1871.] ON THE ROAD. 455 



I hope, as from an ordinary house of permanent Vines, for the roof 

 will be almost all covered by these two rows. I will have the 

 crop off, then, in time for planting a fresh lot, to get their grow^ths 

 up to the top of the house the same year. This year I planted a 

 house in June, and some time ago they had reached the top of 

 the house. They have done well, but it is the soil that has done 

 it ; for I am a firm believer in the passage that " Paul may plant 

 and Apollos may water," but we must have our increase from another 

 source. Egbert Mackellar. 



[The sample of young Vine sent is moderately strong, and ripened to a solid 

 hard hazelly brown, with very little pith — such Vine-wood as may be relied upon. 

 There is scarcely anything in horticulture more remarkable than the influence of 

 different soils in Grape-growing. — Ed.] 



ON THE ROAD. 



It was with a feeling of relief that we left the cares of superintend- 

 ence, somewhat aggravated by an ungenial season, behind us, to spend 

 our holidays among our old haunts and friends north of the Tweed. 

 Leaving the murky atmosphere of South Yorkshire, and hurrying 

 through the din and smoke of the Cottonopolis, our first halt was at Wor- 

 sley station, on the London and jSTorth-western Railway, about 7 miles 

 from Manchester, and less than 2 miles from Worsley Hall, the beau- 

 tiful seat of the Earl of Ellesmere, and the object of our visit. This 

 is altogether a fine place ; and no doubt, if the Editor of the ' Year 

 Book ' ever adds a map to future issues, Worsley Hall will be repre- 

 sented, in black letters, as a place of first-rate importance. The Hall is a 

 modern mansion, in the mediaeval style of architecture, and is consid- 

 ered one of the finest examples of the style in England. It stands 

 on a commanding position, overlooking the Chat Moss, stretching away 

 like a vast plain to the south-west. On the south, the eye ranges 

 across Cheshire, on the east the Derbyshire Peaks may be descried in 

 the distance, while, far away to the north, the Westmorland moun- 

 tains may be seen on a clear day. In the immediate neighbourhood, 

 and visible at different points, is the famous Bridgewater Canal, with its 

 network of tributaries ; and in the distance is seen that triumph of engin- 

 eering skill, the Manchester and Liverpool Railway, which is carried 

 across this oozy Moss, 7000 acres in extent, and from 20 to 30 feet 

 deep, upon rude hurdles interwoven with heather and branches of trees, 

 and in some places, it is said, upon cotton bales ; the surface being 

 covered with gravel, in which the sleepers are laid. The flower-garden 

 and pleasure-grounds around the Hall are nearly 50 acres in extent, 



