L,ea House, Stroud House. 



515 



leadirtg features. The keeping of the lawn, and everything about the house, 

 is as high and perfect as any thing we have ever seen ; and the walks in 



the copse are kept as clean, dry, and open as copse walks can be. The 

 various bridges over the brooks, and the consequent turns of the walk ; the 

 glimpses of the water and broken banks, caught here and there through the 

 trees ; the numerous wild plants, abundance of pheasants, singing birds, but- 

 terflies, dragon flies in their season, owls in the evening, &c. constitute the 

 attractions of the wood. The house was formed by additions and alterations 

 to an old structure by John Perry, Esq. the proprietor, an architect in God- 

 aiming, who has distinguished himself by several meritorious erections there 

 and in the surrounding country. Among other contrivances in the interior 

 which deserve to be mentioned, are bell-pulls in every room, which 

 communicate with a bell placed at the head of the gardener's bed, in his 

 adjoining cottage (seen in the right of_/?g. 115.). The communication of the 

 wire from the house to the cottage is through a leaden pipe, sunk some 

 feet under ground, and protected by brick-work, so that no intended 

 housebreaker could easily dig down to it and cut it off. In the evening, 

 this bell serves to call the gardener, who is married, when he may be 

 wanted for any domestic purpose, and, in the night time, serves as an alarm. 

 The family hei*e consists of five sisters of highly cultivated minds; our rea- 

 son for mentioning which is, to refer to them as an example of what may be 

 attained to in botany by self-instruction, without a single hint of any kind 

 from a botanist, or any person knowing the names of plants. Three of 

 these ladies are acute systematic botanists, and discover the name of every 

 British plant in flower which comes in their way, from Galpine's Compen- 

 dium, and every exotic from the Encyclopaidia of Plants ; and one of them 

 has commenced a series of outlines of British plants, nearly, or wholly, as 

 large as life, so accurate and characteristic, that Mr. Don, of the Linnean 

 Society, who has seen some of them, says they have seldom been equalled, 

 and never surpassed. We hope they may one day be engraved and pub- 

 lished ; though we cannot help stating, that the pleasure of discovering the 

 names of plants from descriptions, as now done by the Misses Perry, must 

 be much greater than the lazy enjoyment of indentifying them with engrav- 

 ings of any kind. The labour is greater, and the reward is as the labour. 

 The Misses Perry were the first who introduced the practice of archery into 

 this part of the country, about fifteen years ago, and it is now become ge- 

 neral in the neighbourhood among ladies. 



The gardener here, Arthur Morrey, is a most industrious and valuable 

 man, and every thing under his charge does him great credit. He has two 

 boys and four girls,' healthy children, to each of whom we have sent a 

 school-book, and, to the father, a pair of French sabots for putting over his 

 shoes in the pruning season. We would strongly recommend these sabots 

 (wooden shoes) to all journeymen gardeners, as most valuable for keeping 



