468 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION. —September 30, 1856. 
flowers in every conceivable position. Our own itnpres 
siou is, that the flowers would have been more effective 
if thrown into massive groups on tbe terraces and the 
grounds immediately contiguous. 
These terraces may be considered in a more finished 
state, and to a lew points of detail I will now allude, 
and, for saving space, select that part immediately in front 
of the central transept, hoping 1 shall not be deemed 
presumptuous if I do not coincide in the propriety of all 
the modes adopted, though sanctioned by the highest 
authorities, and one of them especially eloquently recoin 
mended by a much-valued coadjutor in these pages. 
Taking our stand-point, then, in front of the building, 
before we examine the arrangements of the terrace be¬ 
neath ns, there are two things that forcibly strike our 
attention. The first is, the extreme unique gorgeous¬ 
ness produced by the large vases filled with Scarlet Ge¬ 
raniums, placed at something like regular distances along 
the balustrades and the corners of the massive stone 
steps connecting the terraces together. Considering that 
the Palace, with the exception of the glass, presents, as a 
whole, a white and blue colour, that the balustrading is a 
dark stone, and the vases themselves a soft creamy colour, 
nothing could tell so powerfully as these balls of scarlet, 
and all one shade of colour. Much of this gorgeous¬ 
ness was, no doubt, owing to the super-excellent cultiva¬ 
tion the plants had received. Every vase was a gem; 
but two that stood between the double staircases in front 
of the transept were, in the words of a great gardener, 
who riveted his eyes on them, “ super-excellent.” He 
appealed to me if I could add a single truss or floret 
with advantage, and I candidly answered, “ No.” I 
know not, so far as I am aware, one single person em¬ 
ployed in the Palace, or I might have tried to elicit 
some of the minutiae of management for the benefit of 
our readers. We do such things very creditably in the 
country, but we seldom see them so lino as these for any 
length of time. There can be no question that the one 
scarlet colour is the right colour in the right place for 
those vases so near the Palace. In the case of those 
farther removed, it may be an open question whether 
fringing and edging them with other colours would not 
be an advantage. 
The secoud is the immense width of the main walk— 
100 feet, 1 believe—and the extra profusion of gravel 
walks seen in every direction, many of which, however, 
will be partly concealed as the trees and shrubs grow. 
I am well aware of the importance of plenty of walks 
where such numbers of people congregate; but it is 
quite possible to overdo them. In some pleasure- 
grounds you can at once observe several series of walks, 
though the one might as easily be concealed from tbe 
other, just as if there was something really beautiful in 
a line of gravel separating a velvet glade of turf. From 
tbe throngs that may be anticipated, we can hardly ex¬ 
pect the Crystal Palace to present a perfect example for 
country residences in this respect. Much would be done 
were we once convinced that tbe beauty of a gravel 
walk, however well kept, consists chiefiy, not in being 
seen from a distance, but in its fitness and appropriate¬ 
ness for easy and comfortable locomotion. 
The same fact should, to a great extent, regulate its 
width. Ebr two years tbe width of this main walk, and 
its consequent grandeur, have been dunned into my ears 
by visitors. “ These walks are very nice, Mr. F.; but 
you must go to Sydenham to see walks.” Well, I cannot 
say I am so delightfully astonished. Given the presence 
of from 100,000 visitors and upwards a day, and the 
masses on that walk would show its appropriateness as 
respects its width. On the lltli there were only about 
25,000, and there was an extra attraction inside tbe 
building. That may account for the fact that twice during 
the day I did not see a single person upon it from tbe 
Palace to the extreme end, jtist behind where the 
romantic, wild scenery is to be clustered, and at which 1 
end, by-the-by, there is much need of some large object 1 
or building for tbe eye to rest upon, and which also 
would be found exceedingly useful to visitors in those j 
sudden showers to which we are so liable. Before j 
four o'clock p.m., at which time I left, this broad walk : 
was hut sparingly occupied, though considerable num- j 
hers traversed the side-walks, and got on the turf be- j 
neath the shade of trees. If generally tbe brown j 
colour of this huge walk was not relieved by moving 
masses of ladies and gentlemen, I do not think that ! 
adding a third or a half of its width to the lawn would [ 
have at all interfered with the beauty of tbe scene. Sure i 
I am that tbe Londoner would have found no fault with 
the comparative narrowness of the gravel. Nothing is a 1 
greater luxury to him, and his brethren who live in ; 
large towns, than the planting their feet on the green 
carpet sod Notwithstanding the ticketed restriction not 
to walk on the turf, many were enjoying that luxury 
without any interference. Except in certain necessary : 
exceptions, we hope the restriction will he altogether 
abrogated. I have had many opportunities of seeing 
how much more in a dry day the grass is relished than ; 
the gravel, and though I have frequently seen a thousand 
people tiaversing a small lawn, I used to fancy that | 
their feet were not much worse than a roller. Of course, I 
all runs and making pathways on the grass would have 
(o be avoided, and the gravel would require to be so j 
firm, that, in going from it to the grass, no stones, &c., i 
would adhere to the boots, &c. As already hinted, the i 
Crystal Palace, from the expected throngs, must form a 
rule for itself, and provide walking room for these 
throngs when, owing to rain, &c., it would not do to 
walk upon the grass. My object will he gained if I 
have mado it apparent, that in the number and width 
of walks it will rarely be necessary or proper for private 
gentlemen to imitate its example in this respect. I 
meant to have said all this in a few words, but the pen 
has run on to a somewhat tedious length. My chief 
apology must be the importance of walks in the laying 
out oi fresh pleasure-grounds, and the regret I feel is 
that we have not sooner got to the terrace referred to. 
R. Fish. 
(To be continued.) 
ASPARAGUS FORCING. 
Few of our forced vegetables are more acceptable 
to the cook during the winter months than forced" 
Asparagus. We force a considerable quantity every 
winter, and I may safely affirm that my worthy 
employer’s table was never four days without this 
delicacy from the middle of November of last year until 
the past Midsummer; of course, that produced until the 
end of April was forced. I have before stated in these 
pages that I always force young and strong roots about 
four or five years old ; indeed, 1 cannot force old ones, 
for wo never continue them above five years. I am 
exceedingly partial to deep trenching, and manage to 
make my Asparagus the chief preparer in this respect 
for other crops. I may here just remark on the mode 
of culture pursued, especially as it is a preliminary to 
the forcing process. 
Celery is my Asparagus preparer; that is to say, 
deeply-dug and highly-manured soil this year under 
Celery will,' next year, be succeeded by Asparagus. The 
Celery is grown in beds by what has been called the 
Scotch system, and each bed ultimately becomes a bed 
of Asparagus, containing only two rows. 
Any ordinary fermenting material suffices for the 
forciug-bed, which is built much as a Cucumber bed, 
only not so high. We find a bed of three feet in height : 
amply sufficient in the most severe weather; this, how- ! 
