panying specimens (fig. 48.); the largest (a), I used for plants

in the open borders; the next size (b) for plants in pots; and the thinnest (c), not cast, but which is cut out of sheet-lead, for an extensive collection of geraniaceae. If you think them worthy of being taken notice of, I leave it to you to describe them. I remain, dear Sir, &c. JOSEPH ARCHIBALD.

Edinburgh, Archibald Place,

25th Feb. 1826.

The mould alluded to consists of two parts (fig. 49. a, b,)

a

91-9

joined together by a hinge (c). One of the parts is furnished with a handle (d), which serves to shut the mould, and hold it while the operator is pouring in the melted lead at a small orifice (e). The tallies (f) cast in this mould, are thickest at the lower end (g); those of the larger sizes are thickest at the neck (fig. 48 a, b, c.)-Cond.

ART. IV.

On Field Gardening, and on the Gardens of Farm Servants in Scotland. By VERUS of Berwickshire.

Sir,

I HAVE perused the first number of your Magazine with much satisfaction, and am disposed to believe that amateur and professional gardeners may derive much benefit from such a work, provided it continues to be conducted with the like spirit and judgment as is displayed at its commencement. It was my intention to offer a few remarks upon some of the articles that you have presented, but as the copy sent me is in the hands of a neighbour, it is out of my power at this time to fulfil my intentions. Suffice it to say that the remarks were of an approbatory nature, and, as such, were rather calculated to illustrate the subjects discussed than to censure or condemn any thing that was stated. In short, whilst the work promises to be useful to the public, there is every probability that it will not only add to the character of its conductor, but also prove of advantage to the publishers.

Though these are my sentiments with regard to the nature of the work, as it presently stands, it strikes me that the original design might be greatly improved by including, what I call, Field Gardening, amongst the subjects mentioned in the prospectus. The husbandry of the field, in various districts, is now conducted with as much neatness and regularity as can be displayed in the best managed gardens, and, in point of fact, there is no difference betwixt culture in the one case and culture in the other, except that field-gardening is carried on upon a greater scale than the husbandry, as you must allow me to call it, of a garden. I have seen fields of beans, consisting perhaps of fifty acres, and fields of turnips of the same extent, all as neatly rowed in drills, at intervals of twenty-seven inches, and as carefully dressed by the horse-hoe as I ever witnessed the crops of the best managed garden. Now, to treat of these matters surely cannot be inconsistent with the work you have undertaken; on the contrary I am disposed to reckon, that were you to intimate that articles concerning the cultivation of the fields would be acceptable, the utility of your work would be vastly increased. Mistake me not. I do not recommend the introduction of what is called Political Economy, because I am aware that any thing of that nature would lead you into a wider field than can be conveniently occupied; nor do I mean that the management of live stock, or any matters which relate to grass-land, should be taken up. No; the recommendation given extends no

farther than the cultivation of the soil, and the management of the crops that are produced upon it; and I am almost convinced that were that recommendation adopted, the majority of your readers would be highly gratified.

As the pen is in my hand, allow me to say a few words concerning the gardens of farm servants in the low country districts of Scotland, because some advantage might likely arise were that system imitated in every part of England. You know, quite well, that married servants are usually employed in Scotland, who have a house upon the farm contiguous to the homestead, to which a small garden is connected, and whose wages are chiefly paid in kind, that is, in corn, with maintenance for a cow all the year round, and a certain portion of ground in the fields for potatoes, which ground is ploughed, manured, and horse-hoed by the master, the servant having no more to do than to provide seed for planting the space allotted to him, to clean the ground so far as hand labour is required, and to dig up the crop afterwards. The weight of the crop, in general cases, may be about one and a quarter ton, often more, and that quantity is sufficient to supply the consumption of a family through the winter, and sometimes, with the aid of skimmed milk, to feed a pig, if the female is a good housewife. In short, servants paid in this manner are much better off than those paid in money, and are even more comfortably situated than the great body of artisans and manufacturers, as may probably be more amply explained on some future occasion. But to come to the object particularly in view, each servant has a garden immediately behind his dwelling-house, of sufficient size for producing early potatoes and pot-herbs for the family. This garden is generally enclosed by a stone wall, or, to speak correctly, the whole gardens of the servants are included in one inclosure, each being separated from the other by a footpath. Dung for manuring the garden is always allowed by the farmer, and the labour of digging, planting, and cleaning, is executed by the servant at bye-hours, or in the evenings after the labour of the day is finished. Here you will observe, that married servants being engaged for a year, the digging of a garden cannot commence sooner than the beginning of March, or when hiring time is over, which to a certain extent is detrimental, though, in point of fact, it cannot be avoided. The first object is to plant cabbages, an article never neglected, as farm servants in Scotland live much more upon barley-broth, cooked with vegetables, than their brethren in England. The next step is to plant early potatoes, and of these a sufficient quantity is generally raised to serve their families from the middle of July till the field potatoes are

