484 Notices of some Gardens and Country Seats 



dwellings, of every description, are white-washed. The desire 



for this white appearance we suppose to be a physical result of 



the prevalence of green and red ; white, though it cannot be 



called a complementary colour to these, as green is to red, being 



yet a relief to the eye, on similar principles. 



The high banks on which the hedges are planted form the 



next characteristic of these counties, rendering it difficult to see 



the adjoining fields or country from the road, and being really a 



very great nuisance to a stranger. We have also to complain of 



the narrowness and depth of the lanes, or parish roads, and the 



general want of guide-posts. Another characteristic is the form 



of the churches, which have very high square towers, each with 



a small round tower attached, containing a staircase ; the square 



towers sometimes, though rarely, terminating in spires, as at the 



little dirty Scotch-looking village called Marlborough, and the 



ancient town of Modbury, both between Salcombeand Plymouth. 



These towers, among so many round and horizontal lines, form 



grand and striking contrasts to the general outline of the coun- 

 ts o o ■ .„ . i 



try; and indeed are every where the most striking artificial 

 features in the landscape. 



Nettlecombe Court is a seat of great extent; and, though 

 we took an extensive drive every day while we remained there, 

 we did not see all the farms. The drives are exceedingly va- 

 ried and beautiful, and exhibit fine combinations of pasture and 

 woodland, comfortable cottages, and most substantial farm- 

 houses and farmeries. The skill of the farmer is chiefly dis- 

 played in the management of cattle and sheep, and of water 

 meadows. The farmers know nothing of the culture of turnips 

 on raised drills, or indeed of drill culture generally: and, with 

 as fine a subsoil as can possibly be desired, they only plough 

 four inches deep. They understand, however, the use of lime, 

 which they mix with the soil of the headlands and hedge wastes 

 previously to spreading it over the general surface; and this 

 mixture prevents the lime from separating and sinking into the 

 soil, which it has a constant tendency to do, from the difference 

 in its specific gravity. The same effect will be produced by 

 scattering the lime, in a state of fine powder, on a naked or 

 turnip fallow, the soil being also in a state of powder, as is done 

 in Northumberland and Scotland, in the beginning of summer. 

 Here the lime is laid on, and ploughed in, during autumn ; and 

 hence the very judicious practice of previously mixing it with 

 dry soil. The water meadows on the Nettlecombe estate amount 

 to upwards of 500 acres, which have been chiefly formed under 

 the direction of the present baronet, by his very intelligent 

 steward, Mr. Babbage. To Mr. Babbage we are indebted for 

 the model of a very ingenious window fastener of his invention, 

 which we shall hereafter figure and describe; as well as for the 



