The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1889-09-07
THE EDITOR ABROAD.
Random Notes of Foreign Travel
LONDON, August 10th. 1889.

LONDON, August 10th, 1889.
4Ky Dear .May:-I mailed you letter
on Monday morning last and now mai
you second rambling epistle from thi,
fog -enveloped and vapory metropolis
Since | have been here, the weather hal
been simply atrocious, or as an English
man would say "beastly," and l appre
ciate fully the force of the declaration oil
a fellow American, when he said to an
English cousin, ''you hare no climate al
all in London, you'ce only samples 81
,eeather." And such samples OF it as have
seen here! While you are doubtless enjoy
ing the blessings of blue skies and bright
sunshine; leaden skies and chill winds,
with almost daily down pours of rain,
have been our constant embarrassments
to comfortable or even possible sight
seeing. l took ride on Saturday out
to Hampton Court, about one half hour
by rail from the city. The old palace of
red brick with it's handsome and extern
sive gardens, is no longer the residence
| VI wv" isJs Vho SuOOb, OF bbO uOuu Sdlu-
ener informed me, only having been there
once within twenty years, and then, as
he said "Her Majesty didn't even take
time to come into the gardens" They
comprise some seventy acres beautifully
kept, the old English yews. and rows of
magnificent lime trees, casting peculiarly
dark, and distinctly outlined shadows
upon the brilliant carpet of green. | have
never seen such thick and deep piled sod
as our English cousins enjoy, and which
| they largely owe to this same blasted
climate, so richly ladened with moisture,
and go prolific of vegetable growth This
sod is largely composed of Dutch Glover.
which has small fine leaf, and when mix
ed with other grasses as it generally is,
as the thickest Smyrna rug. With such
| favorable conditions as to climate, and
the very inadequate wages paid their
gardeners, the government can afford to
maintain immense parks and pleasure
grounds. Twenty-three men are con-
stantly employed in this seventy acre
garden. Their wages vary from ten
shillings-two dollars and fifty cents-to
eighteen shillings-less than four and a
half dollars weekly. Out of this latter
weekly wage, one of the gardeners, a
shillings six, or little under two dollars
weekly rental. 50 you see what he has
left to support wife and four children
upon. Hampton Court Palace was orig
inally built by Cardinal Woolsey and
was given by him to Henry the Eighth.
1t is very attractive old palace with its
quadrangles and court yards and is rich
in paintings, many of them the works of
the most celebrated masters. To me, the
most interesting of the more than one
thousand pictures which the galleries
contain, are the portraits of the ceebra-
ted beauties OF the court of Charles the
Second by Sir Peter Lely. AS pictures
OF female beauty, they are certainly
worthy of all the encomiums bestowed
upon them.< They are miniature like in
quality and flesh tints, although full por-
traits in size. To one as unlearned in
picture lore as myself, they were revela
tons in beauty of portraiture, drawing
and drapery. Princess Frederick of Han
over, neice of the Queen, who married
Baron Won Paul Rammingen, an impecu-
hnr Of In 70, lon
permanent apartments in the palace, as
well as the widows and INDECENT families
of number of deceased officers of Her
Majesty's service. Nearly four thousand
acres of land are embraced III the gardens
and parks about the palace, not an acre
of which believe is cultivated for food
products, but simply maintained out of
regard for the Englishman's TRADITIONAL
respect for royalty. Even the most con
sentative reader of Mr.. Henry Georges
land theories, can find ample food for not
Improbable reflection. in viewing these
immense estates, that return no revenue
to relieve the burdens of taxation which
the masses of the people bear not uncom-
plainingly and which might be turned to
profitable public account.
On my return from Hampton Court
which is about twelve miles from London,
noticed in passing these garden farms
of Middlesex, how very late the harvest
ing season is this year in England. The
farmers here are very solicitious about
their crops, on account of the long pro
tracted rains. In Maryland our farmers
this year began cutting wheat as early
as June Goth, by July 4th it was gener-
ally cut, and by the middle of July both
grass and oats had been harvested. Here
the grass was cut first. I noticed it par
ticularly in Scotland, where it was stack
ed in the fields in what the Scotch farm.
day visited Abbotsford, the air was per-
fumed with the odor of the new mown
hay. Some wheat as well as oats had
been cut. Just here | think it worth
while to explain the differences of name
as applied to grain in England and Scot.
land. In the former country, all cereals
are embraced under the general or gen.
eric term-corp. But not 30 in Scotland.
There corn means oats only. spoke to
a Scotch farmer of the beautiful bright
color of the oats that was being cut as
we passed. He took me up at once. But
said. "If you call oats while growing
corn" why not keep the name when it
is cut and ground into meal? You then
drop the name of 'coru" and call it 'oat
meal" In America we mean by corn,
maize or Indian corn. When we grind
it we call it corn meal, just as we call
oats when ground for food, oat meal. To
be consistent you should do the same"
But he didn't think so, he had known
growing oats as ''corn" all his life, and
it would never do to change its name.
But as was about to say, at this writ.
ing the middle of August, much wheat
aud oats is still standing, and what is
sunshine to cure it Just here must say,
that it would erfaiuly cause Maryland
farmers heart to rejoice to see how beau
tifully neat an English farmer stacks his
hay. An English hay stack is perfect
adjournment to the landscape. 1t is built
so compactlv and shapely, a little longer
than wide, with its dome like crown,
looking as smooth aud trim as though
each individual blade of grass had been
laid IN its particular place, like the cher