64 



GARDEN MANAGEMETH*. 



the ]o"west level of the garden. These canals, tn'o on each side, 175 I'eet in 

 length and IS in breadth, are about 30 inches deep ; they are formed on four 

 layers of tiles laid in Portland cement, over a bed of concrete 10 inches deep ; 

 a thick bed of Portland cement is laid over all, surmounted by an elegantly- 

 moulded coping of Portland stone, projecting slightly over tlm sloping banks, 

 and rising six inches above the level of the paths. A square basin at each end of 

 the central cross-walk, and at a higher level than the canals, occupies the space 

 between them, receiving the water ffom the great basin and supplying them. 

 Round this basin the walk proceeds, terminating in a flight of ste;)s leading to 

 the middle corridor walk. 



151. The corridors, like the gardens, lie at different levels, each being 

 also distinguished by its peculiar architecture. The cii'cular corridoi', adjoin- 

 ing the conservatory, is the most highly decorated, the capitals of the columns 



having sculptured on them fruits and fiow- 

 ,5;^^^^^^ '^^-^Sy ers, with the names below coloured in a 



neutral brown tint, — not, in our opinion, 



in very good taste. 



152. The fagade of the middle corridor 

 is simply an obtuse elliptic arch in red 

 brick, with rough granite capitals, 



153. The corridors of the ante-garden, 

 which seem intended for inclosure bj* glass, 

 are supported on slender twisted terra- 

 cotta pillars, which give what is, we pre- 

 sume, intended, — a Byzantine character 

 to the st3de of the whole of the architec- 

 tural decorations. 



154. The general efieet of these gardens cannot fail to exercise a beneficial 

 influence on the art of laying out ornamental flower-gardens. While the ter- 

 races and arcades are felt to be oppressive from their freshness, the reverse is 

 the case with the arrangement of the beds ; the tracery of some of these is 

 of the most brilliant colouring, but the elegant lines of the clumps, and the 

 presence of occasional patches of dwarf box, in the design, agreeably subdue 

 the blaze of colour. Beds and clumps of dwarf evergreens, shrubs, and 

 also single trees, arc agreeably interspersed among the beds in geometrical 

 forms, and clumps, and scroll patterns, producing the richest effects. 



155. There are other gardens, chiefly derived from the Italian school, where 

 much of the beauty immediately surrounding the house is derived from 

 architectural display. In some pai-ts of the Continent where the orange is 

 cultivated, those noble plants, in their massive square tubs, form a grand and 

 appropriate decoration to terrace-walks. The glacis at Glammis Castle and 

 the terraces of Powis Castle, and many other equally beautiful specimens 

 of terraced garden style of gardening, fell before the improvers of last century, 

 giving place to the more tarae, undulating, turfy sward and serpentine walks— 

 the gem, as it were, without the setting. But many noble specimens were 