ready for taking up. Some have a few beans and white pease, and others a small plot of onions, leeks, and carrots. In short, the whole garden is constantly under crop, and parts of it often carry two crops in the year; the ground which carried potatoes being generally digged and planted with Scotch or curled kail, as fast as the potatoes are removed. Under these circumstances, a kitchen-garden is of immense benefit to a Scottish family, especially when the owner has a taste for dressing it sufficiently, of which the farm servants in Scotland are seldom destitute. Indeed, a Scotchman obtains from his garden what an Englishman, in his case, commonly seeks at the ale-house. In this respect the fashions of the two countries differ so widely, that it is not easy to say which is best; therefore, without pronouncing judgment, the whole shall be left to the determination of your readers.

Berwickshire, 4th March, 1826.

I am, &c.

VERUS.

The description of papers alluded to by Verus we consider as perfectly suitable, and we invite our readers, and especially our much esteemed friend himself, to supply them. They will be particularly interesting to such gardeners as are also Agronomes.-Cond.

ART. V. On the present State of Gardening in Ireland, with Hints for its future Improvement. By Mr. JAMes Fraser, Author of a Letter to the President and Vice-President of the Horticultural Society of Ireland.

(Continued from No. I. p. 14.)

OVERHANGING Merville is Mount Merrion, the residence of Verschoyle, Esq., the most conspicuous seat in the vicinity of the metropolis. It is interesting as a place of former days, and from the finely-grown trees and evergreens by which it is adorned. The style of the demesne is antique and plain, but the garden has been long remarkable for its excellent productions under the management of Mr. Egan. This demesne, from its extent, elevated situation, and large ornamental trees, is susceptible of much improvement; commanding a full view of the town, the bay, and the mountains; looking down on the innumerable villas, rising in all the endless variety of architectural design, with which the environs of Dublin are so thickly studded, and forming, as it were, one of the principal features in the landscape of the smaller residences south of the city. While in this neighbourhood we will notice Annfield, the villa of Dr. Percival, in the management of which this venerable physician employs his few leisure moments.

We observed with much pleasure, among many other improvements, that he had succeeded in acclimating the Pittosporum tobira, Hypericum balearicum, Selago corymbosa, Agapanthus umbellatus, and several other exotics. Mr. Mackay of Trinity college has bestowed a great deal of pains and time on this interesting subject, the particulars of which he has published in the first and second numbers of the Dublin Philosophical Journal. At each end of the house there is a conservatory; one is used for Cape and Botany Bay plants, the other for the more tender exotics. The amateur whose avocations principally confine him to the city, and who seeks for health and recreation in his villa, would profit by an occasional visit to Annfield.

To the south-west of the city lie Rathfarnham Castle and Marley, places of considerable extent and long standing. The gardens of the former we have already mentioned as in a state of ruin. The plantations have been protected, and there still exists, to the south of the castle, a sinall grove of evergreen oaks, as fine trees of the kind as we remember to have seen. Among them are two distinct varieties of Quercus ilex; and last year the more common sort brought to perfection an immense quantity of acorns, an unusual occurrence in this part of the island. The cultivation of these varieties of oak seems of late years to have been much neglected by planters, a circumstance to be regretted, as we know of no tree entitled to rank with them as evergreens. By proper management they may be adapted to the shrubbery, where they form beautiful hardy bushes, or trained in the forest, where they vie with their more robust congeners.

Marley, the residence of Latouche, Esq., is delightfully situated at the foot of the range of hills, which on this side form the back-ground to the environs of the city. The gardens and pleasure-grounds were, till of late years, in great repute. We understand that the late Mr. Leggett, a landscape gardener of original talent, laid out the grounds. He has evinced considerable taste in the management of the mountain rivulet, which is conducted through the demesne. By many, the cascades are considered too numerous, causing in some places a greater degree of placidity than is consistent with the character of the stream. The demesne, generally speaking, has been much renovated within these few years by Mr. Dunne.

Adjacent to this is Tereneure, the seat of Frederick Bourne, Esq., a most zealous amateur in every branch of gardening. The gardens and dressed-grounds are extensive, and contain the best private collection of plants we know in this country. Although extensively engaged in business, Mr. Bourne,