SCOTTISH GARDENS 



tulips and wall-flowers display their vigorous hues. 

 The effect is softer in summer, when the tints 

 blend with gentler gradation, but in autumn the 

 borders flame out again with a blaze of chrysanthe- 

 mums, carrying one well into the dark days which 

 intervene before the coming of the crocuses. 



In 1876 the Corporation acquired the West Princes 

 Street Gardens, hitherto reserved for the proprietors 

 of houses ex adverso. These grounds are of very 

 great extent, lying right up to the foot of the Castle 

 Rock, and, although bisected by the broad railroad, 

 have been converted into a veritable pleasaunce, 

 less formal in manner than the East Gardens. Under 

 Mr. M'Hattie's care, great improvements have been 

 effected ; hardy trees, shrubs, and herbs have been 

 liberally planted, and many borders are devoted to 

 spring and summer bedding. Warmly must the Cor- 

 poration and their servants be congratulated on the 

 result of their enterprise. They have turned the land 

 at their disposal to the very best account, and created 

 a brilliant foreground to the Old Town and the Castle 

 such as those who remember Princes Street Gardens 

 forty years ago could never have anticipated. We can 

 only sigh after the departed Nor' Loch when we 

 reflect what a feature it might have been made when 

 purified and committed to Mr. M'Hattie's skilful 

 hands to work into his landscape. 



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