and 0)1 its Bural and Domestic Economi/. 221 



cious and airy ; but, as the family scarcely ever inhabits them 

 during the winter months (from October to May), their gardens 

 and pleasure-grounds, during that period, are much neglected ; 

 and, with the exception of the vegetable garden, nothing can be 

 more slovenly kept. Scarcely an evergreen is visible, with the 

 exception of the pine and fir tribe; and rhododendrons, laurels, 

 laurustinuses, and arbutus are, from the severity of the winters, 

 very scarce; and the lawns, which, in summer, are grazed by 

 cows, instead of being regularly mown, present the most untidy 

 and neglected appearance imaginable. The walks, instead af 

 being gravelled, are covered with sand ; which, with the want of 

 box edging, gives the garden a very unfinished appearance. True 

 it is that the beds and compartments of flowers are sometimes 

 enclosed with a kind of border composed of flat sandy-coloured 

 oblong tiles, to prevent the earth from being washed into the 

 walks ; but which, at a distance, is scarcely seen, being nearly of 

 the same colour as the walk itself This kind of edging in a kit- 

 chen-garden, or in a nurseryman's grounds, might do very well ; 

 but, in a gentleman's pleasure-gi'ound or flower-garden, is, to 

 my taste, quite out of place. 



Pine-apples grown here are very inferior to what I have seen 

 them in England ; as they appear to throw all their force into 

 their leaves, at the expense of the fruit. The earth, I imagine, 

 is by far too light, not having any loam mixed with it; and, 

 though many of the gentlemen have pine-pits, and cultivate 

 different kinds, yet I have never seen any which, in England, 

 could be called handsome fruit. 



Cantaloup Melons grow very fine, and their culture appears 

 to be understood by the gardeners of the resident gentry ; but 

 the other kinds of this fruit appear to be very scarce. 



Grapes ripen well and early : in the open air, on the walls, in 

 September and October ; and, in their forcing-houses, as early 

 as May. The soil, being sandy, contributes a great deal to their 

 early ripening. The vines have, this year, been very much 

 loaded on the open walls ; and the fruit (the sweetwater, or black 

 Hamburgh) has been very well tasted. 



Standard Pears do well for a short time in the town ; but, 

 when their roots get down to the water, they rot and become 

 cankered. In the country, where there is an excess of sand, 

 they produce a great deal of wood, and but little fruit ; which is, 

 for the most part, very gritty and hard. Pears trained en py^ 

 ramide, in this sandy soil, do not appear to answer ; they go too 

 much to wood after being pruned, though, in the town, they are 

 rather better bearers. 



Standard Apples will not thrive at all in the lower part of the 

 town ; though, in the upper part, some kinds do well. In the 

 sandy parts of the country, they answer much better than pears, 



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