Notices of Gardens and Country Seals. 1 23 



are treated with a view to timber ; and there is little or no coppice-wood. 

 The trees occupying the hilly grounds are of various ages, up to sixty years. 

 Very fine agates, or pebbles, are found among the rocks of these hills ; and 

 they are said to be very superior to what are generally found in the neigh- 

 bouring hill of Kinnoul. A pair of ravens build their nest annually among the 

 rocks of this hill ; and I have been informed by a gamekeeper residing in the 

 neighbourhood, that a pair of these birds will not permit another pair to 

 reside within ten or twelve miles of their residence. The view from the 

 summit of MoncriefF Hill has been justly celebrated : it extends over one of 

 the most fertile and picturesque parts of Scotland. 



Scone, the Seat of the Earl of Mansfield, is one of those few residences 

 which, in Scotland, are called palaces; certain Scottish kings having been 

 crowned there. It is situated on the eastern bank of the river Tay, two miles 

 north of Perth, on a small portion of table land, separated from the river by 

 a considerable extent of level meadow. To the right and left of the house 

 the grounds descend to the Tay with an irregular surface ; and behind they 

 rise in a longitudinal winding bank, which terminates in an elevated plain. 

 The views in front look across the river to a fertile and well-wooded distance, 

 in which the plantations of Methven and Lyndoch are prominent features. 

 Looking down the river, to the south, are to be seen Perth, and its very hand- 

 some bridge ; and up the river, to the north, the mountains in the vicinity of 

 Dunkeld. Full in front, the horizon closes upon Ben Voirlich, Ben More, 

 and other mountains of the Grampian range, distant between thirty and forty 

 miles. The present house is built on the site of the ancient palace. It is in 

 the castellated Gothic style, from the designs of Mr. Atkinson, and substan- 

 tially executed with a reddish sandstone of great durability, found on the 

 estate. Many persons consider that it would have been in better taste to have 

 preserved the old palace, and built a new one adjoining, connecting the two, 

 both for effect and convenience. 



The surrounding grounds, and especially towards the east, are rather un- 

 fortunately situated in respect to public roads and intervening property ; the 

 latter, chiefly cottages and gardens. This has hitherto prevented such a general 

 arrangement as is necessary to form a suitable park. There are no proper 

 approaches in any direction ; but a number of plantations are made in different 

 places, as component parts of a general plan, which may, or may not, be com- 

 pleted at some future period. 



The kitchen-garden is situated to the east of the house, at the bottom of 

 a wooded bank, and consists of about five English acres, enclosed by a brick 

 wall. The form is nearly that of a square, subdivided into two parallelograms 

 by a wall in the direction of east and west. The walls are covered with neatly 

 trained fruit trees, that seldom fail to produce good crops. The hot-houses 

 are upon the north wall of the garden : they consist of three divisions of 

 100ft. each, with two houses in each division; they are 14ft. in height, and 

 about 10 ft. in breadth ; and are wholly devoted to peaches and grapes. They 

 are erected in a very substantial manner. The remaining forcing consists of 

 some pine and melon pits. 



In one of the peach houses, the trees are trained on a curved trellis, which 

 reaches from the front to the back wall, and is sufficiently high to admit of 

 walking under it. From the point where it touches the back wall, another 

 trellis reaches to the top of the house. By this means a greater surface for 

 training on is obtained than if there had been only one trellis, either against 

 the back wall, or close under the glass ; and the fruit is brought nearer the 

 light than if a dwarf front trellis and upright trellis, the whole height of the 

 back wall, had been employed. The flower-garden lies about half way between 

 the house and kitchen-garden : it contains a good collection of deciduous 

 shrubs and herbaceous plants; but most sorts of evergreens are liable to be 

 destroyed by frosts. 



This estate contains from .3000 to 4000 acres, of which 1434 are under 

 jilantation. One plantation, distant about three miles to the n.e. of the house. 



