Notes and Gleanings. 291 



(Iieatre : in the centre a mound had been formed ; and from this beds radiated 

 towards the circumference, the whole being planted with roses of various kinds. 

 The garden, as that term is commonly understood, was an oblong square piece 

 of ground, naturally slightly sloping, containing four acres, enclosed by a hollow 

 brick wall twelve or fifteen feet high. By erecting a low terrace across the mid- 

 dle of the garden, and lowering the ground on one side of it, and raising it on 

 the other, it liad been made perfectly level. There was a wide gravelled walk 

 dividing the garden lengthwise in the centre, crossed by similar ones at right 

 angles ; while other walks parallel with the walls, but at some distance from 

 them, formed borders for fruit-trees and other purposes. In the centre of the 

 garden was a basin of water, in which water-lilies were growing. In one place, 

 a long range of houses for grapes and peaches was built against the garden- 

 wall ; while in others fruit-trees were trained upon it. One of the grape-houses 

 was filled with vines of Muscat varieties ; another with Black Hamburg and 

 Muscat planted alternately. These vines were loaded with fruit: the Black 

 Hamburgs were ripe, and both bunches and berries were of large size, and very 

 fine. In the peach-house, the trees were full of fruit nearly ripe, some entirely 

 so. I was shown some Grosse Mignonne peaches that I thought as large and 

 handsome as any that I had ever seen. Across the garden were two hot-houses 

 filled with plants of various kinds ; and by erecting against the back of each, 

 parallel with the back, and about six feet from it, a glass front of equal height 

 with this back, and covered with a curvilinear roof, additional houses were 

 formed for peaches, trained against the back wall of the greenhouse, and for 

 cherries grown in pots. At right angles with these greenhouses were four other 

 low glass structures, forming pits or stoves for pines and melons, and a house 

 for ferns. Some of the beds into which the garden was divided were planted 

 with currants, raspberries, gooseberries, and like fruit, and others with vegeta- 

 bles ; while round a part of them was a border of dwarf pear-trees. In every 

 respect, the garden and grounds appeared to have been kept in high order ; and, 

 in all the houses, the vigOt' of the trees, vines, and plants, spoke loudly in praise 

 of the skill with which they had been treated, and of the attention they had 

 received. No doubt there are many places in England more magnificent than 

 this, and I have seen those that I thought more beautiful ; but for the garden 

 alone, merely as a garden, I have met with none that seemed to be better kept, 

 or more desirable. I was told that twenty-five men were constantly employed 

 by the gardener about the garden and grounds, and occasionally seventy-five. 

 Adjoining the garden was a house for the gardener, and a building containing 

 a room for packing fruit, and other offices. 



Of the climate of England, I feel that I should be scarcely justified if I ven- 

 tured to express any decided opinion. My experience, confined to part of a 

 spring and summer and the autumn of two different years, is not sufficient to 

 authorize any very positive conclusion. The general impression is, I believe, 

 unfavorable ; the belief being that there is a great superabundance of rain, and 

 great deficiency of heat and sunshine. This may be so ; but for myself I must 

 say that I found the climate much less uncongenial than I had been led to ex- 

 pect. It is true that in England there is a good deal of dull weather, a good 



