the Seat of Norman MacLeod, Esq. 417 



as a body, to be a most industrious, intelligent, and persevering set of men ; 

 many of them reading one or two of the gardening periodicals, several of 

 which, through the kindness of my employer, I am enabled to peruse ; and a 

 number of them are either natives of, or have visited, the southern parts of 

 this, or been in the sister isle, where gardening is carried on more extensively 

 than it is here. These few general remarks I have thrown out in the mean 

 time, leaving particulars to a future opportunity, or a more able pen. 



Dalvey Gardens. — First let me refer you back to your Volume for 18.38, 

 p. 462., where you will find a general notice of these grounds by my prede- 

 cessor, the then gardener. My task is by that notice lessened to adding a few 

 particulars to the account there given. The houses which were then three 

 are now five ; the fourth one being a span-roofed stove, divided by a partition 

 in the middle, one end for the culture of orchidaceous plants, and the other a 

 general stove. The fifth is a pit for heaths, with ventilators in the walls for 

 the admission of air when the weather will not admit of the lights being drawn 

 down. The side walls are of stone, with a temporary erection of boards along 

 the sides (with the ventilating tubes through) for the purpose of holding dry 

 leaves, which effectually protects the walls from frost, the roof being protected 

 with hurdles thatched with bent (coarse grass or rushes). The sides of the 

 hurdles are Sin. deep, made of boards 1 in. thick, fitting on the roof like 

 common lights on rafters. In this pit, both last season and this, we have kept 

 pelargoniums, calceolarias, heaths, &c., all of which, at present, look healthy and 

 well. The pathway goes along the back, with a door at each end, by which 

 means the plants can be examined be tiie weather what it may, which is a 

 decided advantage over the ordinary sort of pits, where the lights have to be 

 removed for that purpose; also the ventilators in the walls preclude the possi- 

 bility of damp lodging beneath. The plants stand on a platform of rough 

 boards near the glass, and are plunged to the rims of the pots in river sand. 

 This is the best material to plunge pots in I have yet tried, being moist, cool, 

 and clean, and worms cannot run into it. This practice saves frequent water- 

 ing, which is a great advantage in a pit of this sort, as the less water used the 

 less chance there is of damp accumulating ; for when damp is once generated 

 it is not so easily dried up again in moist or cloudy weather. Under the plat- 

 form are stowed away pentstemons, salvias, fuchsias, and such like things, for 

 bedding out in summer. 



The general stock of plants mentioned in the former communication is still 

 extending. There is also here a quantity of the Himalaya pines. 



The garden (independently of the kitchen ground) is about five acres in 

 extent, and has originally been laid out, in the Dutch style, as a kitchen-gar- 

 den, with broad main walks, which are still retained, and taken advantage of 

 for effect, as will be seen below. The kitchen crops have been removed, bit 

 by bit, to give place to flower borders, turf glades, and other ornaments, and a 

 more subordinate place assigned to this department, along with the framing- 

 ground, hardy pits, &c., behind the walls at the north and east sides, which is 

 well protected from northerly gales by a rising ground covered with forest 

 trees. 



Taking the above as a preamble, we will now enter the garden gate. On the 

 left is a border facing the south, with a wall behind, which last season was 

 planted with three rows of dahlias, according to their heights. This border, 

 when the plants were in bloom, had a most dazzling effect. It is now planted 

 with rose stocks, to be worked in summer with choice kinds ; and pillar or 

 climbing roses are planted against the wall. On the right is the Dropmore 

 flower-garden, spoken of in the former communication ; at the end of the 

 border is the stove ; further on is the camellia-house, occupied chiefly with 

 camellias, a few tall New Holland plants behind, and azaleas and heaths 

 in front. Before this house is a grass glade ; on a circle in the centre stands 

 a large horsechestnut, which affords an agreeable shade for a seat in summer. 

 Interspersed through the glade are several circles of rhododendrons (the circle 

 is a favourite figure here), rustic vases, and single plants of juniper, forming a 



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