December 27, lset. ] JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



509 



his sewage worts at Carlisle, I read, uses a liquid disin- 

 fectant ; it may possibly be a better ingredient for the pur- 

 pose than his powder. — Upwards and Onwards. 



HAGLEY HALL. 



The Seat op Lord Lyttelton. 

 A pleasant walk of a mile from Stourbridge led to the 

 lodge gates. Having entered the carriage-drive a portion 

 of the diversified scenery of the park is seen on the right ; 

 turning to the left by the stables, visitors are requested by 

 a notice on the gate to proceed through the small pasture 

 field, and ring the bell at the garden entrance. 



On entering is a small flower garden, gay at the time of my 

 visit with ScadetGeraniums, Calceolarias, Verbenas, Lobelias, 

 &c. A large Juniper, its drooping branches loaded with red 

 berries, was likewise an attractive object. Further on is the 

 kitchen garden of six acres. The first house we entered was 

 the stove, which contained good specimens of Stephanotis 

 floribunda, Bignonia venusta, and the usual assortment to be 

 seen in such places. There were a Cucumber-pit 50 feet long, 

 a vinery 50 feet long, containing good bunches of Black Ham- 

 burgh and White Nice; a Peach-house, 30feet long by 15 wide, 

 with fine healthy trees of Grosse Mignonne and Noblesse. 

 A fruit of the latter weighed 10 ozs. ; and Mr. Mackie said it 

 was but little more than the average weight of every one 

 on the tree. A second vinery, 30 feet long, contained fine 

 bunches of the Barbarossa, a favourite late Grape here. The 

 plant-house, 30 feet long, was filled with Camellias and a 

 good collection of Chrysanthemums. The fruit-room con- 

 tained a choice assortment of Pears and Apples, such as one 

 can only expect to see in Worcestershire, and a few other 

 localities favourable to their growth and maturation. The 

 Dahlias were worthy of notice for their size, beauty, and 

 constancy. The best, where every one was good, were Bob 

 Ridley, Dodds' Minnie, Triumph, Dr. Hogg, Garibaldi, Lord 

 Russell, Mrs. Crisp, Warrior,- Mount Vesuvius, Merrivale, 

 and Loveliness. In the pleasure-grounds are noble clumps 

 of Rhododendrons, and a large specimen of the Pampas 

 Grass. A summer-house, with stained-glass windows, re- 

 presented the seasons, as described by Thomson ; and 

 among the forest trees was a Larch that measured 11 feet 

 3 inches in girth 3 feet from the ground, and having a 

 straight bole 50 feet high. 



It may be interesting to the reader to know that this 

 beautiful park and grounds, of about one thousand acres, 

 were laid out by the first Lord Lyttelton, assisted by his 

 friend Shenstone. We are told that the manner of laying 

 out ground in the natural style was quite in its infancy 

 when Shenstone began, about the year 1750, to carry out 

 his ideas of rural elegance, and by degrees he brought his 

 own place, The Leasows, to such perfection that, long before 

 he died, his little domain had not only attracted the notice 

 and procured him the acquaintance of persons the most dis- 

 tinguished for rank and genius, but had become the envy of 

 the great and the admiration of the skilful — a place to be 

 visited by travellers and copied by designers. 



The first object that attracts attention in the park is the 

 Grecian temple, situated on rising ground; then a pedestal 

 dedicated to Thomson, with a Latin inscription. The next 

 is Jacob's well, with the rectory-house, on the brow of a 

 distant knoll, partly visible through the trees. Further on 

 is the dingle, with a rivulet meandering through the valley ; 

 then another testimonial of friendship, with the following 

 lines — 



To the Memory of 

 William Shenstone, Esa., 



In whose verse 



Were all the natural graces ; 



And in whose manners 



Was all the amiable simplicity 



Of pastoral poetry, 



With the sweetest, tenderness 



Of the Elegiac. 



On, still on, to the Rotunda, whence there is an exquisite 

 view of the dingle. The rivulet that runs along the bottom 

 is dammed into pools, and one of them is seen through a 

 vista or arcade formed by the branches of the trees. It is 

 a scene to be felt, not described — a music of the eyes, a 

 melody of the heart, whese truth is known only by its sweet- 

 ness. Short views of fewest glades down the glen are diver- 



sified by the straggling trees that hang upon the declivities. 

