April 1. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
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house. In front, outside, there is a noble terrace-walk, 
extending the whole length, and nearly thirty feet wide. 
In another part of the garden, just below the old piece 
of woodland, which is very judiciously retained, there 
has been erected a glass covered promenade, 140 feet 
long by thirty-six feet wide. This is used on gala days 
as a refreshment-room. This is a very brief and rapid 
sketch of this truly fine range of glass houses devoted 
entirely to the culture of plants. I shall describe them 
seriatim hereafter. 
The ground is admirably well adapted for the purposes 
to which it has been devoted. It is a gentle declivity, 
facing the south. Opposite, across the vale of the Porter 
rivulet, is seen the beautiful banks of Sharrow, on 
which is placed the General Cemetery, with its beauti¬ 
ful church and chapel; aud to the right and left of it the 
hill is covered with elegant villas, aud their well wooded 
pleasure-grounds. Few public gardens are so happily 
situated as those at Sheffield. 
'The out-door department consists of a long, broad 
tcrrace-walk, directly in front of the centre of the hot¬ 
houses, ending with a large, ancient Oak, the only single 
tree that was found on the ground at the time it was 
purchased. Near it is a basin of water, with a jet in 
the centre. Narrower walks are distributed in easy- 
flowing curved lines in and over the ground. Towards 
the lower end there is a hollow, which Mr. Marnock 
judiciously formed into a rustic dell, with grottoes, seats, 
and pieces of water. In hot weather this is a pleasant 
retreat, very cool aud refreshing to those that are weary 
of walking in the more exposed parts of the grounds. 
The shrubs and trees are planted in natural orders. 
I particularly noticed a fine group covering nearly 
half-an-acre of ground. In another part, on the east 
side, is a botanically-arranged collection of herbaceous 
plants, judiciously concealed from what may be termed 
the mere pleasure-ground, by Beech hedges. It is 
beyond the skill of the gardener to make a botanical 
arrangement of plants a beautiful object; witness 
those at Ivew. The million cannot, I am sorry to say, 
appreciate the beauty of botanical arrangement; and 
whenever that is the general character of a public 
garden, it will be visited only by men learned in botany. 
That has been found out long ago by the botanical 
gardens throughout the country, and in consequence, 
in order to give them a more pleasing and popular 
character, it has beeu found necessary to cultivate, in 
masses, plants remarkable for beautiful flowers. So they 
have been obliged to do at Kew, the Crystal Palace, the 
Regent's Tark Gardens, and most other gardens de¬ 
pendent on the public for their support. 
The soil of these gardens is not so well suited for 
ConifercB as that in the gardens at Birmingham. Tho,ugh 
at a distance from the maiu body of the town, the smoke 
has an effect upon such, clear-air-loving plants; yet there 
are some Araucarias that are promising, healthy plants; 
also, some Piuus austriaca, and two or three P. excelsa. 
On the contrary, all deciduous trees, including Roses, 
thrive as well here as anywhere else. 1 was rather 
surprised to see so few spring flowers in the borders, 
such as the enlivening Crocus, the simply elegant Snow¬ 
drop, and the glossy, golden winter Aconite. Such early 
flowers, on a fiue sunny day, render a garden very 
attractive in early spring. Perhaps, now that the re¬ 
sources of this garden are clear from debt, many addi¬ 
tions of the floral kingdom will be added, to render it 
attractive even at this early season of the year. 
Having given our readers the above general view of 
the gardens, I now return to the houses, to describe more 
particularly their contents. I entered at the east end, 
designated as the Camellia House. Very nearly every 
plant in it was in flower, not meagre aud few in blos¬ 
som, but full and effective, consisting chiefly in forced 
Rhododendrons; Indian Azaleas; Dielytra spectahilis, \ 
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three feet high and as much through ; Salvia gesnera- 
flora, immense bushes; Camellias in great variety, but, 
with the exception of two or three, the plants of this 
handsome-flowering genus are, as yet, but small. I 
noticed several plants in flower of the charming Rhodo¬ 
dendron ciliatum, a new species from Sikkim. There are 
evidently several varieties of this species; I saw some 
with pure white flowers ; othors, beautifully tinged with 
rose-colour ; some with flowers, the petals of which were 
broader and shorter than the others. I wish Mr. Beaton 
had seen them, he would have said, this is a sporting 
species, very suitable for hybridizing. 
This house is intended for a greenhouse conservatory, 
and is laid out in beds, a broad walk runs round, and 
the centre is crossed with another walk. These walks 
are formed with stout, narrow boards, fastened to longi¬ 
tudinal sleepers. Hence, they are always dry, and plea¬ 
sant to walk upon. The beds are edged with thick 
wooden edgings, which are to be painted in imitation of 
stone, and then, whilst wet, to be dashed with sand. 
Real stone would, unquestionably, have been preferable. 
Between the beds the walks are to be asphalted, and 
made to imitate granite, with Derbyshire spar beaten 
small. The Camellias will be planted in tho beds as 
permanent plants. (See plan, page 8.) 
This house, though forty feet by thirty-six feet, ha3 
not a single pillar in it to support the roof, which is in 
the ridge-and-fuvrow style. It is supported by strong 
wooden rafters, and these, again, are kept up by bracing 
iron rods below each rafter; a most effectual, and yet 
inexpensive, method of keeping the roof in its place. 
Mr. Law assured me that the heaviest snow never caused 
the least perceptible bend in these thirty-six feet long 
rafters. In all my travels, I never saw so simple and 
yet so apparently strong a roof. 
Round the 6ides of the house, next to the upright 
glass, there are tweuty half-circular beds. In these it 
is intended to plant the best greenhouse climbers, to be 
trained to the iron rods above mentioned. These will add 
considerably to the beauty of the house when in blossom. 
Passing from this new Camellia-house, we enter the 
small domed greenhouse conservatory. This is a nearly 
square building, with a glass front, and arched roof. 
The other three sides are common walls of brick, 
stuccoed. Hence, the plants soon rush up to the light 
of the roof, and are naked below, rendering this house a 
very indifferent habitation for plants. There was, how¬ 
ever, one good Araucaria excelsa, and an extraordi 
narily fine specimen of Acacia affinis, now in full flower, 
with a clean stem a foot in diameter at the base. A 
more splendid object I never saw under glass; the 
branches hang down like a Weeping Willow, and were 
literally weighed down with long racemes of clear yellow 
flowers. Even at a considerable distance outside, the 
flowers could be plainly distinguished through the glass. 
As a February and March-blooming Acacia this is, cer¬ 
tainly, the finest of all the genus. 
The next house is a greenhouse, kept rather warm. 
In it I saw many fiue plants of Epacris in full flower, 
and several largo plants of the Erica hyemails ; also, 
some more Dielytra spectahilis of the same size as those 
noticed in the Camellia-house, and another fine speci¬ 
men of Acacia affine, which had been planted as a 
climber, but allowed afterwards to extend its branches 
over the walk. In this house there were many fine 
Amargllids iu bloom ; also, forced Hyacinths, Cinerarias, 
and a remarkably fine T Vitsenia corymbosa, with its heads 
of pretty blue flowers fully expanded. This fine old 
plant ought to be in every greenhouse. 
I noticed all the really distinct plauts were labelled, 
and with a sort of label cheap, lasting, aud effective. 
Tho material was zinc plate, stamped with the name, 
and liuug to a branch of the plant. My ideas imme¬ 
diately flew to a table in the back shed, a rainy day, a 
