THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY 
Council not be seduced into that. An unpaid servant is 
always a blister which no one likes to dress, even when 
dressing is most needed.—E d. C. G.] 
WOODSTOCK, 
COUNTY OF KILKENNY, IRELAND. 
{The residence of the Right Honourable TV. F. Tig he.) 
This mansion is situated about fourteen miles south-east 
of the town of Kilkenny. It is approached from the north 
through the town of Inistiogue, beautifully situated on the 
banks of the river Nore. 
On arriving at the principal entrance, which is at the top 
i of a very steep street, a combination of the finest natural 
j scenery attached to any gentleman’s residence I have ever 
seen presents itself, and which continues all along the drive 
to the mansion. 
The principal objects forming this almost unrivalled view 
are the town of Inistiogue, through which pass the silent, 
broad waters of the Nore ; the noble stone bridge, with nine 
| spacious arches, built over the famous Salmon Weir; the 
: rising country beyond, studded with so many farm houses 
and cabins of the peasantry; the sub-divided fields so cha- 
| racteristic of Ireland, with here and there groups of trees ; 
| whilst from the glens tower up the spiry-topped Abies picea 
I (Silver Fir), as if trying to kiss and vie with the adjacent 
! heights with which this seat is surrounded, and many fine 
! old Oak, Beech, Elm, and pendulous Birch studding the 
j steep from the carriage drive down to the very verge of the 
I river. 
A river, always giving life to the landscape, seems here to 
! have a double power, bringing out every tint in bold relief 
I and grandeur, and being, in this instance, so beautifully 
| transparent that I could not help thinking, as I looked upon 
its waters, of Denham’s two lines— 
“ Though deep yet clear, though silent yet not dull; 
Strong without rage, without o’erflowing full.” 
Who would not give in exchange their artificial fish ponds 
and miniature waterfalls, formed in many cases at con¬ 
siderable expense and pains, for such a gigantic and highly 
ornamental river as this ? and how thankful people ought 
to be whose lot it is to be planted in such a natural paradise; 
whilst, in many localities, it requires the powers and genius 
of a Fleming to overcome the inanimate flats of Nature. 
Arrived at the top of the steep, which continues from the 
bridge of Inistiogue, I went to the gardens to inquire for 
Mr. Butler, the head gardener, and he very cordially showed 
me over the grounds. 
The kitchen garden is situated on rising ground to the 
west of the mansion, sloping from west to east; and 
singularly, though not unsightly, it is placed in the middle 
of the pleasure ground. 
The forcing houses, of which there is a good range, 
I though old, are still in good repair. In one division I ob- 
j served a whole houseful of West’s St. Peter's Grape, hanging 
i plump and full of bloom. Mr. Butler told me he manages 
! to have a supply of old Grapes till new ones come, which he 
j has from a Pine pit. They were in a very forward state 
when I saw them. 
i Mr. Butler seems to be an advocate for pyramidal Pears 
j on Quince stocks. He had several lines of young trees 
i along the back of the borders of the kitchen-garden walks; 
i and, to prevent their rooting above the graft, he had the 
; ground considerably raised and the trees planted very 
! shallow. 
In the centre of the kitchen garden is a very spacious 
| Rose trellis, which is viewed from the pleasure ground on 
i either side through highly ornamental cast-iron gates in the 
garden wall, which not only relieve the eye, but form an 
object of considerable attraction, and will be rendered more 
so when Mr.-Butler's pyramidal Pear trees get furnished. 
On the wall at the west end of the glass range I observed 
a fine spreading plant of Chimonanthus fragrans expanding 
its deliciously-scented blossoms. 
The walls opening to the flower garden and pleasure 
ground are very appropriately furnished with a variety of 
climbers. The Magnolia grandifloru flowers here freely. 
GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, January 27, 1857. 291 
There were also fine plants of Garrya laurifolia and G. 
elliptica. 
