SEPTEMBER. 195 



partly globular heads of flowers, in which it abounds, are of a colour 

 approaching to purple. This species looks well in appropriate 

 places in flower-borders. It may be found wild on Cooper's Hill. 



Myosotis palustris, or Forget-me-not. This familiar and interest- 

 ing plant is often met with on the banks of the Thames, as well as 

 by the sides of those lesser portions of water on the Egham race- 

 course. It might be grown round ornamental ponds, or in marshy 

 portions of the pleasure-grounds, with advantage. I have also seen 

 favourite specimens cultivated in pots by ladies, whose kind atten- 

 tions to them were generally crowned by a fine crop of Forget- 

 me-nots. Mrs. Loudon describes it as a plant " of the easiest cul- 

 ture." It has a pretty eflfect in vases well supplied with water. 



Englefield Green. William Whale. 



DROPMORE. 



The seat of Lady Grenville has a world-wide renown for its splendid 

 specimens of the rarer kinds of Conifers. Even Elvaston itself, with 

 all its glorious array of evergreen trees, cannot boast of such magni- 

 ficent examples of some things as are to be found here. Where, for 

 example, shall we look for a match to the noble Araucaria imbricata, 

 which occupies the declivity of a gentle eminence rising up from the 

 margin of a piece of water that stretches out in front of it .'* This 

 tree is truly one of the wonders of Dropmore, and well worth, as the 

 late Mr. M'Nab expressed, a journey of 500 miles to see. It mea- 

 sures 32 feet 4 inches in height, with a girth, three feet from the 

 ground, of 3 feet 6 inches, and its extent of branches is 17 feet. In 

 fact, from bottom to top, it is a regular cone, with branches beautifully 

 disposed, and exhibiting the most perfect symmetry. But although 

 this is the handsomest example of this kind of pine at Dropmore, 

 there are others very nearly as large ; and we also remarked one from 

 a cutting 26 feet high, and 10 feet through at the base, so that, 

 whether from cuttings or seeds, they apparently succeed equally well 

 under Mr. Frost's judicious care. 



Before leaving this spot let us take a look at the scenery. The 

 day is one of the finest of the month of June, and all around appears 

 green, fresh, and delightful ; but this latter characteristic would also 

 pertain to winter here, even while the Yule log is burning, such 

 being one of the advantages of having plenty of evergreens about a 

 place. They impart to it an air of snugness and comfort when all 

 beyond is cheerless and gloomy. But to our object. Before us lays 

 the little lake we have already alluded to, apparently half natural, 

 half artificial, with a little island in its centre, and all around is a 

 wood of Firs, faced and adorned here and there with the finer Pines. 

 On the other side of the water is a light-coloured stone seat, or 

 rather summer-house, formed, it is said, of a piece of the old London 

 Bridge ; nearer is a rustic pathway, thrown over a portion of the 

 lake ; farther off may be observed a clump of Deodars, some thirty 



