October !). 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
o 
L 
slates extend within to two or throe inches of the 
side-boarding. They form a platform for setting plants 
on. A chamber is thus formed over tlie Hue, with an 
opening along its whole length, close to the hoarded side- 
wall. it requires no magic to perceive what would be 
the parching elTects on plants on these slates if all were 
left as just described. This is neutralised by a means 
similar to placing the bottomless and topless box on the 
top of the furnace and chamber. 'The heat from the 
flue is not allowed to rise immediately over the slates; 
but is conveyed afterwards to within a few inches of the 
wooden side-wall by means of a thin, boarded partition. 
Tliis heated air, therefore, gets at once to the top of the 
house, over the heads of the plants. On the opposite 
side of the house, close to the side, on the ground level, 
are four or five openings, about fifteen inches square, 
communicating with drains that pass under the floor, ' 
and terminating in tlie cliamber below and around the ! 
flue. The great evils of heating in chambers—a want of 
circulation, and a supply of moist air to supply the place 
of that dried and heated—are thus removed. The end 
separated by a glass division is easily heated from the 
otiier, by opening two glass sashes near the apex in the 
division, and opening the dividing doors a little. The 
heated air marches in at the top opening, and the divi¬ 
sion being furnished with raised pits, or beds, the paths 
act as drains in returning the cold air to the furnace 
and flues. On the 2Cth, the larger division was chielly 
filled with Vines, and other fruiting trees, in pots. In 
this place, the early cut Roses that have been sent to the 
Horticultural Society have been grown, and many others 
forwarded for the purpose of getting early cuttings. In 
the glass-separated division I found, in addition to 
other things, some beautiful Eig-plants, in eight-inch pots, 
bearing profusely, many swelling off as many as a dozen 
of fruit, and a few nearly double that quantity. 'These 
were plunged in sawdust; but had received no artificial 
heat. It is in this division that the fine Rose-bushes 
for e.xhibition in May, &c., have been grown for many 
years. The bottom-heat they receive from the sawdust 
is very slight, and the only other heat they receive must 
be procured by opening the windows and doors of the 
glass division. 1 must not mention the small quantity 
of fuel consumed. With all our love for hot-water, 
and our desire for its progression, the fact here stares us 
in the face, that results are attained by a small furnace 
and a short flue, to accomplish which tlie boasted im¬ 
provements of the age would demand a large boiler, and 
from two to three hundred feet of four-inch pipes, and even 
this is not the simplest and cheapest-heated structure in 
these grounds. R. Fish. 
(2b be conlinued.) 
FAWSLEY PARK. 
The Se.vt of Sir Ch.vrles Knightley, Bart. 
I -WAS called upon somewhat suddenly to attend as a 
censor at Uaventry, a small, ancient market town in 
Northamptonshire. There I had the pleasure to meet 
with Mr. Fish as a fellow-judge; and, I believe, he will, 
in his pleasing way, give an account of how they manage 
their exhibitions in such a retired nook of the empire. 
I I cannot help, however, giving the managers of the 
Exhibition of Fruit, Flowers, and an immense quantity 
of Vegetables, due jiraise for their excellent manage- 
j ment. I'lverything was in its place ready for us before 
eleven o’clock, and everything was so well arranged, 
that we had quite a pleasant task in adjudging the 
prizes. Each class was arranged together, so that the 
judges could at once determine which was the best. 
Having said thus much, I leave the rest to my good 
friend to describe. 
I there met with Mr. Brown, gardener to Sir Charles 
Knightley, and he very kindly invited me to ride with 
him home, stop the night, and see Fawsley Park 
Gardens, the Park, and the Farm. I accepted his offer, 
and spent six or eight hours very pleasantly the next 
day in viewing the place. I was so much pleased with 
what I saw, that I took notes, and now sit down w'ith 
quite as much pleasure to describe the place. 
There is a wise principle given to man by his Creator, 
and that principle is imitation. Whatever we see our 
fellow-men do, we, perhaps almost unconsciously, are 
inclined to do so likewise; and though this principle is 
often abused by men of vicious inclinations setting a 
bad example, which weak minds are tt)o ready to follow, 
yet that is no reason why good examples should not bo 
followed and imitated also. Hence, when the writers of 
The Cott.vge Gardener describe good gardening, it is 
to be hoped such good practice will be imitated by our 
readers. I know, positively, that descriptions of places 
and good gardening are always read with avidity, and, no 
doubt, have a tendency to stir up others to render their 
gardens equally worthy of notice. 
Fawsley Park is situated in a secluded part of 
Northamptonshire, five miles from Daventry, and ten 
miles from the Weedon Station on the London and 
North Western Railway. There is an omnibus meets 
the train leaving London at half-past six p.m., arriving 
at Weedon soon after nine. 'The omnibus reaches 
Daventry about ten, and a conveyance must be hired 
there to reach the Park. This will give some idea that 
this place is far removed from noise and smoke. It is 
one of the sunny spots of old England which the 
manufacturer and the railway king have not as yet 
invaded. The Park, generally, is well wooded, and the 
land very fertile. 
The mansion stands on an elevated platform of land, 
with a valley to the right and the left. In the bottom of 
that valley is water, so managed that it appears twice 
as large as it really is. In the distance, hills are seen 
clothed in places with woods; thus there are the four 
grand requisites of a pleasing landscape—hill and dale, 
wood and water. In the Park, I noticed many noble 
Oak, Elm, and Beech trees placed very judiciously in 
groups of sometimes a dozen, sometimes half that 
number, and now and then a single majestic tree, 
backed in the distance by the dense masses of a forest. 
'Truly it is a Park, with its undulary surface of the 
most pleasing character. Crossing it from the farm¬ 
stead, I ascended a gentle hill, and came upon a wide, 
open space, when the mansion burst upon my sight, 
with its embattled towers rising amidst trees, and 
backed by a dense wood. 'The effect was truly delightful. 
1 Descending from this open spot, 1 crossed the water, 
■ and wended my way up to the tongue of land on which 
j the house stands. I found it, at one end, an ancient 
I building, with Saxon windows, and the other in a more 
I modern style. Had the modern part not been there, I 
I could have imagined I bad dropped upon some ancient 
j monastery. I understood the Protector Cromwell once 
resided here, and a turret was pointed out to me, in the 
i top room of which it is said he signed the fatal warrant 
! for the unhappy King Charles’s execution. 
I In front of the house, at a proper distance, is a group 
! of ancient Elms, surrounding a rather large and hand- 
' some church, the parish church of Fawsley. Few 
country churches are so handsome and in such good 
repair. It is ornamented inside by many noble monu¬ 
ments of the noble owners of this place, proving that 
the estate has been in the family of the Knightley’s for 
centuries back. At one end of the church is a very 
ancient Yew. I measured the base near the ground; 
it is nearly twenty-two feet in circumference, and must 
be, at least, a thousand years old. I am sorry to say, 
however, it is in the last stage of its long life; the 
