and the fire-place an arch of the size of that of an ordinary bridge. The door of the kitchen is large enough to admit a waggon; it is on the first floor, with an immense oak staircase. We remained at -, making sketches, and staking out improvements till the 12th. The time was spent in beating down prejudices in favour of certain trees, hedges, and fences; in defending the positions of certain proposed single trees and small groups; and in opposing notions in respect to various improvements, which it was our business and duty to point out. Nothing could ever make up to us for the pain and slavery of ten days spent in this way, but the pecuniary compensation. When an artist is not great enough to be an autocrat in matters of his profession, and at the same time is not little enough to chime in with whatever is proposed to him; when he has to address himself to a mind that is without faith in his taste, that cannot reason on what is proposed, and that has a morbid feeling of opposition to all ideas that are not already familiar; every change which it is proposed to introduce produces a battle. At least fifty of these stormy but perfectly good-natured discussions, took place during the ten days which we remained at- - One of these discussions our travelling companion, who acted at the time as our draughtsman and amanuensis endeavoured to commemorate by a sketch (fig. 151.), which, as it has been engraved at his expense, may be said to cost nothing to our readers, and as neither the names of persons nor places are mentioned, it is hoped no one will take offence where none is meant to be given. The grouping and expression may serve as hints to young gardeners learning to draw. Gainsborough to Retford and Barnsley. - Passed by a fine field of cows near Marton; they were of the long-horned breed (Encyc. of Agr., 6108.), which are preferred here for butter, as the short-horns are about London for milk. The field was a rising ground, and on the highest knoll, overlooking great part of the surrounding country, stood an open shed formed of brick pillars supporting a tiled roof in the form of a pyramid. The proportions and situation of this simple building had a most agreeable effect 152 (fig. 152.), from the suitableness of the situation, the stability and simplicity of the form, and the durability of the materials. Something also must be attributed to the weather and the state of our feelings -the day being fine, and we just relieved from ten days' incessant excitement; and with money enough in our pockets for a fortnight's free enjoyment in that first of all our enjoyments, travelling in search of information. Had this building been placed in 153 a flat field, it would probably have escaped our notice: so much does the effect of structures in the country depend on situation. In the town the beauty of buildings is in a great measure absolute; in the country it is almost always relative. Draining tiles (fig. 153.) and the pressing plough (fig. 154.), are much in use in this country. The pressing plough consists of two cast-iron wheels which follow a common plough, and form two small gutters on the back of the furrow; the furrow being laid flat to admit of two wheels passing along it. Each of these wheels is kept clean by a scraper. (fig. 155.) The advantages of using 155 154 the pressing plough are said to be, that the seeds root into a firm bed, and are therefore not so likely to be thrown out by the frost; and that the plants rise in rows, which admits of their being trod or harrowed between. In light sandy soils it is considered as good as dibbling; and we see no reason why a small drill should not be added to the pressing plough, so as to deposit the seed with greater accuracy than can be done by the hand broadcast. A broad-leaved elm, apparently what is called the Scotch elm, is here common in plantations and hedge rows; its timber is superior to that of the narrowleaved elm, and it is not apt to throw up suckers; but as it is a widely spreading tree, it is more injurious to crops: in masses or strips it is valuable, and in a park it is very desirable. Pigeons are here remarkably common. Instead of lead for the ridges of roofs stone is used, cut and painted to imitate that metal, from the ambition of being thought rich enough to use it, or at least from an allusion to the mansions of the rich; in London lead is sometimes painted in imitation of stone, to prevent the colour from attracting thieves. The lime of this part of the country, when made into mortar, sets under water; consequently external plaster and the jointing in brickwork and masonry are very durable. Plaster flooring is also common, and is at once durable and less sonorous than boarded floors; if executed on brick arches abutting on cast-iron rafters, tied by wrought-iron rods, as invented by Mr. Strut of Belper, and practised in building most manufactories, and in the whole of the building operations going on by Colonel Wildman at Newstead Abbey, they become fire proof. To turn such arches in the best manner two sizes of bricks are necessary, the smaller for the middle part of the arch. In dwelling-houses these arches and ribs may form the groundwork of very handsome coved ceilings; and if they were to