8 General Eesults of a Gardening Tour: — 



one another. Much might be done in this park by the intro- 

 duction, near the masses, of a few small groups of trees of 

 different sizes, with thorns and other shrubs ; by opening the 

 outline of the masses ; and, above all, by thinning them. The 

 scenery about the house, and the views, from its entrance front, 

 of the richly wooded country beyond the river, with the moun- 

 tains and their rocky summits on the one hand, and the sea 

 on the other, are unequalled by any thing of the kind in this 

 part of the country. 



T/ie approach to Blairquhan^ on the banks of the river 

 Girvan, is remarkably fine. The house is new, in a highly 

 enriched Gothic style : and the grounds, forming part of the 

 valley of the Girvan, are backed on all sides by rising hills 

 and mountains. On the whole, Blairquhan is by nature a 

 noble place; but there is no proper connection between the 

 pleasure-ground and the house ; so that, although nature and 

 architecture have both done much, yet the details are very 

 defective. A great deal of pains seems to have been taken in 

 hoeing and raking some miles of approach road, which would 

 have been much better left in its firm state, and the weeds 

 pulled up by hand. Indeed, on such a road, in constant use, 

 few weeds will be found to grow; and therefore nothing should 

 be done to disturb the firmness of the surface, and infringe on 

 its character of mellowness and age. We are the more par- 

 ticular on this head, because the practice of raking walks, and 

 having them covered with loose gravel, instead of gravel 

 firmly rolled, seems, as already observed, to be a prevailing 

 sin in the gardens in the west of Scotland. The gardener 

 here is quite an original character, well versed in his profession, 

 but very hard worked ; the strength allowed him being insuf- 

 ficient to keep what is under his care as it ought to be. The 

 addition of one man to the yearly strength kept would make 

 all the difference between a harassed mind, and a place always 

 on the verge of disorder; and a mind at ease, not so fatigued 

 with the work of the day as to be unable to read at night, and 

 a place in high keeping. But there is evidently, among the 

 Scottish country gentlemen, either a great want of taste, or a 

 great want of means ; perhaps both. 



Culxcan Castle is a scattered building, in the mixed style of 

 the architect Adams, placed on the brow of an irregular lofty 

 cliff washed by the sea. Nothing can exceed the grandeur of 

 the situation ; and the buildings, taking them as a whole, and 

 speaking without reference to the correctness of architectural 

 details, are varied and picturesque. None of the approaches 

 are, however, judiciously conducted either for displaying the 

 beauties of the place, or for easy conveyance. There is a 



