of Rural Art and TaMe. 



227 



bewildering, yet bewitching mass of grape- 

 vines ; then figs trained against the wall, and 

 nearly in fruit. Standard altheas are every- 

 where in blossom, and clipped spruces add 

 another feature of novelty. One of the pret- 

 tiest beds was of a semi-tropical character, con- 

 sisting of ricinus, cannas of all sorts and colors 

 of leaves, bordered with scarlet geraniums. 



The tower is a most charming place for a 

 view. From here you look down upon all this 

 loveliness, and behold the general eifect far 

 better than from any other point. It is oc- 

 tagonal in shape, with handsome portico and 

 pillars, with stairs leading to second story, 

 and surmounted with curved roof, painted 

 blue, and an ornamental vane. From here 

 can be seen the beds of quarter circles, with 

 the rose hedges and borders of long rows of 

 lilies, tritomas, yuccas and ornamental grasses. 



A little turf-covered border to a walk is 

 lined with box single plants, and alternate 

 plants of the Achyranthus, Greranium and 

 Lemon Verbena. A common feature is the 

 frequent hedges of diiferent material. One 

 hedge consisted of the SpircBa pruuifolia^ or 

 plum-leaved spiraea of China. Then there 

 are hedges of Juniperus sabinus, the Osage 

 Orange. In the back part of the garden is a 

 succession of stone mounds, whereon either I 

 trails some pretty vine, or are gathered ferns, 

 such as the Osinuiida intevTupla, Onoclea \ 

 scnsihilis, Dioscorea vcllosa, and over forty I 

 others. One little bed contained nothing but 

 varieties of the Cornus florida, sanguinea, ser- 

 rica. Even the Tobacco Plant {Nicotiana 

 tabacum) was allowed to grow and bloom, and 

 a right pretty object it was. By the side of 

 it was the Nicotiana glauca, of smaller leaves 

 but lighter green. A favorite feature of the 

 garden was to gather plants into groups, as 

 many specimens and varieties of each genus as 

 possible. The Solanums were gathered in one 

 group by themselves, the most noticeable 

 specimens of which were dulcamara, warcse- 

 wiczoides, discolor, siegliuge, malongena. 

 Throughout the entire garden were beautiful 

 specimens of Juniperus virginiana, glauca, 

 which seenied to be a favorite plant for corners 

 and bqi'deys, Among other fine plants in the 



garden were noticeable the Plnus cembra., 

 from Siberia ; Biota orient alis nova, from 

 China, 10 feet ; Cupressus Lawsoniana, Cy- 

 pt-ess, Oregon, Abies nigra, Black sprnce. 



The Conseriuitory . 



This is the most interesting architectural 

 feature of the place. It is a large stone build- 

 ing, with 16 long windows and a roof of glass. 

 At the top of the building is an inscription in 

 raised stone letters, " Glory to Grod in the 

 highest, and on earth peace to men of good 

 will.'''' Readers will notice the transposition 

 of the last few words, as compared with the 

 Scripture, " on earth peace and good will to 

 men.'''' We suppose this was intentional by 

 Mr. Shaw,- to encourage good will among visi- 

 tors '^ not to pluck the flowers.'''' 



The interior of the house was filled with 

 greenhouse plants of usual assortment, the 

 largest of which were Palms, some of them 40 

 feet high ; the Wigandia carricassama, a 

 lofty tree with wide palm leaves, and bending 

 beneath the weight of cone-shaped purple 

 flowers ; a Japan plum tree, 25 feet high, with 

 big leaves, bear clusters of fruit like crab 

 apples ; the Dragon Tree, from Africa ; the 

 India Rubber Tree ; the delicate and magnifi- 

 cent Azaleas ; the Eucalyptus ; Fuchsias, nine 

 feet high, with scarlet blossoms ; the olive, 

 and a huge collection of cacti, said to be the 

 largest in the world. The conservatory is 

 surrounded by a large number of others, not 

 quite as high, but large, and these are filled 

 in their season with an immense number of 

 plants, propagated specially for removal to the 

 flower garden. 



TUe A.rl'oretintt, 



This adjoins the flower garden, and is some- 

 what larger in extent ; not very showy, being 

 composed of an abundance of green grass, and 

 quite a thrifty lot of trees, scattered frequently 

 without order over the enclosure. It is not 

 strictly an arboretum, for it is not complete, 

 although containing a large list of varieties. 

 It is more favorably considered as a pretty 

 pleasure ground. We do not remember see- 

 ing in it even the Purple Peach, and very few 

 qf the -wfeeping trees. Many of the latest and 

 most nqvel cut-leaved sorts have found their way 



