very fine.

Mr. Anderson one day took us a long drive to the top of these hills; the
whole country, especially near a village called Clifton, about six miles
from the town, is studded with villas. We drove through the grounds of
two which overlooked splendid views of the neighbouring country; each of
them being situated at the end of a sort of natural terrace projecting
into the valley, and thus commanding a panoramic view all round.

The grounds attached to these villas are of considerable extent, but
nothing has surprised us more than the poverty of the gardens in
America. It may, however, be accounted for by the difficulty and expense
of obtaining labour in this country, and by the consequent facility with
which men who show any talent, and are really industrious, can advance
themselves. A scientific gardener, therefore, if any such there be,
would not long remain in that capacity. One of the houses had a really
fine-looking conservatory attached to it, but, like others we have seen
in the course of our travels, it was almost entirely given up to rockery
and ferns. This is a degree better than when the owners indulge in
statuary. We were made by the driver on another occasion to stop at a
garden ornamented in this way, but certainly Hiram Power's talents had
not been called into request, and the statues were of the most
common-place order.

It is not only in their gardens, however, but in the general ornamental
cultivation of their grounds, that the Americans are deficient, for
even at Newport, where we greatly admired, as I think I mentioned, the
greenness of the grass, it was coarse in quality, and bore no sort of
resemblance to a well-trimmed English lawn. Nor have we ever seen any
fruit, with the exception of their apples, to compare to ours in
England. These are certainly very fine. I hardly know the weight of an
English apple, but at Columbus we got some which were brought from the
borders of Lake Erie which are called the twenty-ounce apple. The one we
ate weighed about sixteen ounces, and measured thirteen inches round.
They are said to weigh sometimes as much as twenty-seven ounces. It is
what they call a "fall," meaning an autumnal, apple.[11]

Next to their apples their pears deserve notice; but, though better than
ours, they are not superior to those produced in France. The quantity of
fruit, however, is certainly great, for the peaches are standard and
grown in orchards; but they are quite uncultivate