666 Notes on Gardens a7id Country Seats : — 



edgings of stone, are employed, great effect is produced by 

 attending to this style of disposition. Flower-beds, in such a 

 garden, should be always below the level of the walks, or 

 else considerably above them on a raised panel. To have 

 them on a level with the walks is too simple for a style 

 avowedly artificial. The exterior end of one of the green- 

 houses is covered with masses of the Calampelis scabra and 

 Maurandya Barclay a?z«, splendidly in flower ; the orange of 

 the one forming a brilliant contrast to the purple of the 

 other. In the conservatory are two magnolias, each 10 ft. 

 high, gracilis and purpurea, by some alleged to be the same; 

 but they are here decidedly distinct, even in wood and foliage, 

 while the petals of the flowers of gracilis turn back, and those 

 of purpiarea are cup-shaped, or rather turn inwards. In the 

 same conservatory there is also a Magnolm conspicua; these 

 three species having been considered green-house plants at 

 the time this house was planted. The M. conspicua has 

 borne seeds, from which Mr. Ward has raised fifteen plants, 

 which, as far as we know, are the first that have been raised 

 from seeds ripened in England. Acacia eiegans is lai'ge, 

 and very handsome. The wall covered with Magnoh'a gran- 

 diflora is magnificent and unique. Mr. Ward has very judi- 

 ciously layered a number of the shoots at the bottom, to 

 prevent any risk of its becoming naked there ; and we should 

 recommend removing the projecting trellis at the top, the 

 object of which is to protect the lower part of the wall (but 

 which experience proves to be altogether unnecessary), height- 

 ening the wall instead of it, and training the trees eleven or 

 twelve feet higher. To push the practice of training magno- 

 lias against a wall as far as it would go, the foundation of the 

 wall ought either to be made zigzag or wavy, by which means 

 a very thin wall may be carried to any height with perfect 

 security ; or a round tower might be built, 10 ft- or 12 ft. in 

 diameter, the trees planted outside, and the tower heightened 

 as they grew. 



Proceeding to " the wood," we cannot help noticing the 

 very handsome nari'ow avenue of elms which forms part of 

 the approach from Reading, and which has more the pro- 

 portions of the centre aile of a cathedral than many which 

 we have seen. Avenues are of two kinds : those which are 

 open, as at Hampton Court and Windsor; and those which 

 are covered, as at White Knights, Strathfieldsaye, Christ 

 Church College in Oxford, and Littlecot Park. Comparing 

 the four latter, we should say that the avenues at White 

 Knights and Littlecot Park are decidedly the most elegant; 

 that at Strathfieldsaye is grand ; and that at Oxford, though 



