THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



43 



huge orchard trees, and at once give 

 up all idea of crops beneath them. 

 The digging and dressing of the ground 

 will ruin the trees, and the trees will 

 u draw " everything beneath them; 

 but set out your espaliers, and every 

 tree is reduced to a flat surface, easily 

 managed, creating little shadow, and 

 occupying the smallest possible amount 

 of room. These trees ought to be two 

 feet from the edging, and twenty feet 

 apart, and between every two trees there 

 will be room for three gooseberry, cur- 

 rant, or raspberry bushes, but these 

 ought to be set back one foot farther 

 from the walk, on account of their 

 spreading nature. But unless the cir- 

 cumstances are very favourable, it is 

 better to have bush fruits only, for they 

 thrive on any soil, are easily managed, 

 and are the most serviceable of any 

 for family purposes. Where there 

 is a central or divisional walk in a 

 kitchen garden, espalier trees and bush 

 fruits may be planted on each side. 

 Apple and pear are always the best for 

 such a mode of culture, because they 

 can be trained in any way, but stone 

 fruits are difficult to manage so, on ac- 

 count of the abundance of young wood 

 they produce if the knife is used to them 

 at all freely. A central walk arched over 

 with rough open timber lattice, and a 

 row of apple or pear trees planted on 

 each side, and trained over, is a very 

 pretty ornament to a profitable garden, 

 and one that pays well in its produce, 

 because the fruit is well exposed, 

 easily managed, and it wants but little 

 skill to build " the bower " in the 

 first instance. It should be high 

 enough for a tall man to pass along 

 with his hat on, and some good eating 

 apples should be found in some part 

 of it for the enjoyment of visitors. 



The other kinds of permanent stock 

 are such things as strawberries, rhu- 

 barb, seakale, asparagus, &c. ; all these 

 Miould be in one quarter, properly 

 divided from each other, and should 

 have a good aspect ; indeed, asparagus 

 ought to have the best bit of ground 

 you have, for it is a most valuable 

 thing, and if not wanted for your own 

 table, will, if well grown, find a ready 

 market at a paying price. I have 

 already remarked that I am quite 



mindful of the various circumstances 

 under which gardening ma}' be pursued 

 by the readers of this work ; — climate, 

 soil, situation, the shape, extent, and 

 otherwise of the ground, may render 

 it impossible to adopt the scheme I 

 propose in every case, for every gar- 

 den must be considered on its own 

 merits ; still, in every alteration, it 

 is well to know what is the best end to 

 aim at, what is the most advantageous 

 way of gaining space, and making the 

 best of ever}' square inch of surface ; 

 and, as most people find their gardens 

 ready made for them in some measure, 

 it is only to a certain extent that they 

 can avail themselves of the suggestions 

 here offered. But there are few places 

 but are capable of improvement, and 

 I have laid down a plan which may 

 be safely followed under the greatest 

 variety of circumstances, either in im- 

 proving an old garden, or laying out 

 a new one. In an allotment plot, a 

 regular plan is quite out of the ques- 

 tion, but a systematic mode of crop- 

 ping is very necessary, and to that we 

 shall come presently. 



But we will not pass from this men- 

 tion of old gardens, without just a word 

 or two. The best time to " move," as 

 regards gardening, is at Michaelmas, 

 because then you have the whole 

 season before you for every kind of 

 tree and shrub planting, and for alter- 

 ations of all kinds. At this time, too, 

 you can look over the ground, and 

 ascertain exactly what it contains, for 

 herbaceous things will not have quite 

 died down, and most of the trees being 

 in foliage — some, indeed, in fruit — will 

 indicate their respective characters and 

 values. Determine, as soon as you 

 can, how much of the stock deserves 

 to be preserved, and how much is to 

 be destroyed, but be not in haste to 

 annihilate anything. If the bushes are 

 old and straggling, take up the worst 

 and trim them to one good stem, and 

 replant in order ; prune soon after the 

 fall of the leaf, whatever may require 

 it, and set in clean order any patches 

 of strawberry, seakale, asparagus, 

 rhubarb, &c, that may prove useful 

 the next season, and as soon as the pro- 

 per time arrives, secure new stock of 

 such things as seem to be worn out ; 



