THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



19 



A flat surface is preferable for most 

 ordinary crops, but slopes may be made 

 very advantageous for bastening or 

 retarding such things as are prized at 

 particular seasons of the year. Aslope 

 of about fifteen degrees to the south, 

 or east, is far preferable to a slope to 

 the north. The sun is the grand agent 

 in bringing vegetable life to perfection, 

 and without a free current of air, and 

 a moderate exposure to sunshine, 

 winter and summer, the difficulties of 

 gardening will be much increased. If 

 your ground has no shelter on the 

 north side, see what you can effect to 

 produce one. A wall on that side, will 

 give you a south -border for trained 

 fruits and seed-beds on gentle slopes; 

 these would be favourably situated for 

 early sowings, and some crops that are 

 wanted quickly in the spring. A 

 slightly elevated and sloping piece of 

 land, facing the east, will be admirably 

 situated for the first crop of strawber- 

 ries, and, indeed, of many other things, 

 for the hoar-frost will be melted there 

 an hour before it disappears from 

 other parts of the ground. An 

 abundance of trees and shrubs in the 

 immediate vicinity of a garden, is 

 decidedly injurious, they intercept the 

 sun's rays, and prevent that free circu- 

 lation of air, which in spring and 

 autumn are so necessary to dispel 

 damp. To be well placed in all re- 

 spects, a garden should have efficient 

 shelter on the north and east sides ; the 

 south-west is another quarter against 

 which some shelter is desirable, from 

 the violent summer storms which fre- 

 quently do much mischief with hail 

 and hurricanes. Very high and very 

 low positions are equally unfavour- 

 able ; in the first, the ground is ex- 

 posed to wintry blasts and the occasional 

 droughts common in high summer ; and 

 in the other, blights and severe frosts, 

 and excessive damp in autumn may be 

 expected. 



As to the shape of a garden, it 

 matters little what it may be ; for 

 ornamental purposes, irregular figures 

 can generally be turned to good ac- 

 count, but the portion assigned to 

 profitable culture, should be as regular 

 in form as possible, so that the com- 

 partments may be easily got at, and 



the divisions between them regularly 

 kept. A square or oblong plot is best 

 for the purpose, but there is one point 

 of great importance, and that is, that 

 there should be free ingress and egress, 

 not for the gardener merel) 7 , but for a 

 horse and cart, so that manure, soil, 

 trees, &c, may be brought in, or carted 

 away, without any excess of wheel- 

 barrow work. As to the extent, 

 nothing definite can be said, beyond 

 this, that an acre is as much as any one 

 person can manage, to do it well ; and 

 even then, an extra hand will be oc- 

 casionally required. One rood well til- 

 led, will supply all the wants of a small 

 family in all ordinary things, but if 

 they aspire to pines, forced-grapes, 

 peaches, and nectarines, and insist on 

 having new potatoes and frame cu- 

 cumbers every day in the year, the 

 exact dimensions necessary cannot be 

 determined except by themselves and 

 their own gardener. A good supply 

 of soft water, a deep loamy soil, facili- 

 ties for obtaining supplies of manure, 

 and nearness to the gardener's resi- 

 dence, are the only remaining qualifi- 

 cations that need here be mentioned. 



Now, many readers of these pages 

 have gardens that realise all, or nearly 

 all, of these conditions, and so far they 

 are in " luck's way,'' while many others 

 will consider it only tantalising them, 

 to describe requirements that are 

 quite beyond their reach, for few of 

 us have the power to pick and choose 

 at will; somebody must be located on 

 the ill-placed lots, and whatever the 

 position, extent, or nature of the soil, 

 you must set out, and keep going with a 

 determination to make the best of it. 

 Now, as soon as you have read this 

 chapter, just take a look round, and 

 see if you cannot produce many of the 

 conditions that are described as so 

 desirable. Are there no old and use- 

 less trees, that shut out the best of the 

 morning sun, and prevent you from 

 cropping to advantage some of the 

 best placed pieces you have ? Are 

 there no overgrown hedges that rob 

 you of hundreds of yards of ground, 

 that might be cut in, and converted 

 into fire-wood, pea- sticks, or rubbish 

 to burn into manure ? Are there no 

 choice spots, lifted up out of damp, 



