COUNTRY SEATS NEAR BOSTON. 



residence of Rose Hill, and some others, that appear to look down upon it somewhat con- 

 temptuously. It is, nevertheless, snugly nestled among fine trees, and possesses a fine 

 lawr, — or rather park — somewhat in the English style, extending along its front, but rath- 

 er meagerly, and we should think very injudiciously planted, except round the outer edge, 

 in the form of hedge rows, a system of planting very extensively carried out by the late 

 Mr. LviMAN, which has added much to the comfort and beauty of the highways connect- 

 ed with, and surrounding the whole of this fine estate. 



There is a good range of vineries. The grapevines, however, are indifferently managed. 

 We must repress the reflections which arose out of the contemplation of this specimen of 

 gardening, and suspend our judgment on what we cannot speak with freedom, without 

 doing an injury to the feelings of the party who is, perhaps, unavoidably censurable. 



We had heard a good deal of this place, and though a great deal had been done by the 

 late proprietor, in the way of planting, we turned a way from it with a feeling of disap- 

 pointment. Much, we say, has been done — but how, and why, we could not tell. The 

 arrangement of the place exhibited a lamentable jumbling of crotchety notions, carried 

 out in the most ludicrous possible manner. When the late Duke of Northumberland ask- 

 ed the celebrated Brown, on what principle he planted trees, his answer was — " I stick 

 them in here and there, as the fly bites," and on this famous principle has this place ap- 

 parently been planted. 



The orchards occupy the rising ground in the rear, and include some ancient pomologi- 

 cal patriarchs, borne down with age. We have seen few places where art has done so lit- 

 tle for nature, and nature done so much for art, and where both so violently antagonise 

 each other. One glorious object we cannot overlook — and that is the old Purple Beech, 

 the oldest and largest, we believe in the country; it is truly a noble tree. Another fea- 

 ture observable in the neighborhood of this place, is the fine avenues of forest trees plant- 

 ed by the late proprietor, along the roadsides; these extend for miles, around the whole es- 

 tate, and are now large and lofty trees, uniting their boughs to form an umbrageous cano- 

 py overhead, and for which the late venerable proprietor deserves the gratitude of future 

 generations. 



The residence of George Lelland, Esq., Waltham. This is another of those pretty 

 villa residences that have sprung up within the last few years, giving a character to this 

 interesting neighborhood. The grounds are of limited extent, but the green-house and 

 shrubbery contain some objects of rarity and interest, which give the place a more inte- 

 resting character than it would otherwise possess. 



Considering all the bearings of this place, we think the hot-houses and green-house, 

 most unfortunately situated. Built on the side of a deep bank, with the back running 

 within a few rods of, and parallel to, the main front of the mansion, the back walls and 

 chimneys present a very ungardenesque appearance from the piazza of the house. 'Tis 

 not very uncommon to see persons making such a hobby-horse of one stereotyped idea, that 

 they entirely destroy every other therewith connected. The hot-houses at this pretty place, 

 are a standing manifestation of this fact; not from anj' fault in the worthy proprietor, 

 who has spared no expense in their construction, but from a cause which has been also the 

 bane of hundreds of others besides. 



The range consists of two graperies, with a green-house between them, spanned on the 

 projecting ridge and furrow plan. The former are good houses for growing grapes, and 

 most elegantly finished and fitted up. The green-house in the center is, I believe, a coun- 

 t, if not an exact copy, of the one at Mr. Bigelow^'s, noticed in my last. It 

 ed from the house by a spiral stair-way, which descends from the ground level 



