326 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 229, 



be reserved, examples of the three most interesting forests 

 in the world, the southern-Alleghauy deciduous forest, the 

 coniferous forest of the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, 

 with its Sequoias and Sugar Pines, and the Redwood-forest 

 of the Pacihc coast, will be saved to interest and instruct 

 future generations of men who will see in them the great 

 marvels of vegetable growth which, without the interven- 

 tion of the nation, are doomed to speedy destruction. 



The Terrace at Haddon Hall. 



WE print the accompanying illustration of the terrace at 

 Haddon Hall (p. 329) as one of the most beautiful 

 examples which could possibly be found of a combination of 

 architectural and natural forms. The battlemented Eliza- 

 bethan wing of the famous house is fine in itself, owing to 

 good proportions and a noble simplicity of design ; and 

 the terrace with its broad flight of steps is well in keeping 

 with it. But if we fancy them deprived of this foreground 

 of level turf, this mantle of Ivy, and this background of 

 luxuriant trees, we imagine a commonplace although good, 

 instead of an extremely dignified, beautiful and individual 

 effect. Nor, in the aspect of the verdurous environment, 

 could we fancy any change which wouldbe an improvement. 

 The solid clipped hedge between the path and the walls 

 gives the latter a base which brings them into harmony 

 with the lawn. The Ivy grows in clraracteristically heavy 

 masses but has not been allowed to infringe unduly upon 

 the windows, and the contrast between the draped and 

 the naked battlements is very picturesque. Then, just at the 

 end of the house, the peculiarly heavy way in which the 

 Ivy falls from the top of the wall admirably unites it with 

 the trees beyond. These trees, rising back of the terrace, 

 give it great dignity and make it seem a part of the main 

 structure rather than an addition to it ; and the Ivy does 

 not clothe the terrace wall so thickly as to conceal its 

 character. Of course in such a case it is impossible to say 

 how much of the perfection of the result has been due to 

 artistic gardening skill, and how much to the happy chances 

 of nature. Yet one must suppose that, if constant atten- 

 tion were not paid to masses of foliage like these, they 

 would soon overrun everything, and turn what is now an 

 ideal combination of architectural and natural forms into 

 a featureless mass of green. 



Haddon Hall, one of the most famous of the great country- 

 seats of England, stands eight miles from the town of 

 Matlock, in a very beautiful region of country, on a bold 

 eminence on the east side of the river Wye, and not many 

 miles from Chatsworth, the equally famous but more mod- 

 est seat of the Duke of Devonshire. Haddon Hall, soon after 

 the Norman Conquest, was owned by the Avenell family, 

 from whom it passed to the Vernons. Sir John Vernon, 

 who was called the King of the Peak from his magnificent 

 scale of living and lavish hospitality, and who died soon 

 after the accession of Elizabeth, was the last male heir of 

 this family, and Haddon Hall passed, by the marriage of 

 his daughter, to the Manners family, who were then the 

 Earls and are now the Dukes of Rutland. It remained 

 their principal seat until the beginning of the last century, 

 when it was superseded by Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire. 



To this fact is probably due its preservation in its old- 

 time estate. No part of it is of later date than the sixteenth 

 century, while the chapel shows the style of the reign of 

 Henry VI., and the tower above the gateway is supposed 

 to have been built in that of Edward III. The gallery, 

 which dates from the time of Elizabeth, seems to be the 

 portion represented in our picture. At this time the great 

 terraced gardens were also laid out. The park, once very 

 fine, was plowed up and put under cultivation about 

 ninety )''ears ago, but some fine groups of trees were 

 allowed to remain in the vicinity of the house. 



to have on exhibition at the Columbian Fair samples of well- 

 made roads, in order that the people may become thoroughly 

 acquainted with their value and the method of construct- 

 ing them. Of course, good roads would be an especial 

 boon to the makers of these machines, but they would be 

 of advantage to every man, woman and child in the country, 

 and we do not feel inclined to refrain from a grateful recog- 

 nition of the work by. Colonel Pope and his fellows, simply 

 because they, along with all the rest of us, would reap 

 some benefit from an exhibition of this sort. The famous 

 journey from Chicago to New York by relays of wheelmen 

 did a great deal toward enlightening public opinion as to 

 the quality of our roads, since it was proved that over all 

 the route between the two cities there vi^as practically no 

 road whatever in first-class condition. Good roads would, 

 without a doubt, increase the sale of wheels, but on the 

 other hand it is probable that the invention of the bicycle 

 and its rapidly increasing use, both for business and 

 pleasure, will do much toward hastening the improvement 

 of our highways. 



Indeed, it seems unfortunate that, instead of trying to 

 secure a small specimen of good road at the Fair, the effort 

 had not been begun earlier, so that a much more important 

 and imposing exhibition of good roads might have been se- 

 cured. The suggestion is, of course, made too late, but, if 

 the co-operation of the various state governments could 

 have been secured, it would not have been impossible 

 to have had one perfect road from New York to 

 Chicago ready for use during the Fair. It is a long journey 

 from this city to Chicago, but we have no doubt that if 

 there was a good road between the two cities there 

 would be thousands of tourists who would make the entire 

 journey by bicycle next year, and, of course, there would be 

 thousands more who would start from intervening places. 

 If too late for this, the wheelmen at least ought to begin at 

 once to agitate for a road between New York and Phila- 

 delphia, or between New York and Boston, built in the most 

 approved way, and kept in absolutely perfect order from 

 end to end. 



In a personal letter recently received, Monsieur Naudin, 

 writing from the Villa Thuret, in Antibes, says : 



Speaking of Oaks, I am making anexperiment which will per- 

 haps be useful to the Algerians, the grafting of the Chestnut 

 on Ouercus Mirbeckii, a common tree in Algeria. The grafts 

 have succeeded in a marvelous manner so far at least. 



Prunus Davidiana, of which you speak in Garden and 

 Forest, fruits freely at the Villa Thuret. Here it is a vigorous 

 tree which is not attacked by the insects or fungi which de- 

 stroy our Peach-trees. We are going to plant the seeds to ob- 

 tain stock upon which you graft the common Peach in the 

 hope that the grafted plants will be less liable to disease and 

 insect attack. The fruit is as large as a walnut, with very thin 

 flesh, and is not edible. 



Among Vines I have an interesting novelty, the first fruiting 

 in France of Vitis rugosa (or V. Coignetice) of Japan, a 

 dicecious species. For a long time we only had male plants, 

 but from seed received three years ago from Japan we have 

 raised female plants which have flowered, and the flowers, 

 being fertilized by insects have produced handsome bunches 

 of grapes much earlier than those of the common Vine, which 

 is just coming into flower. Later we shall be able to judge if 

 these Japanese grapes possess any economic value. 



We are glad to observe the persistent efforts which are 

 put forth by some enterprising manufacturers of bicycles 



Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. 



'T^fiE pleasantest way to approach this noble pleasure-ground 

 -•- is from the suburbs of Philadelphia, for, until the pro- 

 jected boulevard from the City Hall buildings is completed, the 

 rattling of one's bones over the rough pavements from the 

 heart of the city is very fatiguing. The entrance from German- 

 town gives one, however, a delightful drive through that his- 

 toric suburb, with its quaint old houses lining its main street, 

 and thence through the more modern highways, bordered by 

 handsome houses set in spacious grounds. Should one choose 

 the Wissahickon way, he makes a detour through the most 

 picturesque region within the confines of the park, or should 

 he desire a more direct approach, a series of cross-country 