To the west of the kitchen garden is the terraced flower 
garden, on one of the parterres of which is a very extensive 
chain border in Box. Above that is a fine curbed, diamond¬ 
shaped border, equally extensive. These beds were naked 
when I saw them ; but, judging from their length and the 
store of bedding stuff Mr. Butler had in the pits, they 
cannot fail to look well. 
Situated at the north extremity of the terraced flower 
garden is a highly ornamental iron conservatory, with a 
dome-shaped roof. It was gay with Chrysanthemums and 
Epacrises, also some good specimens of Azaleas and 
Oranges. The design of this house seemed very appro¬ 
priate to its situation, views of which are had from different 
parts of the pleasure ground. 
To the west of the flower garden, and also on rising 
ground, grow the famed Conferee of Woodstock. They 
seemed to delight and know how to luxuriate in this our 
humid, mild climate; not one of them had the least symptom 
of ever being tinged by frost—all had the most robust 
appearance. 
The Pinetum is bounded on the south, west, and north, 
by large Beech, Elm, and Holly, with a fine border of Rho¬ 
dodendrons and groups of Kalmia, which, like all other 
plants in this favoured county, flower freely. 
I am enabled, thi-ough the kindness of Mr. Butler, to j 
give the heights of a few of the Pines which were most 
attractive. 
Araucaria imbricata, 32 feet, beautifully feathered and 
proportioned. Not having seen the one at Dropmore, this 
is the finest I have yet seen. 
Pin us Hartwegii (Hartweg’s Pine), from Mexico, 15 feet 
high, with beautiful long leaves, and highly ornamental. 
P. Ayacahnite, 17 feet high, resembling Hartweg’s. It is 
also from Mexico. 
P. ponderosa, 15 feet high. The heavy-wooded Pine from 
the banks of the Columbia, North America. 
P. excelsa, 18 feet high, and beautifully furnished, from 
Nepaul. 
Abies Douglasii, 30 feet high, from North America. This 
plant always holds good its position in every collection. 
A. Menziesii, 15 feet high, from North America. 
A. Morinda, 25 feet high, from North India. This plant j 
has not yet coned, though I have seen cones on plants not 
more than 0 feet, but they were rather stunted. 
Picea Webbiana, 18 feet high, from the Himalayas. It I 
had 9 large purple cones; last year it had 12. It is re¬ 
markably vigorous. 
Crypt.omeria Japonica, two fine plants, one 25 feet, the ! 
other 30 feet, beautifully furnished and full of seed; from 
Japan. 
Cupressus Goveniana , a fine plant, full of seed, from 
California. 
The pleasure ground is well laid out and in excellent 
keeping. At every turn interesting plants of the Conifer 
tribe present themselves. Two remarkably fine plants of 
Cupressus Lambertiana and G. macrocarpa, each 15 feet high. 
A fine plant of C.funebris. I also observed a very promising 
plant of Ilex latifolia. 
Besides the grown-up Conifer®, now so attractive, there 
were many others through the grounds which had lately 
been planted. 
Mr. Butler took me to a part of the grounds where we 
had a view of an avenue about 300 feet long, planted on 
each side with Araucarias varying in height from 4 to 8 feet. 
I was also brought to another avenue on the north of the | 
kitchen garden, which was planted on one side with Cedrus 
deodara , and on the other with Cryptomeria and Taxodium j 
sempervirens alternately. I was shown a rockery formed of I 
immense blocks of quartz, over which trickled a stream of 
the most limpid water. Passing through a rocky tunnel we ; 
entered a grotto, and from thence we again emerged into 
the pleasure ground. 
I was sorry my time did not admit of going to other 
distant and equally interesting parts of the grounds which 
lie along the banks of the river, and are much resorted to 
bypic-nics of the elite of Kilkenny, Gowran, and other neigh¬ 
bouring towns. 
The description I have attempted to give of Woodstock j 
