to dry, and not a single branch protruding. Figs were growing in the
same way. The brick wall, very probably, was heated within, by means of
pipes, in order to re-enforce the insufficient heat of the sun. It seems
as if there must be something unreal and unsatisfactory in fruit that
owes its existence to such artificial methods. Squashes were growing
under glass, poor things! There were immensely large gooseberries in the
garden; and in this particular berry, the English, I believe, have
decidedly the advantage over ourselves. The raspberries, too, were large
and good. I espied one gigantic hog-weed in the garden; and, really, my
heart warmed to it, being strongly reminded of the principal product of
my own garden at Concord. After viewing the garden sufficiently, the
gardener led us to other parts of the estate, and we had glimpses of a
delightful valley, its sides shady with beautiful trees, and a rich,
grassy meadow at the bottom. By means of a steam-engine and subterranean
pipes and hydrants, the liquid manure from the barn-yard is distributed
wherever it is wanted over the estate, being spouted in rich showers from
the hydrants. Under this influence, the meadow at the bottom of the
valley had already been made to produce three crops of grass during the
present season, and would produce another.

The lawn around Poulton Hall, like thousands of other lawns in England,
is very beautiful, but requires great care to keep it so, being shorn
every three or four days. No other country will ever have this charm,
nor the charm of lovely verdure, which almost makes up for the absence of
sunshine. Without the constant rain and shadow which strikes us as so
dismal, these lawns would be as brown as an autumn leaf. I have not,
thus far, found any such magnificent trees as I expected. Mr. B. told me
that three oaks, standing in a row on his lawn, were the largest in the
county. They were very good trees, to be sure, and perhaps four feet in
diameter near the ground, but with no very noble spread of foliage. In