554! General Results of a Gardening Tour: — 



shall have a good deal to say of this place when giving the 

 details of our tour. Mrs. Maxwell's garden, near Mr. Bell's, 

 contains a very interesting collection of trees and shrubs. The 

 gardener at Woodslee, William Scott, is a strong-minded 

 man, and intelligent in his profession. In this part of the 

 country we first met with the old Scottish and French custom 

 of placing a bed, always the best, in the parlour. We could 

 wish to see the custom done away with, in order that garden- 

 ers' houses in Scotland might have comfortable parlours, like 

 those of their brethren in England. We sought in vain, in 

 this neighbourhood, for the late Duchess of Buccleugh's cot- 

 tage, called the Bower, built on an impending high rock on 

 the banks of the Esk, with a beautiful flower-garden annexed, 

 which we saw about this season in the year 1805 ; but we 

 were informed by Mr. Bell, on returning from Langholm, 

 that the large sandstone rock on which both the cottage and 

 the garden were placed, and which formed altogether an 

 immense mass, resting on a soft decomposing base, was un- 

 dermined by a dreadful flood (we believe in 1816), and the 

 whole falling into the water with a tremendous crash was 

 carried down the stream, and totally destroyed. The duchess 

 was never informed of the fate of her favourite Bower, and 

 care was taken to dissuade her from ever coming to visit it. 



Of Town Garde?is adjoining houses we entered none in Ches- 

 ter or in Lancaster, unless we except that of the jail in the 

 latter place, which was good, though inferior, in point of 

 extent, to that of the jail at Aylesbury. All jails, we think, 

 ought to have large gardens, for the sake of the moral train- 

 ing which they afford. The large garden at the Lancaster 

 Lunatic Asykim is found a source of great benefit to the least 

 afflicted of the inmates of that place. The garden of Charles 

 Horsefald, Esq., at Liverpool is very neat, and has one hot- 

 house already heated by hot water in close pipes, and another 

 about to be so heated in an open channel, to contain water 

 plants and gold fish ; but which channel may be covered with 

 tin covers during winter, when the plants are under the water, 

 :and when the steam arising from it might render the air too 

 moist. The garden of Appleton, Esq., also in Liver- 

 pool, contains several hot-houses, very neatly constructed of 

 wood, in the old style, and having excellent crops. The gar- 

 den of Mr. Thom, at Annan, is laid out in terraces, and is 

 finely situated on the banks of the river ; which is, however, 

 nearly hidden by his plantations. The garden contains nume- 

 rous fruit trees of large size, and also forest trees and shrubs 

 transplanted and supported in the manner described by him 

 (p. 445.), and all of them succeeding completely. Mr. 'Jliom, 



