280 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[September, 



shells, and in those walks they enjoyed the 

 teachings, not only of the eminent botanists, 

 conchologists and minerologists with whose 

 works they were familiar, but standing with 

 Hugh Miller on "The Old Red Sandstone," they 

 heard with him " The Testimonies of the Rocks," 

 and saw with him " The Footprints of the Crea- 

 tor," It was thus that they were led step by 

 step to that profound worship of the first great 

 cause of creations so astonishing. 



RESIDENCE OF W. B. DINSMORE, KINGS- 

 TON, N. Y. 



BY VALENTINE BOURGEVIN. 



The most fashionable excursion for the lovers 

 of horticulture in our day is to Locust Grove, 

 the unsurpassed country residence of William B. 

 Dinsmore, Esq., erected on a selected locality on 

 the banks of the Hudson River, about one mile 

 from Staatshurgh and five miles from RhineclifT; 

 a place with which the writer of this has been 

 familiar for over a quarter of a century. 



Walking up hill, the commencement of the 

 park on the left, a well-trained arborvitse hedge 

 on the right and a piece of old forest were the 

 first ornaments I observed. After arriving on 

 the level, the rear of some plant houses became 

 visible, and a large number of camelias, azaleas, 

 etc., placed in this shady locality, enjoyed 

 their summer rest. On the right an elegant glass 

 palace, surrounded by some gorgeous flower 

 beds, single plants and beautiful vases, were seen 

 placed artistically in the short cut green grass. 

 In the rear of this is another half-mile range of 

 plant houses to be seen, of whose contents I will 

 speak afterwards. Turning to the left, I was 

 fairly charmed in beholding a most magnificent 

 picture of modern horticulture. There were 

 visible about four acres of gently rising ground 

 in a perfect lawn, with the most artistic and 

 tastefully laid-out flower beds of all forms, 

 worked in all over this elegant green carpet. 

 With a perfect excitement of delight I looked 

 at this picture from all sides for quite a while. 

 With the brilliant flowers General Grant ger- 

 aniums are planted in large quantities and form 

 the lower border. On the right side south there 

 are large quantities of GeneralJacqueminot in a 

 mass, and Caroline de Sensal as a fine contrast 

 planted next beside some other prettiest kinds, 

 filjing the entire right border. The contrast of 

 the giant rose bed is actually exquisite, and the 

 contents strew their delicate odor all over this 



precious picture. The upper part east also 

 forms a frame with a broad strip of lawn grass 

 with circles all along, forming a chain with dif- 

 ferent kinds of roses in each circle. Another 

 chain-like formation planted with the most bril- 

 liant leaves runs along the central path. The 

 back ground is partly shaded and provided with 

 comfortable garden seats. Here we placed our- 

 selves to enjoy this exquisite spot. 



Mr. Emerson, the head gardener, here joined 

 us and gave us all particular information. Ad- 

 miring these enormous masses of plants. Prof. 

 Raftery was highly pleased, and I was perfectly 

 enchanted. Mr. Emerson, says it takes upward 

 of a million plants to renew this plantation every 

 year. Green, white, blue and red are the most 

 striking colors ; yellow, black and variegated 

 make a pleasing contrast when placed scien- 

 tifically. The plants are not allowed to outgrow 

 or run into each other. Each color is perfectly 

 distributed and shows off beautifully. The 

 forms of the beds are all different ; sweeps, grace- 

 ful bends, twists, with beautiful stars in the cen- 

 tre, are of the most artistic composition and 

 show skill and highly cultivated taste. The 

 whole is an irregular regularity and a most har- 

 monious arrangement. Rare specimens of aloes, 

 cactus, dracenas, palms, crotons and other rare 

 leaf plants are planted singly between these 

 groups and make them more and more pictur- 

 e!«que. One would think that this picture would 

 look best in the morning when the dew-drops 

 like diamonds decorate every leaf, but it shows 

 far more brilliantly when dampness is evpaora- 

 ted and spectators place themselves opposite the 

 sun in the morning westerly, and in the evening 

 easterly, to get the best sight of it. 



If a person devotes so much attention to any- 

 thing of that kind and puts it together so artis- 

 tically and tastefully, he has a right to find out 

 at what time and what occasions his work will 

 show for what it is worth. Mr. E. has even vis- 

 ited it on bright moonlight nights, and he 

 thought he was well repaid ; a more proper place 

 where soft zephyrs impregnated with these hea- 

 venly perfumes fanned him in Morpheus' arms 

 while he dreamed a happy dream could not well 

 be wished for, and here he got the patterns of the 

 most selected display of his flower beds This re- 

 minds us of a young artist who was charged by 

 an art loving king to fresco the inside of a 

 cathedral. Every morning before he took his 

 brush in hand he went to mass and kneeled 

 ' down upon the stone-flagged floor^ his hands- 



