r s, Direction of an excavation of 8 or 10 feet, forming an irregular precipice on the side next the house, with a bottom sloping in the opposite direction, from which all the rock was obtained for paving the rocky walk, and enclosing the raised beds. In the views from the windows of the house, none of this rockwork appears; the ground at t t t being sufficiently high to carry the eye over it to u. The plants in the rocky beds are partly half-hardy; such as fuchsias, myrtles, and other shrubs generally planted against conservative walls; magnolias; a fine collection of azaleas and rhododendrons, particularly on the rocky precipices; Berberis, Mahonia, Garrya, and, in short, all the finer shrubs that are rather tender, and some of the more rare trees. There are also some fine specimens of perfectly hardy shrubs; such as of Cotoneaster Uva-ursi and Juniperus Sabina repens: the latter covers an entire bed (When Douglas, the botanical collector, visited Redleaf, and saw this juniper, he uttered an exclamation of delight, and threw himself down upon it, observing that he had slept ninny a night on such a bed.). Among the more rare trees was one of Pinus sinensis, raised by Mr. Wells from seeds imported from China in 1829, and which had attained the height of 16 ft., and produced cones, before it was killed by the severe winter of 1837-8. (See Arb. Brit., p. 2264.) Araucaria imbricata is here quite hardy; and Picea Webbiana has attained a considerable size, though much injured by the same winter. There are also remarkably fine specimens of Abies Douglasi, and of various other species of pines and firs. There are some remarkably fine young cedars, which, in 1837, when measured for the Arboretum Britannicum, were from 36 ft. to 52 ft. in height. One of these, which had been raised from seed exactly twenty years before, the cone having been purchased in a London seed-shop in 1816, was, in 1836, 36 ft. high, and the girt of the trunk, at 3 ft. from the ground, was 4 ft. 6 in. Another, 27 years planted, is 52 ft. high, with a trunk of 5 ft. 6 in. in circumference at 3 ft. from the ground. (See Arb. Brit., vol. iv. p. 2406.) Among the herbaceous plants are most of the Californian annuals and heartseases, and all the finer half-hardy plants, such as petunias, lobelias, &c., and a great variety of pelargoniums. In short, if the reader imagine all the plants introduced into this country that it is desirable to cultivate in a flower-garden, or against a conservative wall, and in a select shrubbery, he will form a good general idea of what are planted on the rocky lawn at Redleaf. v, Engine-house, fixed over a pond, for throwing up water to the house. w w, Wood, in which many species of exotic trees and shrubs are introduced among the native kinds. x x, Wire fence, which separates the mown lawn from the pasture lawn.
