suitable for strawberry-forcing. If the house were divided by a walk in the centre, with a front table three and a half feet wide and a back stage of four and a half feet, the plants would all be brought sufficiently near to the glass, and good results might be expected. Another method of construction has been suggested which has decided advantages. It is this: To increase the pitch of the roof to about forty-five degrees, and then devote the entire space of the house to a steep stage; each step being sufficiently wide for a row of plants, and rising so much, that the plants may be inspected and watered from the walk in the rear and under the stage. By this plan we have three decided advantages. Ist, The utmost influence of the sun will be felt through the sharp roof; 2d, The position of every plant will be high, light, and airy, extremely favorable for warmth of root; 3d, The whole space of glass will be occupied by plants, with no loss in walk, which is under the stage. The main disadvantage is in the difficulty of management of the upper rows of plants, which are not easily accessible. They may be watered by means of a curved pipe connected with a force-pump, or they may be reached from the outside through the ventilators. The advantages of this construction are manifest; so, also, is the disadvantage. Position and circumstances will determine which is most desirable. Oftentimes the fair appearance and the ease in management of a house are more important than the greatest economy of room and the largest possible results. W. C. Strong.

Sir, It has occurred to me that the description of a large English countryhouse and estate might be, as a subject for a letter, as interesting to you as any that I could select. The difficulty is, that, in consequence of my limited knowledge and hasty examinations, I probably may fail to present the subject in a manner that will enable you to form any very accurate idea of it. I should prefer, if I could, to select for description one that should be an average of the estates of the gentry, scattered everywhere throughout England; not one of the most magnificent or of the most ordinary. But perhaps, after all, the selection is a matter not very important: for all these estates have a general resemblance one with another, making, of course, allowance for a difference of situation, and somewhat of a difference of individual taste and means; that is, the arrangement of the grounds and laying-out of the gardens appear to be conducted everywhere on the same general principle. For special reasons, I have been induced to take for the subject of my description the estate of Coombe Abbey, the seat of the Earl of Craven; not because it is one of the most magnificent or most celebrated places, but because I had an opportunity to examine it somewhat more leisurely than I did others, under the guidance of its manager or gardener, a very intelligent man, ready to reply to any questions that I thought proper to ask; and because, too, it seemed to me, that gardening, properly so called, as we understand that term, appeared to receive here a particular degree of attention. This estate is situated in the central part of the island, in a county celebrated as among the best for its agricultural capabilities. Although the land is high, it is level, and by no means picturesque; yet it has groves and groups of oaks so dotted about over it, that, when viewed from an eminence where an extended

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view can be obtained, the country appears to be well wooded, or like a forest. The house of Coombe Abbey stands in a park of about a thousand acres. The site appears to have no particular advantages, or any especial beauty, unless it be that produced by an extensive sheet of water that comes up directly under the windows of the house on one side of it. This sheet of water is supplied by a stream that runs through a ravine on a portion of the estate, and once filled a moat that probably surrounded the abbey, but of which no trace remains. Coombe Abbey was originally a monastery, that, when those institutions were sequestered, was granted to an individual who at that time made such alterations in it as were necessary to fit it for the use of a private family; and from whom, by descent or purchase, it has come into the possession of the present proprietor. It is an extensive pile of buildings, that has undergone so many alterations and additions since it was secularized, that but little remains of the original structure. The house forms three sides of a square, with a court in the centre open to the front. The front of the house is at the bottom of this court; and, from each end, wings project forward, forming the two sides of the court. One of these wings has been entirely renewed; a lofty ornamental stone structure taking the place of the original, of which no part remains, except some Roman arches, that serve as a foundation for the new building. On the opposite side of the court, part of the ancient abbey yet remains, the rooms of which are still occupied by the family when residing there. The cloisters, having their front filled with glass, have been converted into an armory; but to this wing some new rooms have been added. At the bottom of the court, the front still presents some remains of the old abbey; and in the centre of it is the principal entrance. In the rear, a very large addition, containing kitchens, servants' hall, rooms for the steward of the estate, and other offices, has been made to the original building; the whole 'furnishing every convenience for the use of the family and its numerous suites of attendants. Part of the alterations and additions that the abbey at one time underwent were made under the direction of a man, who, for his supposed skill and taste as an architect and landscape-gardener, was designated in his time as Capability Brown. I am no judge of those arts; but yet I cannot help expressing a doubt whether his work at Coombe Abbey tends to prove the justice of the appellation. The house stands back about half a mile from the road, that passes in front of it; the approach being through an ornamented gateway. The land in front of the house is entirely level, without any ornament, except some fine oaks, some of them planted in groups, and others by the side of the avenue leading to the house. The part of the park appropriated to the pleasure-grounds is, including the gardens, about forty acres. These grounds have been made perfectly level and smooth, and are covered with the soft, smooth turf, always kept closely cut, that can hardly be found out of England or France. Some very fine oaks are scattered about these grounds; and wide gravelled walks lead through them in different directions, entering or terminating in a belt of woods that surround and form a fine background or framework to the gardens and pleasuregrounds; and beds of gay flowers, cut out of the turf, are scattered about in appropriate places. In one part of the grounds was a rose-garden. Here a circular bank, sloping upwards from the level ground, formed a natural amphi

