460 Recollections of a Tour made in May, 1839, 



excelsa; connecting it with the park. There are caves, grottoes, bridges, 

 mounts, statues, and various other ornaments in this part of the pleasure- 

 ground which we cannot recollect or describe. 



The castle is a magnificent building externally ; and the interior contains 

 some spacious apartments, well arranged, and richly furnished and fitted up, 

 with curious carving, gilding, stained glass, pictures, and sculptures. The 

 offices are very complete, and the kitchen, the dairy, and the larder, are parti- 

 cularly deserving of notice ; the latter is a lofty tower, placed over the ice-house. 



The kitchen-garden is large, and it contains some new forcing-houses, 

 admirably planned and executed, and furnished with excellent crops of pines, 

 grapes, and peaches. The front borders for the vines are covered during 

 winter with tiles cemented with clay, so as completely to carry off the rain 

 and melting snow to a drain in front. These tiles are annually taken oft' in 

 May, and put on again in December. The peach borders are about 6 ft. in 

 width, and 18 in. in depth ; with the bottom paved with tiles, to prevent the 

 roots from entering the subsoil ; and the surface covered with tiles, to prevent 

 evaporation, to conduct heat to the soil, and to reflect it to the foliage against 

 the walls. In general, all the fruit trees, both standards and dwarfs in the 

 open garden, and trees against the walls, have a flooring of tiles under the 

 roots, from 1 ft. to 18 in. beneath the surface. These tiles are made 1 ft. 

 square, and \\ in. thick. The crops on these trees, and the moderate state of 

 the wood, neither too luxuriant nor too weak, prove the great advantages of 

 the plan. Indeed, we attach so much importance to it, that we should wish 

 much to lay Mr. Barron's practice and opinions on this point of culture before 

 our readers. The system of covering with tiles also deserves the particular 

 attention of the gardener. "We have seldom seen such an elegant range of 

 glass, covering plants so beautifully grown, and bearing so abundantly, as this 

 garden contains. 



In the reserve ground are many coniferous plants which are being brought 

 forward for planting out ; and those rare species, which in other places are 

 only to be seen singly or in pairs, are here in dozens or scores. 



Among single objects which we recall to memory are, purple beeches 

 grafted at a great height on the common beech ; a weeping ash grafted on a 

 common ash at 80 ft. from the ground, and growing most luxuriantly ; and 

 many variegated yews. A drive has recently been formed round the plant- 

 ations in connexion with the pleasure-grounds, about two miles in length ; 

 the ground on each side, to a considerable width has been trenched, and will 

 be planted with evergreen trees or shrubs of a similar description to those 

 already there. 



On the whole, the grounds at Elvaston Castle abound with objects of great 

 singularity, rarity, and value, and we can only regret our utter inability to do 

 them justice, though our visit occupied the greater part of the day. Unfor- 

 tunately, Mr. Barron, the gardener, was from home, and we were shown round 

 by a young man who was comparatively a stranger. We trust, however, to 

 Mr. Barron to supply deficiencies, and correct any mistake into which we may 

 have fallen ; and, above all, to give us some account of the manner in which 

 he transplants large trees, and paves under and otherwise manages the fruit 

 trees in the kitchen-garden. 



Nine years ago there was not a single evergreen about the place, with the 

 exception of the very large cedars of Lebanon and a few large Portugal 

 laurels j the whole having been collected, planted, and the entire grounds 

 and gardens formed, in less than nine years. 



The Cornish Elm CU'imus campestris cornubiensis Arb. Brit.) — This tree 

 is seen here and there in the neighbourhood of Derby, and thence to Lichfield 

 and Birmingham. It is readily known, even when without its leaves, by the 

 somewhat twisted direction, and comparatively smooth bark of the main stem, 

 and by the side branches being twisted and turned upwards ; as is very well 

 expressed in that remarkably fine specimen of this tree at Muswell Hill, which 

 is figured in the Arboretum Britannieum, vol. vii. plate 184. It is also known 



