a7i 



d ()f Rural Imjn-ovement generally^ during 1838. 561 



the effects produced; but in our own we are too much occu- 

 pied with the details, too anxious about the means of attain- 

 ing excellence, to be able to stop when we have accomplished 

 it, and hence we either do not oo far enouijh, or we go too far. 

 Ihat just and correct taste which tells the operator when he 

 ought to stop, and when he ought to go on, is much less the 

 result of a richly stored imagination, and a strong feeling for 

 the beautiful or the artlstical, than it is of sound judgment 

 and practical experience; and this impartiality of judgment is 

 much more likely to be found in a stranger who sees the place 

 for the first or second time, than in either the operator or the 

 possessor, or in any of their intimate friends. 



The garden at Bedford Lodge possesses little beauty in point 

 of design, but it is a useful example on account of the mode 

 in which it is managed, so as to present a splendid display 

 of flowers, during a certain season of the year. Mr. Ingpen's 

 garden is a gem of great beauty and value, as showing how 

 many hundred sorts of plants may be cultivated and brought 

 into flower in the course of the year, in a mere speck of ground ; 

 affording at the same time occupation to the owner throughout 

 the spring, summer, and autumn, during the hours not spent 

 in business. 



In our forthcoming volume, we hope to be able to de- 

 scribe three suburban gardens which we consider to be very 

 instructive examples. The first of these is Mr. Harrison's at 

 Cheshunt, which forms a striking contrast to Mrs. Lawrence's 

 villa at Drayton Green; while, at the same time, in its natural 

 features it closely resembles it. In both, the extent is limited, and 

 the surface of the ground is nearly flat ; and, in both, the house 

 has its living-rooms low, rather than elevated and commanding. 

 In both, the variety is produced by innumerable groups, on a 

 lawn facing the drawingroom front ; but at Cheshunt the groups 

 of trees and shrubs are wholly without statues. A neutral ob- 

 server might profit much by studying the different effects pro- 

 duced on his mind, while walking through these two gardens. 

 The next place that we should like to describe is Mr. Harris's 

 of Kingsbury. This gentleman has only been a worshipper at the 

 shrine of Flora for two or three years ; but, during that short 

 period, he has astonished every body by his collections of the 

 rarest plants, more particularly those of the tropics. Mr. Harris's 

 collection of Cactaceae we believe to be altogether unrivalled ; 

 he is almost equally rich in Orchidacea; ; and he has many stove 

 dicotyledonous plants of the greatest rarity ; some not having 

 been yet named by botanists, and others not having flowered in 

 England. The third place to which we allude is much smaller 

 than either of the preceding : it is situated at Blackheath, not far 

 from Lee in Kent, and belongs to Mi\ Sheepshanks. This gen- 

 VoL. XIV. — No. 105. oo 



