24 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



many of them, the horse-chestnut and the lime, of great age and 

 eminent beauty ; several straight lines of them forming, for a 

 long distance, the approach to the palace. On a clear, bright 

 day. at the season of their flowering, I passed through this mag 

 nificent avenue with inexpressible delight. I passed through 

 them again late in the autumn, when the frost had marred their 

 beauty, and the autumnal gales had stripped off their leaves ; but 

 they were still venerable in the simple majesty of their gigantic 

 and spreading forms. I could not help reflecting, with grateful 

 emotion, on that beneficent Power, which shall presently breathe 

 upon these apparently lifeless statues, and clothe them with the 

 glittering foliage of spring, and the rich and splendid glories of 

 summer. So be it with those of us who have got far on into 

 the autumn, or stand shivering in the winter of life ! 



The extent of these parks, in many cases, filled me with sur 

 prise. They embrace hundreds, in some instances thousands, of 

 acres ; * and you enter them by gates, where a porter s lodge is 

 always to be found. After entering the park gate, I have rode 

 sometimes several miles before reaching the house. They are 

 in general devoted to the pasturage of sheep, cattle, and deer. / 

 In the park at Chatsworth, the herd of deer exceeded sixteen I 

 hundred. These deer are kept at no inconsiderable expense, 

 requiring abundant pasturage in summer, and hay and grain in 

 winter. An English pasture is seldom or never ploughed. Many 

 of them have been in grass beyond the memory of any one living. 

 The turf becomes extremely close and hard ; and the feeding of 

 sheep and cattle undoubtedly enriches the land, especially under 

 the careful management of one eminent farmer, and many 

 more, doubtless, are like him, on whose pasture grounds the 

 manure of the cattle was daily collected and evenly spread. 



In speaking of the parks in the country, I. surely ought not to 

 pass in silence the magnificent parks of London, as truly mag 

 nificent they must be called, including St. James s Park, Green 

 Park, Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, and Regent s Park. 



Kensington Gardens, exclusive of private gardens, within its 

 enclosures contains 227 acres ; Hyde Park, 380 acres ; Green 

 Park, connected with St. James s Park, 56 acres ; St. James s 

 Park, 87 acres ; Regent s Park, 372 acres ; terraces and canals 

 connected with Regent s Park, 80 acres making a grand total 



* Windsor Great Park contains 3500 acres, and the Little Park 300 acres. 



