1878.] 



AND HOR TICUL TURIST. 



9^ 



(iwu hand — in this case our famous mammoth of 

 California. The memorial tree of all others 

 thai interests the traveler is one planted hy 

 Byron before he left the hoine of his fathers. 

 This is an English oak, and is now (> feet 9 

 inches round, not a slow growth, as so many 

 think is the fate of all oaks, by any means. If 

 the relic-hunters had their way, there would not 

 he much growth left to tell of its increase, but 

 not a twig is allowed to be broken oft". It so 

 happened that a violent rain storm the night 

 before had placed a very little twiry with a 

 couple of leaves or so on the mossy lawn be- 

 low, and for all my smiles at those who "■gath- 

 ered old sticks," and pulled mortar out of old 

 walls, my companion felt highly privileged 

 wlien she was permitted to bring the treasm^e 

 away to her home in the New World. The cel- 

 ebrated twin tree on which Byron cut the initials 

 of himself and sister, is not an oak as stated in 

 some of the biographies of the poet, but a beech. 

 Augusta's branch has been long since dead, but 

 the piece is preserved by Captain Webb, as is 

 everything belonging to the poet or any one 

 connected with him. A straight walk through 

 a dense wood, the walk made more dark than it 

 would be by beins; taken through a matted mass 

 of Rhododendrons, is a particularly gloomy 

 place, but was a favorite haunt of the young 

 poet. The gloomy effect is heightened by full 

 size statues (of course, copied from life) of 

 satyrs and imps of various kinds, and it is 

 said to be next to impossible to get any of the 

 neighboring peasantry to go through the place, 

 and among whom it is reverently known as the 

 Devil's woods. 



A cold English rain, thin shoes, an umbrella, 

 and rheumatic limbs to carry it along, are not 

 very favorable to garden sight seeing, so 

 we had to make up the rest of our day in ex- 

 ploi'ing the rich treasures of the old Abbey 

 itself, and adiniring the magnificent scenery as 

 displayed from every window, as we wandered 

 from room to room, and all made by the art of 

 the landscape gardener, a wonderful tribute from 

 the hand of man ! 



But I must drop for the present the large 

 country seats, and say a word or two of the 

 beautiful public gardens with which England 

 abounds, and which, indeed, constitutes some 

 of her proud institutions. We leave New- 

 stead Abbey, and, retaking our " Hy," conclude 

 to go around Robin Hood's barn, instead of 

 along the side of which we came ; for we sup- 



pose it is pretty well known that this celebrated 

 structure comprised the many thousand acres of 

 Sherwood forest, and that the King's deer were 

 always stored therein for Rol)in, whenever veni- 

 son was scarce. We reached Nottingham at night 

 fall after a charming drive, and put up at "'The 

 George," uncomfortably crowded by Americans, 

 chiefly drawn there througli that city being the 

 center of the lace trade. The good lady — most 

 of the English hotels seem kept by ladii^s — by 

 hook and by crook, managed to make up a suite 

 of rooms for us, and we were made quite 

 comfortable. Staying over Sunday in this town,, 

 it w^as interesting to notice that no one, not even 

 the poorest, seemed dressed without a I'ose in his 

 button-hole or her bosom. My readers will take 

 notice that I say a rose, and not a rose-bud ; but 

 I will not risk their good opinion of me by giv- 

 ing the circumference of the roses in inches. 

 The fact, however, will give a good idea of the 

 climates of the two countries. Under such cir- 

 cumstances with us, the rose would be a with- 

 ered corpse of a tlower in ten minutes. It was a 

 pleasant sight to see the town and its people on 

 this line summer's day. Almost everywhere 

 that I have been, in the Old World, on Sunday 

 or in week days, I see in every town some signs 

 of wretchedness, together with evidences of cul- 

 ture and wealth. I suppose Nottingham must 

 have its poor quarter as the rest, but if so, I 

 could not find it. Neat lace curtains in every 

 window •, some love for art in humblest homes ; 

 neatness of dress and appearance in the poorest, 

 and flowers in yards and windows everywhere. 

 My chief visit to Nottingham was to see its pub- 

 lic gardens of which I had read in my Ameri- 

 can home, and I thought no wonder that such a 

 town had a garden of so mucli reputation, when 

 I saw and talked with people that lived therein^ 

 for, as I have before noted in these recollections, 

 the measure of an Englishman's refinement can 

 always be taken from his garden. I fancy, how- 

 ever, it will be best to defer an account of these 

 public grounds till the next number, when I 

 may perhaps work up those of several of the 

 English and French cities into one chapter. 



The Gardener's Monthly and no Gar- 

 den. — S. J. B., of Biddle University, Charlotte, 

 N. C, writes: "If it should be any encourage- 

 ment to the publisher and the editor, I might 

 say that I appreciate The Monthly so highly, 

 that I have taken it the past two years merely 

 for the general information contained in it, al- 

 though I had no ground to cultivate ; but here- 



