24 Garhally ParJc and Mansion, 



your readers with any communication regarding the many 

 places that come ahuost daily vmder his observation. In 

 common, we on this side the Channel have been much too 

 tardy in coming forward, to endeavour, at least, to add some- 

 thing to the many valuable communications in your miscel- 

 lany, though there are few noblemen's or gentlemen's seats 

 in either of the sister kingdoms that are not equalled in this, 

 both in extent and in beauty of landscape. 



Garhally Park, the residence of the Earl of Clancarty, the 

 garden and woods of which I have the honour to superintend, 

 is pei'haps more generally known than any other demesne in 

 Ireland ; the great annual fair of Ballinasloe being held in it. 

 The demesne is extensive, containing 658 Irish acres ; the 

 soil is in general shallow, the subsoil in most places a loose 

 limestone gravel. It is situated on the eastern boundary of 

 the county of Galway, within a short distance of the neat and 

 thriving town of Ballinasloe, and is one of the very few hilly 

 tracts the traveller passes over from the Bay of Dublin to 

 that of Galway. It is interesting, as possessing within itself 

 in a high degree all the constituents of landscape. It is par- 

 ticularly well planted, and presents a beautifully undulated 

 surface ; and though there are no very remarkable trees, in- 

 dividually considered, yet they and the woods, taken in the 

 aggregate, are well worth the attention of the arboriculturist, 

 particularly an extensive oak wood, which in beauty of out- 

 line is scarcely surpassed. There are some fine specimens of 

 wych elm here, which in my opinion is decidedly superior to 

 the narrow-leaved variety ( C/lnius parvifolia of the Dublin 

 botanic gardens) too generally planted in this country. Its 

 outline is much more picturesque, its timber is more valuable, 

 and it is besides much better calculated to withstand the harsh 

 winds which assail us from the Western Ocean. There are 

 likewise some masses of ^^bies alba, sold by the nurserymen 

 in parts of this country as the A. nigra. It is planted on 

 very elevated situations, and appears to withstand the severe 

 winds much better than any other of the spruce family, as 

 it has been remarked by your correspondent Mr. Fraser 

 (Vol. IV. p. 216.), who saw it on a neighbouring hill, Bally- 

 dugan, the seat of W. M. Burke, Esq. 



It may not be uninteresting to the planter to know the 

 kind of trees that thrive best on our reclaimed bogs. We 

 find the Scotch fir to be one of the best, together with the 

 birch, the alder, and some few poplars, the Canadian for one. 

 It is almost unnecessary to say the timber grown in such 

 situations is much inferior to that upon the upland. I have 

 found laurel to do extremely well as underwood : two years 



