February io, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



63 



vate property, like the lovely cascades in the easterly margin, 

 and bring all under a uniform system of administration. This 

 can best be done under the proposed metropolitan park ad- 

 ministration. 

 Boston. Sylvester Baxter. 



Colonial Summer-houses. 



AMONG other revivals of old-time usages prevalent during 

 this decade it is surprising not to see some creations re- 

 sembling the old summer-houses, so much used and admired 

 from fifty to one hundred and fifty years ago on many estates 

 in the older-settled portions of our country. As far as I am 

 aware, the restoration of a few remaining old ones has been 

 the only effort made in this way. These structures were what 

 their name implies — houses for summer. Intended for use 

 daring warm weather, when artificial heat was not wanted, 

 they were usually built and finished in a manner to correspond 

 with the best rooms in the houses to which they were ad- 

 juncts ; indeed, they must often have been superior in their 

 ornamentation and furnishings. Chippendale furniture of the 

 purest design and delicate construction found an appropriate 

 setting in some of them, and in the coast towns, when their 

 owners were also ship-owners, they were sometimes furnished 

 with Teak- wood furniture and those wonderfully artistic pieces 

 from India and China, beside which modern importations look 

 so inferior. The Mediterranean countries were also contribu- 

 tors, and decorations in marble and Italian glass could be 

 found. Often there were delicate chandeliers and tall candle- 

 sticks, surrounded by still taller glass shades, like those used 

 in the West Indies, for a free circulation of summer air was 

 desired, and the dripping of wax was thus prevented. 



Musical parties were a favorite form of entertainment held 

 in these summer-houses, and on other occasions the supper 

 was served in them, when they were brilliantly lighted and 

 decorated. What we call lawn and garden parties were not then 

 in vogue, but ladies' luncheons were often given in the sum- 

 mer-house, and, no doubt, were as enjoyable as any now 

 held. The ladies often used them as morning and reception 

 rooms, and delightful they were for spinning, reading or 

 needlework, or to receive friends apart from the work of the 

 domestic establishment. 



The young people and lovers were especially appreciative 

 of their attractions, and many interesting tales could be told of 

 famous people who arranged the important affairs of their 

 lives within these sheltering wails. Before writing upon walls 

 and window-panes had reached its present vulgarity, inscrip- 

 tions and couplets were often composed in these abodes of 

 summer life. Even the great Washington and his generals 

 are said to have enriched some little panes of glass with their 

 autographs. The practice was a direct continuation from an 

 even earlier time, as it was on the window of a summer-house 

 that Leicester wrote : 



Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall. 

 And Elizabeth wrote under it : 



If thy heart fail thee, climb not at all. 



In the hands of less exalted or witty personages, however, 

 the practice soon degenerates into mere scribbling, and it has 

 no good reason for revival or survival. 



But there is something to be said, however, in favor of these 

 attractive little structures. They largely occupied the sphere 

 of the present piazza and suminer parlor. With the appear- 

 ance of the modern piazza they went out of fashion, and, to 

 some extent, their office is filled by arbors and rustic shelters, 

 but these belong more properly to somewhat distant and less 

 frequented portions of the grounds. The true summer-house, 

 although often arranged witli windows to overlook the beauty 

 of land and water, is an attraction in itself, adapted to highly 

 cultivated and artificial surroundings, even to gardens of small 

 extent. 



It is for use as a detached portion of the house rather than 

 an independent structure. It should be retired, but not far 

 distant, and should correspond in architectural features with 

 the main structure. There are some dwellings upon which it 

 is difficult or undesirable to have the usual piazza, especially 

 in mountain districts, where frequent rains make it desirable 

 to have the sunshine directly upon the house, and in foggy 

 situations near the ocean, where dampness makes the piazza 

 objectionable. It is often hard to build an addition to a building 

 already completed, and the problem might be solved and ad- 

 ditional room furnished by a disconnected building that would 

 answer every purpose and add to the attraction of many es- 

 tablishments. Afternoon teas and strawberry parties can be 

 delightfully managed from them, and they lend themselves 

 gracefully for all kinds of floral decorations. 



