Blair-Adam, Admiral Sir Charles Adam, has been already beautifully and faithfully described by Mr. A. Mackenzie (p. 357.). It is a place extremely interesting, both from its natural beauties and the great improvements which have been made on it by three generations of the same family. The approach to the house is partly through a dense wood of silver firs, with trunks clear to the height of from 50 ft. to 70 ft., and the trees stand so close together that the number of cubic feet per acre must be enormous. There is a fine Italian feeling evinced in the kitchen-garden by its massive stone walls, with bracketed cornices, piers, and vases, and with the gardener's house forming the central portion of the north wall. On the south side the garden is open to a lawn and shrubbery, with a winding brook, the whole managed in a manner which produces the very best effect. In the interior of the garden there are some pedestals and vases artistically placed along the walks, that is, placed in recesses of gravel, as we have recommended on various occasions; and we were gratified to learn from Mr. Mackenzie that he had adopted this mode from principle. The garden was well cropped, and was particularly rich in small herbs, perfumery, and medicinal plants, and there was also a very excellent collection of herbaceous plants, including ferns, arranged according to the Linnean System, and named. This collection was made by the late gardener, Mr. Henderson, for some years foreman of the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, in conformity with the practice of the last century, when the culture of flowers was carried on in the same enclosure as that of fruits and culinary vegetables, except in the very largest gardens.
