NOTES ON DECORATIVE GARDENING. 



2G. Nectarine. — Second rate; much below my expectation; very large, but quite coarse. 



27. Purple Favorite. — One of the best of purple plums; hardy, productive, and deli- 

 cious. 



28. Royal. — An excellent plum of French origin, and quite hardy; not equal, liowev- 

 to the Purple Favorite. 



29. Parple Gage. — Nearly, if not quite as good, as the Purple Favorite. 

 Jckworth Imperatrice. — Seldom ripens. 



30. Jted Gags. — Almost as productive as the Lombard; greatly surpassing the latter, 

 however in flavor. [Deserves to be far more extensively planted than it has been. Ed.] 



31. Dennisf oil's Med. — I think this plum may be safely ranked among the first rate, 

 for such, thus far, it has certainly proved to be; vigorous, hardy and productive. 



32. Benniston's jllhany Beauty. — Not as good as the foregoing, but well worthy the at- 

 tention of cultivators. I remain your ob't serv't. C. Reagles. 



P. S. Another season I shall be able to send joxx specimens of the new seedling varie- 

 ties, that you may judge of their qualities, compared with other good sorts. C. Pt. 

 Schenectady, Jan., 1851. 



NOTES ON DECORATIVE GARDENINO— Architectural Terraces. 



BY H. NOEL HUMPHREYS, Esq.* 



I HAVE, in my last communication, shown how terraces maybe produced at an exceed- 

 ingly moderate expense, suitable to various styles of cottage and villa architecture, and 

 it is on this moderate scale that suggestions for the formations of terraces will interest the 

 greatest numlier; but this most important feature of decorative gardening would be but 

 imperfectly explained did we finish the series without alluding to terraces in their more 

 palatial form, and in their noblest proportions. It is not always necessary to terrace ef- 

 fects, on the largest scale, that architectural decorations should be introduced, for, by 

 simple embankments, as suggested in our paper on cottage terraces, gardenesque features 

 of a very noble character, and suited to residences of the highest class, may be obtained. 

 The engraving, from a portion of the Papal Gardens of the Belvedere at the back 

 of the Palace of the Vatican, at Rome, will serve to show what may be produced by such 

 simple means; and though still susceptible of great improvement, the geometrical figures 

 produced by deep box edgings, and the symmetrical effect given to the variety of elevation 

 by the embankments, are evidences of a true feeling for the gardenesque in the designer. 

 The effects to be produced near main terraces, b}^ deep, massive, box edgings, have been 

 much neglected, and might be revived with great effect; but this feature must be cautious- 

 ly used, and not carried too far, as, in that case, the attempts invariably sink into the me- 

 ritricious — when, for instance, these cropped edgings are tortured into initial ciphers, or 

 even entire epigrams, as in some of the later Italian villas; or to select a more modern 

 instance, in the magnificent gardens of the Earl of Shrewsbury, at Alton Towers— gar- 

 dens reclaimed by art from land, which some years ago was no other than a barren 

 waste — where, if my memory serves me correctly, a bust has been placed upon a marble 

 column, in a conspicuous part of the ornamental gardens, at the base of which, the inge- 

 nious and persevering spectator may decipher, in the cropped box, the motto, "He made 



* From the Gardener's Magazine of Botany. 



