September 4. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
bering the Asamite population. They seemed at that 
time to he particularly unruly, and two women, from 
separate fortifications, addressed themselves personally 
to Euna and obtained leave to proceed to a place called 
Neht Hotep for a great festival. They then desired that 
the whole people should go with them, and, after some 
difficulty, Euna consented, but insinuated, according to 
the papyri, that it was the naval officer who was responsible 
for the valuable garments taken by the people from the 
public stores. It thus appeared that the slave popu¬ 
lation of the Delta were allowed to go into the Wilder¬ 
ness certain days in the year for their national festivals. 
The spoiling of the Egyptians appeared to be the ab¬ 
stracting of the rich robes in which the religious cere¬ 
monies were performed, and a singular fact was thus 
brought to light, that the Israelites worshipped in the 
same vestments as the Egyptians. The narrative then 
went on to trace the operations of the people, and con¬ 
cluded with a poetical lament for the death of the 
King’s son, one of the very first poetical Egyptian 
pieces ever discovered. 
VISIT TO TRENTHAM HALL. 
Having long desired to see the glories of the far- 
famed Trentham Hall gardens, I sought an opportunity, 
last week, about the period, as I thought, of seeing 
everything in high perfection. Everybody knows that 
Mr. Fleming is the head-gardener, and everybody has 
heard of his skill and perseverance. I had formed the 
highest opinion imaginable of the beauties of Trentham, 
and had fancied that — knowing full well the high 
character British gardeners have attained, even under 
adverse circumstances — I could tell pretty well what 
to expect. The picture, however, when seen, proved to 
be far beyond the ideal conception I had entertained. 
I really am at a loss what to say first of this splendid 
place, which is, indeed, princely in every respect, both 
as regards the mansion, the gardens, and the park. 
Mr. Fleming, with great courtesy, sacrificed about four 
hours in showing me the features of the place, but I 
find, that after traversing about continually thus long, I 
had by no means seen all. I am aware that it is not a 
very easy affair to do justice to such extensive gardens; 
to do so in detail would require that those who were 
bold enough to attempt it should spend a couple of 
days taking notes. My present desire, however, is to 
point to a few of the most remarkable features, or, as our 
plantsmen say—“ selection, not collection.” 
We may, for simplicity’s sake, just divide our re¬ 
marks under sections, viz.:—Landscape and Flower¬ 
gardening; Plant Structures and their inmates; Fruit 
forcing; and Hardy Fruit culture. As for the land¬ 
scape about Trentham, in its own native character 
it is neither picturesque nor beautiful; almost every¬ 
thing has to be created. Indeed, were it not for 
the noble masses of timber, which crown or flank the 
sides of the higher grounds by which it is surrounded, 
the locality would wear but a barren aspect; but much 
has been done by art to give expression to the scenery. 
After wandering through the intricacies produced by the 
different levels, descending from the terrace, and after 
descending sundry massive flights of steps, the flower- 
gardens burst upon you in refulgent beauty; the atmos¬ 
phere all the while teemiug with sweets. Garden after 
garden, where, as Loudon said, there was a bold avowal 
of art, greet your steps, all as rich as a fairy land, and 
from such you gradually emerge by almost imperceptible 
405 
gradations, until at last you discover that you are in 
the country, approaching immense hill-capped plan¬ 
tations of old England’s favourite tree, “ the gnarled 
and unwedgable Oak.” 
Mr. Fleming has, with a high appreciation of landscape 
gardening, most judiciously converted a hitherto un¬ 
meaning extent of ground into a sort of middle dis¬ 
tance,—what I must call transition ground; and which 
I hold to be indispensable, as connected with all grounds 
of any extent, and even attainable in degree in the very 
suburban villa. 
This transition affair is, of course, occupied by huge 
masses of intermediate character, all possessing strong 
features, and ultimately leading you up to the river 
Trent, which passes through the grounds. Here Mr. 
Fleming has done wonders. The Trent, in this part, 
was formerly, it appears, almost growing up with mud, 
but Mr. Fleming bent the course of the river, cleansed 
it in a singularly off-hand way of its impurities, and 
gave new life to this locality. 
Much of landscape ingenuity is to be found in these 
portions of the grounds; devices which escape, perhaps, 
the majority of “ lookers-on,’’ but which at once show 
to those conversant with the higher order of landscape 
gardening that Mr. Fleming has not only read and 
seen, but also felt. 
That bewitching power of genuine landscape-gar¬ 
dening, the endless creation of attractive features, 
without destroying what our painters call “ breadth of 
effect,” may be easily recognised in this portion of the 
grounds. Half-concealed views, and that delightful 
intricacy of outline which keeps the mind ever alive 
through a kind of indefiniteness; these, and more, may 
be found in this department at Trentham. The flower- 
gardens are, indeed, splendid, and exceedingly extensive. 
I do not remember seeing a blank worth notice, so -well 
laid had been the plans of the preceding spring. What 
is termed the ribanding system is here carried out with 
a high hand. But I must pass on to plant structures; 
these are to be found there in almost every conceivable 
variety; and I may here observe, that Mr. Fleming has 
shown exellent tact in rendering them interesting. He 
has created much diversity in appearance by the way in 
which he disposes of his plants; he certainly is no stiff 
adherent to the old staging-system, when the plants 
were placed as though shorn to a level. One conser¬ 
vatory, indeed, struck me as being a model of its kind; 
here all was intricacy, and outline, and variety, so 
much so, that the mind could scarcely conceive a boun¬ 
dary. In this there was an aquatic tank, over which 
the beautiful Cissus discolor festooned in the most fan¬ 
tastic and playful forms. I was informed that an artist 
had been down from London to sketch it, in order to 
produce some decorative affair for the mansion. 
Mr. Fleminghas immense stocks of Camellias, Epacrises, 
Rhododendrons, and, indeed, most of our finest families 
of plants, especially those adapted to bouquet-making ; 
this being a matter of great importance at Trentham. 
All these things were in “ high feather,” and showed un¬ 
mistakable signs that the cultivator had exactly mea¬ 
sured his length, for they were set for bloom at every 
twig, and were, in fact, mostly undergoing a sort of rest, 
preparing for future blossoming. 
As for fruit forcing, the extent as to some kinds is 
amazing. I speak here more particularly with regard to 
Peaches. But a great portion of these are in a kind of 
structure which I have not before seen, although I 
have heard it described. It consists of a perpendicular 
glass frontage, placed parallel with a wall at about five 
feet distance, and running up nearly, or quite, as high 
as the wall itself. A span glass roof connects the per¬ 
pendicular frontage with the wall, and in the apex of 
this span an excellent graduated opening is afforded for 
the exit of superfluous heat. There is a kind of move- 
