224 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



a barrier-wall which projects towards the avenue ; and on the 

 greensward, two excellent specimens of Araucaria wibricata, a 

 dwarf deciduous cypress, and a purple beech trimmed to a hemis- 

 phere, were noticed. 



On the left of the mansion door, three very tall magnolias, one 

 white and two purple, are growing near an eccentric, weeping elm, 

 which throws its arms wildly into the air and then plunges, like a 

 banian, for the ground, close to the avenue. Several VirgiUa lutea 

 trees are seen here, and of such merit that your committee must 

 express their surprise that the}' have not been more generally in- 

 troduced. For shape, foliage, flower, and moderate size, the}' have 

 no equals ; their brittleness being alone against them. 



Two paths from the house unite into one which leads northerly 

 on the bank of the Lake, presenting constantly delightful views, 

 until it reaches a point of wooded land, around which the water 

 turns abruptly to the east, opening to the e^'e a panorama of ex. 

 quisite scenery. Here, within a rustic circle, a spacious arbor, of 

 cunning workmanship and design, has been constructed ; mostly 

 of sapling spruces, cut into short pieces and placed side by side, 

 like successive pleats, on the frieze, or wrought into multiform and 

 fanciful figures about the walls and windows. Descending thence, 

 by a tortuous course, amidst wild shrubbery and rock work, it 

 reaches an elaborate Pavilion or Boat House, architecturally con- 

 structed on a high basement, with many arches and of large di- 

 mensions, which juts out from the projecting shore, sheltering the 

 boats which occupy the lower story — an object of much beauty in 

 itself, but doubly valuable for its enchanting prospects and undis- 

 turbed retirement. Near it, is 



The Grotto. 

 A rustic, vine-clad seat and an elaborate airy foot-bridge, close 

 by, mark the crossing of a small inlet which forms the base of a 

 jagged cavity or dell in the high bank, where ponderous bowlder 

 stones are rudely interlocked and heaped upon the sides far up in- 

 to the wood. These are all moist and mossy from the spray of an 

 artificial jet, and their crevices are filled with hardy ferns, sedums, 

 saxifrages, and Alpine plants ; embellished by Dracmnas^ 3Iaran- 

 tani Begoidas, Opuntias, Funkias, Alocasias, Calocasias, Callas, 

 Cacti, Ilermerocallis, Panicums, Meseiabryanthemums, Sempervi- 

 viims and dwarf Musas, promiscuously thrown together, half cover- 



