July 18, 1878. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 41 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
Average 
Day | Day a Sun sun | Moon | Moon | Moon’s| Clock | Day 
aA oO JULY 18—24, 1878. em peribte Dean Rigest lessees Rises. Sets Ag peor noi 
Day. |Night.)Mean.| h. m.| h. m.| h. m.| h. m.! Days. | m. s 
18 | TH | Newcastle and Luton Shows. 74.6 | 60.4 | 625 | 4 6/ 8 6 36 | 8 28 18 5 56 | 199 
19 |F Helensburgh Rose Show. 72.8 | 50.7 | 61.8 EAT SIN: SVQ AES | 337 19 6 1] 200 
20 1S Cleckheaton Show. 72.5 | 50.6 | 61.6 4) 8) Sep 4nip 9585) 10), 46 20 6 5 | 201 
21 | SUN | 5SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 73.2 | 50.6 | 61.9 4-10/ 8 2/10 11) 11 55 20 6 8 | 202 
22 M 73.1 | 51.5 | 62.3 4 11 8 1/10 26 laé (6 6 10} 203 
23 Tu Royal Horticultural Society—Fruit and Floral Com- | 73.8 | 52.1 | 63.0 4 12 8 0} 10 47 oy 19 23 6 13 | 204 
24 | W {mittees at 11 at. National Carnation Society’s | 72.5 | 52.0 | 62.2 4 14 7 59] 11 14 3 33 24 6 14 | 205 
Southern Show. Leicester Show. 
From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 73.2°; and its night temperature 
51.19. 
HINTS ON LANDSCAPE GARDENING.—No. 6. 
THE SITE OF A HOUSE. 
PSC AIS) LANTING is so much interwoven with almost 
: every part of landscape gardening, that be- 
fore proceeding to treat of the formation 
and arrangement of trees and shrubs in 
clumps, belts, and beds, some common start- 
ing point should be chosen. 
Oey, The residence suggests itself as the most 
~ <5 suitable object for our purpose, and we will first 
(F turn our attention to the selection of its site. In 
doing so we must not forget the importance of shelter, 
of an abundant supply of pure water, of a pleasant 
view of rich natural scenery, and of access to the 
house. 
Fondness of a fine view frequently induces forgetfulness 
of the water supply and shelter till the building is finished 
and it is too late. I will give an example by way of 
illustration. 
Upon a range of hills some 600 or 700 feet above the 
sea level, commanding a pleasant landscape, widespreading, 
and with another still more lofty range of hills broken into 
numerous peaks and undulating ridges in the distance, two 
gentlemen decided to build their houses; one placed his 
out upon the topmost plateau exposed to every wind that 
blows, overlooking miles of country, with all the distant 
hills fully in view, and with a water supply entirely de- 
pendant upon wells and pumps: The other gentleman, 
with sound judgment and excellent taste, chose a site upon 
the side of a sunny slope open to the south, but with high 
land sweeping boldly upwards upon either hand from the 
south-west and south-east to the northern ridge behind in 
the form of an irregular semicircle, affording shelter from 
cold winds in spring and from south-western gales at all 
seasons of the year, to which advantages subsequent plant- 
ing gave a complete finish, and formed a snug, cosy, home- 
like air, which the more exposed house never could possess. 
Thus the house was shut in on every side but the south, 
where there lay before it a view of great beauty and rich- 
ness—just a choice bit of the more extensive scenery to be 
enjoyed by climbing the hill behind the house, and with 
only a few hill peaks and ridges in sight, but which un- 
doubtedly gained in effect from their isolation. An abundant 
supply cf pure water was obtained from a spring flowing 
from the north hill about 100 feet above the level of the 
site of the house, so that by means of a reservoir and piping 
it was comveyed to cisterns at the top of the house and 
distributed about the garden and among the outbuildings 
without artificial force of any kind. Fountains, too, were 
introduced at various points at a comparatively trifling cost, 
and thus every natural advantage was seized upon and 
turned to account. 
In a hilly country such situations are by no means scarce. 
Many a fine position for a house have I seen lying waste 
in various parts of England, notably in the home counties 
of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey ; and also in Derbyshire, Devon- 
shire, and Cornwall, and, oddly enough, it is not uncommon 
to find such positions overlooked and houses built in all 
NO, 903.—VOL. XXXV., NEW SERIES. 
sorts of incongruous positions. Three examples occur to 
me now. The first is an estate near the east coast, with 
a very undulating surface forming an irregular series of 
hills and valleys, one central eminence commanding the 
estuary of a river alive with shipping on one side and a 
picturesque wooded valley running inland on another, and 
yet the house is built in a low, damp, unwholesome situa- 
tion shut in by trees, and with its principal front facing 
the north! The house is an old one, and one can only 
account for its odd situation by supposing that its builders 
sought shelter and proximity to a public road, the making 
of good private roads being then a matter of greater diffi- 
culty than it is now. 
The second house, a large massive structure, illustrates 
another extreme, for it has no shelter of any kind, but 
crowns an eminence in the centre of a park, and certainly 
commands views of some of the best park scenery in 
England; yet it is undoubtedly a mistake, the park con- 
taining a much finer situation, more elevated, and near the 
upper end of a valley, turf-clad, and with gentle widespread 
slopes ascending gradually to well-timbered heights, where 
magnificent old Oaks cluster together in clumps and stretch 
their gigantic arms alongside cool fernery glades. Majestic 
trees of uncommon size also shut in the head of the valley, 
and from thence one has a view of singular richness— 
downwards over wide sweeps of turf agreeably broken by 
equally fine masses of timber, across the waters of a lake 
with glimpses of its winding shores half hidden among the 
trees at other points, onwards over some miles of well- 
timbered country beyond the park to a lofty range of hills 
in the distance. 
My third example is an equally fine structure upon an 
elevated and tolerably well sheltered position in a park 
which it overlooks to its farthest boundaries, with just a 
glimpse of water and a winding shore which invites us to 
explore, and upon doing so we come upon a sunny sheltered 
slope commanding a view of an estuary with winding shores 
densely wooded to the water’s edge, so beautiful that we 
are lost in wonder that advantage had not been taken of 
so fine a site, infinitely superior in every way to that whereon 
the house stands. 
When there are no uplands, and the surrounding country 
is flat and monotonous, we should select a site overlooking 
fine timber, or a space which may be made ornamental by 
judicious planting as well as by breaking up certain por- 
tions of the surface, not for the formation of a series of 
trivial mounds and ridges as for the production of a bold 
and picturesque effect, such as we have in an excavation 
for a piece of water with high-raised banks, and with a 
miniature dell leading down to it, also formed by excaya- 
tions. Let it not be supposed, however, that I wish to 
imply that level spaces cannot be rendered ornamental 
without being broken up. There is so much beauty in the 
soft fresh turf of this country, that one desires few more 
pleasant sights from the windows of a house than a turfy 
expanse well timbered with clumps, glades, and solitary 
specimens of ornamental trees. Combined with the repose 
of such a scene we have dignity, refinement, and ample 
life and variety ; for it is idle to talk of tameness in the 
NO. 1555 VOL. LX. OLD SERIES. = 
= 
