562 Summary View of the Progress of Gardening, 



tleman is also a convert of not more than two years' standing ; 

 but he assists, generally from morning to night, in the culti- 

 vation of the flowers with his own hands, and produces most 

 extraordinary specimens. Such a gentleman may honourably 

 compete for prizes with any gardener whatever. 



Among the gardens described in this volume, which are at a dis- 

 tance from London, the most remarkable is, without doubt, that of 

 Hoole House, near Chester. The idea of imitating alpine scenery 

 on a large scale is new in gardening, and it has been carried into 

 execution at the Hoole, under Lady Broughton's directions, with 

 the most complete success. In general, artificial rockwork pre- 

 sents the appearance of a mere heap of stones, without any 

 attempt at stratification, natural expression, or appropriate cha- 

 racter ; but here we have the most marked expression of alpine 

 character completely worked out. The contrast between the 

 level flower-garden, with its beds all circular, and all of the same 

 size, and the rough irregularity of the surrounding rockwork, is 

 at once striking and pleasing. A collection of the more beautiful 

 alpines is grown among the rocks, and another of the finest 

 garden flowers in the circular beds. It has been objected by 

 some to the rockwork at the Hoole, that it has been introduced 

 into a rich flat country, and on a flat surface, where no such 

 rockwork was ever known to exist. This would be a valid ob- 

 jection, provided the rockwork were to be seen in connexion 

 with the general scenery of the country by which it is surrounded ; 

 but, on the contrar}', the rockwork scene here is altogether an 

 episode, to be seen and enjoyed by itself, and the more powerfully 

 it contrasts with the surrounding country, the greater will be its 

 eff'ects, both on the mind of the spectator, who sees it for the first 

 time, and on the mind of a constant resident. No one would 

 ever think of introducing such rockwork in a mountainous 

 country, among the Cumberland and Westmoreland lakes, or in 

 the Highlands of Scotland, for example, where it would be con- 

 sidered quite natural : but how delightful it is at the Hoole, where 

 it contrasts so powerfully with every thing around it; and would 

 be in Middlesex, or any other flat country, for the same reason ! 

 The only objection that we have to the rocky scenery at the 

 Hoole is, that in some places it appears mixed up with full- 

 grown trees, which, being higher than the rockwork, have a 

 tendency to destroy the illusion, by deranging the scale of the 

 rocks. For this reason, no trees, or other objects higher than 

 rockwork of the kind at the Hoole, ought to be observed in the 

 same scene with it, more particularly when looking from within. 



The account of the gardens of Herefordshire, by J. B. W. 

 (p. 209.), is interspersed with many excellent remarks on the 

 subject of culture ; and the notes on the Brighton and Shoreham 

 gardens (p. 497.) show what may be done by amateurs, even 



