■ir 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, October 5, 1858, 
takes of the flavour of both, and which has been 
noticed in previous reports. He also brought fruit of 
the Yellow Fourseasons Raspberry, excellent in flavour, 
and abundant in produce. This is the variety hitherto 
known as Merveille des Quatre Saisons, but which ap¬ 
pellation Mr. Rivers asked the sanction of the Society 
to change in favour of the former, as being more simple 
and familiar to English tongues and ears. 
Strawberry.— Sir Harry, in excellent condition 
and in all stages of growth, from the bloom to the ripe 
fruit, was exhibited by Mr. Underhill, of Birming¬ 
ham. 
The Council announce, that it is very desirable that 
no fruit be sent to Meetings in future in an unripe 
state. 
GRIMSTON PARK, NEAR TADCASTER. 
The Seat op Lord Londesborouoh. 
As our readers require us to give the history of the ways 
and means of getting to any place we may describe, I will 
tell how I got to this place. The starting point was from the 
ancient city of York, by the North Eastern Railway, to the 
station named Ulleskelf,—distance, a twenty minutes ride. I 
had then to walk to the entrance-gates,—rather more than a 
mile off,—on a level, pleasant, wide lane, on the side of which 
I noted one of the best-formed hedges I have seen for many a 
day. It was exactly formed like the letter A ; consequently, 
every branch and leaf had its full share of light. There were 
no droppings of water, or shading, that could destroy the 
lower branches of the thorn. Close down to the ground the 
branches were as healthy as on the apex of the hedge, and so 
dense, that I think even a hare or a rabbit woidd have been 
puzzled to have got through. Just before I got to the en¬ 
trance, I observed a complete arrangement of a home farm, 
and a substantial stone park wall, fully six feet high. A bend 
of the road had been taken advantage of, as a position for the 
entrance, so that the gates appeared to be placed in the centre 
of the road, terminating it, as it were. Outside, thero is a 
broad green, with some fine old elms, giving an idea of a 
primitive ago, when land was comparatively of but little value. 
I noticed on the left, inside the gates, which are simple and 
neat, a handsome lodge, in something of the Swiss style. It 
was of a good size, and ornamented with flower-beds and 
grass-plots. On the right is an ancient Church, in good pre¬ 
servation. The carriage-drive, from the lodge to the mansion, 
winds its way through the park, which was clothed with (lie 
richest carpet of autumnal grass I ever saw. I wonder the 
farmer had not taken advantage of this fine weather and made 
it into aftermath hay. The ground gradually rises towards 
the house, but undulates so much that the drive is often in¬ 
visible in the hollow. On the right-hand there is an ancient 
Midberry, more than a hundred years old. Some ten or more 
years ago it was blown down on one side, but young shoots 
pushed up from the recumbent branches, and now the tree, 
though evidently old and decrepit, shows a green old age. It 
appears that this tree, together with some ancient Pears and 
Apples, are the relics of a former age, and formed part of a 
garden to an old hall, not a vestige of which (excepting these 
old trees) now remains. By this time I had reached the 
grand carriage-entrance to the mansion. It is a model of an 
Italian villa of the largest dimensions. The drive is straight, 
which shows off the noble portico to the greatest advantage. 
On each side I noticed what may be termed a grass garden. 
It was edged with rounded stone, and elevated above the 
general level. In the centre of these raised grass-beds there 
are two fine heads, or busts, raised, on pillars, to the height 
of an ordinary man. The gates are very handsome, and pro¬ 
fusely gilded, as also are the arrow-shaped heads of the pali¬ 
sades. There is a lodge at each side of these gates, which are 
so small that the name—“ Porter’s Lodge ”—is quite appro¬ 
priate. As these are in sight from the grand entrance, and 
not more, perhaps, than a hundred yards off, it is quite right 
to make them of a subordinate character. 
