scenery of the Continent, and that of Britain, is, the total want of those frequent crystalline brooks, which beautify and fertilise our land, and the want of which will ever prevent Continental scenery from wholly pleasing an English eye. Either there are large rivers, or there is no water at all. As the distance from Normandy increases, the rich and florid Gothic architecture of the ecclesiastical edifices gradually disappears, and gives way to a disagreeable mongrel between it and the marble-faced classical Italian fanes. I know not if it be merely fancy, but I imagine there is a constant increase of hilliness from the northern coast of France to the foot of the Alps. At Poligny these Alps first rear their fronts against the traveller, and over the tops of Jura the road leads on to Geneva. Perhaps the panorama that in an instant bursts upon the astonished e eye, at the commencement of the descent of Jura, is not equalled by any in Europe. At once, as if by the drawing up of the curtain of a theatre, Lake Leman, blue as the sapphire, with its dark foreground of pines; the whole High Alps, with their stormy summits; Geneva, Lausanne, Vevay; countless villages and villas, in luxuriant vine-clad valleys, appear. The road, as it winds down Jura, has been constructed with admirable skill, showing the view in all points, and never letting it be lost sight of for a moment, although in a thick pine forest. The Rhone, at Geneva, is some 70 ft. deep, but so exquisitely clear, that a pebble may be seen in the bottom at that depth; but, seen with its surface at a small angle, to the eye it appears of the most beauteous transparent blue: this, some assert, arises from the lake's waters being actually coloured; but the transparency of the waters en masse disproves this. The fact is, it arises from the colour of the bottom, which, being of the same substance as the neighbouring side of Jura, a calcareous tufa, is nearly white; and the blue of the sky is thus reflected with such singular beauty. There is a great number of English residents near Geneva, and every thing bears the appearance of wealth and comfort. The climate is delicious, the oppressive heat of the Swiss valleys being attempered by the lake; and the highest cultivation prevails. On the smooth bosom of the lake, on each side the everlasting Alps, the quiet sail wafts us on our way to Villeneuve, as with a noiseless wing." 66 "Lake Leman wooes me with its crystal face, The mirror where the stars and mountains view Its clear depth yields of their far height and hue." Martigny shall be our head-quarters in my next. (To be continued.) ART. III. Remarks on certain Gardens in the Lake District, and on cultivating a Taste for Gardening among Cottagers generally. By JOSHUA MAJOR, Esq., Landscape-Gardener. Sir, I was glad to observe, in the Gardener's Magazine (Vol. VII. p. 525.), your particular notice of the gardens of Mrs. Starkey, and of the village of Bowness, while on your tour in the Lake district. It may appear superfluous to touch on this subject, after your remarks upon it, but too much cannot be said in favour of examples like that of Mrs. Starkey; and I am tempted to persuade myself that the ladies generally will pardon me, when I appeal to them to suffer a portion of their benevolence to be similarly devoted. Might not many important objects be accomplished, by ladies, in conjunction with their pastors, frequently visiting poor villagers, to ascertain their general wants; to assist them in times of need; to see that the rising families have moral and religious instruction; to provide small libraries of useful books; and, at proper periods, to establish horticultural meetings, either confined to one village, or belonging to two or three collected together, for the exhibition of horticultural produce, and for rewarding the best productions? These meetings to be conducted by the upper gardeners, together with any other suitable persons, who might provide the villagers with plants, seeds, &c., for their gardens. Attention paid to the poor in this way could not fail to produce in their minds a proper respect towards their benefactors; and its success would constitute a triumph of knowledge over ignorance, of virtue over vice, and of happiness over misery. Instead of the cottager indulging himself in sloth and drunkenness, we should see his leisure hours spent in his garden; his pleasure would be in the company of his wife and children; and his anxiety, that they should share with him in all the domestic comforts that could be afforded. Having been called to the Lake district on professional business, a few weeks after your call at Bowness, I had the pleasure of waiting upon Mrs. Starkey, whom I found in the village streets, with her pruning-knife in her hand, divesting the laurels of their useless leaves and branches, while her gardener was training them against the village walls. Mrs. Starkey kindly left her employment, and showed me over her grounds, which are not extensive, but which reflect much credit both upon their liberal proprietress and on her gardener, for their superior keeping. They exhibited a splendid show of border flowers, green-house plants, and valuable shrubs and creepers; from any of which, cuttings, offsets, or seeds, were politely offered me. Observing to the innkeeper of Bowness how pretty the Chinese roses, laurels, &c., looked against the street walls, and what a neat village Bowness was; "Yes," he replied, "we are indebted to Mrs. Starkey for that since her residence here, she has produced a general taste for gardening amongst the villagers.' I should have been glad had you called upon J. A. Beck, Esq., Esthwaite Lodge, more particularly as Mr. Beck is a gentleman of general good taste, and a subscriber to most of your publications; though, as the distance was far from your line of route, a call could not be anticipated. Esthwaite Lodge is a neat Grecian structure, situated on the border of Esthwaite Lake, a pretty water, about two miles long, and one broad in the widest part, at the distance of about five miles from Bowness, and on the opposite side of Windermere, near to Hawkshead, a small market town. The grounds about the house are naturally much varied, and are capable of being made picturesque and pretty. I have given plans for nearly an entire alteration of them. It is intended to introduce as much variety as the compass of the ground will allow; viz., a green-house, a heath-house, aviaries, aquariums, fountains, rockeries, rural