1870.] HURSLEY PARK AND GARDENS. 371 



elegant tribe of plants : Agrostis argentea, A. pulchella, and A. nebu- 

 losa : Briza maxima, and the lesser species, B. gracilis ; the graceful and 

 useful Eragrostis elegans ; Lajurus ovatus, Stipa pinnata, or the com- 

 mon Feather Grass of the seed-shops, a British plant capable of pro- 

 pagation either by root division or by seeds, and will grow in any 

 common soil. The Pampas Grass is also found useful : the elegant and 

 stately inflorescences of this fine grass can be easily preserved, and re- 

 tained in use for a considerable time. 



Such are a few of the more useful of flowers and grasses capable of 

 preservation. Those unaccustomed to their use are scarcely aware of 

 the excellent effect they have when grouped in epergnes and suchlike 

 for the decoration of the dinner-table. William Chisholm. 



Boughton Place, Maidstone. 



HURSLEY PARK AND GARDENS, WINCHESTER, 



THE SEAT OF SIR WILLIAM HEATHCOTE, BART. 



The visitor from the direction of Southampton will find, at this season of the 

 year, a pleasant walk from the station at Chandler's Ford to the lower lodge 

 entrance to this fine domain ; and having gained this point, he will find also that 

 to reach the gardens he must traverse a well-worn footway, about one-third 

 of a mile in length, right across the park ; and which, if he is of an inquiring 

 mind, will prove to him, as it did to ourselves, not the least interesting portion 

 of the journey. 



First, however, let me state of the park itself, that it comprises an area of 

 some 500 acres in extent, is pleasantly undulating and finely timbered, some of 

 the individual trees possessing enormous proportions ; whilst beautiful groups of 

 Chestnuts, Elms, Limes, &c, lend a leafy effect that is quite charming. Some 

 300 head of deer browse within the park, besides considerable herds of cattle ; 

 and these have eaten the whole of the branches from the base of all the trees to 

 within 7 feet from the ground, so that there is an evenness throughout the 

 park in this respect which adds greatly to its beauty ; whilst the range of vision 

 is neither marred nor broken, and the fine sturdy stems of the trees form a most 

 pleasing feature in the landscape. 



Starting from the lodge in our walk to the gardens, we come almost imme- 

 diately upon the schoolboys' cricket-ground, on which the boys of the Hursley 

 School are permitted to play whensoever they list. Still a little farther, and we 

 reach that portion of the park on which the members of the Hursley Cricket 

 Club practise, and where, on summer Sunday evenings, with the full concurrence 

 of the worthy baronet, the labouring men of the parish play the noble game, and 

 disport themselves in the innocent pastime, whilst their families and friends can 

 enjoy without stint the full delights of the fine park and its sylvan scenery. 

 Just away to the right hand we catch sight of the church, so long the scene of 

 the labours of the late John Keble, the author of the 'Christian Year,' and from 

 whence a private footway, running under a fine avenue of walnut-trees, leads to 

 the mansion, where also I will carry at once the attention of your readers. 



The principal front of the building faces in a southerly direction, and enjoys a 