The illustrations on page 65 are from examples still remain- 

 ing in Rhode Island, and show our ancestors' taste, although 

 these are less ornate and smaller than some formerly in exist- 

 ence. Tliey are all of one story, although we have heard of 

 those which had two. They are built of wood, and the work- 

 manship is of a high order. The roof-line in two of them has 

 received careful consideration, and adds much to their pic- 

 turesqueness. In the third, however, the upper part is infe- 

 rior in design. This is the one with the flight of steps, and it 

 is built upon a huge boulder in the garden of Wm. B. De Wolf, 

 in Bristol, where it has weathered the memorable gales of 181 5 

 and 1869. A carved figure of an Indian with a tomahawk sur- 

 mounts the centre of the roof. A figure of a cavalier occu- 

 pies the same position on the second, which also stands in 

 Bristol, and for many years overlooked tlie harbor from its po- 

 sition in a terraced garden, which is said to have had great 

 beauty, and situated directly upon the shore of Narragansett 

 Bay. A high carved fence, surmounted with wooden urns, 

 separated the garden from the highway, and other carvings 

 ornamented the grounds, which were of the era when not only 

 Sir Timothy Dexter, but all of New England, admired decora- 

 tions of this sort. The larger house on the left is in the garden 

 of Mrs. E. S. Diman, now in Providence, but once famous 

 as Rose Farm, with its beautiful grounds. The building is 

 large and commodious, showing the same care in construction 

 and delicate Irnish as the others, in cornice and other details. 

 The foundation is of cut freestone, and underneath is a well- 

 paved store-room that has been in use for several generations.' 

 Our modern architects could doubtless design structures with 

 all the attractions of the old ones, and adapted to the re- 

 quirements of modern Hfe, if a desire for them was manifested.- 



New York. John De Wolf. 



Notes of a Summer Journey in Europe. — VI. 



THE botanic garden at Leipzig has, within a few years, been 

 removed from its old location to entirely new grounds, 

 so that none of its trees are large. Owing to the limited area 

 they are also inuch crowded, and can never become finely de- 

 veloped. The collection here is said to contain about six hun- 

 dred species and varieties of trees and shrubs. As at Munich, 

 it is found impossible to grow good specimens of conifers. 



The park called the "Rosenthal" is a pleasant, restful recre- 

 ation-ground of meadow and woodland, generally free from 

 artificial embellishments, and with no more drive-ways than 

 seem absolutely necessary. Many of the trees in the park have 

 attained to a large size. The European Hornbeam (Carpinus 

 Betulus) is here planted with the Common Elm (Ulmus cam- 

 pestris), forming fine broad spreading trees, almost equaling 

 the Elms in height, and with trunks two feet in diameter. 

 Among American trees noted were some good Hickories and 

 fine typical specimens of the Pin Oak (Ouercus palustrus), with 

 trunks a foot in diameter. The stems of exposed trees on the 

 streets are protected by coarse basket-work, five or six feet 

 high, which answers very well as a guard and is cheaper and 

 less liable to injure the trees than many more elaborate con- 

 trivances. 



From Leipzig to the old town of Merseburg, by way of 

 Halle, need not take more than an hour by the railroad, and 

 a brisk walk of an hour and a half from Merseburg brought 

 n;>e to the little village of Zceschen, where Dr. G. Dieck has 

 established his collections and nurseries. There are some 

 fine avenues of old Horse-chestnuts in Merseburg, and the 

 road to Zceschen, like most of the roads in this part of the 

 country, is lined on both sides with fruit-trees, principally 

 Cherries, which bear fruit of good quality, but great quanti- 

 ties of Pears, Apples and Plums are also planted. All were 

 bearing heavy crops of fruit, and most of the cherries had 

 already been picked. Sections are sometimes planted in Lin- 

 dens or other suitable trees. The fruit-trees are planted about 

 tv/enty-five feet apart, the distance across the road being thirty 

 feet. The country here is flat, with soil too rich and valuable 

 for regular farm-crops to allow much of it being devoted to 

 woodland. 



Dr. Dieck has given his establishment the name of " National 

 Arboretum," a title which might easily give a wrong impression 

 of the status and character of the place. It has no connec- 

 tion whatever with the government, being solely the property 

 and enterprise of Dr. Dieck. Besides being a nurseryman and 

 an arboriculturist, Dr. Dieck may be classed as an extreme en- 

 thusiast on the subject of trees and shrubs and as a collector 

 of everything that promises to be an addition to his stores. 

 New plants, valuable only for their botanical interest, are col- 

 lected as eagerly as the showy species, and Dr. Dieck has the 

 reputation of being very generous with his plants to botanical 



