552 General Results of a Gardening Tour :— 



cottage, many of the walks being of turf. There is a terrace 

 walk, with some scraps of natui'al rockwork planted by art; 

 and displaying at the same time the taste of the painter in 

 the arrangement of the colours, and the science of the bo- 

 tanist in choosing the plants. Mr. Tong's flower-garden, at 

 Falcon Cottage, is formed in the bottom and on the sides of 

 an old gravel pit or quarry ; and is one of the most successful 

 productions of the kind that we have ever seen. It is close 

 by the public road, and, coming on it unexpectedly (for which 

 pleasure we have to thank Mr. Taylor, the nurseryman at 

 Preston), it struck us with admiration and delight. The first 

 object that met our eye in the foreground was a cone, 10 or 

 12 ft. in diameter, and 6 or 8 ft. high, of Potentilla formosa; 

 and the next, high up in the rocky bank, a mass, covering 

 several square yards, of the dwarf white Campanula. To the 

 rioht and left were masses of beautiful and rare flowers in 

 blossom. The gate was ajar, though there was no person 

 belonging to the garden in it ; for here there is no dread of 

 the public ; and we walked in, sending a message to Mr. Tong. 

 In threading our way through the intricacies of this enchanted 

 garden, we found it planted with shrubs and plants for spring 

 and autumn in such a manner as to render it gay all the year. 

 Every new and rare plant which has been recommended in 

 this Magazine is to be found here ; and, what is most remark- 

 able of all, Mr. Tong, who is chiefly his own gardener, and 

 a good botanist, told us, that, three years ago, he knew only 

 about half a dozen of the commonest flowers. 



In the Park, near Liverpool, we found a fine exemplification 

 of the practicability of establishing colonies of villas, all aiding 

 the effect of each other. Those here are all connected by 

 one common walk to the banks of the Mersey, independently 

 of having separate carriage entrances from the public roads. 

 The possessors of one set of these villas are five individuals 

 of the family of Yates. 



The villa of Edward Cropper, Esq., and that of Edward 

 Roscoe, Esq., have much merit. The garden of the latter 

 contains all the flowers figured in Mrs. Roscoe's elegant 

 periodical. But the most romantic villa in the neighbour- 

 hood of Liverpool is that of Otterspool, which is, at the 

 same time, tolerably well kept. Oakland Cottage is justly 

 celebrated for the perfection with which the gardener, Mr. 

 Perrin, grows orchideous epiphytes and hot-house bulbs; 

 Mr. Hairison limiting his hot-houses to the cultivation of 

 these two classes of plants, because they flower chiefly in the 

 winter season, when the open air furnishes little or nothing 

 in the way of floral productions. The gardener at Mossly 



