VISITS TO COUNTRY PLACES. 



very striking and rampant grower, though too loose in its habit to be very 



liandsome. 



Piccrt {linsnpo, six feet. 



riccti ci'plialonicn, oij^lit, and very liandsonie. 



Norilnianiaua, from the Crimea, three feet, and the finest of the pLceas. 



Cedars of Lebanon, eight to fifteen feet. 



Among the curious evergreens. Thuja filiforrais (weeping arbor vita?), six feet 

 high, weeping juniper, both beautiful, a very handsome golden-striped yew, six 

 feet, a golden-striped cedar, a novelty in England, where it originated, and a 

 silver-striped Dalsam fir ; but the two finest of Mr. Sargent's evergreens are the 

 Torreya Taxifolia, the original tree sent to Mr. Downing by Dr. Torrey, and 

 from which all the English Torreyas are descended, and the Abies Morinda, 

 ticenty-Jive feet high, and perhaps the finest specimen in this country. 



The gardens arc models of neatness and success. There are 2(H)0 feet of espa- 

 liers for trained fruit-trees ; jieach houses, graperies, and forcing houses all in the 

 neatest order. Two thousand pounds of grapes were raised here in one season, 

 the average crop being 1000 pounds.* 



We were amused by the mode of opening the lodge-gate, which is accomplished 

 in the following manner : Tlie lodge is set upon a Ha-ha or terraced wall adjoining 

 the gate ; through this wall a chain passes from the gate to the living room, and 

 there secured to a small windlass, which, on the arrival of a carriage, is instantly 

 w^ound up, thus opening the gate at any hour of the day or night without exposing 

 the lodge-keeper even to sight ; when open, it is held so until the carriage 

 passes, when it shuts of its own weight, being hung out of plumb. 



In short, Wodenethe is a cabinet picture; in landscape effects perfect. Though 

 the place is not large, advantage is taken of its situation to appropriate the sur- 

 rounding scenery. Newburgh, on the opposite side of the river, lies at your feet 

 through an opening of the new Italian halcone ; the river, with its moving pano- 

 rama of steam-vessels, &c., through others, and all the effects of a large and 

 magnificent park are obtained through superb vistas. Every luxury, a fine library 

 of new and old books, a family of education to enjoy it, botanical riches, and 

 never-ceasing amusements, which "books, friends, a garden, and perhaps his pen" 

 afford, the hospitable owner never lacks congenial occupation, and, of course, 

 happiness. 



Depend upon it, there is no* success can attend those who sit down in idleness 

 to enjoy their money. Man is never happy without a pursuit, and when his means 

 will allow it, he should seek an intellectual one ; such is horticulture and arbori- 

 culture. When we find a gentleman well read on these subjects, we feel sure he 

 is in a state of progress, that his time never hangs heavy on his hands, and that 

 he has something fo show for his intelligence. We are free to confess that we 

 deem this class to be the happiest Americans we know : — 



" All, wlierever in the scale, 

 Have — be tliey liigli or low, or rich or poor, 

 Inherit they a sheep-hook or a scejitre — 

 Much to be grateful for ; hut most has he 

 Born in that middle sphere, that temperate zone, 

 Where knowledge lights his lamp." 



* There are several interesting points about Mr. Sargent's management of his grounds 

 and graperies. In excavating for the house, the earth was made into an irregular mound ; 

 on this a rustic summer-house of great beaiatj has been erected, and the whole is overrun 

 ■with Bignonias, Wistarias, Cobeas, &c., &c. In the grapery, where the border extend 

 inside, mushrooms are successfully grown ; they are picked every morning through 

 slats used for walking on, thus forming a successful and economical "mushroomery.'' 