 A Cedar of Lebanon in the dell measured 18 feet 3 inches 

 in girth at 3 feet from the ground. It appeared worthy 

 indeed to be the emblem of the majesty of Israel. An Oak 

 larger than its companions measured 15 feet 7 inches in 

 circumference, and the bole to the branches was 20 feet 

 high. 



The next object I came to was a pedestal, with the 

 following brief notice — 



" Alexander Pope, 1744." 



The next was the crowning-point of all — the Ruined Castle, 

 a masterly deception, standing on the highest ground in the 

 Park, and commanding an extensive prospect on to the 

 Malvern Hills, the Welsh mountains, Woodbury, and splen- 

 did home views of the diversified scenery of the park, the 

 dingle, and the pools. Then home by a tablet dedicated to 

 Milton, with the following lines from his " Paradise Lost :" 



" These are thy glorious works, Parent of Good ! 

 Almighty ! Tbine this universal frame, 

 Thus wondrous fair. Thyself how wondrous then, 

 Unspeakable! who first above these heavens 

 To us invisible, or dimly seen 

 In ihese thy lowest works ; yet these declare 

 Thy goodness beyond thought, and power divine." 



Geologists tell us that the body of the earth was once in 

 a state of fusion — that is, it was once all in a melted state, 

 glowing, burning, flaming, and that it gradually cooled until 

 it became covered with a hardened surface. This park in 

 the convulsions of Nature seems to have been tossed up into 

 all sorts of forms, and is now clothed with trees, some 

 appearing in full view, others half concealed behind the 

 rising banks, and others with their rounded heads appearing 

 above the summit of one range as if they were clumps of 

 shrubs seated on the sloping banks of the more distant 

 hills. Such extent of ground, such variety in the disposi- 

 tion of it, objects so interesting in themselves and ennobled 

 by their situations, each contrasted to each, every one dis- 

 tinct, and all happily united — the parts so beautiful of a 

 whole so great compose altogether a landscape of some mag- 

 nificence and of great beauty. 



I have seen many landscape paintings where the trees 

 have been grouped in the most picturesque manner, and 

 where the soft green glades have been displayed in a very 

 delightful style to give variety, light, and shade, and where 

 the tone of colouring and all the other accompaniments 

 have been employed by the landscape painter to realise the 

 best creations of the imagination; but I have rarely seen 

 any landscape to compare with the scenes that are produced 

 in this place. These scenes are produced by groups of trees, 

 the Oak, Beech, and Chestnut predominating, disposed, not 

 in the random manner recommended by some landscape gar- 

 deners to produce some effect, and to be left as a haphazard 

 attempt at a composition most incongruous, but in a method 

 upon which the mind was employed to picture the future 

 effect from the original arrangement — to see them gradually 

 developing their forms and features with their growth, until 

 they ultimately attain a beautiful landscape, the object pre- 

 conceived from the beginning. 



Mr. Loudon, in his " Encyclopaedia of Gardening," de- 

 scribes Hagley, "A square house with raised pavilions at 

 the angles, in a park long celebrated for the beautiful undu- 

 lations of its surface, the fine scattered groves and thickets 

 of Beech and other trees. As a seat, however, it is deficient 

 in having no pleasure ground or flower-garden scenery near 

 the house. This must naturally lessen the comforts of its 

 possessors in the winter months, who must cross the open 

 park before they can get at gravel paths of any kind." A 

 person who had never seen the place would naturally con- 

 clude from this description that the house was isolated in 

 an open exposed situation. It is true there is no pleasure- 

 ground or flower-garden scenery around the house, but it is 

 naturally sheltered by rising grounds, and the walk of about 

 50 yards leads to the shrubbery and pleasure grounds. To 

 my taste it is better as it is. You go forth to enjoy the shade 

 and shelter of a short walk through flowers and shrubs, 

 or, if inclination leads you to extend it through wood- 

 land scenery in the park, there is the charm of variety to 

 engage your attention; while flower gardens or pleasure 

 grounds seen from the house, being always visible, become 

 monotonous and devoid of interest. The beautiful ground 



