viii. Gardening, as air Art of Design and Taste, in the State of Sigmaringen
350. The gardens of Prince Hohenzoll-Sigmaringen are laid out in the English manner of Sckell, and possess considerable beauty. In October, 1828, we found the lawns green and smooth, and the walks not too numerous, and brim-full of a sandy gravel. The groups of trees on the low grounds were composed each of a prevailing species, and so were the larger masses, with a thin sprinkling of other and contrasted kinds, which served admirably to give effect to the prevailing expression, and which, it must be confessed, are often wanting in some of M. Sckell's other productions; for example, in the English park at Munich. There is a steep, irregular bank here, planted in what the gardener called the Swiss manner; that is, in successive zones of different species; beginning with the broad-leaved trees of plains, and ending with the needle-leaved trees of mountains; for example, the larch. Along the walks, one tree of each species is distinctly named on wooden tallies about two feet high, for the benefit, as we were informed, of the Prince's children. The house is an Italian building, lately erected, but spoiled in effect by the inattention paid to the chimney-tops. The whole, when we saw it, was in excellent order.
