,596 Floriculttiral and Botanical Notices^ 



and was charmed witli the situation of the Grecian villa on the romantic 

 bank of the same river. I coidd not, however, forj^et Aiichincruive ; and 

 am afraid the beanties of Colesfield were in a i;rcat measure lost upon me. 

 I was obliged to return rapidly to Paisley, and had not time to visit the 

 many otlier beautiful seats with which I was told this neigiibouriiood 

 abounds ; but, as (ilasgow will be my head-quarters for some time, I hope 

 to make another excursion to Ayrshire. 



From Paisley i went with Mr. B. and another gentleman to Castle 

 Semple; " a pretty melancholy place," as Evelyn would have called it. 

 Whether I am right or wrong I cannot say ; but the impression proiluced 

 on me by this place was that of profound melancholy. The whole park, 

 which is extensive, and the farm, gardens, and pleasure-grounds, occupy 

 the face of a bank of 300 or 400 acres, at the south base of which is a na- 

 tural lake, upwards of a mile in length. The park abounds in fine trees, 

 and both it and the pleasure-grounds are kept in excellent order. What 

 I disliked most about this place was the kitchen-garden, which seems to 

 me to have been completely overdone. The walls are nuich too high, 

 and are ponderously constructed ; and the carpentry of the hot-houses is 

 of the last age. I was surprised to find rather poor crops in the vineries, 

 which I was told was owing to the defective manner in which the borders 

 are constructed ; 1 was told in what the error consisted, but have forgot- 

 ten. I would recommend you to ascertain it from the gardener, Mr. Lau- 

 der, a very intelligent young man, who, 1 believe, reads your Magazine, 

 through the favour of his very excellent master and mistress. As every 

 thing in the building way ajipears to have been conducted here on a most 

 magnificent scale, and as 3 ou know I take a great interest in the iiomes of 

 the working classes all over the world, 1 was curious to know what sort 

 of a house Lauder had got. .Judge of my surprise, when he took me to a 

 low-ceilinged ilamp cell, as I may call it, in which one room serves both as 

 bedroom and parlour. He endeavoured to apologise for the dampness, by 

 showing me that on one side of the house the earth was as high as the 

 windows. I nuist do him the justice to say that he made no complaints, 

 though I do not believe that there is a gardener's house in all England 

 so unfit for a human dwelling. I asked to see the lodging-rooms of the 

 journeymen, but, bad as Lauder's house was, it was a palace comjiared 

 with theirs. There were only two rooms, each about l^ ft. by 9 ft., 

 for the eating and sleeping of six men ; and the sleeping-room was filled 

 up so entirely with the beds, that it was difficult to get into it. I am 

 afraid your Collage Arrliitrdure will not meet cases of this kind. The 

 lodge of these men, as well as Lauder's house, forms a lean-to to the garden 

 wall ; and it would never occin" to a coiuitry gentleman that [)lans for de- 

 tached dwellings surrounded by terraces or platforms, such as your designs, 

 would suit such situations. You should give plans for gardener's houses, 

 connected with the kitchen-garden walls, and 1 think you would do most 

 good by giving them in your Miigazinc, which is read by many who will 

 never see what is to me l)y far the more interesting work. You shall hear 

 again soon from yours, &c. — An Englislnnan. 



Aht. II. Floriculliiral and Botanical Notices ofiictv Plant s^ and of 

 old Plants of Interest, sitppleincntanj to the latest Editions ()fthe 

 " Encijcloj^a:dia of Plants," and of the " Ilortus Dritannicus.'' 



Curtis' s Botamcal Mngnziuc ; each monthly Number containing eight plates, 

 3.S. Qd. coloured, ',is. plain. Eilited by Dr. Hooker, King's Professor of 

 Botany in the University of Gla.sgow. 