and ornamental seats, various pleasure gardens, forcing-houses, vegetable gardens, &c.; and a peachhouse, vinery, and green-house are already built. The grounds, in their present state, are furnished with a valuable assortment of shrubs and border flowers. Mr. Beck's principal enjoyments are in his library, and in horticultural pursuits, sketching, and architecture. That head of Esthwaite Lake which lies near Hawkshead is, to a considerable extent, marshy; forming various-sized sheets of water. In one of these spaces, about forty or fifty yards in diameter, is seen a small floating island, which, as nearly as I was able to judge, from the difficulty of approaching it, is from ten to fifteen yards long and six or eight yards in width; it is furnished with three or four alders from ten to fifteen feet high, and with bushes, grass, and reeds, the roots of which, I should conjecture, are all interwoven. The curiosity to the beholder is to see this group of trees (all in a growing state, and of the largest magnitude of any in the vicinity), at one time on the south side of the pool, at another on the opposite side; and at other times on its voyage to the west, or on its return to the east, as the wind may direct. I may just observe, that in the marshy grounds in this neighbourhood the common sweet gale and the Parnassia palustris abound; and that the common and other ferns present themselves abundantly, growing upon living trees and bushes. On the road from the ferry of Windermere to Hawkshead, the yew exhibits itself singularly upon the mountains. The mountain ash, the juniper, the common stone crop, and others of the same species, are all natives of the Lake district; and that humble but beautiful plant, Saxifraga oppositifolia, is said to inhabit the mountains. I have lately been employed to lay out the grounds of a clergyman of the name of Hewgill, in Nottinghamshire, who is pursuing similar steps to Mrs. Starkey. He keeps in his garden a stock of the best sorts of apples and other fruit trees, selected from the London nurseries, to distribute among his poor parishioners, as they may be wanted. This, together with friendly attention in numerous instances, appears to have gained him much respect amongst them. Mr. Hewgill says, so comfortable are the working class of his parishioners, that their situations are enviable: the whole of them keep cows, besides being regularly employed. In this neighbourhood, near to Gainsborough, caraway seeds grow naturally in the pastures, and are gathered by children, and sold at one shilling per pound. The churchyard is planted in several parts, amongst the graves, with thriving evergreens, such as cedar of Lebanon, red cedars, arbor-vitas, ilexes, &c.; and the porch of the church is covered over with the China rose, Greville rose, and the blotched-leaved Alatérnus. I am, dear Sir, yours, &c. Knowstrop, near Leeds, March 6. 1832. JOSHUA MAJOR. ART. IV. On Gardens for the labouring Poor. By SELIM. Or all the plans recently suggested for improving the condition of the labouring classes, that of supplying them with land at a moderate rent is perhaps the one most likely to accomplish the object in view; though, to insure success, it requires judgment in the application; for, if a labourer has more land than he can cultivate profitably, that is, more than he can manure and cultivate at leisure hours, it will prove a disadvantage to him rather than a benefit; and this disadvantage will increase, the longer he continues to occupy and exhaust the land. In supplying the poor with land, therefore, two things should be specially considered; viz., how much a working man can cultivate without interfering with his ordinary labour; and how much he can manure. As to the VOL. VIII. No. 40. M M quantity, I am persuaded that a labouring man in full employment cannot cultivate land with any profit to himself, if it obliges him to "lose time," as they term it; and this is the opinion of all the sensible persons among the working classes whom I have spoken with upon the subject. A man, therefore, who is in constant work, should have a less portion of garden ground than one whose time is not fully occupied ; and, in most parishes, there are generally many persons of the latter description, who stand most in need of the assistance of a piece of land. In the county of Wilts the labourers may be divided into three classes. In the first place, there are men employed the whole year by one master; such as carters, shepherds, and threshers, or day labourers. Of these, the carters and shepherds have very little spare time, especially in the spring. A large garden would, therefore, be an inconvenience to such men, and moreover unprofitable, inasmuch as they must hire assistance, or else cultivate their ground very imperfectly. Again, there is a class of men employed as thatchers and hedgers, or general workers in wood, who are not always engaged by one master; consequently they have, occasionally, much unemployed time, which would enable them to cultivate more land than the carters and shepherds. And, lastly, there is a class of labourers who generally work by the piece at turnip-hoeing and bean-setting, and other jobs of that kind; these men, from the nature of their employment, must be frequently out of work, and consequently would have leisure to cultivate, and would indeed require, a larger garden than the two former classes. In apportioning land, therefore, to a labourer, the first thing to be considered is, how much leisure time he has over his regular employment; always bearing in mind that regular employment with a master is the most profitable occupation to a working man. The next thing to be considered is, how much can he manure; for the land would very soon become unprofitable to him, if cropped yearly with potatoes for instance, unless it has the assistance of manure. Now, a clever managing person, who is enabled to grow as many potatoes as would assist in feeding a couple of pigs, and who collects carefully all the refuse of his garden, the produce of his sinkhole and ditches, and what he can pick up on the roads, would, with his wood ashes, raise a considerable compost heap in the course of twelve months. The question is, would he raise nearly enough to cover half his land every year? If he did not, he has more land than he can profitably cultivate, and therefore more than he ought to occupy. In judging, then, as to the quantity of land that a |