B. Forsyth, Esq., the first
proprietor, and reflects credit on his taste.
This seat, without possessing the extensive grounds, vast river frontage,
and long shady walks of Spencer Wood, or Woodfield, is an eminently
picturesque residence. A new grapery with a lean-to roof, about ninety
feet in length, has just been completed: the choicest [248] varieties of
the grape vine are here cultivated. Several tasty additions have, also,
recently been made to the conservatory, under the superintendence of a
Scotch landscape gardener, Mr. P. Lowe, formerly in charge of the Spencer
Wood conservatories, &c. We had the pleasure on one occasion to view, on a
piercing winter day, from the drawing room of Cataracoui, through the
glass door which opens on the conservatory, the rare collections of
exotics it contains, - a perfect grove of verdure and blossoms, - the whole
lit up by the mellow light of the setting sun, whose rays scintillated in
every fantastic form amongst this gorgeous tropical vegetation, whilst the
snow-wreathed evergreens, surrounding the conservatory waved their palms
to the orb of day in our clear, bracing Canadian atmosphere - summer and
winter combined in one landscape; the tropics and their luxuriant
magnolias, divided by an inch of glass from the realms of old king frost
and his hardy familiars, the pine and the maple. Charming was the
contrast, furnishing a fresh proof of the comfort and luxury with which
the European merchant, once settled in Canada, surrounds his home.
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