FOREIGN NOTICES. 



283 



rays that the scorching influence is due, there is 

 every reason to conclude that the use of this sjlass 

 will be etlcetive in protectinij the plants, and, at 

 the same time, as it is unobjectionable in point of 

 colour, and transparent to that principle which is 

 necessary for the development of those parts of the 

 plant which depend on external chemical excita- 

 tion, it is only partially so to the heat rays, and it is 

 opaque to those only which are the most injurious. 

 The absence of the oxide of mantranese, common- 

 ly employed in ail sheet i^lass, is insisted on, it bav- 

 intr been found that glass, into the composition of 

 which manganese enters, will, after exposure for 

 some time to intense sunlight, assume a pinky hue, 

 and any tint of this character would completely 

 destroy the peculiar properties for which this glass 

 is chosen. Meiloni, in his investigations on radiant 

 heat, discovered that a peculiar green glass, manu- 

 factured in Italy, obstructed nearly all the calorific 

 rays ; we may, therefore, conclude that the glass 

 chosen is of a similar character to that employed 

 by the Italian philosopher. The tint of colour is 

 not very different from that of the old crown glass ; 

 and many practical men state that they find their 

 plants flourish much better under this kind of glass 

 than under the whitest sheet glass commonly em- 

 ployed. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



HOLKAM, THE SeAT OF THE EaRL OF LEICES- 

 TER. — This magnificent place has been hitherto 

 known to the public chiefly for its agriculture, and 

 the princely hospitality of its owners. Men of all 

 countries have been here to learn the arts of rear- 

 ing the best breeds of cattle, and of turning the 

 soil to the best account ; and no one doubts that the 

 examples here given have been the means of stimu- 

 lating many throughout the world to carry out simi- 

 lar improvements. There is, however, an addi- 

 tional lesson very legibly displayed here, which pro- 

 prietors would do well to attend to — I mean its fo- 

 resting. Trees anywhere, in good land even, are 

 trmmphs ; they are looked upon as such in rich 

 sheltered valleys, on slopes with mountains at their 

 back ; but to have them of commanding stature, in 

 defiance of every obstruction, soil, situation, climate 

 (a biting sea air in this instance,) is an achieve- 

 ment which ought at least to be noted and com- 

 mended to all who have lands similarly situated. 

 Tlie late Sir Fowell Buxton took the hint, and not 

 the least of his legacies was a series of thriving 

 plantations stretched along the side of the German 

 Ocean at Runton and Trimmingham. 



Holkham, "on an open, barren estate, was 

 planned, planted, built, decorated and inhabited in 

 the middle of the eigliteenth century." Such is the 

 record over the entrance door into the hall. Ceres 

 and Sylvanus have now their temples here ; and it 

 would be difficult indeed to find an estate over 

 ■which cornfields and woodlands are moie judiciously 

 interspersed. The sale of the timber alone real- 

 izes about £^1300 yearly. 



The chief object of this notice is to draw the at- 

 tention of land proprietors who have poor lands 

 near the sea, to a grand feature at this scat, caus- 

 ed by the introduction of the Evergreen Oak (Quer- 

 cus ilex.) It is here, as a timber tree, magnificent 

 beyond example in this country, and in the greatest 



profusion. Its appearance in the Holkham woods, 

 proves two things : 1st. that the tree is well suited 

 to dry exposed soils within the influence of the sea 

 air, as has been frequently stated in the Chronicle ; 

 and 2dly, that on chalk bottoms it is entitled to a 

 place beside the Beech. In the Obelisk wood here, 

 a great part of wliich is on chalk, it is in several 

 instances intermixed with the common English 

 Oak, which it surpasses both in height and bulk, 

 growing luxuriantly after the latter has ceased to 

 thrive. 



Of the Evergreen Oak as an ornamental object, 

 especially in autumn and throughout winter, it is 

 unnecessary to speak. The only hindrance to its 

 more general cultivation is its high price, and the 

 uncertainty of its growing when transplanted. I 

 am happy to say that Mr. Gorrie, the forester here, 

 has the merit of obviating the latter objection, and 

 with it the former will, no doubt, be considerably 

 modified. He transplants the seedlings about mid- 

 summer, a plan which has turned out to be com- 

 pletely_successful. Following his recommendation, 

 I had "several hundred put into small pots in the 

 latter part of June, and I now find that they are 

 not only all alive, but have made a second growth. 

 Those who are in the practice of raising seedling 

 Ilexes, will have observed that they complete their 

 first firowth in June, and that towards the end of 

 the month the buds assume the appearance of ma- 

 turity, the leaves becoming rigid and glossy, and 

 that the whole plant is apparently prepared for 

 winter. A few weeks elapse, and it is observed 

 that they commence to shoot with renewed vigor, 

 making in some instances about six inches of ad- 

 ditional wood. It is during the interval of rest, 

 therefore, that the plants should be removed. It is 

 of course necessary to shade them from sunshine, 

 and to water them copiously for a week or so after 

 being transplanted. 



All who visit this seat, and are interested in this 

 tree, had better ask particularly for the Ilexes in 

 the Obelisk wood ; for after walking forty miles, a 

 few j'ears since, for the purpose of seeing the best 

 trees, those only on the lawn in front of the house 

 were shown to me. They are certainly fine, spread- 

 ing, park-like objects ; but the others are majestic 

 and forest-like, and almost justify the extravagant 

 language of Pliny, when writing of the species as 

 it grew about Rome. One tree in this district 

 measures fifteen feet in circumference at a foot 

 from the ground ; another is eight feet four inches, 

 in circumference, has twenty-eight feet of a clear 

 bole, and is seventy feet high : a third is nine lectin 

 circumference, has a clean bole of twenty feet, and 

 is seventy-five feet high : another is twelve feet in 

 circumference and covers a space of twenty-two 

 yards in diameter. 



The usual approach to this seat, on the Faken- 

 ham road, is skirted with thriving young trees of 

 the Araucaiia and Cedrus deodara, which in a few 

 years more will be large enough to confer a strik- 

 ing and graceful ellect. A considerable number of 

 the latter has been raised from seed by Mr. Gorrie, 

 and it is intended to plant them on an extensive 

 scale, both as ornamental objects and forest trees. 

 The Araucaria grows here without the slightest 

 protection during winter ; and it will bo interettiiig 



