14 General Results of a Gardening Tour. 



less astonished at the idea of treating his poorer fellow-coun- 

 trymen with kindness, than he was at their returning this 

 kindness with gratitude. 



Crosslee Cottage, near Johnstone, though of less extent 

 than any of the villas we have mentioned, being, in fact, more 

 a cottage than a villa, is a gem as unique in its way as Castle 

 Dykes or St. Peter's. The cottage is placed on the top of a 

 bank upwards of 200 ft. above the river GryfFe, just at a bend 

 in the stream, and the ground slopes steeply down from the 

 house to a narrow holm, which skirts the margin of the water. 

 On the opposite side the bank is still higher and steeper, and it 

 is covered with old wood from the water's edge. The sky out- 

 line of these trees, owing to the bend of the river, seems here 

 to rise into a hill, declining both up and down the stream ; 

 and conspiring, as it were, with the bend of the river, to 

 mark out the situation for the cottage. The portion of lawn 

 in front of the dwelling is very small, but it contains a selec- 

 tion of beauties and rarities such as we have not elsewhere 

 seen in Scotland. At the end of the house, the lawn joins a 

 terrace, from which steps descend to another, both supported 

 by masonry; and below is a hanging fruit- garden. There 

 are two other gardens ; but we have no time to enter into 

 details. On the whole, Crosslee Cottage is a fine example 

 of the multum in j^arvo in ornamental gardening ; and, of all 

 the places which we saw in Scotland, it has left the strongest 

 impression on our mind : the next strongest was produced 

 by Auchincruive. 



Cottage Gardens. — We cannot say much for these in the 

 west of Scotland. They are small, and, with the exception of 

 some about Paisley and other manufacturing places, scarcely 

 any thing is grown in them but borecole and potatoes : 

 onions and beans are not uncommon, but peas and turnips 

 are rare ; and kidneybeans (one of the most profitable of 

 summer vegetables) are scarcely ever grown. At the village 

 of Catrine, in addition to the small gardens behind the cot- 

 tages or street houses, there are several acres feued out, 

 somewhat in the manner of the town gardens of Birmingham 

 and Lancaster ; and in these a variety of culinary vegetables, 

 flowers, and the smaller fruits, are cultivated with care. The 

 gardens attached to the lodges at gentlemen's seats must not 

 be considered as included in the rude ones above alluded to. 

 These being frequently the gardens of professional gardeners, 

 and in all cases more or less under their eye, are generally 

 ornamented with flowers, and the houses belonging to them 

 with creepers. They are not, however, always very profit- 

 able gardens to the possessors, any more than the lodges 



