1870.] A VISIT TO FROGMORE GARDENS. 299 



mornings ; pits after pits of the old Ash-leaf kidney Potato, some 

 just above ground, some fit to dry, some where the crop had just been 

 dug ; pits of Maclean's Little Gem Peas in the same stages as the 

 Potatoes — a most excellent dwarf Pea for forcing, when there is space to 

 devote to it ; pits of Melons and Cucumbers, the latter in wonderful 

 health and productiveness, without a particle of bottom-heat, the 

 warmth derived only from the atmosphere of the house. Frogmore 

 has long been celebrated for its Pines on the planted- out system ; nor 

 does its prestige fail, as I counted 40 smooth Cayennes, ripe and ripen- 

 ing, from 5 to 7 lb. each, beautifully swelled on plants with compara- 

 tively few leaves — that is, young plants ; indeed, not 12 months planted. 

 Queens in pots were equally fine — a whole pit of about 100 in 13-inch 

 pots, in and out of bloom, were extra bold, the foliage short and mas- 

 sive. Pines in succession were in good strength. 



There is a story of a man who, having some houses for sale, carried 

 about with him a brick from each as samples of what his property was 

 like. We feel that the foregoing remarks are just like the man's 

 bricks. The measure of my success in presenting your readers with a 

 conception of what is done in those gardens must be gauged by what 

 I have set down concerning them : to describe the gardens themselves 

 would require a volume and a facile pen. They are worthy of the 

 Royal Park, Castle, and establishment of which they form an adjunct. 

 Every man is said to be the architect of his own fortune. Mr Rose's 

 practical ability, energy, and single-minded pertinacity of purpose, no 

 doubt pointed him out as the fit man to undertake the resuscitation of 

 this, the leading private garden in the nation : and yet, after all, the 

 garden proper is but a part of the huge charge. Many miles of 

 pleasure-ground walks have been remodelled, involving the carting and 

 appropriation of several thousands of loads of gravel; shrubberies 

 replanted, giving occasion to the transplanting, thinning, and pruning 

 of hundreds of large trees and shrubs ; old drives have been cleared and 

 improved, and new drives constructed, involving labour properly be- 

 longing to the wood-forester's department, such as lopping the over- 

 hanging limbs of whole avenues of infirm elm-trees — a tree ever to be 

 avoided near drives and frequented places. 



Much that is interesting might be written of the beauties and magni- 

 tude of Windsor Park and Frogmore, and their historical reminiscences; 

 of the rich beauty of the grounds about Frogmore House ; of lake and 

 fawn, and wooded knolls enshrouding the marvellous mausoleums of 

 the late Prince Consort and Royal Duchess ; and the almost unpar- 

 alleled vista of the long drive in Windsor Park, excelling in quiet 

 Doric grandeur anything else of the kind in Europe ; — Virginia Water, 

 the perfection of an English park lake, its varied outline, set in forest 



