644 Notes on Gardens and Country Seats : — 



and sculptures are partly of real, partly of artificial, stone, and 

 partly of china-ware. There are benches with carved backs, 

 made of wood, but painted and sanded in imitation of Bath 

 stone, which are particularly good ; as are a number of Austin's 

 vases, fountains, candelabra, and other ornaments ; as well as 

 a manner of forming pedestals of open brickwork for sup- 

 porting sculptures. The parapets are of artificial stone, or 

 brickwork covered with cement ; the wall against which the 

 hot-houses are placed is of brick, covered with trelliswork; 

 and the hot-houses are of wood, painted green. This 

 green colour in the hot-houses and the trellises is what we 

 can never reconcile ourselves to : it detracts from the 

 avowedly artificial character of the rest of the scenery. 

 We shall not offer a single argument on the subject, but 

 simply state our own feelings, which have always been the 

 same ever since we saw, in 1806, the pea-green hot-houses 

 of Mr. Hare (now, we believe, Sir Thomas Hare), at his 

 seat in the neighbourhood of Downham, in Norfolk. The 

 reason of our dislike can only be found in the want of har- 

 mony between this green and the green of nature. Let the 

 woodwork of the hot-houses at Dropmore be imagined of a 

 stone colour, or of the colour of any kind of timber, or even 

 brown or grey bark, and how different would be the effect! 

 In walking through the grounds, we were everywhere, as in 

 1826, charmed and delighted; and we were still more so now 

 than then, at finding the number of rustic stands, vases, &c. 

 diminished. The pinetum has received numerous additional 

 species, and the sorts which were rare in 1826 have now 

 attained a considerable size, and some have been found hardier 

 than was expected. We particularly allude to Cunninghams 

 lanceolata and Araucarza imbricata, both of which are found 

 so hardy as to stand here without protection. We could 

 enumerate a number of species, with the sight of which we 

 were much gratified, but we refer our readers to Mr. Frost's 

 article on this subject (p. 559.)- It is almost needless to state 

 that in the flower-garden were to be found all the new, rare, 

 and beautiful hardy flowering plants. We were particularly 

 struck with the number of plants of that gorgeous iridean bulb, 

 Gladiolus natalensis (psittacinus), splendidly in bloom ; Madia 

 elegans, Petwiia phoenicea, Calandrinia grandiflora, and Fer- 

 bena venosa, which produces underground stolones, and is 

 particularly fitted for filling a bed in a very short time. Tour- 

 nefortm /zeliotropioides is likewise well adapted for beds, and 

 also Nicot/a?i« longiflora, which we found profusely covered 

 with odoriferous flowers. The day being cloudy, the Oeno- 

 theras had a splendid appearance. The masses of Campanula 



