THE 



GARDENER'S MAGAZINE, 



MAY, 1839. 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



Art. I. Some Account of Gardens, and the State of Gardening, in 

 the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire. By J. B. W. 



{Continued from Vol. XIII. p. 203.) 



Seven or eight miles to the south of Catterick is a pretty little 

 market town, called Bedale, in which there are two gardens 

 worthy of notice, one belonging to Miss Peirse, and the other to 

 the Rev. John Monson. Both are situated close to the town, 

 Miss Peirse's pleasure-ground being only separated from the 

 main street by a wall. This proximity to a large and noisy town 

 would be extremely disagreeable ; here, however, the streets are 

 so still and quiet, that, except some extraordinary commotion is 

 caused by the occurrence of a fair or market-day, a simple brick 

 wall insures almost as much privacy as an intervening space of 

 several miles between the town and the grounds would do. 

 There is not a regular flower-garden here, nor is there any 

 thing particularly calling for remark in the grounds; but the 

 kitchen-garden is one of the best that I have seen in Yorkshire. 

 It is of the usual form, a parallelogram ; well sheltered on the 

 north and east sides, and on the west there is a thriving young 

 orchard. The soil is excellent, as is proved by the luxuriance 

 of the vegetables it produces, and by the magnitude and fruit- 

 fulness of the trees. 



One west wall is covered with remarkably fine fan-trained 

 pear trees, chiefly of the old varieties, which generally bear pro- 

 fusely: among them is a Gansell's bergamot, extending upwards 

 of 60 ft. in breadth, by 12 ft. in height. Two standard trees of 

 the Aston Town bear and mature their fruit well : in 1835 their 

 produce was estimated at thirty bushels. This valuable variety 

 ought to be in every garden ; when in perfection its flavour is 

 delicious ; and it is so hardy as to thrive well as a standard tree 

 in this northern climate. A pear called the "rose-water," 

 which I never saw elsewhere, is grown here. It is a middle- 

 sized obovate fruit, with buttery flesh, and a flavour resembling 

 that of the swan's egg ; it ripens in the beginning of October, 



Vol. XV. — No. 110. a 



