paxton, Charles Wentworth Dilke, John Lindley and William Bradbury it originally took the form of a traditional newspaper, with both national and foreign news, but also with vast amounts of material sent in by gardeners and scientists, covering every conceivable aspect of gardening.
Its first editor was the founder John Lindley. Another founder, Paxton, later also became editor. Prominent contributors included Charles Darwin and Joseph Hooker.
By 1851, the circulation of the 'Gardeners Chronicle' was given as 6500. Compared with that of the far more eminent Observer at 6230, and The Economist at 3826, the 'Gardeners Chronicle' did astonishingly well. Possibly these figures include the Chronicle's large international readership.
It was noted for its large advertising section and when the dropping of a tax on glass and the huge interest generated by the Great Exhibition made personal, small-scale greenhouses possible, it became full of adverts for these, many designed by Paxton himself, and from the sales of which he generated a tidy income.