become general, the improvement would be not less elegant in appearance than important as lessening the risk from fires. The roads here are generally metaled with round land or river stones, and it is a gratifying sight to see the comparatively interesting manner in which these stones are broken; we say gratifying and interesting, because breaking stones upon a public road has hitherto been considered as the lowest and dullest descrip tion of country labour; perhaps it is so still, but one is more reconciled to it by seeing it partake in some degree of modern improvement, and become, by the use of a machine, a species of manufacture. [By the use of railroads and steam carriages along the sides of all our main roads, so many stones will not require to be broken. By means of locomotive stone-breaking machines, of which some are said to be already employed in Lancashire and Northumberland, this lowest degree of country manual labour may be almost entirely superseded, or probably limited to felons. We would never, at all events, send paupers on the roads; because, nless they are men of some strength, and paid by measure or the job, they will never do any good. They are heart-broken already, and to send them to break stones on a public road must be like a lingering death to them. We hope the time will come when the labours of all paupers, not able-bodied, will be confined to the workhouse gardens, and the gardens of parochial institutions. (p. 696., and p. 714.)] The diameter of the stones to be broken according to the mode in question should not exceed 5 or 6 in. They are placed on a table of a triangular shape (fig. 156.), boarded on three sides like a dressing-table, but open at the narrow end, which is placed next and in front of the operator, who sits on a stool (b), or stands as he may choose, and has a block between him and the point of the table (a), the top of which is about 6 in. lower than the top of the table. By means of an iron ring fixed into a handle of 157 d a 156 wood (fig.157.), he draws from the table as many of the stones as the ring will enclose on the block, and then breaks them while still enclosed in the ring, which is held by his left hand. When this is done, then with another motion of the left hand, he draws them in the ring off the block till they form a heap at one side, or he at once drops them into the handbarrow measure. (fig. 158.) To prevent any fragments from getting to his face, he puts on a wire guard or veil (fig. 159.), which may be tied by a riband round his head, or suspended from his hat. In the same handbarrow, which serves as a cubic yard mea 158 sure, stones are conveyed to any distance. The price paid is so much a yard. In some places the breaking apparatus consists of three separate parts, the table, the block, and the stool; in others the whole is combined in one machine, furnished with a wheel (fig. 156.c), which serves as one foot when the machine is stationary, and handles (d), by means of which it may be moved from place to place as easily as a common wheelbarrow. It only wants a light portable roof to protect the operator from the rain or sun, and a moving side to shelter him from the wind. These could be formed of sheet iron or sheet zinc, at very little expense. Observed some brick walls of sheds of open work, like the walls of M'Phail's pits, to save materials and admit light and air; also some field walls, built in the same manner, simply for the sake of saving materials. The zigzag walls (Encyc. of Gard.) we consider both better and cheaper. Enter on a country of stone walls and hilly roads. Wentworth House. - Fine effect of the mausoleum from Greasborough (fig. 160.); of the arched gateway and appropriate alto-relievo of the head of Diana projecting over the archway. This place is in many respects one of the first in England; all the features, both of nature and art, are grand, and cooperate with each other in the general effect. What confirms us in this opinion is the perfect recollection that we had of all the main features, after a lapse of twenty years, while we had almost entirely forgotten those of some residences in the neighbourhood. It appears by our memorandum journal that we viewed Wentworth House on the 21st of Sept. 1805, and the mau soleum, breadth of lawn, masses of wood, grand hall of the mansion, and straight walk in the flower-garden are noted as leading features. Some clumps are objected to in our notes of that date, which have since probably been thinned out, as we did not now observe their bad effect. After viewing the house, we went to the kitchen-garden, where Mr. Thompson showed us three stools of queen pine-plants, each of which had produced a fruit of about 3 lbs. weight early in the summer; and each of these stools had now four suckers in fruit, and this fruit of a size that would probably ripen about Christmas to 1 or 2 lbs. weight each. We also saw a sucker taken off about two months ago bearing a fruit of considerable size. The flues in the hothouses here, at Bretton Hall, and other places, are cased with rubbed flagstone, with a vacuity of two or three inches between the brickwork and the stone, which has a handsome appearance, prevents smoke from getting into the house, lessens the