theatre in the centre a mound had been formed; and from this beds radiated towards the circumference, the whole being planted with roses of various kinds. The garden, as that term is commonly understood, was an oblong square piece of ground, naturally slightly sloping, containing four acres, enclosed by a hollow brick wall twelve or fifteen feet high. By erecting a low terrace across the middle of the garden, and lowering the ground on one side of it, and raising it on the other, it had been made perfectly level. There was a wide gravelled walk dividing the garden lengthwise in the centre, crossed by similar ones at right angles; while other walks parallel with the walls, but at some distance from them, formed borders for fruit-trees and other purposes. In the centre of the garden was a basin of water, in which water-lilies were growing. In one place, a long range of houses for grapes and peaches was built against the gardenwall; while in others fruit-trees were trained upon it. One of the grape-houses was filled with vines of Muscat varieties; another with Black Hamburg and Muscat planted alternately. These vines were loaded with fruit: the Black Hamburgs were ripe, and both bunches and berries were of large size, and very fine. In the peach-house, the trees were full of fruit nearly ripe, some entirely So. I was shown some Grosse Mignonne peaches that I thought as large and handsome as any that I had ever seen. Across the garden were two hot-houses filled with plants of various kinds; and by erecting against the back of each, parallel with the back, and about six feet from it, a glass front of equal height with this back, and covered with a curvilinear roof, additional houses were formed for peaches, trained against the back wall of the greenhouse, and for cherries grown in pots. At right angles with these greenhouses were four other low glass structures, forming pits or stoves for pines and melons, and a house for ferns. Some of the beds into which the garden was divided were planted with currants, raspberries, gooseberries, and like fruit, and others with vegetables; while round a part of them was a border of dwarf pear-trees. In every respect, the garden and grounds appeared to have been kept in high order; and, in all the houses, the vigor of the trees, vines, and plants, spoke loudly in praise of the skill with which they had been treated, and of the attention they had received. No doubt there are many places in England more magnificent than this, and I have seen those that I thought more beautiful; but for the garden alone, merely as a garden, I have met with none that seemed to be better kept, or more desirable. I was told that twenty-five men were constantly employed by the gardener about the garden and grounds, and occasionally seventy-five. Adjoining the garden was a house for the gardener, and a building containing a room for packing fruit, and other offices.

Of the climate of England, I feel that I should be scarcely justified if I ventured to express any decided opinion. My experience, confined to part of a spring and summer and the autumn of two different years, is not sufficient to authorize any very positive conclusion. The general impression is, I believe, unfavorable; the belief being that there is a great superabundance of rain, and great deficiency of heat and sunshine. This may be so; but for myself I must say that I found the climate much less uncongenial than I had been led to expect. It is true that in England there is a good deal of dull weather, a good

many days in the year when more or less rain falls; and an American misses the clear skies and bright sun to which he is accustomed in his own country, sometimes for weeks together. But this is not wholly without its compensation. Many of the rains are but slight, and of no very long duration, not more than sufficient, in the summer season, to keep the ground well supplied with moisture, and prevent the droughts that in the United States are, very often, so severe and injurious. The average fall of rain in the year is much less in England than in Massachusetts; and I am inclined to think that there are fewer days in the year in the former than in the latter when labor cannot be performed or exercise taken with comfort in the open air. Ordinarily there is sufficient warmth to bring the crops to maturity. Clear skies and bright suns are not of rare occurrence; and great heat for days in succession is sometimes felt, as I know from my own experience. It may be that I am best acquainted with the more favored part of the island; but, so far as I have formed an opinion in relation to it, my conclusions are that the climate of England is not unsuited to health, comfort, or enjoyment. Joseph S. Cabot.

JAN. 12, 1868.

STRAWBERRIES IN ALABAMA.-— In reading the first and second volumes of "The American Journal of Horticulture ” attentively, I noted the almost entire absence of communications from this section of country; and hope it may interest some of your readers to have some notes on the strawberry from Alabama.

I am an amateur cultivator, passionately fond of gardening and raising, and experimenting with strawberries, and find that this berry can be brought to as great perfection here as in the East, or anywhere else, and can be made as profitable.

This winter has been one of the mildest ever experienced here up to this date (Jan. 15), — not one week of cold weather; and, for the first time in my recollection, strawberries have come to maturity, and ripened in the open air, in December. A cultivator in Mobile County, commencing about 15th December, has, until this time, brought strawberries to market every morning; as many as thirty-two quarts one morning. The variety was Wilson's Albany; and the berries were very large and beautiful, and sold for two dollars per quart. I must admit that the berries lacked the true strawberry flavor, and, it seemed to me, were nearly tasteless. These berries had no particular care bestowed upon them. I give this instance to show, that, with a little trouble, berries will ripen in this latitude in December.

My ground I had spaded deep, about thirty inches, and manured with leafmould and well-decomposed cow-manure, before planting my strawberry-plants; cultivating them in hills as a general thing. I clipped off all runners once a fortnight, and have fine bushy plants. The Wilson does well, of course; although I do not recommend it as a table-berry. This berry, which does well even when abused by poor culture, actually bearing when allowed to be nearly overgrown by grass and weeds, can only be seen in its glory when planted in deep soil, runners kept clipped, and neither grass nor weeds allowed near the