110 Notes on Gardens and Country Seats : — 



Isleworth side of the house, an arcade is formed of treUisvvork, 

 covered with creepers, through whicli a walk leads to a span- 

 roofed green-house of about 50 ft. in length, which is entered 

 at the centre by a circular projection. In front of the green- 

 house, on the lawn, is a neat circular flower-garden, having a 

 basin in its centre, with a vase fountain, the water having been 

 obtained by boring to the depth of 327 ft. The extremity of 

 the lawn, on the Twickenham side, seems to have been arti- 

 ficially undulated ; and from this point there is a fine view of 

 the pagoda in Kew Gardens, and also of Isleworth church. 

 Immediately opposite the house there is an ait, or small island, 

 in the river, which has been lately planted with Lombardy pop- 

 lars, alders, &c. The lawn, on each side of the house, is 

 sprinkled over with beds for flowers ; but how far in accordance 

 with good taste I could not ascertain, being at too great a dis- 

 tance from them. From the Twickenham side of the lawn, a 

 walk leads down, through an excellent tunnel, constructed under 

 the public road, to the kitchen-garden. The slopes at each end 

 of the tunnel are extremely well covered with rhododendrons 

 and laurels, kept dwarf, with a few laurustinuses sprinkled among 

 them. The kitchen-garden within the walls contains about three 

 acres, and has a fine wall running lengthwise, east and west, 

 through the centre, against which are constructed two separate 

 metallic curvilinear vineries, each of about 30 ft. long, and each 

 stocked with fine young vines, that are very promising, and 

 have already borne some fine fruit. At the eastern end of the 

 kitchen-garden stands a very neat gardener's cottage, apparently 

 with every convenience attached, and fronted by a pretty little 

 flower-garden. At the western end is the frame-ground, which 

 is spacious, and contains, in addition to the frames, a pine stove 

 and a large pine pit ; and also some ranges of brick pits for 

 forcing asparagus, wherein the roots are intended to remain 

 permanently. This being rather a novelty, it may not be amiss 

 to give a description of them. The pits, which are about 

 4 ft. wide in the clear, 3 ft. deep, and 2 ft. in the clear from 

 each other, are built of brick, with pigeon-holes, similarly to 

 M'Phail's system for cucumbers: the 2ft. space between the pits 

 is, of course, for the hot dung. Mr. Over, the gardener, says 

 that the plan answers remarkably well. He has about 200 ft. 

 in length of these pits, which were planted, three years ago, with 

 two-years-old roots ; and it is satisfactory to see the progress 

 they have made, some of the stalks now dying off" being nearly 

 as thick as a man's thumb. What Mr. Over has hitherto forced 

 has been covered with hoops and mats ; but, to do the work to 

 perfection, small frames are necessary, made to the width of the 

 pits, and a few of them, by shifting, would be sufficient to go 

 through the season. It is likely, in the formation of these pits, 



