Wilton House. 511 



respect to the variety of outline by the formation of bays and 

 recesses. The trees and shrubs are of common kinds, but the 

 finest sorts might be introduced in the same style of disposition. 

 What we greatly approve of is, that there is no dug space in 

 front of this shrubbery, the turf losing itself under the branches. 

 There is not, as we have shown at length. Vol. XI. p. 412., a 

 greater deformity in modern gardening than that produced by 

 digging the margins of shrubberies, and planting roses and 

 flowers in them, which from the exhaustion of the soil by the 

 roots of the shrubs, and the stagnation of the air and shade 

 produced by the intermixed trees, can never be otherwise than 

 sickly. It ought to be laid down as a rule, never to be departed 

 from, that no rose bush or flower should ever be planted but in 

 open airy situations where they would come to perfection. This 

 would greatly limit the labours of the gardener, and he would 

 be able to do what he did in the way of cultivating flowers well. 

 Surely there is no one who has attended to this subject who will 

 not allow that it would be a great improvement in pleasure- 

 ground scenery to get rid of those tawdry borders of sickly 

 straggling flowers, leaving nothing in their place but turf and 

 shrubs, or for a few years while the shrubs were young, shrubs 

 on a dry surface ! We have long tried to effect this innovation, 

 and if we could only succeed in doing so, we are sure we should 

 equally benefit gardeners and their employers, and add much to 

 the beauty of every country seat. 



There are a great many fine cedars in the park here, seven of 

 which are considered to be the first planted cedars in England, 

 and are reckoned to be about 160 years old. The largest is a 

 bush rather than a tree, with a trunk only 5 ft. or 6 ft. in length, 

 and 18 ft. 6 in. in circumference at the ground. It divides into 

 numerous upright growing branches of nearly equal size, and 

 thus forms a large orbiculate bush about 70 ft. high. From 

 this description it will appear to be a tree of no marked cha- 

 racter. There is another rather higher, with a straight trunk, 

 and regularly placed branches, which, though a fine and stately 

 tree, has also nothing remarkable in its character. Most of the 

 other trees have assumed grander and more picturesque forms, 

 some of their branches having taken the character of arms, and 

 having stretched out to a considerable distance. All of these 

 trees bear abundance of cones, which fall, or the seeds drop from 

 them, and germinate in abundance among the grass below ; a 

 very good hint to nurserymen to sow the seeds of the pine and 

 fir tribe, with hardly any covering of soil, and to shade them 

 from the sun. 



.- Standing on the Palladian bridge, and looking towards another 

 bridge on the same river, the channel of the water appears 

 much too straight, formal, and unvaried. The other bridge 



