442 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTDEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



[ December 1-2, 1867. 



an ink by which with any pen ineffaceable characters can be 

 iiaced on glass. Possibly some of our gardening friends may 

 turn it to account also. 



GARDEN WALLS. 



If all that some writers stated a dozen or more years ago about 

 the inutility of garden walls had been verified by subsequent ex- 

 perience, these would have been less numerous than they now 

 are ; but after the first ebullition of feeling in favour of a sub- 

 stitute had subsided, and the failure of such substitute had 

 become manifest, the old wall regained its popularity, and the 

 remembrance of its long continued services gained for it a fresh 

 recommendation when the costliness and comparative inutility 

 of substitutes were fairly tested. Although garden walls may 

 not have increased in the same ratio as glass structures during 

 the last forty years, they have, nevertheless, retained their 

 character for utility in the garden. If the area of glass devoted 

 to horticultural purposes has increased tweutyfold during the 

 last forty years, possibly walls may not have become more than 

 ten times as numerous or extensive. These proportions, how- 

 ever, are merely approximations, but tend to show that a wall 

 in some form is of as much importance in a garden as ever it 

 was, and it is only fair to remark that more than three-fourths 

 of the glass structures erected are supported against walls new 

 or old. 



The value of walls cannot well be over-estimated ; but it is 

 somewhat strange that while everything else connected with 

 gardening has been more or less frequently commented upon 

 in horticultural periodicals, garden walls have but very seldom 

 been mentioned. Assuredly this silence cannot arise from the 

 disregard of them, but simply because there is less difference in 

 the building of a wall than in most other mechanical operations 

 connected with gardening. Still, as plain walls may differ from 

 each other, and the most useful form may not, perhaps, be 

 known to everyone, a discussion on garden walls would by no 

 means be uninteresting, and might, perhaps, tend to assist 

 those about building, and that class is one daily increasing. 



It is at all times a prudent course to look at the best examples 

 of existing objects for our guidance, and of garden walls there 

 are plenty whose period of utility may be counted by centuries ; 

 and although it may not be advisable altogether to" copy them, 

 information may be gained by observing the materials of which 

 they were constructed. In many walls built towards the latter 

 part of the last century, it will be discovered that the bricks 

 were not so good as in walls 1.50 years old or even of greater 

 age. From this deterioration brick-making had not re- 

 covered at the beginning of the present century, and some will 

 say it has not even done so at the present day ; but although 

 this partly arises from the great demand for the article, it is 

 also frequently more the fault of the buyer than the maker. 

 Good bricks, however, can be obtained at the present day, and 

 the question arises, What kind may be considered the best ? 

 for, I suppose, this material is in ninety-nine cases out of a 

 hundred to be that employed in building a garden wall. Per- 

 haps some reader who is better versed in building than gar- 

 deners usually are will assist, and, if need be, correct what is 

 now stated on the matter. 



Bricks. — Although several varieties are manufactured, the 

 bricks employed in plain building may be roughly divided into 

 two classes — viz., those that are burnt in a kiln by a fire being 

 kept on some time beneath them, and those that to a certain 

 degree contain the necessary substances for burning within 

 themselves, and after being ignited burn in an open heap, or 

 clamp, as it is often called. I believe the latter class of bricks 

 to be of more modern origin than the former, and they have ad- 

 vantages for building dwelling-houses and some other purposes 

 which render them greater favourites in some respects than 

 the kiln bricks. They are said to absorb less water, and, con- 

 sequently, when exposed to driving rain less of it penetrates 

 through them than when it is driven against a wall of the other 

 kind of bricks. This qualification, however, is not so im- 

 portant for a garden wall as for a dwelling-house ; still, it must 

 not be lost sight of as being a great advantage, which is in- 

 creased by the fact that bricks made in this manner do not so 

 leadily succumb to the weather as those of the other class; 

 but tliey are coarse, and bricklayers cannot make such neat 

 work with them as with kiln-made bricks. The latter being 

 better shaped, generally more correct to pattern, and presenting 

 a smooth surface, offer advantages which are duly appreciated 

 by the ornamental builder. One not unimportant property 



which they possess is that nails can now and then be driven 

 into them, which is not so easily done with the half-cinder or 

 half-clinker brick, for I beheve that to the latter kind of brick 

 having undergone the process of burning within itself, and 

 become a sort of properly shaped cinder, is in a great measure 

 to be attributed its durability. The properties of the two 

 kinds of bricks may, however, be so modified by a variety of 

 circumstances, that no estabhshed rule can be laid down for 

 the guidance of the inexperienced. Fancy or ornamental bricks, 

 and those made for some special purpose, will hardly bo required 

 for garden walls. A beaded brick, perforated so as to render 

 nails or even wires unnecessary, being more an appendage to a 

 wall than a part of it, will be described afterwards. 