A private door on the right brought me to the conserva¬ 
tory, a plain parallelogram, sixty feet long and twenty-four 
feet wido. It adjoins the mansion, and there is an entrance 
from it into this conservatory. A spacious mosaic walk is 
in the centre, and on each side I saw a goodly number of 
plants in pots, on the level, in full bloom. Mr. Richards, the 
intelligent gardener, told me that his constant study is to 
keep up a blaze of floral beauty in this place. I was particu¬ 
larly struck with some standard Scarlet Geraniums, from four 
to five feet high, with heads from two or three feet in diameter, 
in very fine flower. In front of them there were some fine 
double Balsams and dwarf Fuchsias. I also noticed some 
well-grown standard Mignonette plants, with tlirec-feet stems, 
and heads just forming. By midwinter, these will be fine 
objects indeed. 
In front of this conservatory, and to the west of the house, 
there is an extensive Rose garden, on turf. They are both in 
beds, and in single rows of standard trees. The single trees 
have a small circular bed, about two feet and a half in diameter 
to each, cut out of the |turf. The soil is covered over with 
pebbles of an equal size. Mr. Richards informed me, that the 
soil here is so light and dry (the subsoil is limestone), that he 
is obliged to water plentifully in dry weather. The pebbles 
break the force of the water in the first place, and serve to 
keep the moisture in much longer. This light paving is, I 
think, a point worthy of imitation in a similar size. Beyond 
this Rose garden, there is a spacious circular fountain, with 
appropriate figures in the centre, which, when required, spout 
forth water, in jets, abundantly. A wood backs up this water- 
work with happy effect. 
Turning to the south, I entered upon the garden front: 
there the Italian character of the mansion is more conspicuous. 
A row of pillars, of the Corinthian order, forms a pleasant 
promenade ; and above that is a covered balcony, from which 
pleasant views are obtained of the country, as also of the 
beautiful flower garden directly under the eye. This was laid 
out by Mr. Nesfield, and is, in my opinion, one of his best. 
There is not so much of Box-beds and intricate tracing used 
here. Every bed and walk is edged with substantial stone 
edgings, which give a more solid and decided character. It 
is bounded from the park by a low wall, which ought, I think, 
to be balustraded, or formed with open w r ork, so as to take 
off the appearance of confinement. From the balcony this is 
not seen so much as it is from the torraco walk close to tho 
house. 
There is a truly noble terrace walk, twelve feet wide and up¬ 
wards, by four hundred feet long, passing through the flower 
garden, and terminating at the western end with two noble 
marble figures of lions, one attacking a horse and the other 
an ox. Truly terrific is tho expression given by the artist 
to these two beast devourers. These are on each side of the 
walk, and direct in front of tho vista is a magnificent 
Sycamore tree, upwards of eighty feet high, and a stem twenty 
feet in circumference. Passing under this fine tree, I found 
a winding walk before me, leading through a pleasant wood¬ 
land scene. On each side I noticed some fine thriving Coni¬ 
fers, especially a Deodar, twenty-five feet high, clothed with 
its elegantly drooping branches and silvery foliage down to 
the turf; and, also, an equally fine Cryptomeria Japonica. 
In another part of the ground, I observed many fine-growing 
trees of the Pinus Austriaca, many of which differed greatly 
in the size of the foliage and in tho shade of colour. 
In part of the ground adjoining the winding walks, I noted 
dense masses of different kinds of Hypericum, the latter species 
behind, and the dwarf one (-ET. androsceimm ), sometimes called 
Pose of Sharon, in front. Also, some beds, or rather patches 
of the Heath, in irregular forms, running out, as it were, from 
under the trees. These had a very good effect, but I must get 
out of this walk by informing tho reader that it leads to 
another wide long terrace walk, which is called the Emperor’s 
Walk, because it leads you between a row of pillars three feet 
and a half high, on each pillar being placed a bust, formed of 
the finest Italian marble, of a Roman Emperor. They are 
twelve in number, and are all named. At tho far-encl is a 
beautiful alcove, or temple, containing in its centre a very fine 
bust of the Emperor Napoleon the First. At the end you first 
come to, there is a fine figure in marble, supposed to represent 
Adam with the fatal Apple in his hand. Besides these figures, 
there are, in the flower garden, noble vases and figures of 
marble in profusion, rendering it a truly Italian scene. 
Returning from the Emperor’s Walk, and passing through 
the flower garden, the central walk terminates somewhat 
abruptly, without any apparent reason or cause. Now, some 
seventy or eighty yards further, there is an old, wide, and deep 
