CRITIQUE ON THE DECEMBER HORTICULTURIST. 



355 



soup ami champaigne of the former. Great 

 men don't live in such "fancy" Kou 

 anywhere in these United States. 



I know a gentleman who lias been a 

 general, a governor, a cabinet minister, a 

 foreign ambassahor, and possessed of an 

 ample fortune, and, withal, a man of great 

 hospitality, whose house never cost him 

 five thousand dollars. But its ample and 

 convenient rooms are filled with abundant 

 and most comfortable furniture ; a large 

 library, costly and beautiful paintings, maps, 

 and drawings ; cabinets of minerals, an- 

 cient coins, and superscriptions ; and all 

 the choice things and bijouterie that a gen- 

 tleman of education and taste would natu- 

 rally pick up in foreign and domestic travel; 

 yet all beautifully arranged, and so care- 

 lessly disposed, that not the slightest effort 

 at effect is discovered, and at the display 

 of which the plain, unsophisticated, matter- 

 of-fact man is no more disconcerted than 

 in entering the sitting-room of an ordinary 

 fanner. And still, there is comfort in every 

 degree, without ostentation or effort ; and 

 this house which you have designed is the 

 very one for such a man, or for one of his 

 finished, yet unpretending taste, to build 

 and to live in — plain — substantial— home- 

 like — and in harmony with all you desire 

 within, or about it. 



Allow me, however, to suggest an im- 

 provement. In looking at the grounds in 

 its vicinity, I catch a glimpse of a lake, or 

 river, in the distance, on which the rear of 

 the mansion looks out, and, of course, the 

 house itself is an object from the water, or 

 its shores; and the upright, and apparently 

 stiff, uncovered rear, presents a naked ap- 

 pearance to the eye. Therefore, allowing 

 the green-house and kitchen their present 

 positions, the library should be slightly 

 curtailed in its length, and a light veranda 

 thrown out on each side, — thus letting the 



walls gracefully down to the ground as in 

 front, 'and giving th< m appropriate shelter. 

 A narrow side door for summer use could 

 communicate from either wall of the library 



with this veranda, and in winter closed by 

 an outer screen, or blind to keep out the 

 cold and the weather. Or if more conve- 

 nient to the occupation of the grounds, the 

 kitchen could turn an angle rearwards, from 

 which might be extended the wash-room, 

 laundry, wood-house, &c. &c— thus giving 

 a finished and most convenient appearance 

 to the whole structure— a perfect home- 

 stead. 



I trust I may never see another cellar 

 kitchen to a country house,; — the bane and 

 affliction of our wives; for in this country, 

 where the occasional superintendence of 

 the kitchen is indispensable to all good 

 housekeepers, that department should al- 

 ways be within reach of the family rooms; 

 a ready method of housekeeping ma.de easy, 



VaiVs August Duke Cherry. — If this fruit 

 is all that you describe, it is an acquisition 

 invaluable to our pomology. Let it be 

 thoroughly tried in our nurseries; and if, 

 like the pudding, " the proof is in eating," 

 it will be abundantly disseminated through- 

 out the country. 



Bursting the Bark in Cherry Trees. — 

 Go on, gentlemen. You are doing " the 

 state some service," and ere long they will 

 "know it." I shall hold up till you get 

 through, and then, possibly, have a word 

 or two to say about it. 



On Grape-vine Borders. — Dr. Stevens 

 knows a thing or two. And I am right 

 glad he has broached this subject. "When 

 yon and he have settled this matter of 

 width of border, and depth of soil, the drain- 

 ing and moisture — any man of good obser- 

 vation can determine — we'll go to work and 

 raise them in any quantity for domestic 

 market. At all events, no more delicious 



