JANUARY. 
27 
extraordinary cold and wet one in Yorkshire, we saw some very fine 
and beautifully coloured fruit upon this Vine, and which, in fact, would 
not disgrace the roof of any Vinery. We were struck with an 
excellent device of Mr. Thompson’s (the very able head gardener here), 
for protecting the Grapes from the attacks of wasps, birds, &c. He 
had made a quantity of oval tin cases, somewhat after the model of a 
Walnut, and to open very similar, a hole being cut at the upper end 
similar to the hole in the lid of a mustard pot, to receive the stalk of 
the bunch, round which cotton wool is placed. The fronts of these 
cases were composed of fine wire net for admitting air and light. By 
their being metal they attract the heat of the sun, and by so doing, 
these Thompsonian cases materially assist in ripening the fruit. There 
are also two Vineries in this garden, in one of which were some good 
Muscats. We also noticed a few good stove plants, which, by their 
healthy appearance, seemed to say “We are quite at home.” Passing 
from this garden we came to the framing ground, where Mr. Thompson 
was building a large span-roofed greenhouse, solely from his own 
architectural design, and we must say that it bids fair to vie with the 
productions of many a professor in this branch of trade both as regards 
utility and appearance. Here were also a very large proportion of 
pits and frames, all snugly retired, and well stocked with plants and 
bedding “ stuff ” for next season’s display in the parterres and flower 
gardens, at which we next arrived, and from the gay and summer-like 
appearance of which at our visit on the first of October, we were quite 
charmed. On the east side of these flower gardens there is an aviary 
and a greenhouse, in which we observed several of the newer sorts of 
the scarlet Geranium class, grown to prove their worthiness for pot 
culture, Mr. Thompson being a very successful grower of these plants. 
Some we saw here, we must confess, we never saw equalled in any of 
our travels; many of these noble plants were upwards of four feet 
through, and between three and four feet high, and beautifully 
furnished to the pot rims. We will leave our readers to judge the 
“ effect ” of these plants when literally covered with blossom; they 
were in twelve and thirteen inch pots, and before housing them for the 
winter, they are cut well in, and repotted into somewhat smaller pots. 
There are three distinct stages to every enjoyment of life : anticipation, 
reality, and reminiscence. The romance of the former was entirely lost 
to us in our visit here, but it is now difficult to say whether this loss 
was not made up by the reality that here burst upon our view, for 
judge of our surprise, upon being ushered upon the pleasure grounds, 
at seeing a perfect model of the celebrated gardens of Versailles before 
us, and in the same magnificent style, being no less than eighty acres in 
extent, with its noble broad walks (from twenty-five to thirty feet 
wide), cascades and vistas. One of the latter is upwards of a mile and 
a half in length. Many of the walks are bounded by clipped Beech 
hedges, from twenty to thirty feet high, others by banks of Rhododen¬ 
drons. The silicious limestone comes very near the surface here, 
consequently the soil for the Rhododendrons has to be introduced ; they, 
however, grow most luxuriantly, and have had to be thinned and re¬ 
planted twice within these last eight years. The length of these 
