62 REMARKS ON THE SHRUBBERY. 



at any time for the company of florists always delights me ; you 

 know the old adage, 



Birds of a feather, 



Will flock together ! 



Having brought this conversation to an end, I return my best 

 thanks to the Conductor for his readiness to insert it, and should 

 you or your readers approve, perhaps I may give you, at no dis- 

 tant period, another conversation on Floral Affairs. 



BlZARBE. 



(We shall be much obliged if our respected correspondent will favour 

 us with the article referred to. Conductor.) 



ARTICLE. III. 



REMARKS ON THE SHRUBBERY. 



BY REV. HENRY HILL, A. M. 



(Continued from page 56.) 

 This edifice was constructed by immense stone beams laid 

 on pillars of stone, the first flat being a square of about four 

 hundred feet each way; these flats or stories lessening in surface 

 as they increased in height. The stones were first covered with 

 reeds, cemented together with bitumen. On this covering was 

 laid a double row of bricks united by cement, which were then 

 also covered by sheets of lead, in order to prevent the moisture 

 from penetrating downwards ; and these sheets lastly sustained a 

 depth of earth sufficient for the plantation of trees and shrubs. 

 We are told that this elevated shrubbery was watered by foun- 

 tains, the water of which we presume to have been conveyed 

 into it by manual labour, as skill in hydraulics appears to be an 

 acquirement of later times ; and perhaps the ancient Egyptians 

 from their peculiar situation and circumstances, were the only 

 people who attended at that period to this science. 



We have noticed these gardens of Babylon, to show that plea- 

 sure grounds have existed from the earliest ages in civilized 

 countries. As the arts have flourished or been neglected so have 

 gardens flourished or decayed. 



The Romans would naturally attach to their villas in this coun- 

 try a similar style of garden to that which they had in Italy. But 

 this would be lost in baronial times, when nothing was secure 

 outside the eastle walls. However, Gardens of coasiderble ex- 