Mortar. — This is certainly rather a question for the brick- 

 layer than for the gardener, and local circumstances generally 

 determine the kind that must be used ; but care should be 

 taken by the builder to ensure the mortar covering the whole 

 of the end of the brick as well as the bed, as there is a dis- 

 position on the part of the bricklayer to only scrape a little off 

 the trowel upon the front edge. This is not sulficient, as in 

 pulling down brickwork it is sometimes seen that there are 

 portions not touched by the mortar at all. 



Assuming the wall to be intended for trees, the mortar 

 ought to be so qualified by sand astoadmitofanailbeing driven 

 in easily ; a too-hard setting lime is not so good, and cement 

 ought to be avoided. Generally the quality of the sand deter- 

 mines in a great measure the character of the mortar as much 

 as the lime ; but other conditions best known to the builder 

 often decide both, only it must be borne in mind that the 

 mortar constitutes a very important part of the garden wall, 

 and care must be taken to have it good. I believe that, as a 

 general rule, good stone lime, as it is called in some districts, 

 is best, but very good work is often done in chalk lime ; 

 I am not sure but the blue lias lime of some of the midland 

 counties, which is brought to Loudon for particular pur- 

 poses, is too hard. This, however, can be better answered by 

 those who have had experience of it. Fancy pointing may be 

 indulged in by those who prefer it ; but the ordinary mode o{ 

 bayonet pointing will do very well for a garden wall. 



Copings. — The coping is an important part of the wall, but I 

 would not give it the prominence which some are disposed to 

 do. Perhaps nothing in the whole range of wall-construction 

 has given rise to a greater diversity of opinion than copings. 

 The difference chiefly appears to be in the width of the over- 

 hanging portion; all, I believe, being agreed that the coping 

 should project more or less, though some would have the width 

 of the overhanging portion only an inch, and others a foot. 

 Perhaps the best practice, as is very often the case, is to take 

 a medium course ; or, better still, a moveable coping may be 

 adopted — i. c, one that can be put on or taken away as wanted. 

 When this can be done a very narrow coping would be suffi- 

 cient ; nevertheless, I would not advise that any permanent 

 coping should overhang the wall less than about 2 inches, 

 neither would I advise that any ordinary coping project more 

 than 3 inches beyond the face of the wall, for I would rather 

 depend on other protection when such was wanted. There are 

 evidently evils attending a dark overhanging coping of great 

 width, which are only partially compensated for by the pro- 

 tection it affords. Something, however, is required to keep the 

 top of the wall dry, and the best material that I have met with 

 for this purpose is the cement coping, which when made to 

 overhang about 2 inches affords room for a sort of groove or 

 throat on the under side, to prevent the water falling on the 

 top finding its way to the wall. Stone might bo employed 

 instead of cement, but is more expensive, and brickwork is 

 usually in such short pieces as not to be so convenient. I 

 have, however, been told of a kind of coping which is said to 

 possess all the advantages of the wido one without its defects, 

 and this is glass ; but not having seen any of it, I cannot speak 

 of its utility. I understood that it projected about a foot, and 

 was sufliciently strong to bear a ladder set against it ; but I 

 expect a heavier coping was placed upon it to hold it down. I 

 have sometimes seen slate employed, but it did not appear 

 satisfactory. Wall copings, however, being necessary, perhaps 

 some correspondent will state his experience in the matter, 

 and describe the mode in which moveable boarding can be 

 fixed to the top of the wall or taken down again with the least 

 amount of mechanical contrivance. Most of the modes which 

 I have seen adopted with these objects in view were either 

 clumsy or inconvenient. 



CossTRCcTioN OF A Wall. — This is often determined by cir- 

 cumstances which admit of little deviation, and it is unneoes- 



