Sept. 7. - Mamhead; Sir Robert Newman, Bart. We omitted in our former notice to mention the name of the gardener, Mr. Willis, an excellent cultivator, as the state of his fruit trees testifies, and one of the earliest correspondents of the Gardener's Magazine. We ought also to have noticed a number of fine standard magnolias on a terrace-bank in front of the hothouses in the kitchen-garden. The trees are upwards of 20 ft. high, and with heads from 20 ft. to 30 ft. in diameter. Like all the other old standard magnolias which we have seen in Devonshire, they would be greatly improved by having all the weak straggling branches thinned out. The same power of roots remaining, there would be great additional strength thrown into the remaining branches by this thinning; and hence a greater number of flowers, and more vigorous young shoots, would be produced. We have already mentioned the portcullis being in good repair, as contributing to destroy the illusion of an old castle applied to modern purposes; but, if we had taken time to develope the idea properly, we ought to have objected to the new and fresh appearance of the walls and towers, and, indeed, of the whole of this imitation of an old castle; and said that it would have been more effective in realising the proposed effect, if built in imitation of a castle in ruins. We may add that it might be partially ruined now, or, which would be the best improvement, covered with ivy. We intended to visit this place a second time on our return from Plymouth, in order to correct or confirm our first impressions, as, from the unfavourable state of the weather, we did not see the place so thoroughly as we wished, but time would not permit. In p. 494. we have stated that we had only seen "perfect high keeping in Devonshire at Luscombe and Endsleigh:" but we had not then seen Bicton, which is as highly kept as any place we ever saw in any country; and that not only in one department, but throughout the whole.
