MR. DOWNING'S LETTERS FROM ENGLAND. 



223 



say a hundred feet long. I inquired about 

 the product of this tree, and when the number 

 was mentioned, I imagine His Grace detected 

 a slight smile of incredulity ; for he begged 

 Mr. Paxton to copy for me, and subscribe 

 his name to, the accurate statistics of the 

 present crop. I send it to you in a note,* 

 with the addition, that the fruit was of the 

 variety known as the Royal George, very 

 large, and finer flavored than I had before 

 tasted from trees grown under glass. The 

 whole trellis, from one end to the other, was 

 most admirably clothed — not a vacant place 

 to be found. 



Of the superb water lil}', lately discovered 

 in Brazil, and named Victoria Regia, in 

 honor of the Queen, you have already pub- 

 lished an account. It has grown and bloomed 

 here more perfectly than elsewhere ; though 

 there are, also, good specimens at the Dtke 

 OF Northumberland's, and at Kew. The 

 finest plant here occupies a house built spe- 

 cially for it, 60 by 45 feet, enclosing a small 

 pond 33 feet in diameter for it to grow in. 

 The plant is, unquestionably, the most magni- 

 ficent aquatic known. The huge circular 

 leaves, 4 to 5 feet across, are like great um- 

 brellas in size ; and the blossoms, as large as a 

 man's hat — pure white, tipped with crimson — 

 float upon the surface with a very queenly 

 dignity, as if ready to command admiration. 

 A small frame or board was placed on one of 

 the leaves, merely in order to divide the 

 weight equally as it floated ; and it upheld 

 the weight of a man readily. Some seeds 

 were presented to me of this beautiful floral 

 amazon before I left Chatsworth ; but as it 

 requires the tank to be heated to a tem- 

 perature of 85°, and the water kept constantly 

 in motion by a small wheel, I fear I shall not 

 readily find an amateur in the United States 



* " Memorandum of Peaches, borne by the Great Peach Tree 

 at Chatsicorth, in 1850. — Fruii ihiiuied out at various times be- 

 fore malurily, 7601 ; do. left to ripea, 926; total crop, 8727. 



Jos. Paxton." 



who will be inclined to indulge a taste for so 

 expensive a floral fancy.* 



The kitchen and forcing grounds are on an 

 inmicnse scale, and some handsome fruit was 

 being packed to go as a present to the Queen, 

 The pines were unusually large and fine ; and 

 the Duke remarked that Mr. Paxton has 

 reduced the cost of producing them two-thirds, 

 since he has had charge of that department, — 

 some ten or twelve years. 



If, after this lengthy description, I have 

 almost wholly failed to give you an idea of 

 Chatsworth, it is not wholly because my pen 

 is not equal to the task. Something must be 

 allowed for the difficulty of presenting to you 

 any adequate notion ofthe variety, richness, and 

 completeness of an estate, where you may spend 

 many days with new objects of interest and 

 beauty constantly before you; objects which, 

 only to enumerate, would be presenting you 

 with dry catalogues, instead of living pic- 

 tures, brilliant and varying as those of the 

 kaleidoscope. 



And, I think I hear you say, this is all for 

 the pride and pleasure of a single individual I 

 All this is done to minister to his happiness. 

 Not entirely. The Duke op Devonshire 

 has the reputation, very deservedly, I should 

 think, of being second to no man in England 

 for his benevolence, kind-heartedness and 

 liberality. Certainly, I think I may safely 

 say, that Chatsworth shows more refined taste, 

 joined to magnificence, both externally and 

 internally, than any place I have ever seen. 

 When one sees how many persons are con- 

 stantly employed in the various works of im- 

 provement on this single estate, and how 

 cheerfully the whole is thrown open to the 



* If your readers were not already so well aware of Mr. 

 Paxton's reputation, as one of the most scientific Eng1i.sh hor- 

 licullurists of the age, I slioulJ say more of his extraordinary 

 ability, as shown at Chatsworth. His pl.in for the edifice now 

 bein^ erected in Ilycie Park, for the irreut uiduslrial exhibition 

 of 1851, was adopted in preference of those offered by a num- 

 ber of the most eminent arcliilecls. It is to he wholly of glass 

 and iron, and will cover about 21 acres of ground. There is 

 little doubt that when the exhibition is over, il will be turned 

 iulo the grandest winter garden in the world. 



