66 8 Notes on Gardetis atid Country Scats : — 



of Pyrus Pollverm, 30 ft. Ingli, was in fruit. There were nu- 

 merous large virgilias, and magnolias of almost every species 

 and variety. There was also a fine specimen of Quercus fas- 

 tigiata, a tree said to be much more common in Germany 

 than in England. The fountain (see fig. 68. p. 215.) is in 

 good repair; but, though handsome in itself, it certainly appears 

 misplaced in a natural valley. The long arcades are in a state 

 of decay, but the covered seats and rustic summer-houses are 

 in tolerable preservation, notwithstanding the tearing down of 

 the shelves and other movable parts of the latter, which were 

 sold by auction. Even the houses themselves were lotted, 

 and put in the catalogue for sale; but they were claimed on 

 the part of Mr. Cholmeley, as belonging to the ground. The 

 river in the park is now so completely covered with /Vis Pseud- 

 ^'corus, (Sparganium, and yilisma Plantago, that the water is 

 invisible; and, if left to itself, there can be little doubt that in 

 a very few years it will become marshy ground. White Knights 

 has been celebrated in the gardening world from the middle 

 of the last century, when it was laid out as a Jerme ornee^ and 

 attracted the attention of Whately, Shenstone, Pope, and all 

 the amateurs of landscape-gardening of the time ; but its 

 beauties as a ferme ornee were as nothing, when compared 

 with those created by the Marquess of Blandford, " regard- 

 less," as the auctioneers say, "of expense. " It is said 

 to be the intention of Mr. Cholmeley to sell this estate ; 

 and we most sincerely hope that, if he does so, it may 

 fall into the hands of some one who will keep it up pro- 

 perly. We do not care for having the hot-houses restored, 

 nor are we exceedingly anxious that herbaceous plants or 

 flowers of any kind should be continued in the house-garden, 

 for that is already sufficiently crowded with trees and shrubs: 

 what we chiefly desire is, to see all the rare trees and shrubs 

 preserved, and new species added to them as they are intro- 

 duced. We would remove all the common articles and du- 

 plicates from the house-garden, and all those which are too 

 much crowded in " the wood," and plant them in the park, 

 and we would restore " the wood " to its former state, and 

 make a herbaceous ground there, with groups on the turf, 

 according to the natural system. Were the town of Reading 

 sufficiently rich, it would do them honour to purchase this 

 park, and arrange it as a public garden, in which they might 

 be joined by the gentry of the surrounding country, the privi- 

 lege of visiting it being common to all. By having no hot- 

 houses, frames, or pits, except such as were necessary to 

 protect and prepare flowers for turning out into beds in 

 spring, the expense of keeping it up would not be much 