risk of overheating, and such a body of materials, by retaining a large mass of heat, lessens also the risk of overcooling in the night-time. At Bretton Hall and other places the stone covers are hollowed so as to hold water for the purpose of supplying moisture to the atmosphere (fig. 161.); an excellent plan, which we have generally supposed to be the 161 invention of the very ingenious Mr. Butler, formerly gardener to Earl Derby, and afterwards nurseryman at Prescot. Two excellent pine and grape stoves have recently been erected here, the plants in which are most luxuriant. The upper sashes are hung and balanced by weights which rise and fall in the back shed, in the manner practised by Messrs. Richard and Clarke, and by others of Birmingham. In 1805 we saw for the first time, in the hot-houses here and at Harewood Hall, the Passiflòra quadrangularis in fruit. Mr. Thompson grows that very large pumpkin, known in the London seed-shops as the Mammoth, and he has had it weighing half a cwt. when ripe. It is used in soups, and keeps during the whole of the winter. One or two would supply a small family with a slice every day, for nine months in the year. We expect from him some account of the uses of this pumpkin, and the weight of the fruit now growing on his pinestools. [It is not now (1829) too late to hear from him upon these subjects.] All the walls of the kitchen-garden are flued, and some of them had, in 1805, projecting wooden copings. There are still a number of sashes destined for forming a temporary covering to any part of them at pleasure. Late crops of grapes and figs were now so covered, and we observed among the leaves heartshaped pale green glasses (fig. 162.) filled to the widest part 162 with honied water for catching flies. Mr. Thompson found this form more effective than any other. The glasses are made in Rotherham, and cost 5s. each. The New Zealand spinage is cultivated here and in other gardens in this part of the country, and much approved of as an autumn spinage. Mr. T. grows excellent crops of strawberries in Mr. Knight's manner: 1. He pricks out the runners in beds, in July. 2. He transplants these in rows at the ordinary distance in the following spring. 5. He has a full crop the third season, and having taken three crops, he digs in the whole. Mr. Cooper has the management of the botanic garden and pleasureground: he excels in the growing of hot-house plants, and especially of Scitamíneæ; he has seventeen species of Hedychium, some of which are now finely in bloom. The pitcher plant (Nepenthes distillatòria) has been propagated by him, and grows vigorously; Orchidea also are very fine, and Cactus truncata, speciosa, and speciosissima, with other showy plants, are well grown. Amaryllis and Hedýchium, being flowers of this season, were finely in bloom. There is an excellent collection of herbaceous plants arranged after the Linnean manner, a native flora, grass garden, rockwork, aquarium, aviary, architectural green-house, rotunda, noble terrace walk, and various other objects and scenes which a drizzling rain and the approach of night prevented us from examining so fully as we could have wished. Wretched road to Barnsley. Barnsley to Bretton Hall, Oct. 13.-Handsome Gothic railing to Barnsley churchyard. (fig. 163.) Roads metaled with the scoria from the iron works; bad field gates, without diagonal braces. Parfaite (?), a seat on the right, finely situated for hanging gardens and waterworks. Too much ground on the outside of the gate at Bretton Hall for the extent of the park within. Bretton Hall has been celebrated for upwards of twenty years for its gardens, and deservedly so; and there are at present such additions and improvements going forward as will maintain this celebrity. The principal of these is a magnificent" domical" botanic stove, by Messrs. Bailey of London (fig. 164.), and the secondary are an elegant curvilinear vinery by the same mechanics, and several culinary hot-houses and other improvements, under the direction of Mr. M'Ewen, the gardener. A great 163 deal has been done here since we saw the place in 1805, and the chief thing to be regretted is that, as a whole, the pleasure-ground is so much intersected by roads, walks, and gates, Half the roads, by a little arrangement, might be done without or concealed, and some of the walks admit of improvement in their direction. The recently erected curvilinear vinery is one of the handsomest structures of the kind we ever saw, and if occasionally painted will last for ages. Of the "domical" stove, which is 60 ft. high, we shall say little, because it is not yet completed; and after it is we expect to be favoured with a plan and some account of it, after the manner of M'Arthur's paper (Vol. I. p. 105.), by Mr. M'Ewen. [Mr. M'Ewen has since left Bretton Hall, and we have therefore for the present given an elevation of the grand "domical" hot-house from the original model in the possession of Messrs. W. and D. Bailey, the manufacturers.] We cannot, however, avoid expressing our astonishment that the building containing the steam apparatus should have been erected side by side with a glass dome; it spoils every thing, and should be immediately sunk and concealed. As the ground |